SU linguist to receive master's teaching prize

Amanda Brown, assistant professor of linguistics in Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences, has been named this year’s recipient of the Prize for the Teaching of Master’s Students. The prize is awarded annually by The College in recognition of superior graduate teaching.

Brown will be feted at The College’s convocation for master’s degree candidates on Saturday, May 12, at 2 p.m. in Setnor Auditorium of Crouse College. For more information, call the Office for Curriculum, Instruction, and Programs at 315-443-1414.

“Professor Brown exemplifies the important role master’s teaching plays in the college,” says Arts and Sciences Dean George M. Langford. “She has a proven track record of motivating and mentoring students, both in and out of the classroom, so that they move into rewarding careers or pursue further studies at the Ph.D. level.”

Brown joined SU’s faculty in 2007, after serving as a lecturer in Boston University’s School of Education. She quickly distinguished herself in The College’s Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics (LLL) as an expert in language teaching and in teaching English to speakers of other languages. In addition to advising students in the M.A. program in linguistic studies, she has been a driving force behind LLL’s new Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) in Language Teaching. 

Currently, Brown has 44 advisees: nine in linguistic studies, 25 in CAS, and 10 in SU’s Future Professoriate Program.

“Professor Brown is my role model and is one of my most favorite teachers of all time,” says one student. “[Although] she is strict, we love the classroom assignments and activities she gives us.”

Says another student: “Professor Brown is the most intellectual and enthusiastic teacher I have ever had. … I cannot think of a better person to win this award.”

Colleagues echo these sentiments, drawing attention to Brown’s precocious track record for teaching and pedagogical service. “There is no doubt that Professor Brown is one of the best teachers that the linguistic studies program has. Her dedication, as a teacher and advisor, is very clear,” adds a faculty member.

A specialist in second-language acquisition and language teaching, Brown has held various faculty positions at BU and the Boston School of Modern Languages, and has taught in Japan and Ecuador. She is the author of “Crosslinguistic Influence in First and Second Languages: Convergence in Speech and Gesture” (Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, 2007) and of numerous related articles and essays.

Brown is also the recipient of several grants and fellowships, including a recent three-year major research instrumentation grant from the National Science Foundation. She earned a Ph.D. in applied linguistics from BU/The Max Planck Institute (The Netherlands), in addition to degrees and certificates from the universities of Essex, Cambridge and York and from Regent College, all in England.