[Victor D. O. Santos ]

Victor D. O. Santos

PhD student in Applied Linguistics and Technology Office: 439 Ross Hall

English Department- Iowa State University Email: vdsantos@iastate.edu

Ames, Iowa, USA 50011 Linkedin1: see footnote

Nationality: Brazilian

EDUCATION

2011 – 2015 Doctoral student in Applied Linguistics and

Technology (specializing in Language Testing) at Iowa

State University, USA. PhD dissertation title: A computer-

adaptive test of productive academic vocabulary knowledge

(AVK).

2009 – 2011 Master of Science in Language and Communication

Technologies (Erasmus Mundus). University of Saarland,

Germany (1st year) and University of Groningen,

Netherlands (2nd year). Thesis topic: Towards Automated

Essay Scoring: A Machine Learning Approach.

2005 - 2008 Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics. Federal University of

Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

SELECTED COURSES

Iowa State University (ISU)

- Item Response Theory (Stat 599X)- G-theory and Item Response Theory (Engl 630)- Computer-Based Language Assessment (Engl 623)- Statistical Computing Applications (Stat 480)- Validity (Engl 630)- Second Language Assessment (Engl 519)- Second Language Acquisition (Engl 517)- Computer Methods in Applied Linguistics (Engl 510)- Methods in Teaching Listening and and Speaking to Non-Native Speakers of

English (Engl 525)- Computer-Assisted Language Learning (Engl 526)- Statistical Methods for Research Workers (Stat 401)

1 www.linkedin.com/pub/victor-santos/1a/745/575/

[Victor D. O. Santos ]

University of Groningen (RUG) and University of Saarland (UDS)

- Foundation of Language Science and Technology- Syntactic Theory- Artificial Intelligence- Anaphora Resolution- Recent Developments in Computational Semantics- Multi-Modal, Ontology-Based Dialogue Systems- Statistical Natural Language Processing- Basic Algorithms for Computational Linguistics- Speech Technology- Syntactic and Semantic Theory- Natural Language Processing- Computer Assisted Language Learning and Assessment (CALLA)

Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG)

- Introduction to Linguistics 1 and 2- General Linguistics : Linguistic Research Methodology- Semantics- Linguistic Analysis Models- The Phonetics and Morphology of Natural Languages- Cognitive Linguistic Aspects- Introduction to Generative Grammar- Syntax and Phonology- Cognitive Language Models- Bilingual Sentence Processing

RESEARCH AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

March 2015 – May 2015 Language assessment specialist with the language-learning

start-up Mango Languages (position based in Farmington

Hills, MI)

Jan 2015 – March 2015 Language-learning specialist with the Israeli language-

learning start-up Lingua.ly (position based in Tel-Aviv)

Aug 2013-June 2014 Researcher for the English Placement Test (EPT) at

Iowa State University. The EPT tests over 900 students a

year and my tasks involved item and passage development,

[Victor D. O. Santos ]

item reviews, test analysis, report writing, alignment with

ESL courses, and development of more valid ítem types.

Aug 2013 – now Rater for the English Placement Test (EPT) at

Iowa State University.

May 2013 – Aug 2013 Language assessment intern at Cambridge

Michigan Language Assessments (CaMLA), Ann Arbor,

MI. Project: MTELP series. Tasks involved test

development, form compilation, item development and

review, report writing, item analysis, passage writing, and

other tasks. Framework of Project: CEFR.

June 2013 – Aug 2013 External item writer for Second Language Testing Inc.

(SLTI).

Aug 2012 – May 2013 ESL instructor at Iowa State’s IEOP program (Intensive

English Orientation Program). ESL/EFL classes.

May 2012 – July 2012 Language assessment intern at Second Language Testing

Inc. (SLTI), in Maryland, USA. Responsibilities included,

among others, rendering of target language passages, item

analysis, recording original passages, and writing test items

for the Brazilian Portuguese DLPT (Defense Language

Proficiency Test) according to the ILR scale.

Feb 2012 – Oct 2013 Essay rater for Rebecca-Present Thomas (University of

Amsterdam), according to the CEFR proficiency scale. This

project was funded by the Pearson Assessment and

Information group.

Feb 2012 – May 2012 Research assistant and ESL materials developer for the

Department of State’s (DOS) Eng@ging Materials for

Global English project, under the coordination of Professor

Volker Hegelheimer and Professor Carol Chapelle.

[Victor D. O. Santos ]

2011 – now ESL and English Instructor at Iowa State University

(both undergraduate and graduate level, native and

non-native students)

2011 ESL essay rater in Professor Marjolijn Verspoor’s

group, Universty of Groningen, Netherlands.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

UNIVERSITY LEVEL

2014 Instructor for courses Academic Writing at Iowa State

University (Engl 101C, undergraduate level) and for

Advanced Communication Skills for International

Teaching Assistants (Engl 180D). Ames, IA.

2013 Instructor for course Academic Writing (Engl 101D) at

Iowa State University (graduate level course for M.A and

PhD students). Ames, IA.

2012 Instructor for course Written, Oral, Visual, and

Electronic Communication (Engl 250) at Iowa State

University (undergraduate level course). Ames, IA.

2012 ESL instructor at the Intensive English Program (IEOP)

at Iowa State University. Courses taught: ESL Reading,

ESL Writing, and ESL Speaking (pre-entrance program).

Ames, IA.

2011 Instructor for course Critical Thinking and

Communication (Engl 150) at Iowa State University

(undergraduate level course). Ames, IA.

OTHER

[Victor D. O. Santos ]

2007 - 2008 ESL instructor at Cultura Inglesa

Belo Horizonte, Brazil

2005 - 2008 ESL instructor at By The Way Intensive English

Courses

Belo Horizonte, Brazil

2004 ESL instructor at Mai English

Belo Horizonte, Brazil

2004 ESL instructor at Greensystem Idioms

Belo Horizonte, Brazil

REFEREED PUBLICATIONS

Santos, Victor D. O. (2014). Can Images, Colors, and Voices Help Learners Acquire the

Grammatical Gender of German Nouns? (accepted to the Language

Teaching Research journal).

Santos, Victor D.O. (2013). An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Language Testing (5th

edition), by Seyyed Abbas Mousavi. Language Testing Journal, 31(1). Book

review.

Santos, Victor D.O. (2013) Fluenz Mandarin Levels 1 &2 with Supplemental Audio

CDs and Podcasts. Calico Journal, 30(1), pp. 124-141. pdf file

Santos, Victor D.O., Verspoor, M. & Nerbonne, J. (2013). Identifying Important Factors

in Essay Grading using Machine Learning. In Tsagari D. & Papadima-Sophocleous

(Eds), International Experiences in Language Testing and Assessment (Language

Testing and Evaluation series, vol. 28). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang GmbH.

ISBN: 978-3-631-63603-9, pp. 295-309.

Santos, Victor D.O. (2011). Rosetta Stone Portuguese (Brazil) levels 1, 2 & 3 Personal

Edition Version 4 (TOTALe). Calico Journal, 29(1), pp 177-194. pdf file

[Victor D. O. Santos ]

NON-REFEREED PUBLICATIONS

Santos, Victor D.O. (2011). Automatic Essay Scoring: Machine Learning meets

Applied Linguistics. Unpublished M.S. thesis, University of Groningen, Groningen,

Netherlands and University of Saarland, Saarbrücken, Germany. pdf file

Santos, Victor D. O. (2008). Languages of the World and their Case

Marking. The Brazilian language Xavante: A Case study. Unpublished B.A thesis,

Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil. pdf file

SELECTED CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

Santos, Victor D. O. (October, 2014). Towards a Computer-Adaptive Rasch-Based Test

of Productive Academic Vocabulary Knowledge (AVK). MwALT 2014 (Midwest

Association of Language Testers and Technology for Second Language Learning

Conference), Ann Arbor, MI. (poster accepted)

Carrillo, A., Santos, Victor D.O., & Suvorov, R. (May, 2014). Assessment practices,

issues, and implications in online language classes.  Computer Assisted Language

Instruction Consortium (CALICO) conference. Athens, OH, USA. (paper)

Santos, Victor D. O. (September, 2013). Automated Speech Evaluation: Current Issues

and Capabilities. MWALT 2013. Michigan State University. East Lansing, MI.

(paper)

Santos, Victor D. O. (June, 2012). A Quasi-synesthetic Approach to the Learning of

Words and their Grammatical Features: Colors, Voices and Pictures. Computer

Assisted Language Instruction Consortium (CALICO) conference 2012, University

of Notre Dame University, Indiana. (paper)

Santos, Victor D. O. (April, 2012). A Quasi-synesthetic Approach to the Learning of

Vocabulary. CCERBAL 2012, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (paper)

[Victor D. O. Santos ]

Santos, Victor D. O. (September, 2011). How can machine learning help towards

automated essay scoring? MwALT 2011 (Midwest Association of Language

Testers and Technology for Second Language Learning Conference), Ames, Iowa.

(paper)

Santos, Victor D. O., Verspoor, M., Nerbonne, J. (June, 2011). Towards Automatic

Essay Scoring: Machine Learning Meets Applied Linguistics. 32nd TABU Dag

2011. Groningen, Netherlands (paper)

Santos, Victor D. O., Verspoor, M., Nerbonne, J. (2011). Automatic Essay Scoring:

Machine Learning Meets Applied Linguistics. 1st International Conference on

Language Testing and Assessment. 3-5 June, 2011. Nicosia, Cyprus (poster)

Santos, Victor D. O., Verspoor, M., Nerbonne, J. (2008). Sistemas de Marcacão de

Caso em Línguas Indígenas Brasileiras / Case Marking Systems in Indigenous

Brazilian Languages. Grupo de Estudos Linguisticos (GEL). Federal University of

Minas Gerais, Brazil. (panel)

SERVICE

2014 – now Reviewer for the Language Learning and Technology Journal

2013 – now President and founder of the Language Assessment Diffusion

Organization (L.A.D.O.) at Iowa State University

2013 – now Reviewer for the CALICO Journal

2013 – 2014 Senator for the English Department with the Graduate and

Professional Student Senate (GPSS) at Iowa State University

2012 – 2013 Social Committee co-chair for the Applied Linguistics and

Technology PhD program at Iowa State University.

LANGUAGE SKILLS, LANGUAGE CERTIFICATES AND ESL TEACHING

CERTIFICATES/ENDORSEMENTS

[Victor D. O. Santos ]

LANGUAGE SKILLS

- Portuguese (native)

- English (native-like)

- French (lower-advanced)

- German (high beginner)

- Dutch (beginner)

- Spanish (high beginner, simply due to its similarity to Portuguese

- Russian (beginner)

LANGUAGE CERTIFICATES

FRENCH   :

ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE

2008 DALF C1 (Diplôme Approfondi de Langue Française), Belo

Horizonte, Brazil

ENGLISH:

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN (USA)

2001 ECCE (Certificate of Competency in English), Belo Horizonte,

Brazil

2001 ECPE (Certificate of Proficiency in English), Belo Horizonte,

Brazil

UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE (U.K)

2001 FCE (First Certificate in English), Belo Horizonte, Brazil

2001 CAE (Certificate in Advanced English), Belo Horizonte, Brazil

2002 CPE (Certificate of Proficiency in English), Belo Horizonte, Brazil

ESL TEACHING CERTIFICATES/ENDORSEMENTS

UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER (ENGLAND)

[Victor D. O. Santos ]

2005 ACE (Access Certificate in English Language Teaching), in a

partnership with City and Guilds Qualifications, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE (U.K)

2006 ICELT (In-service Certificate in English Language Teaching), Belo

Horizonte, Brazil. Two of the modules passed with either merit or

distinction . Equivalent to a DELTA certificate.

TECHNOLOGY SKILLS AND PROGRAMS

Jmetrik intermediate

SPSS intermediate

Excel intermediate

Winsteps basic

Facets basic

BILOG-MG intermediate

WEKA intermediate

Coh-Metrix basic

R intermediate, but currently learning

Python basic, since I have not worked with it for a while now.

AWARDS

2014 Graduate College Emerging Leaders Academy selected member,

Iowa State University. Selected from a large pool of graduate and

post-doc applicants.

2011 Grannis Award, Iowa Statte University. For students showing high

research potential.

2009 Winner of the Erasmus Mundus (European Commission)

2-year scholarship for the M.S program in Language and

Communication Technologies. Selected out of over 450 applicants.

2005 Winner of the Brazilian phase of the English Speaking Union

International Public Speaking Competition and a finalist (8 best) of the

international phase of the same competition in London (out of 72 national

[Victor D. O. Santos ]

winners, including native speakers of English). No native speakers of

English made it to the final.

ORGANIZATIONS

2014 – now : International Association of Language Testing (ILTA)

2014 – now : International Association for Computerized Adaptive Testing (IACAT)

Ames, USA, September 2014