Dylan Burton
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dylanburton.bsky.social
Dylan Burton
@dylanburton.bsky.social
500 followers 160 following 21 posts
Assistant Professor at Georgia State University. MSU and Lancaster alum. My research focus is on language testing and assessment. Learn more about me here: https://dylanburton.hcommons.org
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dylanburton.bsky.social
Dylan Burton @dylanburton.bsky.social · 14d
How do untrained listeners report using nonverbal behavior in their perceptions and judgements of L2 ability? I explore this topic and more in my latest article just out in The Modern Language Journal. Read more here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
<em>The Modern Language Journal</em> | NFMLTA Journal | Wiley Online Library
This study investigated linguistic laypersons’ use of nonverbal behavior when formulating judgments of second language (L2) ability. Eighty-three first language (L1) English-speaking participants wat...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
dylanburton.bsky.social
How do untrained listeners report using nonverbal behavior in their perceptions and judgements of L2 ability? I explore this topic and more in my latest article just out in The Modern Language Journal. Read more here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
<em>The Modern Language Journal</em> | NFMLTA Journal | Wiley Online Library
This study investigated linguistic laypersons’ use of nonverbal behavior when formulating judgments of second language (L2) ability. Eighty-three first language (L1) English-speaking participants wat...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 11, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Reposted by Dylan Burton
taliaisaacs.bsky.social
Congrats to guest editors Eunice Jang, Yasuyo Sawski & all authors on this blockbuster issue of #LanguageTesting on the AI revolution! It’s a hefty issue with 7 articles, an opening Editorial & an insightful post-script by @lukeharding.bsky.social. Now out here: journals.sagepub.com/toc/LTJ/curr...
October 28, 2025 at 7:28 AM
Reposted by Dylan Burton
danielrisbell.bsky.social
We recruited a large number of layperson listeners to complete transcriptions (one utterance at a time) and comprehensibility ratings of archived Aptis responses and compared those listener-based measures to official scores. Methodologically this is one of my favorite projects!
October 17, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Reposted by Dylan Burton
danielrisbell.bsky.social
Our new study on intelligibility and comprehensibility in the @britishcouncil.bsky.social Aptis General exam is out now in SiLA. Intelligibility distinguishes A1/above A1, but it's generally comprehensibility that is associated with higher levels of performance.

www.altaanz.org/7_sila_14_1_...
7._sila_14_1__Isbell et al.
Intelligibility and comprehensibility across Aptis Speaking tasks
www.altaanz.org
October 17, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Reposted by Dylan Burton
mixedlinguist.bsky.social
Sycophantic LLMs rob us of the chance to practice what makes us human: thought, revision, interaction, introspection. I’m much more worried about everyone losing those skills than I am about a Terminator-style end of the world.
malwaretech.com Marcus Hutchins @malwaretech.com · Oct 17
You know how billionaires end up with severe cognitive deficits as a result of becoming surrounded by yes men who constantly tell them their every idea is genius? What if we made a bot that just does that to everyone. I think that would be a good idea.
October 17, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Reposted by Dylan Burton
epiphenomenal.bsky.social
Accurate.

#academia #academy #philsky #philosophysky #philosophy #science
October 11, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Reposted by Dylan Burton
pauliinapeltonen.com
Happy to announce that our article (w/ Sandra Götz & @pekkalintunen.bsky.social) exploring L1 & L2 speech #fluency in monologue + dialogue is now out in SSLA (OA)! Part of the recently completed #FDF2 project (funded by the Research Council of Finland). #FlowLangGroup @utu.fi doi.org/10.1017/S027...
The Impact of L1 Speaking Style, Task Mode, and L2 Proficiency on L2 Fluency: A Within-subject Study of Monologic and Dialogic Speech | Studies in Second Language Acquisition | Cambridge Core
The Impact of L1 Speaking Style, Task Mode, and L2 Proficiency on L2 Fluency: A Within-subject Study of Monologic and Dialogic Speech
doi.org
October 8, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Reposted by Dylan Burton
grrrck.xyz
ggplot2 4.0.0 is out and the new `paper`, `ink`, `accent` theme variables look super cool! Just pick 2-3 colors 🎨 to make your plots look great! I'm excited to hook this up to brand.yml 😉
A ggplot2 plot showing a classic `mpg` scatter plot. The code uses `theme_gray()` with `paper = "cornstalk"` for a light yellow background, `ink = "navy"` for navy blue text and points, and `accent = "tomato"` which is applied to the smoothing line created with `geom_smooth()`
September 11, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Reposted by Dylan Burton
dingdingpeng.the100.ci
Ever stared at a table of regression coefficients & wondered what you're doing with your life?

Very excited to share this gentle introduction to another way of making sense of statistical models (w @vincentab.bsky.social)
Preprint: doi.org/10.31234/osf...
Website: j-rohrer.github.io/marginal-psy...
Models as Prediction Machines: How to Convert Confusing Coefficients into Clear Quantities Abstract Psychological researchers usually make sense of regression models by interpreting coefficient estimates directly. This works well enough for simple linear models, but is more challenging for more complex models with, for example, categorical variables, interactions, non-linearities, and hierarchical structures. Here, we introduce an alternative approach to making sense of statistical models. The central idea is to abstract away from the mechanics of estimation, and to treat models as “counterfactual prediction machines,” which are subsequently queried to estimate quantities and conduct tests that matter substantively. This workflow is model-agnostic; it can be applied in a consistent fashion to draw causal or descriptive inference from a wide range of models. We illustrate how to implement this workflow with the marginaleffects package, which supports over 100 different classes of models in R and Python, and present two worked examples. These examples show how the workflow can be applied across designs (e.g., observational study, randomized experiment) to answer different research questions (e.g., associations, causal effects, effect heterogeneity) while facing various challenges (e.g., controlling for confounders in a flexible manner, modelling ordinal outcomes, and interpreting non-linear models). Figure illustrating model predictions. On the X-axis the predictor, annual gross income in Euro. On the Y-axis the outcome, predicted life satisfaction. A solid line marks the curve of predictions on which individual data points are marked as model-implied outcomes at incomes of interest. Comparing two such predictions gives us a comparison. We can also fit a tangent to the line of predictions, which illustrates the slope at any given point of the curve. A figure illustrating various ways to include age as a predictor in a model. On the x-axis age (predictor), on the y-axis the outcome (model-implied importance of friends, including confidence intervals). Illustrated are 1. age as a categorical predictor, resultings in the predictions bouncing around a lot with wide confidence intervals 2. age as a linear predictor, which forces a straight line through the data points that has a very tight confidence band and 3. age splines, which lies somewhere in between as it smoothly follows the data but has more uncertainty than the straight line.
August 25, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Reposted by Dylan Burton
cambup-linguistics.cambridge.org
New issue of Studies in Second Language Acquisition now available

📚 cup.org/47eF6ql

#SSLA #appliedlinguistics #LangSky
cover of the journal Studies in Second Language Acquisition
August 22, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Reposted by Dylan Burton
jessgrieser.com
While I'm dispensing computer advice, to any new graduate students:

Save all your article PDFs using the same template. I like LASTNAME YEAR SHORT TITLE/DESCRIPTION, like

Labov 1963 Marthas Vineyard

Save them all in just one giant folder, not piecemeal by class. Thank me when you're tenured.
August 21, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Reposted by Dylan Burton
ryanpbowles.bsky.social
The new Cracker Barrel logo is the visual version of a 50 year old saying skibidi.
August 21, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Reposted by Dylan Burton
vincentab.bsky.social
{tinytable} 0.13.0 for #RStats can now draw interactive tables with sorting, filtering & pages!

And the 📦 is still an ultra-simple, powerful, and 0-dep way to create beautiful tables in basically any format: tex, typ, docx, pdf, png, md, etc

Gallery & Docs: vincentarelbundock.github.io/tinytable/
August 19, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Reposted by Dylan Burton
statsepi.bsky.social
Papers often conclude "more research is needed" without explanation. This is a missed opportunity. You are the expert. This is your time to shine. Explain what the remaining uncertainties are, and give justified recommendations on what the research needed to resolve them should look like.
August 11, 2025 at 7:01 AM
Reposted by Dylan Burton
dingdingpeng.the100.ci
I've said it before, and I will say it again:

It's astonishing how emotionally aversive revisions are, even in the best possible case (reviewers are positive and have very actionable remarks).

Or at least that's how I work; if anybody has some good recommendations for coping, do let me know 😂
August 7, 2025 at 9:25 AM
Reposted by Dylan Burton
mixedlinguist.bsky.social
I shouldn't wade into this discourse, but LANGUAGE CHANGES and old people always hate what kids are doing. This is fine, especially if the author intends it to be euphemistic. Language policing always ends in systematic discrimination against marginalized people. We don't want to go down this road!
bookspotlight.bsky.social Indie Book Spotlight @bookspotlight.bsky.social · Aug 4
If you write ‘unalive’ in prose or character dialogue, in your NOVEL - which I have seen TWICE NOW - I will immediately wince and full body cringe. The TikTokification of words has to stop. Your character almost DIED or was KILLED in your novel. They were not almost ‘unalived’.
August 7, 2025 at 1:22 AM
Reposted by Dylan Burton
langtestjournal.bsky.social
Now available in OnlineFirst, Shungo Suzuki and colleagues propose a new approach to weakness identification for L2 speaking skills in diagnostic language assessment (DLA), with an AI-driven DLA program that uses contextualized diagnostic feedback to improve lexical use. doi.org/10.1177/0265...
August 5, 2025 at 3:38 AM
Reposted by Dylan Burton
dingdingpeng.the100.ci
At this point, I might as well --
Here's an infographic showing different ways to include age as a predictor. The top shows two extremes, just as a plain old numerical predictor (imposes linear trajectory) vs. categorical predictor (imposes nothing whatsoever). And then three solutions in between!
Infographic illustrating different ways to model age. First panel shows two "extreme" cases; including age as a linear numerical predictor (df = 1) or including age as a categorical predictor (df = number of years of age minus 1). Second panel shows an intermediate solution in which age is categorized into broader bins (df = number of categories minus 1, here 5 - 1 = 4). Third panel shows an intermediate solution in which age is included with a polynomial (df = degrees of freedom of the polynomial, here 4). Fourth panel shows an intermediate solution in which age is modeled with the help of splines (df = degrees of freedom of the splines, here 4).
July 16, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Reposted by Dylan Burton
langtestjournal.bsky.social
Call for Special Issue abstracts is now open! The Language Testing Special Issue theme of 2027 is “Language Assessment and Policy”. Abstract submission deadline: October 1, 2025. journals.sagepub.com/page/ltj/spe...
July 8, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Reposted by Dylan Burton
danielrisbell.bsky.social
Our study of English proficiency tests in US R1 university admissions circa late 2023 has been published in #LanguageTesting. Some highlights:
- TOEFL, IELTS, DET, PTE are most widely used
- Most institutions accept around 5 different tests
- Some mismatches in cut scores across tests
...
A survey of English language proficiency tests in international student admissions at US research-intensive universities - Nicholas Coney, Daniel R. Isbell, 2025
Over one million international students are enrolled in US higher education institutions. To be admitted into one of these degree-granting institutions, interna...
journals.sagepub.com
July 8, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Reposted by Dylan Burton
dingdingpeng.the100.ci
Let's say you want to include age as a predictor in your model. How do you do that?

Here's an illustration of three options -- it's for a paper I'm working on (so if you feel like anything could be tweaked...).
Plot that depicts the average importance people in my data assign to their friendships (y-axis, on a scale from 1 to 5, depicted with 95% confidence intervals) by their age (x-axis, from 18 to 60). Depicted are 3 different ways to model importance of friends as a function of age. Using age as a linear predictor: this imposes a linear trajectory which comes with very tight confidence intervals (i.e., uncertainty is low). Using age as a categorical predictor: this imposes no trajectory whatsoever but instead simply reproduces the means by age. The confidence intervals are very wide, in particular for those ages not well represented in the data (i.e., uncertainty is high). Age splines: This results in a smooth trajectory that follows some of the bumps in the data, but not all of them. The confidence intervals are somewhere between the linear and the categorical case (i.e., uncertainty is medium)
July 8, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Reposted by Dylan Burton
langtestjournal.bsky.social
Now available in Online First, Michael Suhan and Mikyung Kim Wolf compare the performance of GPT-4, human ratings, and an existing automated writing evaluation model in scoring the writing responses of young EFL learners on the TOEFL Junior Writing rest.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
July 1, 2025 at 1:31 AM
Reposted by Dylan Burton
dingdingpeng.the100.ci
Kowall et al. published a multi-analyst epi study on the effect of marital status on cardiovascular disease (link.springer.com/article/10.1...). What can be learned from this effort? Check out our new commentary! link.springer.com/article/10.1...
with @mendelrandom.bsky.social & Marcus Munafò
What can be learned when multiple analysts arrive at different estimates Kowall et al. (2025) have brought the multi-analyst approach to epidemiology, with instructive results. With this approach, multiple researchers analyze the same data set to answer the same research question. Or, at least, what appears to be the same research question. In fact, the very first paper that popularized this approach [1] has been criticized for using a vague research question (“Are soccer referees more likely to give red cards to players with dark skin tone than light skin tone?”), which apparently led the analysts to try to answer quite different questions—from a simple question about a bivariate statistical association to much more complex causal questions about racial bias [2]. In contrast, the research question passed on to analysts in Kowall et al. (2025) seems less ambiguous: Does marital status influence the incidence of cardiovascular disease? But less ambiguous does not equal unambiguous. Considerable...
May 30, 2025 at 5:56 AM
dylanburton.bsky.social
Waking up in Salzburg ready for the kickoff of #EALTA2025! Karen Dunn and I are starting our workshop today on modeling clustered and repeated language assessment data in R.
May 26, 2025 at 5:23 AM
Reposted by Dylan Burton
danielrisbell.bsky.social
Luke Plonsky has put together a directory of Applied Linguistics graduate programs in the US (in progress! get in touch if you have any others to add) over at Applied Linguistics Press. Great resource for prospective grad students and those interested in taking stock of the field.
Grad Programs
This page serves as a directory of graduate-level programs in applied linguistics. Its main purpose is to help prospective students find PhD/EdD programs that might match their scholarly interests as ...
www.appliedlinguisticspress.org
May 19, 2025 at 7:19 PM