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.