Jon Roberts PhD

"When we sit down to try to figure out what will happen in the future, it usually seems as if the thing to do is to start with what we already know. This progression from the known to the unknown is characteristic of logical thought, and it probably accounts for the fact that logical thinking has so often proved itself to be an obstacle to intellectual progress. It is a device for perpetuating the assumptions of the past"

(George Kelly 1977 The Psychology of the Unknown, page 6).

 

Current Research

My present interests involve the use of Personal Construct Psychology and social systems theory to explore personal aspects of professional role development, and the perspectives of assessors and the assessed in the context of English language testing. Explorations of role development aim to uncover research participants' role constructs, how these constructs change, and how they relate to their choices. Explorations of test participants' perspectives focus on the ways in which the assessed discriminate and use assessment as personal feedback.

Assessment

Jan 2007-April 2008 Assessment for learning in teacher education: the development of a diagnostic language test for trainee teachers of French Higher Education Academy funded project, led by Prof. Brian Richards, Institute of Education University of Reading, with Dr Suzanne Graham and Ms Dierdre Burrell. The purpose of the study to develop procedures and instruments that will further improve the quality of subject knowledge assessment and assessment for learning in the University's PGCE French course.

2006 Students’ Perception and Differentiation of Assessment during the CALS Pre-sessional Programme: pilot study, funded by the University of Reading Teaching and Learning Development Fund, with Ros Richards (Director), John Slaght and Bruce Howell, Centre for Applied Language Studies, University of Reading. http://www.rdg.ac.uk/cdotl/teaching/tldf/CALS%20Case%20Study%20Complete.pdf

 

Language Learning

2005-6 Using SKYPE2 to Develop the Communication Skills and Cultural Awareness of English Teachers in Training: preliminary study. With Dr Nese Cabaroglu, Department of English, School of Education, Adana University, Turkey