Xiaofei Lu

About

Xiaofei Lu is the George C. and Jane G. Greer Professor of Applied Linguistics and Asian Studies at The Pennsylvania State University, within the Department of Applied Linguistics. He holds a PhD in Linguistics from The Ohio State University, an MA by research in English Language from the National University of Singapore, and a BA in English from Nankai University. His research interests encompass corpus linguistics, second language writing, English for Academic Purposes, computer-assisted language learning, and second language acquisition. Much of his work focuses on computational and quantitative analyses of linguistic complexity in reading materials, second language production, and academic writing. Currently, his research explores sense-aware measurements of linguistic complexity that consider the specific meanings of polysemous linguistic forms in context, mappings between linguistic forms and rhetorical/pragmatic functions in language production, and their applications in corpus-based genre pedagogy, as well as applications of large language models and generative AI in language teaching and assessment. Professor Lu's research has been recognized globally; the August 2025 data update for "Updated science-wide author databases of standardized citation indicators" ranked his research #48 for single-year impact and #164 for career-long impact among the top 2% most-cited scientists in the Languages & Linguistics subfield worldwide. He and his collaborators received the 2023…

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Natural Language Processing
• Artificial Intelligence
• Linguistics
• Sociology
• Psychology
• Medicine
• Mathematics education
• Cognitive psychology
• Communication

Selected publications

• Aggressive intraoperative warming versus routine thermal management during non-cardiac surgery (PROTECT): a multicentre, parallel group, superiority trial

  The Lancet · 2022 · 116 citations

  DOI

• Matching phrase-frames to rhetorical moves in social science research article introductions

  English for Specific Purposes · 2020 · 77 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  DOI

• Effect of prompt type on test-takers’ writing performance and writing strategy use in the continuation task

  Language Testing · 2020 · 75 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  The continuation task, a new form of reading-writing integrated task in which test-takers read an incomplete story and then write the continuation and ending of the story, has been increasingly used in writing assessment, especially in China. However, language-test developers’ understanding of the effects of important task-related factors on test-takers’ performance with regard to this task is still in its infancy. In this study we investigate the effect of prompt type on English as a foreign la…

  DOI

• Enhancing GPT-based automated essay scoring: the impact of fine-tuning and linguistic complexity measures

  Computer Assisted Language Learning · 2025-06-13 · 8 citations

  articleSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Comparing GPT-based approaches in automated writing evaluation

  Assessing Writing · 2025-06-24 · 6 citations

  articleCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Jian Liao

  Chongqing University

  40 shared

• Katherine A. Masters

  Pennsylvania State University

  37 shared

• Zhi Zhou

  Pennsylvania State University

  37 shared

• J. Elliott Casal

  10 shared

• Yingying Liu

  8 shared

• Tan Jin

  South China Normal University

  8 shared

• Daniel I. Sessler

  Cleveland Clinic

  6 shared

• Eva Rivas

  Hospital Clínic de Barcelona

  6 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Linguistics

  The Ohio State University

  2006

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