Biography

Dr. Becky Huang is Professor of Multilingual Language Education in the Department of Teaching and Learning at the Ohio State University.

Her research areas span across applied linguistics, psychology, and education. Her research program focuses on two interrelated areas that address the goal of promoting language and education outcomes for multilingual students: language/literacy development and assessment of multilingual students.

Her research has been funded by the National Institute of Health, the Institute of Education Sciences, and the U.S. Department of Education. 

Dr. Huang currently serves on the Editorial Board for Language Assessment Quarterly, Language Testing, and NTU Journal of Teaching Chinese as a Second Language.

She had previously worked as an Editorial Board Member for Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools (LSHSS) in 2019 and 2020, and she co-founded the International Language Testing Association’s (ILTA) Language Assessment for Young Learners special interest group.

She also serves on award committees for the American Educational Research Association’s (AERA) Second Language Research and Bilingual Education Research special interest groups.

She is passionate about promoting education equity and improving the lives of children and adolescents from minoritized backgrounds, and has been working with non-profit and community organizations that share similar goals and visions.

 

Research Summary

Dr. Huang research program aims to promote language and education outcomes for multilingual students.

Her first line of research focuses on language and literacy development among multilingual children and adolescents, particularly those who learn English as an additional language.

Her second line of research investigates the reliability, validity, and fairness of language assessments for multilingual learners.

She also examines the role of students’ language and reading skills in their learning of content areas (such as math and science) and performance on content-area assessments.

 

Selected Grants

• Co-Principal Investigator, Chinese Immersion Teacher Training: The U.S. Context. Part of the U.S. Department of Education Title VI Language Resource Centers Grant awarded to Center for Advanced Language Proficiency Education and Research (CALPER), The Pennsylvania State University, $753,012 (2022 – 2026)    
• Principal Investigator, Impact of COVID-19 on Language and Literacy Development of Young School-Age Dual Language Learners. National Institute of Health/National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NIH/NICHD). NIH SC2HD100362-03S1. $75,402 (September 2, 2021 – April 30, 2022)
• Co-Principal Investigator, Supporting reading comprehension for English learners through inquiry-based, language-focused instruction. Institute of Education Sciences. U.S. Department of Education. R305A200283. $1,398,946 (2020 – 2024)
• Principal Investigator, The Role of Language in the English Reading Development of Dual Language Learner Children. National Institute of Health (NIH). NIH SC2HD100362. $376,000 (2019 – 2022)
• Co-Principal Investigator, Project DIVERSE: Doctoral Scholars Implementing Socially Valid Evidence-Based Practices and Research for Improving the Language, Literacy, and Social-Emotional Outcomes of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Exceptional Learners. Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). Consortium Doctoral Leadership grant U.S. Department of Education, $3,766,943. (2021 – 2026) (Withdrew in Fall 2022 due to relocation)
• Co-Principal Investigator, Project SELFIES: Supporting English Learners and Families (SELFIES): Advancing Academic Literacy in the Secondary Content-Areas. Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA): National Professional Development (NPD) Program. U.S. Department of Education. $2,735,964. (2021 – 2026) (Withdrew in Fall 2022 due to relocation)
• Principal Investigator, An Investigation of the Comparability of Adolescent English Language Learners’ Communicative Skills and Performances on the TOEFL® JuniorTM Speaking Assessment. Educational Testing Service (ETS), $50,000 (2017 – 2019)
• Principal Investigator, Long-Term Linguistic and Nonlinguistic Outcomes of Early Language Instruction in a Foreign Language Learning Context. Language Learning Journal’s Small Grants Research Program, $10,000 (2014 - 2015)

 

Selected Publications

Book

• Butler, Y., & Huang. B. H. (2022). Research Methods for Understanding Child Second   Language Development. Routledge.

Selected Book Chapters

• Huang, B. H., & Ramirez, R. (2022). Second Language Speech Production Methods. In Y. Butler & B. Huang (Eds.), Research methods for understanding child second language  development. Routledge.
• Huang, B. H. & Bailey, A. B. (2022). Evaluating and Assessing Multilinguals. In Jessner, U. & Stavans, A. (Eds.), Handbook of Childhood Multilingualism. Cambridge University Press.

Selected Journal Publications 

• Huang, B. H., Bedore, L., Ramirez, R., & Wicha, N. (2021). Contributions of Oral Narrative Skills to English Reading in Spanish-English Latino/a Dual Language Learners. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. https://pubs.asha.org/doi/10.1044/2021_JSLHR-21-00105. 
• *Zhi, M., & Huang, B. H. (2021). Investigating the Authenticity of Computer- and Paper-Based ESL Writing Tests. Assessing Writing, Online First. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2021.100548. 
• Ramirez, R., Huang, B. H., *Palomin, A., & *McCarty, L. (2021). Teachers and Language Outcomes of Young Bilinguals: A Scoping Review. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, Online First. https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_LSHSS-20-00066. 
• Huang, B. H., Bailey, A. B., Sass, D., & Chang, Y. S. (2020). An investigation of the validity of a speaking assessment for adolescent English language learners. Language Testing, 38(3), 401–428. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265532220925731.  
• Huang, B. H., Bedore, L., Niu, L., *Wang, Y., & Wicha, N. (2020). The Contributions of Oral  Language to English Reading Outcomes among Young Bilingual Students in the United States. International Journal of Bilingualism. 25(1), 40-57. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367006920938136.  
• Huang, B. H. & Butler, Y. (2020). Validity Considerations for Assessing Language Proficiency    in Young Language Minority Students. Introduction to the Special Issue. Language Assessment Quarterly, 17(5), 461-466. https://doi.org/10.1080/15434303.2020.1826486.
• Huang, B. H., & Kuo, L.-J. (2020). The role of input in bilingual children’s language and literacy development. International Journal of Bilingualism, 24 (1), 3-7. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367006918768369.  
• Huang, B. H., Chang, Y.-h., *Zhi, M., & Niu, L. (2020). The Effect of Input on Bilingual Adolescents’ Long-Term Language Outcomes in a Foreign Language Instruction Context. International Journal of Bilingualism, 24 (1), 8-25. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367006918768311.
•   *Collier, J.-K., & Huang, B. H. (2019). Review of the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS).Language Assessment Quarterly, 17 (2), 221-230. https://doi/full/10.1080/15434303.2019.1691216.  
• Huang, B. H., Chang, Y.-h., Niu, L., & *Zhi, M. (2018). Examining the Effects of Socioeconomic Status and Language Input on Adolescent English Learners’ Speech Production Outcomes. System: An International Journal of Educational Technology and Applied Linguistics, 73, 27-36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2017.07.004.