In the Spring 2025 term, faculty members from the Department of Linguistics partnered with undergraduate student researchers to facilitate presentations at three international linguistics conferences.
In early January, faculty and students attended the Linguistic Society of America annual meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Instructor and internship coordinator Anna Marie Trester and student Amy Lemmon traveled to represent Boise State.
Trester and Lemmon participated in the inaugural LEXING track—a new thread of the meeting created to devote space and time to conversations about the work of linguists in industry, nonprofits and government.
At the meeting, Trester proposed a “fishbowl” panel about how linguistics informs practitioners’ work. Lemmon sat as one of the panelists, contributing her background as a linguistics and pre-med student at Boise State. She described how communications happens (or could, but doesn’t happen) in emergency room waiting areas.
Nicole Brun-Mercer, associate director of English Language Support Programs worked with linguistics undergraduate Grace Nunamaker, who is also an English Language Support Programs tutor. Together, led a workshop on tutor professional development at the International TESOL Convention, held March 18-21.
Their workshop, “Tutoring: Outside-the-box training to foster greater tutor growth,” guided participants through activities based on three professional development elements: values-based goal-setting, leadership opportunities, and culture exchange.
TESOL practitioners working around the world, from California to Madagascar, commented on the usefulness of the workshop, noting in particular the importance of working collaboratively with tutors on their professional development.
Professor Tim Thornes co-presented a poster at the International Conference on Language Documentation and Conservation with linguistics student Remiah Leppert, alum Max Vosk and Ebembe community member Mekambo Dimathas entitled “Preserving Ebembe Language and Culture in Boise, Idaho.”
The conference, which meets biennially at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa and is attended by language scholars and activists from around the world, is the premier gathering of people actively engaged in language documentation and maintenance. The theme of this year’s conference, “Navigating New Realities in Diaspora Communities,” presented an opportunity to showcase work being done at Boise State with refugee partners.
“I am so impressed with the number of students we have engaging in great research this year, and with the faculty mentors who are working with them,” Michal Temkin Martinez, department chair and professor said. “Being able to engage with research, and to also get to attend a professional conference to share this research, is a high impact practice that I wish every student could take advantage of. We’re really lucky in our department because we have faculty offering their time, mentorship and guidance in an environment where it’s safe to learn (and sometimes fail) and thrive, and our students eagerly take advantage of the opportunities presented to them.”
The Department of Linguistics Excellence Fund provided funding support for these presentations. The fund helps students explore professional and career development opportunities in linguistics.