Six applied linguistics professors among top 2% of most-cited researchers

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Six faculty members from the College of the Liberal Arts’ Department of Applied Linguistics recently learned their research has had significant global reach.

Faculty members Suresh Canagarajah, Karen E. Johnson, Celeste Kinginger, James Lantolf, Xiaofei Lu and Matt Poehner are among the world’s top 2% most-cited researchers and top 400 world linguists, according to recently updated statistics compiled by Stanford University professor John P.A. Ioannidis and available through the Elsevier Data Repository. Researchers included in the database are categorized in 22 scientific disciplines and 174 sub-fields.

Citations are a prime marker of a researcher’s reach and impact. After initially being shared in peer-reviewed journals, research findings are then cited by other scholars working in the field who see value in the information and are looking to use it to advance knowledge on a given subject.

Applied Linguistics Department Head Tommaso M. Milani, George C. and Jane G. Greer Professor of Applied Linguistics, of Jewish Studies, of African Studies, and of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, said the rankings reflect the department’s high stature within the field.

“This is a remarkable achievement that demonstrates the influence the research in our department has on other scholars in applied linguistics and other cognate disciplines,” Milani said. “Based on the citation rankings, there is little doubt that applied linguistics at Penn State is among the top of departments in the field, nationally and internationally.”

Now in her 34th year at Penn State, Johnson said it’s a “wonderful” feeling to be recognized globally for her scholarship.

“The fact that five of my long-time colleagues have received similar accolades speaks volumes for the high quality and global impact of the Department of Applied Linguistics at Penn State,” she said.

Lu echoed the sentiment.

“This accolade is a testament to the importance of the research we do in advancing the field of applied linguistics, and it’s personally gratifying to know that our efforts are making a difference,” Lu said.

Suresh Canagarajah, Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Applied Linguistics, of English and of Asian Studies

A sociolinguist, Canagarajah focuses his research on the place of language diversity in global communication — an interest derived, he said, from his upbringing in Sri Lanka, which during the British colonial era adopted a version of English that was considered “broken” by native English speakers and teachers.

“English is now recognized as a global language,” Canagarajah said. “With that comes considerable diversity in the way different communities use it. I study how this diversified global English facilitates communication without necessarily affecting intelligibility in social and professional interactions. The more successful communicators adopt attitudes of tolerance, patience and understanding to interact with others by taking into consideration the rich interpretive cues available in context. … For this reason, I also study how English language teachers can foster an awareness of the ways different varieties of English, and even other languages, can work together in one’s repertoire favorably.”

Canagarajah is currently examining how international scientists communicate with each other in their research and professional activities.

“Though they come from different countries and language groups, they work together without major communicative breakdowns because they are unified by their shared projects and purposes,” he said. “I am videotaping their interactions in their lab work and their writing to analyze how their diversity adds value to their scientific products. People usually focus only on the superficial accent or grammatical differences and expect international scholars to accommodate to their own norms without considering the mutual adjustments all parties must make by focusing on other shared communicative resources.”

Because of some recent family experiences, Canagarajah also has become increasingly interested in the communication challenges that disabled people face.

“I am engaged in studying the diverse forms of communication of disabled people in order to critique the traditional biases of linguistics and expand its focus,” he said. “My mission to make education and communication more inclusive is enhanced by the critical questions disabled people are asking.” 

Karen E. Johnson, Jay and Catherine Kirby Professor in Language Learning and Applied Linguistics

Johnson has devoted the bulk of her scholarship to examining second language (L2) teacher cognition within and for the field of L2 teacher education. That research, grounded in a Vygotskian sociocultural “theory of mind,” centers on understanding the learning and activity of L2 teaching, as well as the practices of L2 teacher education.

“I have accomplished this by empirically documenting the practices of L2 teacher education, tracing L2 teacher professional development as it is unfolding, and detailing the consequences of L2 teacher education on the ways in which L2 teachers think about and enact their instructional practices with multilingual students in the institutions in which they live and work,” Johnson said. “Teachers make a difference in the minds and lives of students. When those students are attempting or forced to enter a new language and culture, teachers are often the first point of contact and an invaluable resource for becoming a legitimate member of this new community and, for many bi/multilingual students, a new life.”

Johnson is currently editing the book, “Innovation, Intentionality, and Intervention: Vygotskian Sociocultural Research in Second Language Teacher Education,” which is set to be published by Routledge next fall. Several of the selected authors, she said, were chosen for their commitment to Vygotskian sociocultural theory and L2 teacher education, while others were picked due to their status as up-and-coming scholars within the VSCT SLTE field.

“I am excited by the research these authors are engaged in and hope to highlight the quality and character of their work for the field,” Johnson said.

Celeste Kinginger, professor of applied linguistics and director of graduate studies

Kinginger examines meaningful language learning for Anglophone students and ways to enhance the process — which can be challenging considering English’s ubiquity throughout the world, she said.

“In the U.S., other languages can be perceived as marginally useful, which sets us apart from most other educated peoples on the planet,” Kinginger said. “In fact, the experience of learning a language after childhood is a direct route to intercultural competence and the ability to work or play in internationalized settings with respect and empathy for others. It is in this sense that my work has a social justice dimension.

“As citizens of a powerful nation, using the world’s Lingua Franca, Americans run the risk not only of general ignorance of other cultural values and practices but also of becoming a ‘native speaker problem’ in the multilingual workplace through specific features of their talk that generate misunderstanding and are perceived as self-serving and arrogant.”

For nearly 15 years, Kinginger has examined language learning in study abroad programs through case studies, recordings of interaction at host family dinner tables, and literary works. They include the insights of program administrators, hosts, and students alike as a means of understanding and potentially improving study abroad experiences.

The research, she said, has shown that study abroad “can be but is not always a productive environment for language learning.”

“If students wish to learn a language while abroad, they must choose programs specifically designed for that purpose. They must also remain flexible about the specific contexts for learning to be discovered and open to emotional engagement with local hosts,” said Kinginger, whose new book, “The Professional Lives of Language Study Abroad Alumni,” co-authored with Jingyuan Zhuang, includes findings from a federally funded nationwide survey of study abroad participants of all ages.

James P. Lantolf, Greer Professor Emeritus in Language Acquisition and Applied Linguistics

Lantolf’s research has largely focused on employing the psychological theory proposed by Russian psychologist L. S. Vygotsky to explain the development of human mental functioning to better understand and inform the process of learning and teaching languages beyond childhood —research he finds to be important given that the act of teaching and learning a language is “perhaps one of the most difficult and complex that humans undertake.”

“Children are very good at learning language but are not really very good at learning other things, such as math, history, science and the like until they develop a more mature psychological system,” Lantolf said. “Adults, on the other hand, are not particularly good at learning language but are much better than children at learning math, science, history, etc., precisely because they have a fully developed psychological system. Vygotsky's theory provides a reasonable account for why this is the case and offers an effective framework for helping adults learn language and children to better learn school subjects.”

In addition to continuing his work on language pedagogy — he’s currently involved in a multi-site project focused on Spanish instruction — Lantolf is pursuing research that seeks “to better understand the pros and cons of research methodology in social science and what the relationship is between methodology and theory.”

Xiaofei Lu, professor of applied linguistics and of Asian studies

As a corpus linguist with a keen interest in English for academic purposes and second language acquisition, Lu’s research analyzes linguistic features, especially linguistic complexity and formulaic language features, that are characteristic of different types of academic discourse and elucidating the communicative functions of those features; investigates the teaching, acquisition, longitudinal development and historical shifts of these linguistic features and their associated functions; explores the relationship of these features to human ratings of academic speech or writing quality; and develops computational tools to automate large-scale textual analyses.

“This research agenda has been a source of great excitement for me, as it allows me to leverage my expertise to advance the field in theoretically, methodologically and practically meaningful ways,” Lu said.

Through his current projects, Lu is examining the importance of “carefully considering the meanings and functions of linguistic expressions in analyzing their degree of complexity in academic discourse.”

“I am also actively exploring ways in which generative AI can be harnessed to advance academic writing research, pedagogy and assessment in theoretically sound ways,” he said.

Matthew E. Poehner, professor of world languages education and of applied linguistics

Poehner grounds much of his research in Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory to better understand how learners develop abilities when studying other languages.  

“The theory also provides principles for how we might design a curriculum and materials for language teachers and learners to use, how we can organize activities they can use in classrooms, and how we might use assessments to understand their language abilities and the progress they are making,” he said. “Many of the studies I have carried out have focused on a sociocultural theory approach to assessment that is known as dynamic assessment, where instead of simply observing students answer questions or complete tasks on their own, the assessor engages with students when they encounter problems. By offering assistance, it’s possible to gain additional insights into learner abilities according to how responsive they are.”

Poehner is currently working on two major research projects. One involves the use of dynamic assessment to better understand student language abilities within the context of oral proficiency interviews.

“While conventional interviews determine abilities based on how students respond to questions without any assistance, a dynamic procedure offers models, feedback, reminders and suggestions to probe how far learners might be able to extend their language abilities and, in particular, whether they might be approaching a higher level of proficiency,” he said.

For the other project, Poehner is collaborating with researchers in Finland to gauge dynamic assessment among secondary school students there who are preparing for the English language portion of a national examination required for university admittance.

“By employing a dynamic assessment approach to questions and tasks from the exam, we are hoping to gain insights into areas where learners are struggling and to use this information to support teachers and learners in their preparation for the final exam,” he said.