Rebecca Knoph

Postdoctoral Fellow - CREATE Center for Research on Equality in Education

Norwegian version of this page

Email rebecca.knoph@create.uio.no

Phone +47 22857802

Room 567

Available hours By appointment

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Visiting address Sem Sælands vei 7 Helga Engs hus 0371 Oslo

Postal address Postboks 1161 Blindern 0318 Oslo

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I specialize in research related to language learning, assessment, and psychometrics. I am especially interested in vocabulary and reading comprehension for diverse learners. My background is in quantitative methods; particularly item response theory and factor analysis. I teach statistics and other educational science courses.

In past projects, I explored what makes academic vocabulary difficult for different learners. I examined how language skills, aspects of target words, and the type of assessment affect item difficulty. I have also evaluated novel comprehension tests and explored multicultural perspectives in metalinguistics.

I am driven to understand why language learning can be difficult. My goal is to improve and develop more reliable and unbiased assessment tools, especially related to vocabulary and language proficiency.

Current projects

I am working with the Better Equipped project to continue developing a listening comprehension test for Norwegian preschools. The test aims to identify children who would benefit from early language intervention. I am also studying technical vocabulary in core subjects (like Math and History) to see how vocabulary differs and impacts content learning.

On the horizon, I am looking at methods to select target words for intervention and assessment. I am also exploring how artificial intelligence tools (like ChatGPT) can make assessments more adaptable.

Research interests

Vocabulary
Assessment
Multilingual Learners
Lexical Characteristics
Metalinguistics

Methodological interests

Item Response Theory (especially Explanatory)
Latent Factor Analysis
Psychometrics
Structural Equation Modeling
Differential Item Functioning (and Equating)

Education

2023: Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Science; University of Oslo. Dissertation: Understanding Vocabulary: Making Sense of What We Measure, Who We Measure, and How We Measure. Includes the Basic University Pedagogical Competence
2017: Master of Science in Experimental Psychology; Missouri State University . Thesis: Language Learning and Metacognition: An Intervention to Improve Language Classrooms. Includes the Graduate Certificate in Statistics and Research Design
2015: Bachelor of Science in Psychology; Missouri State University

Previous courses taught

PED 4011 – Research Methods and Statistics (Norwegian link). This is a master-level course on research methods in pedagogical psychology. This course was enhanced and digitized as a result of the Blended Active Learning of Statistics research project. Quantitative Seminar Leader from 2019 to 2021 and Quantitative Lecturer in 2022.
PED 2104 – Interventions and Research-based Knowledge in Practice. This is a bachelor-level course on evaluation methodologies for educational interventions. Seminar Leader from 2019 to 2022 and Head of Course in 2022.
PSY 200 – Psychological Statistical Methods at Missouri State University. This is a bachelor-level course with a comprehensive overview of statistics and its application in psychology. Sole instructor on record (Lecturer and Head of Course) from 2016 to 2017.
EDU 4251 – Applied Research Methods Part I. This is a master-level course on both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies used in education. Quantitative Lecturer in 2019.

Learn more on my website

Tags: Education, Comprehending and learning from text, USA, Language Development, Test Development, Item Response Theory

Knoph, Rebecca; Lawrence, Joshua & Francis, David J. (2023). The Dimensionality of Lexical Features in General, Academic, and Disciplinary Vocabulary. Scientific Studies of Reading. ISSN 1088-8438. doi: 10.1080/10888438.2023.2241939. Full text in Research Archive
Prilutskaya, Marina Yurievna; Knoph, Rebecca & Hanssen, Jessica Allen (2022). “The Use of Students’ Linguistic Resources in Teaching English as an Additional Language in Norway.”. In Krulatz, Anna; Neokleous, Georgios & Dahl, Anne (Ed.), Theoretical and Applied Perspectives on Teaching Foreign Languages in Multilingual Settings: Pedagogical Implications. Multilingual Matters. ISSN 9781788926409.
Lawrence, Joshua; Knoph, Rebecca; Mcllraith, Autumn; Kulesz, Paulina A. & Francis, David (2021). Reading Comprehension and Academic Vocabulary: Exploring Relations of Item Features and Reading Proficiency. Reading Research Quarterly. ISSN 0034-0553. doi: 10.1002/rrq.434.
Hagen, Åste Mjelve; Knoph, Rebecca; Hjetland, Hanne Næss; Rogde, Kristin; Lawrence, Joshua & Lervåg, Arne [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2021). Measuring Listening Comprehension and Predicting Language Development in At-Risk Preschoolers. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research. ISSN 0031-3831. doi: 10.1080/00313831.2021.1939136. Full text in Research Archive
Knoph, Rebecca & Buchanan, Erin M (2020). Language Learning and Metacognition: An Intervention to Improve Language Classrooms . Journal of Scientific Psychology. ISSN 2161-7724. Show summary
In the USA, the trend of increase in foreign language enrollments at the college level has suddenly begun to decline since 2009, despite the notion that learning multiple languages is becoming essential for effectively communicating with others from diverse native language backgrounds. This new decline may be due in part to inefficient and outdated foreign language courses. The current study examined the effect of how we assess our current knowledge and learning techniques (metacognition) on educational outcomes in hopes to improve the effectiveness of the university classrooms. College students were exposed to new metacognitive strategies that could benefit their language learning throughout the fall 2016 semester. Specifically, students were presented with new information every other week to improve their vocabulary building, listening skills, and writing skills. Hierarchical multiple linear regression provided evidence of a potential way to measure and promote metacognitive strategies that could be useful to language learners.
Prilutskaya, Marina Yurievna & Knoph, Rebecca (2020). Research on three L2 writing conditions: Students’ perceptions and use of background languages when writing in English . Cogent Education. ISSN 2331-186X. 7(1). doi: 10.1080/2331186X.2020.1832179. Full text in Research Archive

View all works in Cristin

Lawrence, Joshua; Knoph, Rebecca; Hwang, Jin Kyoung & Hagen, Åste Marie Mjelve (2022). Measures of lexical ambiguity for 62,954 words.
Knoph, Rebecca & Lawrence, Joshua (2022). Vocabulary tasks and target words are not equal: How language learners answer differently.
Prilutskaya, Marina Yurievna & Knoph, Rebecca (2022). Developing metacognitive skills through pedagogical translanguaging: a case of writing in L2.
Knoph, Rebecca; Hagen, Åste Mjelve; Zhang, Wenjie & Lawrence, Joshua (2021). A LURI Comparison: Listening comprehension for Norwegian and Chinese children.
Knoph, Rebecca & Lawrence, Joshua Fahey (2020). The Impact of word features on lexical decision tasks. Show summary
This study used multiple linear regression to determine if special features of academic words (from the Academic Word List) could predict reaction times and accuracy on lexical decision tasks. Specifically, we examined five word feature factors: word frequency from different corpora, word completxity (the number of letters, phonemes, morphemes, syllables, etc.), proximity to other words (the number of phonographic, phonologic, and orthographic neighbors), polysemy (the number of senses and meanings for that word), and diversity (the number of contexts in which the word can be found). We not only discovered a trend in which word features predicted longer lexical decision reaction times, but also found that this trend was different for accuracy. That is, features that predicted shorter mean reaction times did not always predict more participants would accurately identify the word as a word. The different regression weights indicate that how we identify and process words might not only be explained by the length or frequency of a word, but that it also depends on the context in which we can find the word and how many different ways we can use the word.
Hjetland, Hanne Næss; Hagen, Åste Mjelve; Rogde, Kristin; Knoph, Rebecca & Melby-Lervåg, Monica (2020). LURI: A Listening Comprehension Measure for Preschool Children. .
Knoph, Rebecca & Lawrence, Joshua Fahey (2019). A Factor Analysis of Word Features: Are Academic Words Different? Show summary
The current study replicates two previous factor structures for word features (e.g. word frequency and length), but focuses specifically on the structure for academic vocabulary. These words followed a similar but not identical factor structure to words in general. Use of the factor structure can reduce suppression between multicollinear variables.
Knoph, Rebecca & Hagen, Åste Mjelve (2019). The LURI Assessment: A Listening Comprehension Measure for Preschool Children. Show summary
The current study examines a new listening comprehension test for preschool children. The test contains 10 short stories and 3-5 questions per story (total 36 questions) read by an adult. We test the psychometric properties of the measure in a sample of 289 Norwegian preschoolers at risk for language problems.
Knoph, Rebecca & Lawrence, Joshua Fahey (2019). What’s in a Word? The Impact of Word Features on Item Difficulty. Show summary
This study used multiple linear regression to determine the predictability of item difficulty on three types of items (hypernyms, topical associates, and definitions) given specific features of the target words (complexity, diversity, proximity, frequency, and polysemy). We found a trend in which features tend to be related to item difficulty.