Oklahoma State University
English Department
Faculty

List of Faculty
Openings
Course Home Pages
Online Forms
Online Film Catalog

Paper Forms

Available Technology

Policies and Procedures

 

 

 

Graduate | Undergraduate | Faculty | Alumni | Courses | Publications | Calendar

Dennis R. Preston

Professor
PhD, University of Wisconsin


Areas of Interest & Expertise

  • Sociolinguistics, dialectology, ethnography, discourse, SLA

Recent Upper Division & Graduate Courses Taught

  • Sociolinguistics
  • Folk Linguistics
  • Dialectology

Selected Publications

(2008-09 only)

2010
Variation in language regard. E. Zeigler, P. Gilles, & J. Scharloth (eds), Variatio delectat: Empirische Evidenzen und theoretische Passungen sprachlicher Variation (für Klaus J. Mattheier zum 65. Geburtstag. Frankfurt am Main · Berlin · Bruxelles · New York · Oxford · Wien: Peter Lang, 7-27.

2009

With James Stanford (eds). Variation in indigenous minority languages. Amsterdam: Benjamins (Impact series).

With Robert Bayley. Variationist linguistics and second language acquitition. W. Ritchie & T. Bhatia (eds), The new handbook of second language acquisition. Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley UK: Emerald, 89-113.

With Nancy Niedzielski. Folk pragmatics. G. Senft, J.-O. Östman, and J. Verschueren (eds). Culture and language use. (Handbook of Pragmatics Highlights 20. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 146-55.

Are you really smart (or stupid, or cute, or ugly, or cool)? Or do you just talk that way? In M. Maegaard, F. Gregerson, P. Quist, & J. N. Jørgensen (eds). Language attitudes, standardization and language change — perspectives on themes raised by Tore Kristiansen on the occasion of his 60th birthday. Oslo: Novus Forlag, 105-29.

With Nancy Niedzielski. Folk linguistics. N. Coupland & A. Jaworski (eds), The new sociolinguistics reader. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England: Palgrave/Macmillan, 356-73.

Linguistic profiling: The linguistic point of view. M. R. Salaberry (ed.), Language allegiances and bilingualism in the US. Bristol/Buffalo/Toronto: Multilingual Matters, 53-79.

Language, space, and the folk. P. Auer & J. Schmidt (eds), Language and space: Vol. I. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 179-201.

 

Offices & Honors

Organizational Activity

  • American Association for Applied Linguistics (Nominating Committee, 1993-94; Distinguished Scholarship & Service Award Committee 2009
  • American Dialect Society (Chairperson, Research Committee, 1989 Centennial year celebration; Executive Committee, 1990-93; Vice-president 1999-2000; President, 2001-02; Representative to ACLS-NHA, 2002; Nominating Committee 2003-06)
  • International Conferences on Methods in Dialectology (Executive Committee, 1997-2002)
  • Linguistic Society of America (Associate Editor, Language, 1997-99; Director, LSA Institute, 2003; Linguistic Institutes and Fellowships Committee, 2003-; Executive Committee, 2005-07; Resolutions Committee 2005; Audit Committee, 2005-07; Chair, Bloomfield Book Award Committee, 2007; Directorate Transition Committee 2007; Representative to COSSA 2007-8; Nominating Committee 2009-11; Public Relations Committee 2009-11)

Honors & Awards

  • Regents Professor, Oklahoma State University (2009)
  • Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Polish Republic (2004)
  • University Distinguished Professor, Michigan State University (2003)
  • Paul Varg Arts & Letters Alumni Association Distinguished Faculty Award, College of Arts & Letters, Michigan State University (2002)
  • Erskine Fellowship, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand (2000)
  • Distinguished Faculty Award, Michigan State University (2000)
  • Fellow, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (1998)
  • Medal of the University, Adam Mickiewicz University (1986)

Grants

(2000 and later only)

2009-12
International advisor, Helsinki Finnish: Diversity, social identity and linguistic attitudes in an urban context. Research Institute for the Languages of Finland

2005-09
International Council member, Centre for Language Change in Real Time (LANCHART), Copenhagen University, Danish National Research Foundation

2005-07
The acquisition of dialect phonology by non-English language background speakers, National Science Foundation

2004-05
Dissertation fellowship, Bartłomiej Plichta, National Science Foundation

2003-04
With Mutsuko Endo Hudson. The 13th meeting of the Japan/Korea Linguistics Society, The Japan Foundation

2002-06
With John Baugh et al., Washington University in St. Louis. Linguistic Profiling, Ford Foundation

2002-
Sponsorship of an American Dialect Society Professorship at Linguistic Society of America Institutes, American Dialect Society

2002-03
A Korean Linguistics track in the 2003 LSA Institute, The Korea Foundation

2002-03
With Ivan Sag, a computational linguistics track at the 2003 LSA Institute, American Association for Computational Linguistics

2001
Consultant planning grant, with Artemis Media Project, Montgomery, AL. A series of PBS radio segments on American dialects, National Endowment for the Humanities

1999-2000
Research Experience for Undergraduates, Supplement to National Science Foundation Grant 1998-2000

1999-2000
With Brian Joseph, a State Linguistic Profiles Conference, Columbus, OH, May 11-13, Institute for Collaborative Research and Public Humanities (The Ohio State University)

1998-2000
Accomodation to the Northern Cities Shift, National Science Foundation

Selected Presentations
(2007 or later only)

Abbreviations:
AAAL = American Association for Applied Linguistics
ADS = American Dialect Society
AILA = International Association for Applied Linguistics
ICMD = International Conference on Methods in Dialectology
LSA = Linguistic Society of America
NWAV = New Ways of Analyzing Variation

2010

Transmission & diffusion, contact, and space & symmetry in the acquisition of norms. Annual Linguistic Society of America Conference, Baltimore, January

The cognitive foundations of folk, attitudinal, and ideological linguistics. Plenary lecture, 34th International LAUD Symposium “Cognitive Sociolinguistics,” University of Koblenz-Landau, March

Folk linguistics in the 21st Century. Invited lecture, Swiss English Language and Linguistics Association, Basel, March

The linguistic bases of immigrant L2 acquisition. Invited lecture, First International Congress on Language and immigration, University of Alcalá de Henares, March

Language attitudes: The good, the bad, and the ugly. Invited lecture, International Linguistic Association, New Paltz, New York, April

Folk linguistics and SLA. Invited lecture, Graduate Student SLA Association, University of Wisconsin Madison, April

2009

Language standards and language regard in the 21st Century. Invited lecture, The nature and role of language standardisation and standard languages in late modernity. University of Copenhagen, FebruaryThe cycle of regard, perception, and production. Plenary lecture, Production, Perception, Attitude. University of Leuven, April

Talking attitudes: Discoursal approaches to language attitudes. Plenary lecture, Language Interaction and Social Organization (LISO) Graduate Student Association conference, University of California Santa Barbara, May

Talk about talk: Discoursal approaches to language regard. Invited lecture. Research Institute for the Languages of Finland and the Departments of Finnish and English, the University of Helsinki, August

The four elephants of sociolinguistics inspect a ping-pong ball. Plenary lecture, Poznań Linguistics Meeting, Gniezno, September

With Jon Bakos, the perception of Oklahoma speech. NWAV (New Ways of Analyzing Variation) 38, Ottawa, October

Folk linguistics: On to Okalhoma, Invited lecture, Language and linguistics student conference, University of Central Oklahoma, November

Language, space and geography, Invited lecture, University of Freiburg, Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS) November

2008

With Michael Silverstein. Attitudes, ideologies, and folk linguistics. Invited lecture, Symposium on sociolinguistics and linguistic theories, LSA, Chicago, January

Linguistic profiling: How your brain can fool your ear. Plenary lecture, AAAL, Washington, DC, March

Discourse in folk linguistics and language attitude studies. Invited lecture, Workshop on micro and macro approaches to language attitudes, folk linguistics, and language ideologies, Sociolinguistics 17, Amsterdam, April

Perceptual linguistics, Invited lecture, Centruum voor Linguïstiek, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, May

Perceptual dialectology in the 21st Century, Invited inaugural lecture, perceptual dialectology — Neue Wege der Dialektologie, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, May

Second language background speakers’ acquisition of Michigan vowels. ICMD, Leeds, August

With Michael Pasquale, A folk linguistic taxonomy of language teaching and learning. AILA, Essen, August

Canada: The big sibling to the north. Invited lecture, University centenary celebration, University of Alberta, September

When ultimate achievement isn’t native-like. Invited lecture, High-Level Proficiency in Second Language Use, Stockholm University, October

Communities, Invited plenary lecture, NWAV, Rice University, Houston, November

The ecology of speech communities, Invited lecture, The Ecology of language, Agder University, Kristiansand, November

General American and other mythical creatures, University of Stockholm American English Lecture Series, November

 

 


Back Button


English Department
College of Arts & Sciences
Oklahoma State University
205 Morrill Hall
Stillwater, OK 74078
Phone: 405-744-9474
For Information about English Programs: english.information@okstate.edu
Webmaster: engweb@okstate.edu