Philip M McCarthy

Biographic Data

ID6213229
NAMEPhilip M McCarthy
GIVEN NAMESPhilip M
FAMILY NAMEMcCarthy
SIGNATUREMCCARTHY P M
AFFILIATIONSUniversity of Memphis
ORCID0000-0001-5869-3709
VERIFIEDYes
TOTAL WORKS7
TOTAL CITATIONS12
WORKS AS AUTHOR7
WORKS AS EDITOR0
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR2007
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR2026
H-INDEX1

  • A Model for Topic Closers

    Open AccessPhilip M McCarthy, Anuja M Thomas et al.ARTICLEWorld Journal of English Language2026

    Topic closers refer to strategies for constructing paragraph-final sentences in academic English writing. Their functional relationship to topic sentences is comparable to that between discussion and introduction sections in research articles. This study evaluates a model of ten topic-closer types (Labels) by examining whether English L2 student writers can learn to judge their functional appropriateness more consistently. Using a pretest–interve…

  • Ecological Grading for Writing Instruction

    Philip M McCarthy, Maria Eleftheriou et al.ARTICLEThe Educational Forum2026

    This article introduces ecological grading, a sustainable feedback framework for writing instruction that balances student learning with instructor workload. Alongside a three-step model for designing and validating ecological practices, we present the Diagnostic Feedback Draft, a low-stakes intervention combining rapid instructor review with automated tools to identify high-impact issues early. Drawing on classroom application and literature, we…

  • Automated Evaluation of Text and Discourse with Coh-Metrix

    Open AccessD S Mcnamara, Arthur C Graesser et al.BOOKAutomated Evaluation of Text and…2014

    Coh-Metrix is among the broadest and most sophisticated automated textual assessment tools available today. Automated Evaluation of Text and Discourse with Coh-Metrix describes this computational tool, as well as the wide range of language and discourse measures it provides. Part I of the book focuses on the theoretical perspectives that led to the development of Coh-Metrix, its measures, and empirical work that has been conducted using this appr…

  • MTLD, vocd-D, and HD-D

    Open AccessPhilip M McCarthy, Scott Jarvi et al.ARTICLEBehavior Research Methods2010

  • Linguistic Features of Writing Quality

    Open AccessD S Mcnamara, Scott A Crossley et al.ARTICLEWritten Communication2010

    In this study, a corpus of expert-graded essays, based on a standardized scoring rubric, is computationally evaluated so as to distinguish the differences between those essays that were rated as high and those rated as low. The automated tool, Coh-Metrix, is used to examine the degree to which high- and low-proficiency essays can be predicted by linguistic indices of cohesion (i.e., coreference and connectives), syntactic complexity (e.g., number…

  • Coh-Metrix

    D S Mcnamara, Max M Louwerse et al.ARTICLEDiscourse Processes2010Cited by: 12References: 56

    This study addresses the need in discourse psychology for computational techniques that analyze text on multiple levels of cohesion and text difficulty. Discourse psychologists often investigate phenomena related to discourse processing using lengthy texts containing multiple paragraphs, as opposed to single word and sentence stimuli. Characterizing such texts in terms of cohesion and coherence is challenging. Some computational tools are availab…

  • Vocd

    Open AccessPhilip M McCarthy, Scott Jarvi et al.ARTICLELanguage Testing2007

    A reliable index of lexical diversity (LD) has remained stubbornly elusive for over 60 years. Meanwhile, researchers in fields as varied as stylistics, neuropathology, language acquisition, and even forensics continue to use flawed LD indices — often ignorant that their results are questionable and in some cases potentially dangerous. Recently, an LD measurement instrument known as vocd has become the virtual tool of the LD trade. In this paper, …