Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics
The Pennsylvania State University · United States · Expected May 2027
Applied Linguistics · AI · L2 Writing · Corpus Methods
YingLuo
Ph.D. Candidate in Applied Linguistics
Penn State · Expected May 2027
Ying Luo
Ph.D. Candidate in Applied Linguistics
Penn State · Expected May 2027
Second language development through AI-mediated interaction.
My research brings together second language writing, Dynamic Assessment, and human–AI interaction to examine how learners move from mediated performance toward independent control.
AI
Corpus methods
Writing
Mediation
L2RHETORICALDEVELOPMENT
GENRE // 1
MEDIATION // 2
M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction
The Pennsylvania State University · United States
M.S.Ed. in Literacy, Culture, and Language Education
Indiana University Bloomington · United States
B.A. in English Language and Literature
Southwest Jiaotong University · China
RESEARCH AGENDA
How does mediated interaction make second language development visible?
I study second language writing development through mediated interaction, drawing on discourse, classroom, and computational data.
1
Research project & trajectory
My research agenda started with discourse and interaction, then moved toward AI-mediated approaches grounded in developmental theory.
Discourse socialization
Agency, identity, peer interaction, and online or hybrid participation
Instructed development and mediation
Dynamic Assessment, syntactic complexity, and generative tools as mediators
From tools to design
Customized AI, genre-sensitive mediation, and L1 transfer
Human–AI methods
Collaborative coding, embeddings, and interpretable computational analysis
Genre and rhetorical development
Genre-sensitive assessment, mediation, and L2 rhetorical growth
1.1
AI-Mediated L2 Writing Development
This work examines how mediated interaction can support and reveal developing rhetorical and linguistic abilities in L2 writing. It brings together Dynamic Assessment, genre, instructed development, and cross-linguistic influence.
UNDER REVIEW
Luo, Y., Xu, X., Lu, X., & Zhang, J. Making L1 transfer visible: An AI-assisted four-step approach.
IN PREPARATION
Luo, Y., & Lu, X. ChatGPT-generated and human-provided mediation in academic writing: A dynamic assessment perspective.
PRESENTATION · 2026
Luo, Y. Bridging the global–local divide: GenAI-mediated dynamic assessment for genre awareness in EFL job application cover letters. 47th Language Testing Research Colloquium. Montréal, Canada.
PRESENTATION · 2025
Luo, Y., & Lu, X. ChatGPT-generated and human-provided mediation in academic writing. Symposium on Language Diagnostic Testing and Evaluation in the Context of AI. Xi’an, China.
PRESENTATION · 2025
Luo, Y., Zhong, Y., Liu, Q., & Xu, X. Chinese EFL learners’ reflections on instructed development of syntactic complexity. 23rd AsiaTEFL International Conference. Hong Kong, China.
PUBLICATION · 2024
Xia, Y., Luo, Y., & Lu, X. (2024). Dynamic assessment of vocabulary: A systematic review. Language Teaching Research Quarterly, 46, 297–324. https://doi.org/10.32038/ltrq.2024.46.19 ↗
1.2
Customized AI for Writing Pedagogy
This line of research asks how pedagogical goals, learning theory, and technical design can be aligned so that AI supports writers’ reasoning rather than simply improving the immediate text.
IN PRESS · 2026
Luo, Y. Customizing AI for writing pedagogy: A systematic review of pedagogical goals, theoretical principles, and technical design. Educational Technology Research and Development.
INVITED TALK · 2026
Luo, Y. From writing to thinking: How to use AI to improve argumentative writing. Beijing Normal–Hong Kong Baptist University. Online.
PUBLICATION · 2025
Luo, Y., Xia, Y., & Lu, X. (2025). Artificial intelligence in L2 writing: A systematic review. Digital Studies in Language and Literature, 1, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1515/dsll-2025-0001 ↗
PRESENTATION · 2024
Luo, Y., & Xu, X. Pedagogical implications of using ChatGPT in L2 writing: An emphasis on instructed syntactic complexity. American Association for Applied Linguistics Conference. Houston, TX, USA.
1.3
Human–AI Collaborative Research Methods
This grant-funded project develops an interpretable workflow that combines AI-assisted pattern detection with researcher judgment in the analysis of learner–AI dialogue.
IN PREPARATION
Luo, Y. Human–AI collaborative coding of EFL students’ academic writing dialogues.
PRESENTATION · 2026
Luo, Y. Human–AI collaborative coding of EFL students’ academic writing dialogues. CAES Conference 2026–AHKLC Symposium. Hong Kong, China.
FUNDING · 2025
C-SoDA Accelerator Award, Penn State.
1.4
Academic Discourse Socialization and Interaction
My earlier research examined how multilingual writers develop agency, identity, and participation through peer interaction, collaborative writing, and technology-mediated classrooms.
PRESENTATION · 2025
Deniz, O., Schneider, I., Lukow, H., Luo, Y., Mora, J., Shao, Z., & Sonmez, E. The Plain Language Project: Cultivating critical language awareness through podcasting. Roundtable presented at the American Association for Applied Linguistics Conference. Denver, CO, USA.
PRESENTATION · 2024
Litzenberg, J., Matson, N., Liu, T., Darty, E., Luo, Y., Benton-Monahan, C., & Liang, D. Decolonizing inherent coloniality: Innovative approaches to adult ELT. Roundtable presented at the Applied Linguistics Conference, Penn State. University Park, PA, USA.
PRESENTATION · 2023
Luo, Y. Academic writer identity construction and L2 socialization through peer feedback. TESOL International Convention. Portland, OR, USA.
PRESENTATION · 2022
Luo, Y., & Wang, C. Negotiating in online collaborative writing: A case study from an academic discourse socialization perspective. American Association for Applied Linguistics Conference. Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
PUBLICATION · 2021
Wang, C., & Luo, Y. (2021). Interaction in synchronous hybrid English classes. Language Teaching, 54(4), 578–582. https://doi.org/10.1017/S026144482100029X ↗
PRESENTATION · 2021
Luo, Y. Agency in second language academic discourse socialization: A Chinese undergraduate in mechanical engineering. American Association for Applied Linguistics Conference. Virtual.
2
Research appointments
Selected roles show the research work behind my agenda, from classroom-interaction analysis and technology mapping to independently led human–AI inquiry.
Principal Investigator
Penn StateDesigned and validated a grant-funded human–AI collaborative workflow for coding EFL writing dialogues, then presented the findings and prepared the resulting manuscript.
Part-Time Researcher
School of Foreign Languages · Southwest Jiaotong UniversityLed data analysis, manuscript preparation, and revision for a first-authored study on AI-assisted approaches to making L1 transfer visible in EFL writing.
Research Assistant
Center for Language Acquisition · Penn StateCatalogued technology-assisted language-learning tools and coordinated pedagogy workshops connecting international scholars in applied linguistics and generative AI.
Research Assistant
College of Education · Penn StateTranscribed classroom interaction and conducted interviews, then carried out qualitative coding, thematic analysis, and complementary quantitative analysis of longitudinal data.
PROGRAMMING
Python · R · SQL
CORPUS & TEXT ANALYSIS
AntConc · #LancsBox · SBERT · embeddings · syntactic complexity
AI SYSTEMS
LLM APIs · prompt chaining · RAG · custom mediators · Streamlit
QUALITATIVE
NVivo · discourse and interaction analysis · inter-rater reliability
PEDAGOGY IN PRACTICE
Teaching
How can instruction support learners without doing the thinking for them?
Through dialogue and graduated mediation, I help students move from supported to independent work.
Corpus & Research Methods
CurrentAPLNG 578 · Computational and Statistical Methods for Corpus Analysis
Co-InstructorAcademic Writing
ESL 15 · ESL Composition for American Academic Communication II
Instructor of RecordIntensive English & EAP
Academic Literacy 150 & 160 · Reading and Writing Stories: Short Fiction · KAUST Writing Workshop
Instructor of RecordTeacher Education
CI 280 · Introduction to Teaching English Language Learners
Instructor of RecordChinese Language Tutoring
Chinese Flagship Program · Indiana University Bloomington
Tutor1Dialogic mediation
2Self-regulation
3Writing as a public act
4Judgment in the age of AI
TEACHING RANGE
Academic Writing & EAP · Second Language Writing · SLA · Language Assessment · Corpus Linguistics · Research Methods · TESOL Methods · AI in Language Education
RECOGNITION & SERVICE
Academic record
Professional service, fellowships, grants, and awards in applied linguistics and language education.
1
Academic citizenship
Leadership and service across departmental, university, and disciplinary communities.
How can service outlast a single leadership term?
I build programs around community needs and create structures that continue to serve people after my term ends.
300+
Average participants in AAAL webinars and conference sessions co-planned and executed.
80+
Participants across four needs-driven events during my PDC chairship.
Committee Member, Curriculum and Assessment Committee
Intensive English Communication Program, Penn State
Member, Graduate Student Council
American Association for Applied Linguistics
Chair, Professional Development Committee
Penn State Applied Linguistics
Committee Member
University Committee on Learning and Assessment, Penn State
Chair, Event Planning Committee
AAAL Graduate Student Council
2
Grants, fellowships, and awards
Fellowships, grants, and awards supporting research, teaching, and graduate study.
External
Dissertation Writing Support Grant
National Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations (NFMLTA)($2,500)
University and Graduate School Level
Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School Student Persistence Scholarship
Penn State($5,000)
C-SoDA Accelerator Award
Center for Social Data Analytics, Penn State($1,000)
Graduate Student Travel Grant
Penn State Global($1,500)
Graduate Scholar Award
College of the Liberal Arts and the Graduate School, Penn State($1,060 annually)
Harold F. Martin Graduate Assistant Outstanding Teaching Award
Penn State(College of Education nominee)
Robert W. Graham Endowed Graduate Fellowship
The Graduate School, Penn State($1,650)
College Level
Gil Watz Graduate Dissertation Fellowship in Languages and Linguistics
Center for Language Acquisition, College of the Liberal Arts, Penn State(one-semester teaching release, Fall 2026)
Liberal Arts Humanities Release
College of the Liberal Arts, Penn State(one-semester teaching release)
Superior Teaching and Research (STAR) Award
College of the Liberal Arts, Penn State($500)
Incentive Award
College of the Liberal Arts, Penn State($500)
TEACHING CREDENTIALS2025 2023 2019
CIRTL Associate-Level Teaching Certificate
Penn State
Ethical Pedagogy Certificate
Penn State
Graduate Student Online Teaching Certificate
Penn State
MANUSCRIPT REVIEWER
Journal of English for Academic Purposes · Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching · Ampersand · Journal of Writing & Pedagogy · Language Sciences and Bilingualism · Digital Studies in Language and Literature
MEMBERSHIPS & LANGUAGES
AAAL · TESOL International Association
Mandarin Chinese · English · French