Welcome & about this page

Hello, and thanks for visiting!

On this page I would like to introduce you to my research in the field of computer-assisted language learning (CALL). My main research focus is the intersection of tutorial CALL and task-based language learning. I take a particular interest in how (mechanics of) games and play can support instructed language learning and language education. I'm also passionate about research-based design and development of CALL applications.

For information on what I do as research and valorization manager in the area of educational technology, which cross-fertilizes my work in CALL, please consult my LinkedIn profile.

Research statement

The research projects that I commit myself to aim to uncover the mechanisms that support effective and engaging second and foreign language (L2) learning in instructed contexts, with particular attention to the impact of explicit instruction, practice, feedback, and other types of learning support or help options. I'm particularly interested in how L2 learning can be supported through digital technologies purposefully designed for L2 instruction (i.e. tutorial CALL), in synergy with the teacher as a critical mediator of student learning. I carry out my research in L2 learning and teaching contexts that are digitally-mediated and adopt communicative (mostly task-based) approaches to teaching. I usually work with learners and teachers in secondary education, and the learning environments typically incorporate games or design elements of gaming.

My main topics of interest are:

effectiveness of corrective feedback and part-task practice in digital game-based language learning (see my Ph.D. dissertation, 2014; Cornillie, 2017; Cornillie et al., 2017)
intelligent CALL: automated analysis of learner language and generation of feedback in meaning-focused micro-interactions such as dialogue systems (see Cornillie, Baten, & De Hertog, 2017; Cornillie, 2019, Strik, Cornillie, Colpaert, van Doremalen, & Cucchiarini, 2009; Schmalz & Cornillie, 2022)
help seeking behaviour of learners in technology-mediated learning, and how this relates to individual differences (see Cornillie et al., 2013; Fievez, Montero Perez, Cornillie, & Desmet, 2023)
involvement load in vocabulary learning with interactive fiction (see Cornillie et al., 2011)
multiliteracies development through the writing of interactive fiction (see Cornillie, Buendgens-Kosten, Sauro, & Van der Veken, 2021 and FanTALES project)

Within this space, I consider myself a generalist rather than a specialist in each of the topics. I love interacting with people and across disciplines, and strongly believe that collaborative research makes for more impact on society.

Theoretically, my research is mainly informed by the fields of second language acquisition, instructional psychology, and motivational psychology. As far as methodology is concerned, I apply a blend of skills in pedagogy and instructional design, behavioural research methods (qualitative and quantitative), human-computer interaction design, programming (a.o. web application frameworks, gaming technologies), and learning analytics (statistical analysis and natural language processing of learner-computer interactions).

Contributions to CALL applications

Here is a selection of CALL R&D projects to which I contribute(d) in various capacities, and which resulted in prototypes or ready-to-use applications. In academic environments, it's a challenge to maintain the results of such projects, but whenever I can, I continue to commit to the projects marked with a 🔧 (technical support) or a 🚀 (more serious ambitions 😉), so reach out to me if you want to know more about these or get involved in whatever way!

The projects are presented in reverse chronological order.

lead designer and co-developer of the FanTALES storytelling platform and interactive fiction tutorials (co-funded by the EU Erasmus+ programme between 2018 and 2020) [website]
lead designer and developer of SPYLiNQ, a cloud-based platform for organizing experiments in (second) language acquisition (used in Cornillie, 2014; Baten & Cornillie, 2019)
lead designer of a platform for language practice through mini-games (project 'Games Online for Basic Language Learning', 2012-2014, co-funded by the EU Lifelong Learning Programme) [design specification] [demo video]
co-designer of PRISM, a webservice for approximate string matching (2011, funded by the Flemish Agency for Innovation by Science and Technology IWT and the Flemish non-profit research organization iMinds) [website]
lead designer and lead developer of DialogDungeon, a prototype of a platform for gamified written dialogue practice for language learning (2009-2012, funded by the Flemish non-profit research organization iMinds) (Cornillie, 2019)
developer of a language training tool for prison staff (project 'Eliminating Language Barriers in European Prisons through Open and Distance Education Technology', 2007-2009, co-funded by the EU Grundtvig programme)
co-designer and lead developer of Spraakmakkers ('Language Mates'), a prototype of a speech-enabled CALL application for Dutch as a second language (2008-2009, funded by the Dutch-Flemish STEVIN programme) (Strik et al., 2009; see also this popularising article in Dutch)
co-designer and lead developer of EuroCatering Language Training, an award-winning and free online language training tool for workers and trainees in the catering and restaurant sector (2008, co-funded by the EU Lifelong Learning Programme) [website] (Goethals et al., 2012)
co-designer and lead developer of Entreposage Universel, an authoring tool for creating interactive exercises for integration with the Blackboard LMS (2005-2007, funded by the University of Antwerp)

Curriculum Vitae

You can find my up-to-date academic CV here.

My initial training was in Germanic languages and literature (Master of Arts at KU Leuven, 2004; reading English and German; thesis on Robertson Davies's The Cunning Man), literary theory (Master of Arts at KU Leuven, Ghent University, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, University of Antwerp, 2005; with a research stay at the University of Toronto and a thesis on postcolonial realism in Rohinton Mistry's fiction), and language teaching (teacher certificate degree at KU Leuven, 2006). In 2014 I obtained a Ph.D. in applied linguistics at KU Leuven with a dissertation on the effectiveness of feedback in game-based language learning. I also got a post-graduate degree in human-computer interaction design (KU Leuven, 2013). My technical skills (programming, statistical analysis and data science) are largely self-taught (with support from course books and MOOCs) and developed on the job as well as in personal projects.

I started my career as a teacher of foreign languages in secondary education (2005) and as a scientific collaborator and teaching assistant between 2005 and 2009 at the University of Antwerp (language institute Linguapolis and Institute for Education and Information Sciences, now Department of Training and Education Sciences within the faculty of Social Sciences). Since 2009, I have been employed in the interdisciplinary research group ITEC at the vibrant Kulak campus of the KU Leuven, first as a Ph.D. student and scientific collaborator, and since 2014 as research manager. Our team is devoted to impactful digital innovation in education and beyond, and is affiliated with the strategic research institute imec, the world-leading R&D and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technology.

In 2014, I received the Outstanding Graduate Student award from the research organization CALICO (Computer-Assisted Language Instruction Consortium) for my Ph.D. research and for my service to the field of CALL. The recognition was great, of course, but above all, it gives me the motivation to continue my work in this field, despite my other responsibilities. I currently also serve CALICO on its executive board.

Publications and talks

Below you can find a selection of my publications and talks in the field of CALL, in reverse chronological order, and with links to papers or slides whenever available. I like doing invited contributions -- these are marked with a ★.

Click here to see a full list of my publications validated by my institution.

Peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters

Cornillie, F. (forthcoming in 2025). Interactive Fiction and Narrative Games in Instructed Second Language Learning. In S. Loewen, F. Poole, H.-B. Hwang, & M. Coss (Eds.), Technology and Instructed Second Language Acquisition: Connecting Research and Pedagogy. John Benjamins. [abstract]

Cornillie, F. &, York, J. (forthcoming in 2024). Teaching languages with games. In G. Stockwell & Y. Wang (Eds.), Cambridge Handbook of Technology in Language Teaching and Learning. Cambridge University Press. [abstract]

Cornillie, F. (2022). Digital games and technology-mediated gameful environments for L2 learning and instruction. In N. Ziegler & M. González-Lloret. (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition and Technology (series editors: S. Gass and A. Mackey) (pp. 272-285). New York: Routledge. [open access] [publisher's record]

Cornillie, F., Buendgens-Kosten, J., Sauro, S., & Van der Veken, J. (2021). 'There's always an option': collaborative writing of multilingual interactive fanfiction in a foreign language class. CALICO Journal, 38(1), 17-42. [open access] [publisher's record]

Baten, K., & Cornillie, F. (2019). Elicited imitation as a window into developmental stages. Journal of the European Second Language Association, 3 (1), 23-34. [open access] [publisher's record]

Cornillie, F. (2017). Educationally Designed Game Environments and Feedback. In S. Thorne & S. May (Eds.), Language, Education and Technology. Encyclopedia of Language and Education (pp. 1-14). Cham: Springer International Publishing. [open access] [publisher's record]

Cornillie F., Van Den Noortgate W., Van den Branden K., Desmet P. (2017). Examining focused L2 practice: from in vitro to in vivo. Language Learning & Technology, 21(1), 121-145. [publisher's record, open access]

Cornillie F., Desmet P. (2016). Mini-games for language learning. In: Farr F., Murray L. (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Language Learning and Technology, (pp. 431-445). Abingdon: Routledge. [open access] [publisher's record]

Cornillie, F., Lagatie, R., Vandewaetere, M., Clarebout, G., & Desmet, P. (2013). Tools that detectives use: in search of learner-related determinants for usage of optional feedback in a written murder mystery. In P. Hubbard, M. Schulze, & B. Smith (Eds.), Learner-Computer Interaction in Language Education: A Festschrift in Honor of Robert Fischer. San Marcos, TX: Computer Assisted Language Instruction Consortium (CALICO). [open access] [publisher's record]

Cornillie, F., Clarebout, G., & Desmet, P. (2012). Between learning and playing? Exploring learners' perceptions of corrective feedback in an immersive game for English pragmatics. ReCALL, 24(3), 257-278. [open access] [publisher's record]

Cornillie, F., Thorne, S. L., & Desmet, P. (2012). Digital games for language learning: from hype to insight? ReCALL, 24(3), 243-256. [open access] [publisher's record]

Conference proceedings

Schmalz, V. J., & Cornillie, F. (2022). Towards truly intelligent and personalized ICALL systems using Fluid Construction Grammar. In J. Colpaert, Y. Wang, & G. Stockwell (Eds.), Proceedings of the XXIst International CALL Research Conference (pp. 169-179). Castledown Publishers. [open access] [publisher's record]

Cornillie, F. (2019). Design Issues in Language Learning Based on Crowdsourcing: The Critical Role of Gameful Corrective Feedback. In: K. Zdravkova, K. Fort, B. Bédi (Eds.), Supplementary Proceedings of the enetCollect WG3 & WG5 Meeting 2018: vol. 2390, (6-9). Presented at the enetCollect WG3 & WG5 Meeting 2018, Leiden, The Netherlands, 24-25 October 2019. [open access] [publisher's record]

Cornillie, F., Baten, K., & De Hertog D. (2017). The potential of elicited imitation for oral output practice in German L2. In: Borthwick K., Bradley L., Thouësny S. (Eds.), CALL in a climate of change: adapting to turbulent global conditions - short papers from EUROCALL 2017 (pp. 86-91). Presented at the EUROCALL 2017, Southampton, UK, 23-26 August 2017. [publisher's record, open access]

Cornillie, F., Van den Branden, K., & Desmet, P. (2015). From language play to linguistic form and back again. Lessons from an experimental study for the design of task-based language practice supported by games. In: Colpaert J., Aerts A., Oberhofer M., Gutiérez-Colón Plana M. (Eds.), Proceedings of XVIIth International CALL Conference. Task design and CALL. (pp. 214-222). Presented at the Task design and CALL, Tarragona, Spain, 6-8 July 2015. [open access]

Cornillie, F., & Desmet, P. (2013). Seeking out fun failure: how positive failure feedback could enhance the instructional effectiveness of CALL mini-games. Global perspectives on Computer-Assisted Language Learning. Proceedings of WorldCALL 2013 (pp. 64-68). University of Ulster. [open access]

Cornillie, F., Jacques, I., De Wannemacker, S., Paulussen, H., & Desmet, P. (2011). Vocabulary Treatment in Adventure and Role-Playing Games: A Playground for Adaptation and Adaptivity. In S. De Wannemacker, G. Clarebout, & P. De Causmaecker (Eds.), Interdisciplinary Approaches to Adaptive Learning: A Look at the Neighbours. First International Conference on Interdisciplinary Research on Technology, Education and Communication, ITEC 2010, Kortrijk, Belgium, 25-27 May 2010. Revised Selected Papers (pp. 132-148). Springer. [open access]

Edited volumes

Colpaert J., Aerts A., Cornillie F. (Eds.) (2018). CALL Your Data. Proceedings of the XIXth International CALL Research Conference (4-6 July 2018, Brugge, Belgium). Antwerp: University of Antwerp. [open access]

Thorne, S., Cornillie, F., Desmet, P. (Eds.) (2012) Digital Games for Language Learning: Challenges and Opportunities. Special issue of the international journal ReCALL (Cambridge University Press). [publisher's record]

Colpaert J., Aerts A., Cornillie F. (Eds.) (2008). Practice-based & practice-oriented CALL research. Proceedings of the XIIIth international CALL conference. Antwerp: University of Antwerp.

Keynote talks

Cornillie, F. (2024). It takes a village to create impact from research. Towards smart collaboration within the innovation ecosystem of CALL. Keynote talk at CALICO 2024 - Confluences and Connections: Bridging Industry and Academia in CALL. Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, 23 May 2024. [slides]

Cornillie, F. (2019). Gaming and language learning - from the digital wilds to the classroom (and beyond). VI Valencian Workshop on Computer Assisted Language Learning: Gamification & Communicative Competence. Universitat Politècnica de Valencia, 9 November 2019 [slides]

Cornillie, F. (2018). Design issues in language learning based on crowdsourcing: the critical role of gameful corrective feedback. Presented at the WG3/WG5 meeting of EnetCollect (CA16105): European Network for Combining Language Learning with Crowdsourcing Techniques, Universiteit Leiden, Leiden, 24 Oct 2019-25 Oct 2019. [slides] [proceedings]

Regular conference talks

Buendgens-Kosten, J., & Cornillie, F. (2023). Interactive fanfiction as a springboard for developing plurilingual skills and multilingual identity in the classroom. Presented at colloquium "Innovation and creativity in virtual spaces: CALL and the future of education" (session chairs: Francis Hult, Breffni O'Rourke, Bryan Smith), American Association for Applied Linguistics 2023 Conference, Portland, Oregon, 20 March 2023. [slides]

Cornillie, F., Schmalz, V. J., & Van Eecke, P. (2022). Moving beyond mechanical practice in tutorial CALL with Fluid Construction Grammar. Presented at CALICO 2022 - Social Justice and Diversity in CALL, 31 May - 4 June 2022. [slides]

Gijpen, J. & Cornillie, F. (2021). "If it really doesn't work, I'll use Aidez-Moi": examining learners' use of graduated help in a task-based digital game for French. Presented at CALICO 2021 - Global Realities, online, 2-6 June 2021. [for slides or a recording, e-mail me]

Cornillie, F. & Sauro, S. (2019). The FanTALES project: how fans can make interactive multilingual stories in the language classroom. Presented at CALICO 2019 - Make It So / Fais ce que doit, Montreal, 21-25 May 2019. [slides]

Cornillie, F., Buendgens-Kosten, J., Sauro, S., Van der Veken, J., & Turpin, M. (2019). Managing the complexity of fanfiction based multilingual interactive storytelling in the European classroom. Presented at EuroCALL 2019 - CALL and Complexity, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, 28 - 31 August 2019. [slides]

Cornillie, F., De Hertog, D., & Baten, K. (2018). Automating elicited imitation for spoken practice in German L2: task design, speech recognition, and language models. Presented at CALICO 2018 - Connecting CALL's Past to its Future, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 29 May - 2 June 2018. [slides]

Cornillie, F., & Fernández Castilla, B. (2017). Using survival analysis to explain dropout in autonomous CALL practice with web-based mini-games. Presented at the CALICO 2017: Multilingualism and Digital Literacies, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, 16-20 May 2017. [slides]

Cornillie, F., Van den Branden, K., & Desmet, P. (2015). From language play to linguistic form and back again. Lessons from an experimental study for the design of task-based language practice supported by games. Paper presented at XVIIth International CALL Conference. Task design and CALL, Tarragona, Spain, 6-8 July 2015. [slides] [proceedings]

Cornillie, F., & Desmet, P. (2013). Seeking out fun failure: how positive failure feedback could enhance the instructional effectiveness of CALL mini-games. Paper presented at WorldCALL 2013, 11 July 2013, Glasgow (Scotland). [slides]

Cornillie, F., Grenfell, A., Windeatt, S., & Desmet, P. (2012). Challenges in specifying and evaluating a conceptual design for a task-based mini-game environment for language learning. Paper presented at the 2012 EuroCALL conference, 23-26 September 2012, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg (Sweden). [slides]

Cornillie, F. (2012). Does instruction kill the game? Exploring learners' perceptions of corrective feedback in an immersive foreign language game. Paper presented at the 2012 CALICO with IALLT conference, 12-16 June 2012, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame (IN). [slides]

Cornillie, F., & Lagatie, R. (2012). Leveraging crowdsourced data for the automatic generation of feedback in written dialogue tasks. Paper presented at the 2012 CALICO with IALLT conference ICALL SIG workshop, 12 June 2012, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame (IN). [slides]

Teacher training talks and workshops

Cornillie, F., & Sauro, S. (2022). FanTALES - Getting Ready for Multilingual Interactive Fanfiction Writing in Language Teaching and Learning. Workshop at CALICO 2022 - Social Justice and Diversity in CALL, 31 May - 4 June 2022. [slides] [tweet impression]

Buendgens-Kosten, J., Cornillie, F., & Sauro, S. (2020). FanTALES - Getting ready for multilingual interactive fanfiction in the language classroom. Online workshop at EuroCALL 2020 Gathering, 20 August 2020. [slides] [recording]

Van der Veken, J. & Cornillie, F. (2021). Interactive fanfiction: innovating creative writing in the communicative classroom. Talk for The Belgian English Language Teachers Association (BELTA), 20 March 2021, online. [slides]

Strobbe, J., Van der Veken, J. & Cornillie, F. (2019). Fanfiction and interactive fiction in the classroom. Talk for The Belgian English Language Teachers Association (BELTA), BELTA Day 2019, 11 May 2019, Brussels. [slides]

Cornillie, F. (2013). Great power in small games? Benefits and challenges of using educational mini-games for language practice. Workshop for Eekhoutcentrum, 13 March 2013, KU Leuven Kulak, Kortrijk (Belgium). [slides]