Rebecca has an M.A. in TESOL and Applied Linguistics and a B.A. in English Composition, both from Indiana University. She currently serves as Co-Chair of the ESL Programs Assessment Committee, and has experience teaching in the Iowa Intensive English Program, ESL Credit Program, and Teaching Assistant Preparation in English program. She is passionate about developing assessments that can support valid inferences about language ability and provide transparent feedback to learners to support their language development. Rebecca stays active in her professional community as a founding member of the University of Iowa Assessment Club (through the College of Education), by organizing workshops on language assessment locally, and as a journal reviewer for Language Testing. Her research interests include teacher training, rubric development, listening assessment, and integrated assessment. Outside of the academic sphere, she has served as a consultant for local non-profits working with refugee populations, developed and taught courses on the U.S. Naturalization Exam, and organized training events for volunteer ESL tutors.

Current Courses

ESL:4190 ESL Academic Writing

ESL:6000 ESL Writing Skills for Graduate Students

TAPE:5220 TA Preparation in English: Pronunciation

Publications

Yeager, R., and Meyer, Z. (2022). Question preview in English for Academic Purposes listening assessment: The effect of stem preview on difficulty, item type, and discrimination. The International Journal of Listening. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10904018.2022.2029705

Shin, S. Y., Lidster, R., Sabraw, S., Yeager, R. (2015). The effects of L2 proficiency differences in pairs on idea units in a collaborative text reconstruction task. Language Teaching Research, 20(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168814567888

Conference Presentations

Yeager, R., Park, G., and Liao, J. (2022). Cognitive Validity and Notetaking Quality in Listening Assessment with Multiple Choice Preview. Presentation at LARC 2022 (Language Assessment Testing Conference), Chicago, IL.

Yeager, R., and Meyer, Z. (2021). The impact of question preview on notetaking in listening assessment. Presentation at Midwest Association of Language Testers (MwALT), online.

Meyer, Z., & Yeager, R. (2021). The impact of question preview on notetaking in listening assessment. Presentation at East Coast Organization of Language Testers (ECOLT), online.

Brown, J., Brown, S., Kaduce, R., and Yeager, R. (2021). Using integrated tasks in placement testing. Presentation at MidAmerica Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (MIDTESOL), online.

Meyer, Z., and Yeager, R. (2020). Item preview in EAP listening assessment. Presentation at New Directions in English Language Assessment 2020, online. Recording available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vityw59LWU

Meyer, Z., and Yeager, R. (2020). Item preview, item discrimination, and item type in EAP listening assessment. Presentation at ECOLT 2020 (East Coast Organization of Language Testers), online.

Meyer, Z., and Yeager, R. (2019). Comparing text difficulty for reading assessments. Presentation at TESOL 2019 (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages), Atlanta, GA.

Yeager, R. (2019). Primary research papers: Your new everything in EAP writing. Presentation at MIDTESOL 2019 (Mid-America Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages), Omaha, NE.

Dresser, C., and Yeager, Y. (2018). Assessing language skills for critical thinking: Principles and practice. Presentation at MIDTESOL 2018 (Mid-America Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages), Kansas City, MO.

Meyer, Z., and Yeager, R. (2018). Comparing text difficulty for reading assessments. Presentation at MIDTESOL 2018 (Mid-America Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages), Kansas City, MO.

Brown, J., Meyer, Z., and Yeager, R. (2017). Assessment at the crossroads: Building a test revision culture. Poster presentation at MIDTESOL 2017 (Mid-America Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages), Kansas City, MO.

Shin, S., Lidster, R., Sabraw, S., and Yeager, R. (2013). The influence of learners’ L2 proficiency pairing on collaborative text reconstruction task outcomes. Presentation at AAAL, Dallas, TX.

Shin, S., Lidster, R., Sabraw, S., and Yeager, R. (2013). The effects of L2 proficiency differences in pairs on idea units in an authentic, collaborative text reconstruction task. Presentation at MwALT, East Lansing, MI.

Shin, S., Lidster, R., Sabraw, S., and Yeager, R. (2011). Dictogloss as dynamic assessment. Presentation at INTESOL (Indiana Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages), Indianapolis, IN.

Yeager, R. (2010). Clashing values or conflicting expectations? Asian ESL students, plagiarism, and the American academy. Presentation at the East Central Writing Centers Association Conference, Lansing, MI.

Yeager, R. (2009). English language learners at Indiana University Southeast: A survey of student experience. Poster presentation at the Mid East Honors Association Conference, Kalamazoo, MI; the East Central Writing Center Association Conference, Lafayette, IN; and the Indiana University Undergraduate Research Conference, New Albany, IN.

Professional Memberships

AAAL (American Association of Applied Linguists)

ILTA (International Language Testing Association)

MwALT (Midwest Association of Language Testers)

MIDTESOL (Midwest Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages)

TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)