Welcome to Second Language Studies Ph.D Program at MSU

Second Language Studies is an interdisciplinary Doctoral Degree Program in the Applied Linguistics Program within the Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures in the College of Arts & Letters. Along with the SLS Ph.D. Program, the TESOL Program is also within the Applied Linguistics Program. The TESOL Program offers a Minor in TESOL for undergraduate students, and a MA in TESOL and Applied Linguistics.

The SLS Ph.D. Degree Program is for researchers and teacher-researchers interested in second language acquisition (SLA) and applied linguistics, and how those fields intersect with bilingualism, corpus linguistics, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, educational linguistics, pragmatics, and language assessment.

The Second Language Studies Program also offers a Graduate Program Certificate in Second Language Studies.

If you have questions or want to join the SLS Ph.D. Program, contact us!

Shawn Loewen, SLS Program Director, loewens@msu.edu

Marina Valli, Applied Linguistics Graduate Degree Program Coordinator, vallimar@msu.edu

Core Faculty

Affiliated Faculty

Students

Alumni

Events

Visiting Scholars

Fulbright Scholar

Our faculty committee reviews select Visiting Scholar applications from the Fulbright Program.

Faculty Invite

We invite visitors to work on specific projects with SLS faculty. These scholars come through arrangements with individual SLS faculty members, and are officially hosted by the member’s home unit (LiLaC, RCS, or the ELC).

International Visitors

Come join us for an entire year! Be a “Visiting International Professional” through the Second Language Studies Specialized Global Professional Educational Program.

Visiting Scholars

Fullbright Scholar

Our faculty committee reviews select visiting scholar applications from the Fulbright program.

Faculty Invite

We invite visitors to work on specific projects or to share their research. These scholars come through individual arrangements with faculty.

Unsolicited Applications

Faculty welcomes unsolicited applications through the SLS Ambassador Visiting Scholar (AVS) Program

SLS Weekly Digest

The SLS Weekly Digest is an email regarding job postings, conference information, calls for papers and publications.

MSU's "Working Papers in SLS" Journal

“Working Papers in SLS” is an online, peer-reviewed journal dedicated to the broad fields of second language studies, second language acquisition, applied linguistics, TESOL, and their related disciplines. Visit the journal to learn more.

featured News

In the Spotlight: Adam Pfau and Research on Data-Driven Learning Modules

Adam Pfau is a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in the Second Language Studies (SLS) program. His dissertation examines how and to what extent direct (i.e., hands-on corpus use) or indirect (i.e., hands-off corpus materials) online data-driven learning modules can result in more appropriate hedging by Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) writers in the context of academic English. This work involved developing and implementing two online courses, and a central focus of the study is on assessing the learners’ user experiences concerning any difficulties, challenges, or benefits they saw in engaging with the online course modules or the online language corpora.

Joanne Koh Awarded Dissertation Support Award from Mango

Joanne Koh has won a highly competitive and prestigious dissertation support award from Mango, which is a company that provides online language learning support and platforms. In addition to obtaining support from Mango for her work, her dissertation work has also been included as an honorable mention from the TIRF. Joanne’s dissertation investigates how adult Korean learners of English watch English language TV shows on Netflix. She is interested in how the learners use captions when they watch, as well as their motivations for turning captions on or leaving them off while viewing. By tracking learners’ viewing habits and patterns, along with their learning of new vocabulary, Joanne can see the benefits of extended viewing at home.

Matt Coss Leads Instruction

MSU was recently awarded a second round of funding for a STARTALK professional development program for Chinese language teachers in the United States. Second Language Studies PhD student Matt Coss is the Lead Instructor for this program. In his capacity as Lead Instructor for MSU’s STARTALK program, he has developed (along with other program team members) a series of 120 hours of synchronous and asynchronous online and face-to-face professional learning experiences for in-service Chinese language teachers from all over the United States.