UTSA doctoral student receives spot at top language internship

(April 8, 2019) -- Yangting ‘Tina’ Wang, a doctoral student in the UTSA Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies, was recently selected to participate in a research internship this summer with the WIDA Consortium, the largest consortium in the country that develops language assessments. She was one of two doctoral students from across the United States chosen to participate.

“I feel very excited to receive the internship offer,” said Wang. “The selection process is highly competitive. I am thrilled to be offered the opportunity to participate and collaborate with WIDA researchers to conduct rigorous research on k-12 language assessments.”

For 10 weeks this summer, Wang will work on a special research project related to speaking assessments for English language learners (ELLs). She will work with Mark Chapman and Alicia Kim, research scholars at WIDA, on a study design, data analyses, literature review, and the presentation of findings.

“I hope to learn more about WIDA’s Access for ELLs and I wish to strengthen my research methods and enrich my working experience through this summer internship,” said Wang. “WIDA’s mission in serving linguistically diverse populations is also my research passion. Since my research specialization is language assessment, the internship will greatly help me with my doctoral studies.”

Her advice to students interested in pursuing similar opportunities is to be persistent.

"This was not the first time that I applied for the internship,” said Wang. “I applied last year and was on the short list. I was invited for an interview but was not selected. I did not give up and applied again this year.”

Research experience, Wang said, is also important.

“I had the opportunity to assist my advisor, Dr. Becky Huang with various research projects such as the Bilingual Children’s Language and Literacy project and the ETS TOEFL Junior project at the Language Learning and Assessment Laboratory,” she said. “The research experience greatly helped me with the WIDA interview.”

This past month, Wang also received a 2018-2019 Who’s Who award from the university.

“I would like to thank Dr. Huang for her mentorship and the peer support I received from members of our Language Learning and Assessment lab,” said Wang. “I also thank Drs. Juliet Langman, Patricia Sanchez, and Lucila Ek for their wonderful support in my doctoral study and internship. I am very grateful to have these wonderful professors in the College of Education and Human Development to guide and support me. I am also thankful for the help I received from the UTSA Career Center.”

— Jo Ann Jones

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