SLA Major Peter De Costa Awarded M.A.K. Halliday Scholarship by the Applied Linguistics Association of Australia

SLA doctoral student Peter De Costa has been awarded the 2008 M. A. K. Halliday Scholarship by the Applied Linguistics Association of Australia (ALAA) in support of his research.

Article by SLA Alumna Jina Lee in recent issue of SSLA

SLA alumna Jina Lee (Ph.D., 2006) has published the article Gesture and Private Speech in Second Language Acquisition
in a recent issue of the journal Studies in Second Language Acquisition. Dr. Lee is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of English Education at Sangmung University in Seoul, Korea. Congratulations, Jina!

UW-Madison SLA Graduate Student Organization Plans 2008 Symposium

The SLA Graduate Student Organization provides a forum for individuals interested in Second Language Acquisition or Second Language Learning and Teaching to engage in meaningful academic, professional and social discussions. With graduate students from the University of Iowa, the organization is planning a 2008 Symposium: Evolving Perspectives in SLA on the UW-Madison campus.
Learn more >

Paul Toth and Sally Magnan at the ACTFL Awards Ceremony
November 16, 2007

Paul Toth Recognized in National Award

Paul D. Toth (Curriculum & Instruction and Spanish & Portuguese; affiliated with SLA) is the first person since the award's inception in 1977 to receive the ACTFL/MLJ Paul Pimsleur Award for Research in Foreign Language Education.  The prestigious national award of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and the Modern Language Journal (MLJ) recognizes one article each year that makes an outstanding contribution to research in foreign language education or second language acquisition.  Learn more >

Leo Van Lier and Sally Magnan

SLA Co-Director Sally Sieloff Magnan Honored for 14 Years as Editor of the Modern Language Journal

UW-Madison professor Sally Sieloff Magnan was honored by leaders in foreign language education for her fourteen years of service as Editor of the Modern Language Journal at a reception sponsored by the National Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations (NFMLTA) on November 17, 2007.  According to Renate Schulz, President of the NFMLTA, Magnan’s editorial efforts and innovations have contributed to making the Modern Language Journal a – if not the – leading journal in the United States devoted to research and discussion about the learning and teaching of foreign and second languages.  Under Magnan’s editorship, the Modern Language Journal has become one of the most selective and respected journals in the field and earned a prestigious international reputation. 

Isabelle Drewelow

Article Co-Authored by SLA Student Isabelle Drewelow in current issue of Foreign Language Annals

Do speakers of French really have a low tolerance for an American accent in French? Are the beliefs of instructors and students in the United States about the importance of native-like pronunciation in line with the beliefs of native speakers in France? SLA doctoral major Isabelle Drewelow and UW-Madison Department of French and Italian student Anne Theobald explore these questions in their recent article, A Comparison of the Attitudes of Learners, Instructors, and Native French Speakers About the Pronunciation of French: An Exploratory Study, published in the Fall 2007 issue of the Foreign Language Annals.

SLA Student Christine Elliott Receives Fulbright to Study in Laos

SLA student Christine Elliott was one of 18 students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to receive a Fulbright Fellowship in 2007-08. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program provides funding for one academic year of study, research, or assistant teaching abroad. While in Laos, Christine is studying Lao language and conducting research on issues related to English as a Foreign Language and L1 use in Laos.