Guest Researcher
Natural Language Processing/Computational Linguistics
Areas of interest
- User modeling
- Intelligent Computer Assisted Language Learning
- Lärka
- Lexical complexity
Recent publications
2019
- David Alfter, Johannes Graën (2019): Interconnecting lexical resources and word alignment: How do learners get on with particle verbs?, in Linköping Electronic Conference Proceeding, No. 167, NEAL Proceedings of the 22nd Nordic Conference on Computational Linguistics (NoDaLiDa), September 30-October 2, Turku, Finland / Editor(s): Mareike Hartman and Barbara Plank
- David Alfter, Therese Lindström Tiedemann, Elena Volodina (2019): LEGATO: A flexible lexicographic annotation tool, in Linköping Electronic Conference Proceedings, No. 167, NEAL Proceedings of the 22nd Nordic Conference on Computational Linguistics (NoDaLiDa), September 30-October 2, Turku, Finland Editor(s): Mareike Hartman and Barbara Plank
- David Alfter, Lars Borin, Ildikó Pilán, Therese Lindström Tiedemann, Elena Volodina (2019): Lärka: From Language Learning Platform to Infrastructure for Research on Language Learning, in Linköping Electronic Conference Proceedings
2018
- David Alfter, Elena Volodina (2018): Towards Single Word Lexical Complexity Prediction, in Proceedings of the Thirteenth Workshop on Innovative Use of NLP for Building Educational Applications, New Orleans, Louisiana, June 5, 2018
- David Alfter, Ildikó Pilán (2018): SB@ GU at the Complex Word Identification 2018 Shared Task, in Proceedings of the Thirteenth Workshop on Innovative Use of NLP for Building Educational Applications, New Orleans, Louisiana, June 5, 2018
2017
- Ildikó Pilán, David Alfter, Elena Volodina (2017): Lärka: an online platform where language learning meets natural language processing, in 7th ISCA Workshop on Speech and Language Technology in Education, 25-26 August 2017, Stockholm, Sweden
2016
- David Alfter (2016): Learning the Learner: User Modeling in Intelligent Computer Assisted Language Learning Systems, in CEUR Workshop Proceedings, v.1618. UMAP 2016 Extended Proceedings. Halifax, Canada, July 13-16, 2016. Edited by : Federica Cena, Michel Desmarais, Darina Dicheva, Jie Zhang
- David Alfter, Yuri Bizzoni (2016): Hybrid Language Segmentation for Historical Documents, in Proceedings CLiC-it 2016 and EVALITA 2016, Napoli, Italy, December 5-7, 2016. Edited by : Pierpaolo Basile, Anna Corazza, Franco Cutugno, Simonetta Montemagni, Malvina Nissim, Viviana Patti, Giovanni Semeraro, Rachele Sprugnoli
- Elena Volodina, Ildikó Pilán, David Alfter (2016): Classification of Swedish learner essays by CEFR levels, in Proceedings of EuroCALL 2016. 24-27th August 2016, Cyprus.
- David Alfter, Elena Volodina (2016): Modeling Individual Learner Knowledge in a Computer Assisted Language Learning System, in Proceedings of the Sixth Swedish Language Technology Conference. Umeå University, 17-18 November, 2016
- Ildikó Pilán, David Alfter, Elena Volodina (2016): Coursebook texts as a helping hand for classifying linguistic complexity in language learners' writings, in Proceedings of the workshop on Computational Linguistics for Linguistic Complexity
- David Alfter, Yuri Bizzoni, Anders Agebjörn, Elena Volodina, Ildikó Pilán (2016): From Distributions to Labels: A Lexical Proficiency Analysis using Learner Corpora, in Linköping Electronic Conference Proceedings
Education
- MA in Computational Linguistics (Universität Trier, Germany)
- BA in Computational Linguistics and English Linguistics (Universität Trier, Germany)
Research
I'm working on the Intelligent Computer Assisted Language Learning platform Lärka.
My work focuses on modeling and predicting lexical complexity of words and improving the language learning experience by personalizing the experience for the user using both individual and group modeling.
I'm also interested in developing more open ended exercises.
Research activities
- Research visits:
- KUL & UCL, Belgium, September 28-October 10 2017 (Evaluating CEFRLex)
- University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, October 19-November 2 2017 (Crowdsourcing for language learning review)
- Co-chair of the EuroCALL PhD SIG (2016-2017) (with Sandra Morales)
- Chair of the EuroCALL PhD SIG (2017-2019) (with Marta Fondo Garcia)
- Conference reviewer:
- Processing Historical Language (prochistlang2017)
- Digital Humanities in the Nordic Countries (DHN 2017)
- Building Educational Applications (BEA 2017, 2018)
- Workshop on Natural Language Processing Techniques for Educational Applications (NLPTEA 2018)
- ACL 2018
- Swedish Language Technology Conference (SLTC2018)
- COLING 2018
- 7th workshop on NLP4CALL 2018
- Building Educational Applications (BEA14) 2019
- ACL 2019
- 8th workshop on NLP4CALL
- ACL 2020
- Building Educational Applications (BEA15) 2020
- 9th workshop on NLP4CALL 2020
- Conference on Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing (EMNLP) 2020
- Building Educational Applications (BEA16) 2021
- Book reviews:
- Advanced Proficiency and Exceptional Ability in Second Languages. Hyltenstam
- Developing, Modelling and Assessing Second Languages. Jörg-U. Keßler, Anke Lenzing, Mathias Liebner.
- Popular science presentations: Book Fair, Sept. 2016, Gothenburg (demo presentation)
- Conference organization:
- 7th workshop on NLP4CALL
- 8th workshop on NLP4CALL (main organizer)
- 9th workshop on NLP4CALL (main organizer)
Teaching/Supervision
Fall term 2016
- LT2111 Introduction to programming: Lab supervision