Becky Huang

Becky H. Huang, PhD is a professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning at The Ohio State University and a faculty associate at the Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy. She is also affiliated with the East Asian Studies Center and the Graduate Interdisciplinary Specialization in Second Language Studies. Trained in educational psychology and applied linguistics, Huang specializes in language and literacy development, bilingualism, and assessment. Her research has been supported by federal agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, the Institute of Education Sciences, and the U.S. Department of Education, as well as private foundations such as Educational Testing Service. She has also received funding from U.S. Department of Education to support teacher professional development and train doctoral students, and from Fulbright to lead a summer study abroad program for pre-service teachers.

Dr. Huang has published extensively in the fields of applied linguistics and education research. She serves an Associate Editor for Educational Assessment, and is an active editorial board member for several leading journals. She has received numerous awards for her work, including the 2023 Mid-Career Award from the American Educational Research Association (AERA).

For more information about Dr. Huang’s research group, publications, and current projects, visit her personal website.

• Postdoctoral Fellowship, English Language Learning and Assessment, Educational Testing Service – 2010 - 2012
• Postdoctoral Fellowship, Human Development and Psychology, Harvard University, 2009 - 2010
• PhD, Educational Psychology, UCLA, 2009
• MA, Educational Psychology, UCLA, 2006
• MEd, Human Development and Psychology, Harvard University, 2002

• Assessment
  • Language Assessment
  • Literacy Assessment
• Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education
  • Educating emergent bilingual students
  • Learners of English as an additional language
• Child Development
  • Language Development
  • Literacy Development
• Community/Youth Development and Organizations
• Curriculum and Instruction
• Educational Achievement
• Educational Assessment, Testing, and Measurement
• Educational Psychology
• Foreign Language Teacher Education
• Linguistics
• Literacy
• Second Language Learning
  • English as a Second Language
  • Mandarin Chinese as a second language
• Social Justice
• Teacher Education
• Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language/ESL Language Instructor

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 (2020 – present)

• Principal Investigator, Multilingual and Multicultural Taiwan: A Comparative Education Experience for K-12 Educators. Fulbright-Hays Group Project Abroad Grant. (2024 - 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) (2021 – 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. (2020 – 2024)
• Principal Investigator, The Role of Language in the English Reading Development of Dual Language Learner Children. National Institute of Health. (2019 – 2022)
• Co-Principal Investigator, Project SELFIES: Supporting English Learners and Families: Advancing Academic Literacy in the Secondary Content-Areas. Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA): National Professional Development (NPD) Program. U.S. Department of Education. (2021 – 2026) (Withdrew in Fall 2022 due to relocation to OSU)

Selected Publications (2020 – present)

Book:

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

Selected Book Chapters:

• Huang. B. H. (forthcoming in 2025). Norm- vs. Criterion-referenced assessment. In C. A. Chapelle & B. Kremmel (Eds.), The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics. Routledge. 2nd Edition.
• Huang, B. H. & Bailey, A. B. (2022). Evaluating and Assessing Multilinguals. In Jessner, U. & Stavans, A. (Eds.), Handbook of Childhood Multilingualism. Cambridge University Press.
• 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.

Selected Journal Publications (2020 – present) (* denotes former students)

• Huang, B. H., Tian, Z., *Wang, T., & Liaw, M. J-J. (2024). An Investigation of Parents’ Decisions to Enroll in Mandarin-English Dual Language Immersion Programs. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2024.2433140.
• Ramírez, R., Huang, B. H., *Salazar, K., & *Eik, M. (2023). Reading Outcomes of Early Childhood & Elementary-Age Bilingual Children with Developmental Language Disorder: A Narrative Review. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 54(3), 1020-1033. doi: 10.1044/2023_LSHSS-22-00093 
• Huang, B. H., Bedore, L., Ramirez, R., & Wicha, N. (2022). Contributions of Oral Narrative Skills to English Reading in Spanish-English Latino/a Dual Language Learners. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. 65(2), 653-671. 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, 50, Article 100548 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, 52(2), 755-768. 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., 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. 
• 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.