Celebrating UW–Madison English Department Student Contributions at WiGL 19

The Linguistics Student Organization (LSO) successfully hosted the 19th Workshop in General Linguistics (WiGL 19) from March 14–16.The conference featured thirty presentations and posters from students at UW–Madison and institutions around the world, creating a vibrant environment for sharing ideas and research. Held both in-person at Helen C. White Hall and online, the event highlighted a wide-ranging of topics in the field of linguistics.

Professor Dr. Kelly Wright from UW–Madison opened the conference with her keynote talk, Reciprocal Methods: A Career Retrospective, setting the stage for two days of thought-provoking discussions and presentations.

This year, the UW–Madison English Department was proud to see several of its students among the presenters:

  •   Joseph Moran, a PhD student in the English Language and Linguistics Program, delivered his work, Evolving Possibilities: A Corpus Linguistics Investigation of Methods in the Philosophy of Science. Using 90 years of Philosophy of Science articles, his research examined linguistic patterns that reveal shifts in philosophical methodology and epistemic authority.
ELL graduate student Joseph Moran giving his talk.
  •   Kuangzi Li, an MA student in the Applied English Linguistics Program, shared his work titled Unveiling Pronoun Patterns: Distinguishing Native English Speakers and Japanese Learners through Computational Linguistic Analysis. His study employed Natural Language Processing techniques, including Neural Networks and Large Language Models, to achieve over 90% accuracy in identifying native and non-native speakers based on pronoun usage.
    • AEL graduate student Kuangzi Li presenting his research.
  •   Jill McLeod, an MA student in the Applied English Linguistics Program, showcased her poster, “Well, Here Is My Advice”: pragmatic transfer in L2 English and L2 Korean. Her work highlighted pragmatic transfer in advice-giving across linguistic and cultural contexts.
    • AEL graduate student Jill McLeod next to her research poster.
  •   Vatcharit “Pond” Chantajinda, a PhD student in the English Language and Linguistics Program, contributed to the success of the conference by serving as a session moderator, ensuring smooth coordination throughout the event.

    • WiGL 19 exemplified the vibrant academic collaboration and innovation in the field of linguistics. The English Department at UW–Madison is proud of its students for their impressive contributions to this highly regarded conference.