|
|
- March 28, 2008
Committee to explore creation of applied linguistics department
-
An exploratory committee has been established within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences to look at the creation of a new academic department within the college.
The committee will investigate the feasibility of a new Department of Applied Linguistics. Academic programs associated with the new department are currently housed primarily in the Department of English.
"We are very excited about the possibility of establishing a Department of Applied Linguistics," said Michael Whiteford, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. "This is an exciting and burgeoning field and we have an absolutely crackerjack group of individuals who would constitute the faculty.
"The synergies that will occur with our Teaching English as a Second Language Program (TESL) will make this a first class operation right from the outset."
Applied linguistics is sometimes referred to as a trans-disciplinary area of inquiry because it draws upon perspectives from a variety of disciplines to address language-related problems. In doing so, it creates knowledge spanning traditional disciplines.
Iowa State applied linguistics faculty members investigate second language assessment and learning with emphasis on the use of technology in both. Research conducted by ISU faculty members in these areas has achieved national and international acclaim.
Currently Iowa State offers an undergraduate major and minor in linguistics as well as a graduate minor. The undergraduate and graduate degrees are offered through the cross-disciplinary linguistics program within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences including courses in anthropology, computer science, English, psychology, world languages and cultures and the program in speech communication.
There are nine faculty members currently associated with the Linguistics program in the Department of English although there are numerous others in various other academic units on campus affiliated with the program. Carol Chapelle, professor of English, serves as the linguistics program chair.
"We're hopeful that the new department will create the intellectual space to develop the interrelated teaching, research and outreach mission of applied linguistics on campus," Chapelle says.
Within the new unit, classes will be offered for students of English as a second language, undergraduate majors in linguistics, masters degree candidates in teaching English as a second language/applied linguistics and doctoral students in applied linguistics and technology.
"These courses are already in place," Chapelle said, "but the new department will be organized to benefit students across programs by providing opportunities for interaction in a shared conceptual and physical space."
Chapelle said that faculty and graduate students would conduct research on language assessment and learning issues, particularly those associated with technology. The new department's outreach mission would respond to the growing need for assistance with language-related issues in Iowa and beyond.
"For example, ongoing outreach engages Iowa teachers in simulations to help them understand the linguistic challenges of their nonnative English-speaking students," Chapelle said. "The new department offers the scope for growth into a variety of language-related problems, which can intersect with individual and group identity, language policy, politics and legal issues."
LAS associate deans Zora Zimmerman and Doug Epperson will co-chair the exploratory committee. Members include Chapelle and other Department of English faculty members Dan Douglas, Amy Slagell, Volker Hegelheimer, David Russell and Lee Honeycutt.
|
|
