I am an F.R.S.-FNRS research fellow pursuing a joint doctoral degree at UCLouvain and KU Leuven, in Belgium.

I obtained an MA in Philology from KU Leuven in 2013 and an MA in Computational Linguistics from UCLouvain in 2015. After graduation, I worked as a 1-year research assistant in the domain of automated writing assessment (2015-2016).

Since October 2016, I have been conducting my doctoral research in the domains of applied and computational linguistics, under the supervision of Professors Cédrick Fairon, Piet Desmet, and Thomas François. My doctoral research focuses on the empirical validation of word-level readability models for predicting the lexical difficulty when reading in French and Dutch as a foreign language.

I am interested in research at the intersection of computational linguistics, second language acquisition, and intelligent computer-assisted language learning. I take a particular interest in readability assessment and the question of how we can empirically measure, statistically model, and automatically predict the role lexical difficulty and complexity plays in the reading process.

Interests
  • Second/Foreign Language Acquisition
  • Readability
  • Vocabulary Comprehension
  • Lexical Complexity
  • Machine Learning
  • Intelligent Computer Assisted Language Learning

Corpora & Resources

CEFR ASAG

A corpus of short answers written by learners of English and graded with CEFR levels

 Project Paper
NT2Lex

A CEFR-graded lexical resource for Dutch as a foreign language

 Project Paper
Alector alignments

Alignments in the French Alector corpus with reading errors made by dyslexic and poor-reading children

 Project Paper

Publications

2020
Conference Proceedings
Gala Nuria · Tack Anaïs · Javourey-Drevet Ludivine · François Thomas · Ziegler Johannes
Alector: A Parallel Corpus of Simplified French Texts with Alignments of Misreadings by Poor and Dyslexic Readers
Proceedings of the 12th Language Resources and Evaluation Conference (LREC 2020)
 Paper
2019
Conference Abstracts
Gala Núria · David Catherine · Tack Anaïs · François Thomas
Assessing Vocabulary Knowledge for Learners of French as a Foreign Language: Accounting for L1 Variability to Go Beyond the CEFR Scale
The 27th Conference of the European Association for Computer-Assisted Language Learning (EUROCALL 2019) · Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Tack Anaïs · François Thomas · Desmet Piet · Fairon Cédrick
The Prediction of Lexical Competence in Foreign Language Reading: A Systematic Synthesis
The 27th Conference of the European Association for Computer-Assisted Language Learning (EUROCALL 2019) · Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Tack Anaïs · François Thomas · Desmet Piet · Fairon Cédrick
The Role of Cognate Vocabulary in CEFR-Based Word-Level Readability Assessment
Vocab@Leuven International Conference · Leuven, Belgium
Tack Anaïs
Towards a Contextualization of Complexity to Better the Prediction of Lexical Competence in L2 Reading
Colloquium "Broadening the Scope of L2 Complexity Research" · VUB Campus Etterbeek, Brussels, Belgium
2018
Conference Abstracts
Tack Anaïs · François Thomas · Desmet Piet · Fairon Cédrick
CEFR-Based Complex Word Identification for French and Dutch L2
PLIN Linguistic Day 2018 on "Technological Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching" · Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Tack Anaïs · François Thomas · Desmet Piet · Fairon Cédrick
Making Sense of L2 Lexical Complexity with NT2Lex, a CEFR-Graded Lexicon Linked to Open Dutch WordNet
The XIXth International Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) Research Conference · Bruges, Belgium
Conference Proceedings
De Hertog Dirk · Tack Anaïs
Deep Learning Architecture for Complex Word Identification
Proceedings of the Thirteenth Workshop on Innovative Use of NLP for Building Educational Applications
 Paper
Tack Anaïs · François Thomas · Desmet Piet · Fairon Cédrick
NT2Lex: A CEFR-Graded Lexical Resource for Dutch as a Foreign Language Linked to Open Dutch WordNet
Proceedings of the Thirteenth Workshop on Innovative Use of NLP for Building Educational Applications
 Paper
Yimam Seid · Biemann Chris · Malmasi Shervin · Paetzold Gustavo · Specia Lucia · Štajner Sanja · Tack Anaïs · Zampieri Marcos
A Report on the Complex Word Identification Shared Task 2018
Proceedings of the Thirteenth Workshop on Innovative Use of NLP for Building Educational Applications
 Paper
2017
Conference Abstracts
Tack Anaïs · François Thomas · Desmet Piet · Fairon Cédrick
Introducing NT2Lex: A Machine-Readable CEFR-Graded Lexical Resource for Dutch as a Foreign Language
Computational Linguistics in the Netherlands 27 (CLIN 2017) · Leuven, Belgium
Conference Proceedings
Tack Anaïs · François Thomas · Roekhaut Sophie · Fairon Cédrick
Human and Automated CEFR-Based Grading of Short Answers
Proceedings of the 12th Workshop on Innovative Use of NLP for Building Educational Applications
 Paper
Book Chapters
Volodina Elena · Borin Lars · Pilán Ildikó · François Thomas · Tack Anaïs
SVALex. En Andraspråksordlista Med CEFR-Nivåer
Svenskans Beskrivning
 Paper
2016
Conference Proceedings
François Thomas · Volodina Elena · Pilán Ildikó · Tack Anaïs
SVALex: A CEFR-Graded Lexical Resource for Swedish Foreign and Second Language Learners
Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC 2016)
 Paper
Tack Anaïs · François Thomas · Ligozat Anne-Laure · Fairon Cédrick
Evaluating Lexical Simplification and Vocabulary Knowledge for Learners of French: Possibilities of Using the FLELex Resource
Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC 2016)
 Paper
Tack Anaïs · François Thomas · Ligozat Anne-Laure · Fairon Cédrick
Modèles Adaptatifs Pour Prédire Automatiquement La Compétence Lexicale d’un Apprenant de Français Langue Étrangère
Actes de La 23ème Conférence Sur Le Traitement Automatique Des Langues Naturelles (TALN’16)
 Paper

Experience

Center for Natural Language Processing (CENTAL) UCLouvain
Doctoral Researcher Oct 2016 - now
itec, imec research group KU Leuven
Doctoral Researcher Oct 2016 - now
F.R.S.-FNRS
Research Fellow Oct 2016 - Sept 2020
Center for Natural Language Processing (CENTAL) UCLouvain
Research Assistant Oct 2015 - Sept 2016
Center for Natural Language Processing (CENTAL) UCLouvain
Student Employee Nov 2014 - Sept 2015
Research Stays and Internships
Laboratoire Parole et Langage (LPL-CNRS) Aix-Marseille Université
Visiting Researcher Jun - Aug 2018
Computer Science Laboratory for Mechanics and Engineering Sciences (LIMSI-CNRS) Université Paris-Sud
Research Intern Jul - Aug 2014
Scientific Activities
Member of organizing committees:
EUROCALL Conference (2019), Séminaires du CENTAL (2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19)
Member of program committees:
ACL (2019, 2020), BEA Workshop (2018, 2019, 2020), CoNLL (2019, 2020), EMNLP (2020), READI Workshop (2020)
Teaching Activities
Faculty of Philosophy, Arts and Letters UCLouvain
LFIAL2620 Natural Language Processing 2020-21
Lecturer (Substitute of Prof. dr. Fairon)
Louvain School of Engineering UCLouvain
LINGI2263 Computational Linguistics 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20
Teaching assistant
Faculty of Arts KU Leuven
F0VH5A Computer-Assisted Language Learning 2018, 2019
Invited lecture on 'NLP for CALL'
Faculty of Philosophy, Arts and Letters UCLouvain
LCLIG2220 Overview of applications in NLP 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19
Follow-up of student participation

Education

MA in Linguistics, with a focus on Computational Linguistics
UCLouvain
2013 - 2015 · Major in Natural Language Processing, Minor in Computer Science
MA in Philology
KU Leuven
2012 - 2013 · French and English Linguistics & Literature
BA in Philology
KU Leuven
2009 - 2012 · French and English Linguistics & Literature

Awards and Grants

Outstanding Reviewer @ ACL 2020
Best Poster Presentation @ PLIN Day 2018
Best Paper @ TALN 2016
Aspirant F.R.S.-FNRS Research Fellowship
4-year doctoral research grant awarded (24 June 2016) by the National Fund for Scientific Research, French Community of Belgium