Staff profile

Wen is a Career Development Fellow at the School of Education, Durham University. She has recently concluded her doctoral research project, funded by the Durham Doctoral Studentship (DDS) scheme, which explored the experiences of high-stakes, standardised English language tests (e.g. IELTS, TOEFL, PTE Academic) used for university admissions purposes. She is interested in the full spectrum of test-taking experiences, from those who take the tests, to those who design, assess, deliver and interpret the tests. Taking on a sociomaterial perspective and informed by Actor-Network Theory (ANT), her research reconceptualises standardised lanuguage testing as a sociomaterial assemblage consisting of various human (e.g. test-takers, examiners, invigilators, test providers, preparation tutors) and non-human players (e.g. preparation resources, social media, assessment platforms, test equipment, remote inviglation platforms, etc.), which are all interacting with each other to make assessments happen in particular ways. The findings of her study unpack several hidden complexities within the standardised English testing process, such as the increasingly diverse and digitalised preparation networks, the fragility of standardisation, the disruptions of online tests and the aftermath of these disruptions on individual life trajectories. She has successfully published a reflective, methodological article on interviewing elite participants in Qualitative Research, a prestigious social science journal.

Beyond research, Wen has actively contributed to various citizenship activities, having worked as a peer mentor for MA and PhD students, and a summer school tutor for widening participation students. Outside the university, Wen also serves as a committee member for the Student Committee of the Asian Association for Language Assessment (AALA), where she actively contributes to the organisation of webinars on related topics  about language assessments, in order to support the professional development of graduate students specialising in language assessments. 

Prior to her PhD, Wen has completed a Master of Arts in TESOL at Durham University and a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance and Economics at University of Toronto (CA), both with distinctions. She has previous experience working as an English teacher in Beijing, China, and has done a consulting internship in Cape Town, South Africa. 

• Assessments in higher education
• English for Academic Purposes
• Standardised English tests
• Qualitative methodology
• Elite interviews

• 2026: Peer Reviewer for International Journal of Qualitative Methods:
• 2025: Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy AFHEA:

Journal Article

• Reconsidering the shape of power: Challenges of interviewing elites in a later-learned language
  
  Xing, W. (2025). Reconsidering the shape of power: Challenges of interviewing elites in a later-learned language. Qualitative Research, 26(1), 64-86. https://doi.org/10.1177/14687941251390802