According to the American Association for Applied Linguistics, applied linguistics is an inter-disciplinary body of knowledge that draws on a wide range of disciplines to inform research and programs that address the language-related issues of individuals and society. Applied linguistics uses multiple research methods to investigate naturally occurring language use. Results are reported in both quantitative and qualitative forms, and descriptions of language patterns are derived from data that have been systematically collected and analyzed in alignment with field research principles.
As an applied linguist, I was trained in research methodologies and tools associated with pragmatics, discourse analysis, and corpus linguistics (including computer programming and multi-variate statistics) to investigate research themes in sociolinguistics, second language acquisition, and language education. The general subject of my research is language variation. This work explores how communication is structured, how language structures may convey several layers of meaning at the same time, and how language systems may be varied yet systematic among different contexts of communication. With Ordinary Language Philosophy (Austen, 1962, University of Oxford) as a foundational viewpoint, my work employs field research methods to quantitatively and qualitatively index the communication functions of linguistic registers, from both diachronic and synchronic perspectives. Resulting descriptions can be used as a normative baseline against which the discourse of learners can be compared to inform a discussion of communicative competence. Selected Conference Presentations - Smith, Catherine. (2011, October). A Register Study of Professional Speech. Presented at the bi-annual meeting of the American Association for Corpus Lingusitics (AACL), Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA.
- Vellenga, Heidi and Catherine Smith. (2008,
March/April). From Theory to Practice:
Bridging the Gap in Teacher Training Programs. Presented at the annual meeting of the
American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL), Washington, D.C.
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Mellow, Dean, L. Hadic Zabala, Catherine Smith, M. Katherine
MacKinnon, M. Clemencia Gonzalez, and M. Ackar.
(2007, April). Quantifying L2 Grammatical Development:
Implications for Measurement and Construct Validity. Presented at the annual meeting of the
American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL), Costa Mesa, CA.
- Smith, Catherine. (2007, March). ESL/EFL Teacher Training and 'Peripheral' Social Contexts: An Interdisciplinary Approach. Presented at the Oxford Round Table on ESL and Bilingual Education, Oxford, England.
- Smith, Catherine. (2004, June).
Tense/Aspect in L1 Professional
vs. L2 Student Academic Writing.
Presented at the meeting of the Inter-Varietal Academic Corpus Studies
(IVACS), Belfast, United Kingdom.
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Smith, Catherine. (2004, May).
The Role of Tense and Aspect in
Academic Writing. Presented at the
annual meeting of the American
Association of Applied Linguistics (AAAL), Portland, OR.
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Mellow,
Dean, M. Katherine MacKinnon, and Catherine
Smith. (2002, October). Instructional
Effects on the Development of English Cohesive Tie Use. Presented at the annual meeting of the Second
Language Research Forum (SLRF), Toronto, Canada.
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Smith, Catherine. (2001, February). Aspect
in ESL/EFL Instruction. Presented at
the 35th Annual TESOL Convention, Saint Louis, MO.
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Smith, Catherine. (2000, March). The
Grammaticalization and Functional Expansion of the Progressive in 18th-Century
English: A Study of Personal Letters. Presented at the North American Corpus
Linguistics Conference, Flagstaff, AZ.
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Smith, Catherine. (2000, May).
Use of the Progressive in 18thCentury
English: A Study of Personal Letters. Presented at the annual meeting of the
Studies in the History of the English Language (SHEL), University of California
at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA.
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Smith, Catherine. (2000, September). Use of
the Progressive in 18thCentury English: A Study of Personal Letters. Presented at the annual meeting of the
International Conference in Historical English Linguistics (ICHEL), Santiago de
Compostela, Spain.
Selected Publications
Corpus-Based Textbooks - Athelstan's CorpusLAB: Learning English Tenses. This book is a corpus-based introduction to tenses for English language learners. It presents language patterns for verb phrase structures organized according to aggregates of linguistic features (e.g., clause location, semantic verb categories, subject categories) and the language functions expressed. The book is based on a corpus of American professional speech.
- Athelstan's CorpusLAB: Steps to Professional Reading and Writing. This book is a corpus-based introduction to academic writing for first- and second-language writers. It includes strategies for reading, writing, editing, grammar, peer review, self-evaluation, and project management. The book is based on a corpus of American undergraduate academic writing and informed by professional academic writing.
- Information on these textbooks can be obtained from Dr. Michael Barlow (professor of applied language studies at University of Auckland and Rice University and co-owner of Athelstan Publications) at barlow@athel.com.
Linguistic Corpora
Education - Ph.D., Northern Arizona University, Applied Linguistics, 2004, Advisors: Dr. Susan Fitzmaurice
; Dr. Douglas Biber ; Dr. Mary McGroarty
M.A., Colorado State University, 1998, Foreign Languages and Literatures-German, Advisor: Dr. Irmgard Hunt
M.A., University of Northern Iowa, 1995, TESOL, Advisor: Dr. Cheryl Roberts
B.A., University of Northern Iowa, 1995, German
B.A., University of Northern Iowa, 1991, French/TESOL
Biography
Currently, I am a lecturer in the fundamentals of writing at the University of Minnesota Morris (UMM). From 2009-2010, I was an assistant professor at Saint Cloud State University and taught courses in applied linguistics and academic writing. From 2003-2009, I was an assistant professor at Troy University and designed and directed a TESL/TEFL program while teaching courses in applied linguistics, world literature, and academic writing. From 1998-2003, I was a doctoral student at Northern Arizona University and taught courses in applied linguistics, education, academic writing, and ESL. From 1986-1998, I attended college in Iowa, France, Austria, and Colorado while serving in the United States Army Reserves, working as a manuscript editor and typist for consulting offices in the Natural and Physical Sciences, teaching ESL in Iowa and Colorado, and teaching EFL in Germany. I was born on Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Alabama, during the Vietnam War and into the midst of the Civil Rights Movement and grew up in the Midwest.
Disclaimer
- This web site has not been reviewed by UMM and does not represent the views of the University.
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Painting by Poteet Victory
Recommended Reads Corpora for Investigation
Discussion in Corpus Linguistics
Discussion in Second Language Writing and Literacy
Applied Corpus Linguistics: Tools to Facilitate the Use of Descriptive Grammar, Corpus Building, Programming, and Statistics
Themes in Applied Corpus Linguistics
Research Programs in Corpus Linguistics
Companies and Projects in Corpus Linguistics
Professional Organizations
Open-Access Tools for Education
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