Anthony Becker

Associate Professor

About

Biography

I am an Associate Professor in the English Department at Colorado State University. I primarily teach courses within the TEFL/TESL graduate program and the undergraduate Linguistics concentration, as well as coordinate workshops for and conduct work with Programs for Learning Academic and Community English (PLACE). Among other things, I teach courses on second language assessment, research methods, corpus linguistics, and introduction to the study of language. I hold Ph.D. and M.A. degrees in Applied Linguistics from Northern Arizona University and Georgia State University, respectively, and an undergraduate degree in Psychology from Millersville University of Pennsylvania.

My current research/teaching interests focus on second language assessment, corpus linguistics, English for specific purposes, and research methods in applied linguistics. Outside of academia, I enjoy being outdoors, climbing, and spending time with my wife and two sons.

I am committed to an inclusive and diverse learning environment. I believe that our community is strengthened and enhanced by diversity, including (but not limited to) those aspects of diversity concerning race, ethnicity, national origin, gender and gender identity, sexuality, class and religion. I am excited to be in Fort Collins and enjoy contributing to the great learning environment at CSU.

Publications

Becker, A.P., & Nekrasova-Beker, T. (under review). What’s in a profile? Investigating lexico-grammatical features of L2 writing at advanced CEFR levels. Journal of Second Language Writing. Elsevier.

Nekrasova-Beker, T., & Becker, A.P. (under review). Exploring phrasal complexity in L2 writing: Advanced learners’ use of phrase-frames across L1s. Modern Language Journal. Wiley.

Becker, A. (2021). Exploring multiple profiles of highly collaborative paired oral tasks in an L2 speaking test of English. In W.J. Crawford's (Ed.) Multiple perspectives on learner interaction: The corpus of collaborative oral tasks (pp. 91-122). Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter Mouton.

Nekrasova-Beker, T., & Becker, A. (2020). The use of lexical patterns in engineering: A corpus-based investigation of five sub-disciplines. In U. Romer, V. Cortes, & E. Friginal (eds.), Advances in corpus-based research on academic writing. Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins Publishing.

Nekrasova-Beker, T., & Becker, A. (2019). Lexical bundles in university course materials: From academic English to pathway to mainstream engineering. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 24(2), 143-168. https://doi.org/10.1075/ijcl.17075.nek

Becker, A., & Nekrasova-Beker, T., (2018). Investigating the effect of different select-response item formats for reading comprehension. Educational Assessment, 23, 296-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/10627197.2018.1517023

Becker, A. (2018). Not to Scale? An Argument-based Inquiry into the Validity of an L2 Writing Rating Scale, Assessing Writing. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2018.01.001

Nekrasova-Beker, T., Becker, A., & Sharpe, A. (2017). Identifying and Teaching Target Vocabulary in an ESP Course, TESOL Journal, 8, https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.365

Nekrasova-Beker, T., & Becker, A. (2017). Integrating Project-based Learning into English for Specific Purposes Classrooms: A Case Study of Engineering. In M.K. Long's (Ed.) Language for Specific Purposes: Trends in Curriculum Development. Georgetown University Press.

Becker, A., Nekrasova-Beker, T., & Petrashova, T. (2017). Testing as a Way to Monitor English as a Foreign Language Learning, TESL-EJ, 21, 1-17.

Becker, A., Matsugu, S., & Al-Surmi, M. (2017). Balancing Practicality and Construct Representativeness for IEP Speaking Tests, Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education, 2, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40862-017-0041-z

Becker, A. (2016). Student-generated Scoring Rubrics: Examining their Formative Value for Improving ESL Students' Writing Performance, Assessing Writing, 29, 15-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2016.05.002

Becker, A. (2016). L2 Students' Performance on Listening Comprehension Items Targeting Local and Global Information, Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 24, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2016.07.004

Becker, A. (2014). Avoidance of English Phrasal Verbs: Investigating the Effect of Proficiency, Learning, Context, Task Type and Verb Type, Asian Journal of English Language Teaching, 24, 1-33.

Becker, A. (2011). Examining Rubrics Used to Measure Writing Performance in US Intensive English Programs, The CATESOL Journal, 22, 113-130.

Becker, A. (2010). Distinguishing linguistic and discourse features in ESL students' written performance. Modern Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2, 406-424.

First Generation Story

Come by my office and I will be more than happy to share my First Gen experience with you.

Courses

  • E601: Research Methods in TEFL/TESL

    I am teaching this course in Spring 2025. This course focuses on introducing students to classroom-based research as a method of improving teaching and learning in language classrooms, particularly in those instructional settings with ESL/EFL students. Specifically, this course will focus on conducting classroom-based research as an important activity for refining teaching techniques and methods in the language classroom. Students will gain hands-on experience with conducting classroom research in the four skills (i.e., listening, reading, speaking, and writing) within the context of the language classroom. Finally, the course will explore the relative strengths and potential challenges of different approaches to classroom-based research, as well as how these pieces of information can contribute to gaining expertise in language teaching. This course is recommended for TEFL/TESL graduate students but is also open to any graduate students interested in conducting language research, including quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods approaches.