Profile

Address: 1555 Lakeside Drive #182, Oakland, CA 94612

E-mail: adcohen@umn.edu, Website: https://z.umn.edu/adcohen, Telephone: 612-747-4700 (C)

Education: B.A. in French History and Literature, Harvard University, 1965; M.A. in Linguistics, Stanford University, 1971; PhD in International Development Education, Stanford University, 1973.

Positions Held

Peace Corps Volunteer in Rural Community Development, High Plains, Bolivia, 1965-67.

Assistant Professor, English as a Second Language Section, Dept. of English, University of California, Los Angeles, 1972-75; Visiting Professor, 1980-81.

Senior Lecturer, Centre for Applied Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel, 1975-79; Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics, School of Education, Hebrew University, 1979-1991.

Fulbright Lecturer and Researcher, Brazil, July 1986-July 1987, based at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC-SP).

Instructor, International Institute in Language Acquisition, Pontifícia Universidade Católica-São Paulo, Brazil, July-August, 1988.

Associate Professor, ESL Unit, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, September 1991-1993; Full Professor,, 1993-2013. ESL Unit morphed into Program in Second Language Studies (College of Liberal Arts) in 2008. Upon my retirement in 2013, Second Language Studies became part of Curriculum and Instruction in the College of Education and Human Development.

Director, Institute of Linguistics and Asian & Slavic Languages & Literatures, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 1993-1996.

Chair, Department of English as a Second Language, l997-1999, 2006-2008. Director of Graduate Studies, 1997-2000, Director of Undergraduate Studies, 2005-2008. Member of the Linguistics Graduate Faculty, 1991-2001, Member of Literacy & Rhetorical Studies Graduate Faculty, 2003-2013, University of Minnesota.

Director, National Language Resource Center (Office of International Education, U.S. Dept. of Education) to the University of Minnesota, 1993-2002. Chair of Council of 14 National Language Resource Centers, 2002-2004.

Visiting Professor, Department of Applied Language Studies & Linguistics, University of Auckland, New Zealand, 2004-2005.

Faculty member, Program in English as a Second Language and then Second Language Studies (as of July 2008), College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota.

Professor emeritus as of June, 2013.

Honors

Scholar of the College, College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota, 2002-2005.

2006 Distinguished Scholarship and Service Award from the American Association for Applied Linguistics.

Grants

Principal Investigator, National Language Resource Center Grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of International Education–includes funding for research on language learning strategies, language testing, and immersion education; 1993-1996, 1996-1999, 1999-2002. Contributing project coordinator for the grant 2002-2006: project on pragmatics website development, and 2006-2010: project on development of website with strategies for learning Spanish grammar.

Co-PI with Michael Paige (CEHD), “Maximizing Study Abroad through Language and Culture Strategies,” from the International Research and Studies Program (IRSP) grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of International Education , 2002-2005.

Co-PI with Thom Upton (IUPUI), “Strategies in Responding to the New TOEFL Reading Tasks,” from Educational Testing Service, 2003-2005.

PI for “Supporting undergraduate language learning in CLA through web-based teaching modules on speech acts,” an instructional improvement grant from the CLA Info tech Fees Committee, for summer 2003.

Grant-in-Aid Award, Spring Semester, 2003 for Research Project entitled, “Learner Strategy Training in the Development of Pragmatic Ability.”

PI for the Web-Based Spanish Grammar Strategies Project within the National Language Resource Center Grant from U.S. Department of Education, Office of International Education (2007-2009).

Small Grant from the Student Technology Fee Committee for $5,000 for Updating the CARLA Webpage on Pragmatics and Speech Acts, Summer 2009 (230 hours support for a graduate assistant).


Selected by the University of Minnesota Retirees Association to receive a 2020–21 Professional Development Grant for Retirees (PDGR) award for a project entitled “The Long-Term Impact of the Styles and Strategies-Based Instruction CARLA Summer Institute Course,” March 21, 2020. Project completed April 10, 2021.


Professional Activities

  • Chair, Israel Association for Applied Linguistics, 1978-85; International Secretary, 1985-1991.

  • Secretary-Treasurer, American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL), 1993-1997.

  • Scientific Commissions Coordinator/Executive Board Member, International Association of Applied Linguistics (AILA), 1984-1987.

  • Publications Coordinator/Executive Board Member, AILA, 1987-1990.

  • Editor of AILA News/Executive Board Member, AILA, 1990-1993.

  • Secretary General, International Association of Applied Linguistics (AILA), 1996-2002.

  • Co-Chair, Israeli Academic Committee for Research on Language Testing (ACROLT), 1982-1991.

  • Senior Advisor, Ojibwe Distance Language Learning Project, September 2006-present. Federal grant to Prof. Mary Hermes, University of Minnesota, Duluth.

  • Member of eight-person National Advisory Board for the Defense Proficiency Testing Program, under the auspices of the Center for Advanced Study of Language, University of Maryland, serving as the go-between with the Department of Defense, 2005-2008.

  • Consultant to the Title VI Global Connections Experience and Reflections Project at Arcadia University, Philadelphia, June 2008-2010.

  • Consultant on language learner strategies for a 3-year Carnegie Mellon University in Doha, Qatar research project to improve science reading comprehension strategies of Qatari middle-school students in Arabic L1 and English FL, with funding from the Qatari government (2013-2016).

  • Selected by the University of Minnesota Retirees Association to receive a 2020–21 Professional Development Grant for Retirees (PDGR) award for a project entitled “The Long-Term Impact of the Styles and Strategies-Based Instruction CARLA Summer Institute Course,” March 21, 2020. Project completed April 10, 2021.