@winke

A large, diverse group of faculty, alumni, students, and guests pose together in a bright atrium with green walls during Michigan State University’s Second Language Studies Ph.D. program 20th anniversary celebration. Many wear MSU name badges and SLS-branded shirts.

Celebrating 20 Years: Second Language Studies Program Honors Its Past and Looks to the Future

November 11, 2025

While Michigan State University’s Second Language Studies (SLS) Ph.D. program may have started by being in the right place at the right time, the efforts made by its administrators, faculty, alumni, and students have propelled the program into an international powerhouse. During the 20th anniversary celebration held Oct. 17-19, 2025, students, faculty, and alums of the program shared their experiences,…

A composite image featuring four headshots of individuals side by side. From left to right: a man in a suit and tie with glasses, a man with shoulder-length wavy gray hair in a floral-patterned shirt, a woman with long brown hair wearing a white shirt and a blue sweater, and a woman with short brown hair wearing green-framed glasses and a gray coat. They are all smiling.

Faculty / Faculty / Faculty Stories / International Impact / Linguistics / Michigan Impact / News / Research / Scholarship / U.S. Impact

Applied Linguistics Scholars Among Top 2-Percent of Scientists Worldwide

March 14, 2025

Four professors from the Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures at Michigan State University are among the top 2% of scientists in the world, according to Stanford University’s latest World’s Top 2% Scientists list, which identifies scholars who are top-cited in their respective fields.

Faculty / Faculty / Faculty Stories / International Impact / Linguistics / News / Research / Scholarship

Faculty Invited to Teach at International Winter School for Language Testing Research

February 20, 2025

Assistant Professor Koen Van Gorp and Professor Paula Winke from the Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures (LiLaC) at Michigan State University were two of five international professors invited by the European Association of Language Testing and Assessment and the Language Testing Research Group Innsbruck to teach at a Winter School for language testing research that was held in the…

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English / Linguistics / News / U.S. Impact

Doctoral Candidate Receives AAAL Graduate Student Award

March 14, 2023

J. Dylan Burton, a doctoral candidate in the Second Language Studies (SLS) Ph.D. program at Michigan State University, received a 2023 Graduate Student Award from the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL). Each year, this merit-based award recognizes 20 students from across the country based on the quality of a written proposal for a poster or a paper. Burton’s primary research interests center around…

Faculty / Faculty / Faculty Stories / Linguistics / News / Research / Scholarship

Paula Winke Named Inaugural Arts & Letters Professor

January 17, 2023

Paula Winke, Professor in the Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures (LiLaC) at Michigan State University, recently was named the inaugural Arts & Letters Professor recognizing her outstanding intellectual leadership and excellence in teaching. “It is a true honor to be the inaugural Arts & Letters Professor in the College of Arts & Letters,” Winke said. “This award is meaningful…

Faculty / Faculty / News / Publication / Research / U.S. Impact

MSU Faculty Member and Alum Win National Foreign Language Education Award

February 21, 2022

The highest national research award for foreign language education recently was awarded to the team of Xiaowan Zhang, MSU Ph.D. alumna in Second Language Studies; Paula Winke, Professor in MSU’s Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures; and Shaunna Clark, Associate Professor at Texas A&M University, for their research paper, “Background Characteristics and Oral Proficiency Development Over Time in Lower-Division College…

Award / Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / News / Student / Student

Doctoral Graduate Raises the Bar for African Language Instruction

December 10, 2021

Although specific to African languages, Magdalyne “Maggie” Oguti Akiding’s approach to second language instruction could be adapted to teach most any foreign language and is raising the bar for African language instruction in the United States with a fast-paced, communicatively oriented method that draws from culture, current events, and history. A native of Kenya, Akiding graduates this month with a…

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / Faculty / Grant / News / Programs

Raising Proficiency in Critical-Need Languages

March 29, 2021

For decades, Spanish, French, and German have dominated the landscape of foreign language instruction in most schools, colleges, and universities in the United States. However, as the need grows for proficiency in critical-need languages, Michigan State University is inviting teachers of two non-Western European languages to explore best practices through a synchronous online summer workshop. The Department of Linguistics and…

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion / Faculty / Faculty / Grant / News / Research

Putting Tests to the Test: Assessing High-Stakes Exams for Second Language Learners

September 11, 2020

While earning undergraduate degrees in French and Philosophy, Paula Winke was inspired to blend her interests in language learning, research, and social justice. Today, she’s an applied linguist, researching the ethics and effectiveness of foreign language testing as Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian, and African Languages and Director of the Second Language Studies Program Winke works in foreign language…

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Faculty / Faculty / Faculty Stories / News / Programs

Paula Winke Named Director of Second Language Studies

July 7, 2020

Paula Winke, Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian, and African Languages, has been appointed Director of the Second Language Studies Program in the College of Arts & Letters, effective August 16, 2020, through August 15, 2024. The Second Language Studies (SLS) Program is an interdisciplinary research and pedagogy program whose members investigate the acquisition and teaching…