Dr. Curtis Gautschi

Work at ZHAW

Position

Researcher and Lecturer in Applied Linguistics

Focus

• Language Testing
• Test Design and Validation
• NLP‑ and AI‑based Language Assessment

Teaching

• Lecturer MA Language and Communication
• Lecturer BA Scientific Writing for Engineers
• Lecturer Cambridge Exam Preparation

Education and Continuing education

Education

• PhD / Sociolinguistics / Language Testing
  University of Bern
  2012 - 2023
• MA / Applied Linguistics (TESOL)
  University of Surrey, UK
  2003 - 2006

Network

Membership of networks

• International Language Testing Association (ILTA)
• European Association for the Teaching of Academic Writing (EATAW)
• English Teachers Association Switzerland - ETAS
• European Association for Language Testing and Assessment - EALTA
• Gruppo di Studio sulla Comunicazione Parlata - GSCP (SIG of the Società Linguistica Italiana)
• The European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI)

Projects

• Validating (Pearson) PTE Core speaking criteria and rating against non‑teacher perceptions of general English proficiency for workplace and everyday communication / Project leader / ongoing
• Integrating Generative AI-based assessment with Thesis Writer / Project leader / completed
• Digital German assessment for engineering students / Team member / completed
• Digital Literacy Skills in University Contexts / Team member / completed
• Development of the New Language Component of the FEAST Test / Co-project leader / completed
• Seamless Writing: Expanding Technologies to Support Thesis Writing / Team member / completed
• CEFR for Sign Languages / Team member / completed

Publications

Articles in scientific journal, peer-reviewed

• Konstantinidou, L. et al. (2022) 'Literacy in vocational education and training : scenario-based reading and writing education', Reading and Writing, 36(4), pp. 1025–1052. doi: 10.1007/s11145-022-10373-4.
• Gautschi, C. (2018) 'EMI lecture quality parameters : the student perspective', Bulletin suisse de linguistique appliquée, 2018(107), pp. 97–112. doi: 10.5169/seals-978642.
• Gautschi, C. and Studer, P. (2017) 'The impact of internationalisation on tertiary-level educational social spheres', Bulletin suisse de linguistique appliquée, pp. 51–62.
• Gautschi, C. (2015) 'The CEFR : language norms and testing', Bulletin suisse de linguistique appliquée, 2015(3), pp. 233–240.

Books, peer-reviewed

Gautschi, C. (2023) A socio-cognitive approach to evaluating general language proficiency speaking test assessment criteria : evidence from non-language specialists' reception and assessment of non-native speech. Doctoral dissertation. University of Bern. doi: 10.48549/5646.

Written conference contributions, peer-reviewed

• Gautschi, C. (2025) 'A low-code, prompt engineering approach to generating formative feedback to assist thesis writing : a work-in-progress', in 15th Conference of the European Association for the Teaching of Academic Writing (EATAW), Braga, Portugal, 2-4 July 2025.
• Gautschi, C. et al. (2024) 'Ways2assessWriting : possibilities and limitations of automated writing evaluation', in 20th SIG Writing Conference, Paris, France, 26-28 June 2024.
• Gautschi, C. (2020) 'EFL placement testing for engineering students with automated essay scoring : natural language processing in R', in Petersen, M. and Kammasch, G. (eds) Technische Bildung im Kontext von "Digitalisierung" / "Automatisierung" : Tendenzen, Möglichkeiten, Perspektiven - Wege zu technischer Bildung. Berlin: IPW, pp. 65–70.
• Studer, P. and Gautschi, C. (2017) 'Programme directors' attitudes towards EMI quality assurance : an exploratory study', in Valcke, J. and Wilkinson, R. (eds) Integrating Content and Language in Higher Education: Perspectives on Professional Practice. Selected Papers from the IV International Conference Integrating Content and Language in Higher Education 2015. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, pp. 227–248. doi: 10.3726/978-3-653-07263-1.

Oral conference contributions and abstracts

• Gautschi, C. et al. (2026) 'Retrieval-augmented generation for formative thesis writing assessment', in Book of Abstracts SIG Writing Conference 2026. Winterthur: ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences, p. 54.
• Gautschi, C. (2024) 'Evaluating general language proficiency speaking test assessment criteria : evidence from non-language specialists', in 45th Language Testing Research Colloquium (LTRC), Innsbruck, Austria, 1-5 July 2024.
• Gautschi, C. (2024) 'Reflections on the place of generative AI in higher education : a case study', in IEFE Annual Workshop, 4 June 2024.
• Gautschi, C. (2023) 'Assessing general proficiency speaking test criteria : the role of non-language specialists', in Language Testing Research Group (LTRG) 2023/24, University of Lancaster, United Kingdom, 2 November 2023.
• Gautschi, C. et al. (2023) 'Scenario-based literacy education : effects of integrated reading and writing tasks on text quality', in 20th Biennial EARLI Conference, 'Education as a Hope in Uncertain Times', Thessaloniki, Greece, 20-26 August 2023.
• Gautschi, C. (2023) 'A new tool for exploring scientific work and writing in the face of digitization', in EARLI Conference 2023 'Education as a Hope in Uncertain Times', Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and University of Macedonia, Greece, 20-26 August 2023.
• Ulasik, M. A. et al. (2023) 'Towards implementing a module for automated writing feedback', in 12th Conference of the European Association for the Teaching of Academic Writing (EATAW), Winterthur, Switzerland, 5-7 June 2023.
• Gautschi, C. and Ulasik, M. A. (2023) 'Content analysis of automated writing evaluation tools : feedback', in 12th Conference of the European Association for the Teaching of Academic Writing (EATAW), Winterthur, Switzerland, 5-7 June 2023.
• Gautschi, C. (2022) 'ELICIT validation report presentation', in FEAST FUG Split, Croatia, 15-17 November 2022.
• Gautschi, C., Kruse, O. and Rapp, C. (2021) 'Exploring logging data for indicators of writing strategies and profiles', in The 2021 Writing Analytics Spring Virtual Symposium, 18-27 May 2021.
• Gautschi, C., Kruse, O. and Rapp, C. (2021) 'Writing and thinking : what changes with digitalization?', in 11th Conference of the European Association for the Teaching of Academic Writing (EATAW), online, 7-8 July 2021.
• Gautschi, C. (2021) 'Automated assessment of writing and pragmatic competence : a critical review', in 17th International Pragmatics Conference : abstracts. International Pragmatics Association, p. 261.
• Gautschi, C. (2019) 'EFL placement testing for engineering students with automated essay scoring : new applications for natural language processing', in 14. Ingenieurpädagogische Regionaltagung 2019, Bremen, 23.-25. Mai 2019.
• Kruse, O. and Gautschi, C. (2019) 'The bilingual academic phrasebook : can it support writers? And how?', in 6th International Academic Writing Symposium, Hannover, Germany, 28-30 March 2019.
• Gautschi, C. (2019) 'Predicting CEFR levels of student essays in placement tests using an automated essay scoring tool in R : a corpus-based approach', in The 8th International Conference on Writing Analytics: Analytics, Tools, Mediality, Winterthur, 5-6 September 2019.
• Gautschi, C. (2017) 'The development of rating criteria for EMI lecturer competence measurement : a validation study', in The 5th Integrating Content and Language in Higher Education (ICLHE) Conference, Copenhagen, Denmark, 4-7 October 2017.
• Gautschi, C. (2017) 'EMI lecture quality parameters: a context-based approach to validation', in International Conference: «Multilingualism in Society, Politics and Education», Freiburg, 16-18 March 2017.
• Studer, P. and Gautschi, C. (2016) 'Programme directors' perspectives on quality standards for English-medium instruction : an exploratory study', in 6th International Conference on Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice (ALAPP), Copenhagen, Denmark, 3-5 November 2016.
• Gautschi, C. and Studer, P. (2016) 'The impact of English-medium instruction on tertiary-level educational social spheres', in VALS-ASLA Conference: 'The Process of differentiation: language practices in social interpretation', Geneva, Switzerland, 20-22 January 2016.
• Gautschi, C. (2016) 'General proficiency speaking test assessment criteria : a validation study', in GSCP Gruppo di studio sulla comunicazione parlata international conference, Napoli, Italy, 13-15 June 2016.
• Gautschi, C. (2015) 'Towards a robust empirically-based model of EMI lecturer competence', in Integrating language and content in higher education (ICLHE), Brussels, Belgium, 2-4 September 2015.

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