Shawn Loewen, Interim Director of the Second Language Studies program, has been named Associate Editor of The Modern Language Journal, effective January 1, 2018. This marks the third major editorship position that faculty in MSU’s Second Language Studies program recently have been named to.

“I’m excited for the opportunity to impact the quality of research investigating how second languages are best learned in the classroom,” Loewen said. “Facilitating a dialogue between researchers and teachers is important for improving second language learning in the United States and around the world.”

Loewen has been a faculty member of the Second Language Studies program at Michigan State University since August 2006. He recently was promoted to Full Professor and his two-year appointment as Interim Director of Second Language Studies became effective September 25, 2017.

Loewen received his M.A. in Linguistics from Temple University and his Ph.D. from the University of Auckland, New Zealand. His primary area of research is Instructed Second Language Acquisition, particularly in relation to classroom interaction. In addition to his interest in the effects of instruction, he is concerned with how research methodology affects our understanding of second language acquisition.

The Modern Language Journal is an international peer-reviewed academic journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the National Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations. It is dedicated to promoting scholarly exchange among teachers and researchers of all modern foreign languages and English as a second language, publishing research and discussion about the learning and teaching of foreign and second languages.

Besides Loewen’s editorship with The Modern Language Journal, the other two editorships held by faculty in MSU’s Second Language Studies program include:

• Studies in Second Language Acquisition Journal, co-edited by Sue Gass, University Distinguished Professor and Director of the Second Language Studies program, and Bill VanPatten, Professor in the Department of Romance and Classical Studies
• TESOL Quarterly, co-edited by Professor Charlene Polio and Assistant Professor Peter De Costa, both in the Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian, and African Languages

“I don’t think any other program in the United States or elsewhere comes close to this level of disciplinary leadership,” Gass said.

The Second Language Studies Ph.D. program at Michigan State University provides students with a firm foundation in the fields of Second Language Acquisition (SLA), applied linguistics, and foreign language studies. It is for researchers and teacher-researchers interested in second language acquisition, applied linguistics, bilingualism, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, pragmatics, and language assessment.