Susy Macqueen is an applied linguist whose research focuses on language in modern systems, such as health, education and migration (“Language for Specific Purposes”). Her research is concerned with the fairness of decisions based on people’s language abilities, for example, decisions made on the basis of standardised tests. Decision contexts range from “high-stakes” decisions such as the granting of visas, to regular decisions made by educators about their students’ learning. Susy also examines changes in language use as people enter new domains, for example, entering tertiary education. In health contexts, Susy’s focus is on how language-based concepts such as “health literacy” are enacted in health consultations. Susy has carried out projects for private sector and state and federal governments on a range of topics including citizenship testing, English language assessment, testing for professional purposes and language program evaluations. Susy is Co-President of the Association for Language Testing and Assessment of Australia and New Zealand. Her book with Ute Knoch, Assessing English for Professional Purposes (Routledge, 2019), won the International Language Testing Association/SAGE Best Book Award 2020 and she was recipient of the Christopher Brumfit Thesis Award 2010 for her doctoral thesis titled The emergence of patterns in second language writing (Peter Lang, 2012).  She was named Reviewer of the Year 2024 by Language Testing journal.

PhD, MA (Applied Linguistics), DELTA, CELTA, B. Mus (ed.)

• Language testing and assessment
• Second language acquisition
• English as an additional language
• Second language writing
• Formulaic language learning
• Communication in healthcare contexts
• Language for specific purposes
• Language program evaluation