Department of Linguistics & TESOL | The University of Texas at Arlington
News & Events
Announcements
Two New Job Openings Available!
The Department of Lingustics and TESOL announces two tenure-track job searches. Download job ads for the following expansion line openings: a position in Language Documentation and Syntax and a position in Second Language Acquisition.
Dr. Christopher Stewart to Deliver Lecture on the Sociolinguistics of Parisian French
On Friday, November 20, 2009, Dr. Christopher M. Stewart of UT Arlington's Department of Modern Languages is delivering a lecture entitled "The Sociolinguistics of Parisian French: Language Attitudes and Speech Perception." More details about this Linguistics Colloquium, as well as the abstract of Dr. Stewart's talk, are available on the event page.
Two New Reading Groups
Our two newest faculty members have announced that they are forming bi-weekly reading groups. Go to our Reading Groups page for more details about the Phonetics and Phonology Reading Group (organized by Cindy Kilpatrick) and the Syntax Reading Group (organized by Joey Sabbagh).
Call for Papers: 2010 Student Linguistics Conference
Lingua, UT Arlington's Student Linguistics Organization, has issued its Call for Papers for UTASCILT 17 (pdf). The call deadline has been extended to 16 November 2009. Read more about the annual student-run UT Arlington Student Conference in Linguistics & TESOL at the UTASCILT 17 page.
Dissertation Proposal Defense: Natalie Raun Carter Examines Threats in a Corpus
On Thursday, November 5, 2009, 12:30-2:30pm, Natalie Raun Carter will be defending her dissertaiton proposal, entitled "A Corpus-Based Study of Threats," in TH 200. The public presentation (approximately 12:30-2:00pm) is open to the public.
First DFW Metroplex Linguistics Conference, at UT Arlington
On Saturday, November 7, 2009, our department is hosting the first DFW Metroplex Linguistics Conference, held in cooperation with the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics and the Department of Linguistics & Technical Communication at the University of North Texas. The schedule and linked abstracts are now available at the Metroplex Conference page.
Dr. Anne H. Charity Hudley to Deliver Lecture on Service Learning
On Friday, October 30, 2-3:30pm, in Trimble Hall 200, Dr. Anne H. Charity Hudley of The College of William and Mary is delivering a lecture on service learning entitled "One Community in Multiple Voices: Engagement Scholarship in Linguistics and Education." This Festival of Ideas Global Research Institute event is presented by the Department of Linguistics & TESOL and The African American Faculty and Staff Association. A reception will follow at 3:30-5pm in Physics Conference Room (3rd Floor), Physics and Chemistry Building. More details at the event page.
UTA Linguistics PhD named Distinguished Alumni for 2009
The UT Arlington Alumni Association has honored Dr. Somsonge Burusphat (PhD in Humanities/Linguistics 1986) as a Distinguished Alumni for 2009. Dr. Burusphat has done extensive fieldwork on the languages and cultures of ethnic groups in Thailand and has written three books on the teaching of Thai.
Comprehensive/Diagnostic Exam Info Session
An information session for students who will be taking the MA in Linguistics comprehensive exam or the PhD diagnostic exam this semester will be held on Friday, September the 25th, at 1:00 p.m. in the Linguistics Lab, Trimble Hall 014.
First Colloquium talk of the Semester: Min-Joo Kim
Join us in for a departmental colloquium talk featuring Dr. Min-Joo Kim of Texas Tech University speaking on “The Variability of ‘There’-BE-Existentials with Participial Codas” (abstract): Friday, September the 25th at 2:00 p.m. in the third floor of the Physics Conference Room.
A Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award Winner!
Dr. David J. Silva, Professor of Linguistics and Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, is one of nine UT Arlington faculty members to be selected as an inaugural recipient of the UT System Board of Regents' Outstanding Teaching Awards. The awards honor "exceptional faculty who care about their educational mission."
Metroplex Linguistics Conference
Our department will host the DFW Metroplex Linguistics Conference on November 7, 2009. Abstracts are due on September 15, 2009 by 11:59 pm. Download the call for papers for details.
Another Smotherman Award Winner!
Dr. Laurel Smith Stvan has been selected as a recipient of this year's Alicia Wilkerson Smotherman Faculty Award, in recognition of research expertise and teaching abilities that have inspired students to create work of exceptional merit.
UTA Linguists in the News
Our department figures prominently in the 2009 issue of UT Arlington’s Research magazine. One feature-length story contains references to and quotations by Dr. Traci Weast (PhD in Linguistics 2008), who is continuing her research on the linguistics of American Sign Language. In addition, this year’s “Alumni Profile” features the very first person to earn a doctorate in linguistics at UT Arlington, our very own Dr. Robin Lombard (PhD in Linguistics 1997).
Recent Dissertation and Thesis Defenses
24 September: Kenneth Zuercher, PhD Linguistics, (10:00 am room TH 014 -- Linguistics Lab)
"Code-switching and Code-mixing in Azerbaijan: Form, Function, and Identity"
30 June: Catharine Moore Welch, PhD Linguistics (1:00 am room TH 200)
"The Emergence of Pragmatic Softeners by Instructed Learners of Spanish in the Study Abroad and Immersion Contexts"
5 June: Neal Szu-Yen Liang, PhD Linguistics (10:30 am room TH 200)
"The Acquisition of Chinese Classifier Systems by L2 Adult Learners"
10 April: Paul Schaefer, PhD Linguistics (10:30 am, room TH 115)
"Pronominal Switch-Reference in Safaliba: Focus, Syntax, and Discourse Structure"
13 April: Brett Benham, PhD Linguistics (12 noon, room TH 200)
"A Longitudinal Analysis of the Vocalic Nucleus in Modern Russian"
20 April: Presley McFadden, MA TESOL (12 noon, room TH 200)
"Are We Speaking the Same Language?: The Use of the Mother Tongue by Native English Speaking Teachers in English as a Foreign Language Classrooms"
Two New Faculty Hires
The Department of Linguistics & TESOL is pleased to announce that two new tenure-track faculty members will be joining our department in Fall 2009:
- Joey Sabbagh of Reed College (Ph.D. 2005, MIT) has accepted the position of assistant professor for the syntax position.
- Cynthia Kilpatrick (Ph.D. 2009, UC San Diego) has accepted the position of assistant professor for the TESOL position.
Join us in extending a warm welcome to both these linguists!
Linguistics & TESOL at ACES Symposium
Congratulations to Tod Allman (PhD Linguistics student), who won a President's Award in the ACES competition for his presentation on "The Typology of Relative Clauses and Natural Language Generation." (See other student publications, presentations, and honors on the Student Accomplishments page.)
Audio Available
At our Audio page, you can listen to a recording of our April 22 Brown Bag Discussion, "Varieties of Linguistic Data Gathering." (More details). On the audio page, you can also listen to recordings from our recent UT Arlington Student Conference in Linguistics and TESOL (UTASCILT 16). Slides, handouts, and abstracts are available at Lingua's UTASCILT 16 conference schedule.
Filing Deadlines
Applying?
29 January (Fri.): If you're applying to the PhD program and wish to be considered for financial aid, your application must be submitted to the Graduate School on or before the last day of January. (Financial aid is not guaranteed to all applicants who submit their applications by the deadline; however, late applicants who are accepted to the program may not be eligible for financial assistance.)
Defending?
Linguistics and TESOL Students planning to defend a proposal, thesis or dissertation in the spring should review the clarification of the filing deadline for their degree: for PhD's, for MA's in Linguistics, for MA's in TESOL.
Fall 2009 Comprehensive and Diagnostic Exams
Exam Date
6 Nov (Fri.): The MA Comprehensive and PhD Diagnostic exams will take place on this day. (More information about the exams is available at Comprehensive and Diagnostic Exams in the Student Advising section of our site.)
Forms for Exams
Also, students must submit forms stating their intention to take the exam:
- MA students taking the exam this semester should download this MA exam schedule sheet, and file the form with the their Graduate Advisor by Oct. 16.
- Students taking the PhD Diagnostic exam this semester must fill out this PhD exam schedule sheet and turn it in to their Graduate Advisor Ph.D. Advisor by Oct. 16.
Other News
Also check out our student and alumnus accomplishments, and faculty news.
Past Events
Linguistics & TESOL at ACES Symposium
On March 26, nine students from the Department of Linguistics & TESOL will be presenting at ACES (8 talks, 1 poster). ACES has posted a schedule of talks, a poster assignment list, and more at their website. Presenters were chosen by the ACES selection committee on the basis of 250-word abstracts.
Student Conference in Linguistics
05-06 March 2009 (Thurs.-Fri.): The 16th annual UT Arlington Student Conference in Linguistics and TESOL (UTASCILT) will be held during the spring semester. Lingua's UTASCILT 16 page has additional information, including the speaking schedule and the abstracts booklet.
Video As a Research Tool: An Interdisciplinary Workshop
29-30 January 2009 (Thurs.-Fri.): This interdisciplinary workshop will focus on the use of video and visualization as a research tool in the humanities. It will include a screening of the Sundance-premiered documentary The Linguists, talks from UT Arlington faculty and others, and an interactive session in the e-Create Lab. More details on the Video as a Research Tool page. (And here's an article published at UT Arlington's News Center.)
Free Indirect Thought in Languages with Oral Traditions
19 November 2008 (Wed.): Dr. Todd McDaniels of Comanche Nation College will discuss discourse issues in Comanche and other languages. 12:30 pm - 2:00 pm, 200 Trimble Hall. Find out more by reading the abstract of his talk.
Brown Bag Panel: Linguistic Data Gathering
05 November 2008 (Wed.): From 12:30 to 1:30 in 014 Trimble Hall (linguistics lab), three of our PhD students will talk about the ways that they have been collecting language data for their dissertation work:
- Neal Liang is examining patterns in the acquisition of Chinese classifiers by English and Korean speakers who are learning Chinese. His work involved a series of experiments with adult language learners looking at their ability to produce and categorize nominal classifiers.
- Katie Welch is examining the production of different pragmatic softeners in the Spanish used by high school and college-aged Spanish learners. Her work involved both capturing their written progress in producing these forms throughout three stages of an immersion program, as well as asking them to orally reconstruct for different hearers the actions they had seen in silent movie clips.
- Ken Zuercher is examining occurrences of code switching between speakers in Azerbaijan who are bilingual Russian/Azerbaijani speakers. His work involved audio taping dyads in conversation and tracing such possible components of their identity as age, sex, and language used in schooling.