Lecture 1: Assessing lexical diversity in the writing of English learners: A practical overview
Speaker: Scott Crossley (Georgia State University)
Dr. Crossley is a professor in the department of Applied Linguistics and Learning Sciences at Georgia State University. His primary research focus is on natural language processing and the application of computational tools and machine learning algorithms in language learning, writing, and text comprehensibility. His main interest area is the development and use of natural language processing tools in assessing writing quality and text difficulty. He is also interested in the development of second language learner lexicons and the potential to examine lexical growth and lexical proficiency using computational algorithms.


Lecture 2: Automated Analysis of Cohesion in Student Writing
Speaker: Laura K. Allen (University of New Hampshire)
Dr. Allen is an assistant professor at the department of Psychology at the University of New Hampshire. She earned a B.A. in English Literature and Foreign Languages from Mississippi State University (2010), followed by a M.A. (2015) and Ph.D. from Arizona State University (2017). The principal aim of Dr. Allen’s research has been to theoretically and empirically investigate the higher-level cognitive skills that are required for successful text comprehension and production, as well as the ways in which performance in these domains can be enhanced through strategy instruction and training. This line of research has been accompanied by a second line of work that explores how educational technologies can be leveraged to facilitate learning. The overall goal of this research is to develop educational technologies and methodologies that will have a broad impact on current practices in writing research and instruction across multiple dimensions.