Salomé Villa Larenas
Salomé is a Chilean PhD student at Lancaster University who visited us as a guest researcher from January to September 2018 as part of a research Erasmus+ exchange. Salomé’s research aims to explore the language assessment literacy of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher educators as well as the extent and nature of the LAL training they conduct with pre-service EFL teachers in the Chilean university context. During her stay with us, Salomé participated in the PhD colloquiums, and collaborated with the projects on Teachers’ Language Assessment Literacy (FZHB) and on the professionalization of English teachers in the Higher Education System and the development of a system of certification in cooperation with Universidad de las Ciencias Informaticas Havana and the British Council Cuba.
In August 2018, Salomé was granted a Doctoral Dissertation Grant (DDG) by the International Research Foundation for English Language Education (TIRF) for her PhD- project. This is the first TIRF grant that goes to Chile and the third one for Latin America.
Salomé is the first President of the Latin American Association for Language Testing and Assessment (LAALTA ), a new non-profit organization, which seeks to promote best practices in language assessment and testing in educational and professional contexts in Latin America.
In February 2019, based on a vote of 113 members, Salomé was elected as first president of the Executive Board. https://www.iltaonline.com/page/NewsletterApril2019#ILTAAffiliates)