I’m a full-time Master’s student studying computational linguistics at University of Washington. I’m especially passionate about applications of NLP and ML to interdisciplinary research and solving real-world problems.
Research
Stigma related to substance use in social media posts
Employing NLP methodology to uncover the implicit patterns of stigma/stigmatizing behaviors in social media posts.
Inductive Biases of LSTM and Transformer Language Models
Using a filtered corpus approach to analyze LSTM and Transformer language models’ performance and the extent to which these models have human-like linguistic biases.
Social Identification and Interpersonal Communication in Zoom Virtual Groups
This is an independent research study I conducted independent research under the supervision of UCSB Department of Communication’s Senior Honors Program. My thesis was titled “Social Identification and Interpersonal Communication in Zoom Virtual Groups.” Guided by Dr. Joe Walther, Dr. Jennifer Gibbs, and Dr. Gordon Abra, I conducted an online experiment to study interpersonal and intergroup dynamics in college students during remote instruction. I was nominated for the Luis Leal Social Sciences Undergraduate Award for my research contribution.
Projects
STM: SenTiMetalchemy: Multi-modal Approach to Sentiment Analysis
This is a final project for LING 573: Natural Language Processing Systems and Applications. We designed and developed a multi-modal sentiment analysis system that takes in textual, acoustic, and visual features and outputs a sentiment and an emotion label. Our model architecture utilizes LSTM layers, attention mechanism, and fully connected layers.
Language Identification (LangID)
HPSG-based Parsing and Machine Translation System for Hixkaryana
This is the course project for LING 567: Knowledge Engineering for NLP. Instructed by Dr. Emily Bender, we developed a parser and machine translation system for Hixkaryana, a language spoken by approximately 500 people in Brazil. This system is based on Head-driven Phrase Structure Grammar (HPSG) and implemented using DELPH-IN, LinGO Grammar Matrix, and Lexical Knowledge Builder (LKB). My partner and I hand-crafted hixkaryana lexicon, lexical rules, and transfer rules to handle various grammatical phenomena (argument optionality, agreement, case, wh questions, etc.) based on data provided by field linguists. Through this project, I learned about the challenges of developing a grammar for a language that is under-documented and under-resourced. This project is especially meaningful to me because I had the opportunity to employ my linguistic knowledge and computational skills to help preserve a language that is on the verge of extinction.
Experiences
From March to June 2021, I worked as a NLP intern as a part of Rezonator app development team. I developed a conversation parser to parse conversation transcripts in Chinese into smaller speech units like intonation units (IUs) and conducted language data pre-processing using Python and relevant libraries (e.g. SpaCy).
I spent my senior year at UCSB working as the Media Manager at Center for Information Technology and Society (CITS), where I maintained the center’s website, managed the center’s social media presence, developed and designed promotional materials for academic events, and maintained the center’s database which stores publications of the center’s affiliates.
Hobbies and Interests
Languages
As a computational linguist who received training as a linguist, I’m interested in languages and language learning. I’m interested in how languages are structured and how they reflect the culture of the speakers.
Languages I speak …
- 🇨🇳 Chinese (Mandarin)
- 🇺🇸 English
- 🇯🇵 Japanese
I’m learning …
- 🇮🇹 Italian
Travelling
Places I’ve been to …
Asia
- 🇨🇳 China: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Changsha, Changchun, Harbin, Dalian, Qingdao, Suzhou, Fuzhou, Chengdu, Xi’an, Kunming, Lijiang, Shangri-La, etc.
- 🇯🇵 Japan: Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Nagoya, Nara
- 🇰🇷 South Korea: Seoul, Incheon, Gapyeong-gun
- 🇲🇾 Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur
- 🇹🇭 Thailand: Koh Samui, Phuket, Bangkok
North America
- 🇺🇸 USA: Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., etc.
Oceania
- 🇦🇺 Australia: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Cairns, etc.
My travel bucket list …
- 🇮🇹 Italy: Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan, etc.
- 🇪🇸 Spain: Barcelona, Madrid, etc.
- 🇩🇪 Germany: Berlin, Munich, etc.
Sports
- 🏂 Snowboarding: I have been to Steamboat Springs, CO, Snoqualmie Pass, WA, Crystal Mountain, WA, etc.
- 🏋️♀️ Weight training: Deadlift is my favorite
- 🎾 Tennis
- 🏍 Motorcycling: Kawasaki Ninja 400
- 🏄 Surfing
- 🎮 Video games
Contact me
E-mail: lexwang@uw.edu