Amy Suzanne Thompson (born 1979) [1] is an American linguist who is Woodburn Professor of Applied Linguistics at West Virginia University.
Thompson earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in French from Texas Christian University in 2001, and a master's degree in Teaching English to speakers of other languages in 2005 and a PhD in Second language studies from Michigan State University in 2009. [2] Her doctoral dissertation, "The Multilingual/Bilingual Dichotomy: An Exploration of Individual Differences", was advised by Paula Winke. [3]
Thompson began her career as an assistant professor at the University of South Florida, was promoted to associate professor in 2014, and joined the West Virginia University faculty in 2018 as Woodburn Professor of Applied Linguistics and chair of the Department of World Languages, Literatures and Linguistics. [2] [4] She became director of international relations and strategic planning for the university's Eberly College of Arts and Sciences in 2021. [2] [5] In 2023, Thompson was one of four finalists for the deanship of the Iowa State University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. [6] [7]
In bilingual education, students are taught in two languages. It is distinct from learning a second language as a subject because both languages are used for instruction in different content areas like math, science, and history. The time spent in each language depends on the model. For example, some models focus on providing education in both languages throughout a student's entire education while others gradually transition to education in only one language. The ultimate goal of bilingual education is fluency and literacy in both languages through a variety of strategies such as translanguaging and recasting.
Rod Ellis is a Kenneth W. Mildenberger Prize-winning British linguist. He is currently a research professor in the School of Education, at Curtin University in Perth, Australia. He is also a professor at Anaheim University, where he serves as the Vice president of academic affairs. Ellis is a visiting professor at Shanghai International Studies University as part of China’s Chang Jiang Scholars Program and an emeritus professor of the University of Auckland. He has also been elected as an honorary fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand.
Language attrition is the process of decreasing proficiency in or losing a language. For first or native language attrition, this process is generally caused by both isolation from speakers of the first language ("L1") and the acquisition and use of a second language ("L2"), which interferes with the correct production and comprehension of the first. Such interference from a second language is likely experienced to some extent by all bilinguals, but is most evident among speakers for whom a language other than their first has started to play an important, if not dominant, role in everyday life; these speakers are more likely to experience language attrition. It is common among immigrants that travel to countries where languages foreign to them are used. Second language attrition can occur from poor learning, practice, and retention of the language after time has passed from learning. This often occurs with bilingual speakers who do not frequently engage with their L2.
The desire to learn is often related to the concept of ‘motivation’. Motivation is the most used concept for explaining the failure or success of a language learner. Second language (L2) refers to a language an individual learns that is not his/her mother tongue, but is of use in the area of the individual. It is not the same as a foreign language, which is a language learned that is not generally spoken in the individual's area. In research on motivation, it is considered to be an internal process that gives behavior energy, direction and persistence in research . Learning a new language takes time and dedication. Once one does, being fluent in a second language offers numerous benefits and opportunities. Learning a second language is exciting and beneficial at all ages. It offers practical, intellectual and many aspirational benefits. In learning a language, there can be one or more goals – such as mastery of the language or communicative competence – that vary from person to person. There are a number of language learner motivation models that were developed and postulated in fields such as linguistics and sociolinguistics, with relations to second-language acquisition in a classroom setting. The different perspectives on L2 motivation can be divided into three distinct phases: the social psychological period, the cognitive-situated period and the process-oriented period.
In language learning research, identity refers to the personal orientation to time, space, and society, and the manner in which it develops together with, and because of, speech development.
Zoltán Dörnyei was a Hungarian-born British linguist. He was a professor of psycholinguistics at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom. He was known for his work on second language acquisition and the psychology of the language learner, in particular on motivation in second language learning, having published numerous books and papers on these topics.
Merrill Swain is a Canadian applied linguist whose research has focused on second language acquisition (SLA). Some of her most notable contributions to SLA research include the Output Hypothesis and her research related to immersion education. Swain is a Professor Emerita at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto. Swain is also known for her work with Michael Canale on communicative competence. Swain was the president of the American Association for Applied Linguistics in 1998. She received her PhD in psychology at the University of California. Swain has co-supervised 64 PhD students.
Judit Kormos is a Hungarian linguist. She is a professor and the Director of Studies for the MA TESOL Distance programme at the Department of Linguistics and English Language at Lancaster University, United Kingdom. She is renowned for her work on motivation in second language learning, and self-regulation in second language writing. Her current interest is in dyslexia in second language learning.
Professor Gillian Wigglesworth is an Australian linguist, Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, and former Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Arts at The University of Melbourne.
Jeff MacSwan is an American linguist and educational researcher, working in the United States. He is currently Professor of Applied Linguistics and Language Education in the Division of Language, Literacy, and Social Inquiry in the Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership at the University of Maryland. He is also Professor in the Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program there, and Affiliate Professor in the University of Maryland Linguistics Department and Center for the Advanced Study of Language. He is a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and of the National Education Policy Center (NEPC).
Complex dynamic systems theory in the field of linguistics is a perspective and approach to the study of second, third and additional language acquisition. The general term complex dynamic systems theory was recommended by Kees de Bot to refer to both complexity theory and dynamic systems theory.
Diane Larsen-Freeman is an American linguist. She is currently a Professor Emerita in Education and in Linguistics at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. An applied linguist, known for her work in second language acquisition, English as a second or foreign language, language teaching methods, teacher education, and English grammar, she is renowned for her work on the complex/dynamic systems approach to second language development.
Cornelis Kees de Bot is a Dutch linguist. He is currently the chair of applied linguistics at the University of Groningen, Netherlands, and at the University of Pannonia. He is known for his work on second language development and the use of dynamical systems theory to study second language development.
Sarah Jane Mercer is a British linguist. She is currently the head of the Department of English Language Teaching at the University of Graz, Austria. Her research focuses on applied linguistics, with a special focus on psycholinguistics from a Complex Dynamic Systems Theory approach.
Martin Guardado is a Salvadorian-born Canadian sociolinguist. He is currently a professor of sociocultural linguistics and applied linguistics at the University of Alberta. His research focuses on heritage language socialization and teaching English as a second language. He is noted for his work on heritage language socialization and for recommending that heritage languages need to be studied multidimensionally as well as from macro and micro perspectives. His recent and current research respectively examines the experiences of Japanese-Canadian mothers in mixed language families in Montreal and the characteristics of mixed language parents across a number of linguistic groups in Alberta.
Kata Csizér is a Hungarian linguist. She is currently a professor at the School of English and American Studies of the Faculty of Humanities of the Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary. Her research focuses on applied linguistics with a special focus on motivation in second-language learning and teaching students with special needs.
Mary J. Schleppegrell is an applied linguist and Professor of Education at the University of Michigan. Her research and praxis are based on the principles of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), a theory derived from the work of social semiotic linguist Michael Halliday. Schleppegrell is known for the SFL-based literacy practices she has continuously helped to develop for multilingual and English language learners throughout her decades long career, which she began as an educational specialist before transitioning to the field of applied linguistics. As a result, her publications demonstrate a deep understanding of both the theories and practices related to teaching and learning.
Ofelia García (Otheguy) is Professor Emerita in the Ph.D. programs of Latin American, Iberian, and Latino Cultures (LAILAC) and Urban Education at Graduate Center of the City University of New York. She is best known for her work on bilingualism, translanguaging, language policy, sociolinguistics, and sociology of language. Her work emphasizes dynamic multilingualism, which is developed through "an interplay between the individual’s linguistic resources and competences as well as the social and linguistic contexts she/he is a part of." Rather than viewing a bilingual's languages as autonomous, García views language practices as complex and interrelated, as reflecting a single linguistic system.
Jasone Cenoz is a professor of education at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) University of the Basque Country in Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain since 2004. From 2000 to 2004 she was Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of the Basque Country in Vitoria-Gasteiz. Her research focuses on multilingual education, bilingualism and multilingualism. She is known for her work on the influence of bilingualism on third language acquisition, pedagogical translanguaging, linguistic landscape, minority languages and Content and Language Integrated Learning.
The Role of Context in Language Teachers' Self Development and Motivation: Perspectives from Multilingual Settings is an academic book by Amy S. Thompson published in 2021 by Multilingual Matters. It discusses the teaching of English, especially as a foreign language. Reviewers recommended it to interested audiences, finding value in the research and methods.
Amy S. Thompson, Woodburn Professor of Applied Linguistics and chair of the department, wrote in an email Tuesday, "We did not appeal individual programs, as we were told that wouldn't work."