This dissertation advances research on evaluation (RoE) through a trio of studies focusing on the role of context and the innovative use of Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) software in formative evaluation in a qualitative research project. The first article extends Coryn et al. (2017) and elucidates how various contextual…

Learning analytics (LA) involves the measurement, collection, analysis, and reporting of data about learners and their contexts, aiming to understand and optimize both the learning process and the environments in which it occurs. Among many themes that the LA community considers, natural language processing (NLP) algorithms have been widely…

Language sample analysis (LSA) is valuable clinical tool and an important component of comprehensive language assessment. However, LSA is underutilized in real-world practice. SLPs have identified time constraints, insufficient training, and lack of confidence in LSA skills as barriers to regular LSA implementation. Communication science and…

Data collection and analysis is nothing new in computer-assisted language learning, but with the phenomenon of massive sets of human language collected into corpora, and especially integrated into systems driven by artificial intelligence, new opportunities have arisen for language teaching and learning. We are now seeing powerful artificial…