Congratulations to the PROMS2025 Distinguished Student Scholarship Recipients
We are delighted to announce and extend our heartfelt congratulations to the recipients of the PROMS2025 Distinguished Student Scholarship. This prestigious award recognises outstanding students across Southeast Asia who have demonstrated academic excellence, research potential, and a commitment to advancing the field of measurement and assessment. The scholarship provides recipients with the opportunity to present their work at PROMS2025 and engage with leading experts and peers from across the region and beyond. We commend their achievements and look forward to their active participation in the conference.
Congratulations once again to Muhammad Affan Ramadhana and Muhamad Firdaus Mohd Noh.
Muhammad Affan Ramadhana
Muhammad Affan Ramadhana is currently a PhD student in Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia. His doctoral research focuses on educational assessment and evaluation, where he explores the behavior of Indonesian university lecturers in assessing English writing. Building on his background in language education from his undergraduate and master’s studies, he has developed strong interests in language testing and assessment, applied linguistics, and quantitative educational research. Throughout his career, he has gained practical experience as a university lecturer in English language education and vocational education programs, as well as several administrative positions in his institution.
Title: Identifying biases occurred among Indonesian university lecturers in assessing English essays: An MFRM analysis
Despite the use of standard analytical rubrics, assessing English as a Foreign Language (EFL) writing often remains susceptible to inconsistency and bias. To further explore that issue, this study employs a Many-Facet Rasch Measurement (MFRM) analysis to identify bias and interaction from raters’ backgrounds toward rubric criteria in English essay assessment. This study included 36 Indonesian university lecturers who assessed English essays using the ESL Composition Profile analytical rubric. The analysis specifically explored biases/interactions between rater background facets and rubric criteria. The results show different assessment behaviors of lecturers based on their academic qualifications, field of study, professional rank, and gender. This study is expected to offer practical insights for assessment committees to minimize potential biases, especially when designing multi-rater English writing assessment programs.
Muhamad Firdaus Mohd Noh
Muhamad Firdaus is currently a PhD student at the National University of Malaysia (UKM), with a research focus on language assessment. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) from Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia, and a master’s degree in Measurement and Evaluation from UKM. His master’s research examined rating quality in rater-mediated speaking assessments using the Many-Facet Rasch Model (MFRM), which later culminated in several peer-reviewed journal publications and a book. Currently, he is developing a cognitive diagnostic assessment framework for skill-based language tests as part of his doctoral research.
Title: Fair or fickle? The tug-of-war between objectivity and teacher-student bias interactions in speaking assessments
This study examined the extent to which teacher-student interactions contribute to bias in the assessment of English-speaking proficiency. A total of 164 English teachers assessed 30 students across three speaking tasks using a linked rating design. The ratings were analysed using the Many-Facet Rasch Measurement (MFRM) model to detect patterns of bias. Out of 982 observed interactions, 25.76% exceeded the t-value threshold (±2.00), indicating statistically significant bias. Severity bias (53.17%) occurred slightly more often than leniency bias (46.83%). Mid-ability students were most affected (45.63%), suggesting that teachers may find it more difficult to rate performances that fall within the ambiguous middle range. The findings raise concerns about the fairness of speaking assessments and point to the need for improved rating consistency through structured rubrics and professional development. While focused on Malaysian secondary school teachers, the study calls for further research across disciplines and education levels to ensure equitable assessment practices.