After what was probably the busiest ACTFL yet, it was awesome to come home to find this on my doorstep!

Proud of this new (open access 🔓!) piece with Hyun-Bin Hwang where we propose a practical framework to help researchers design studies that meaningfully connect with the everyday work of teachers and other practitioners. Feedback welcome! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

Interactive fiction is considered a niche game genre for geeks who like to play with language and puzzles, but it is both underexplored and IMO undervalued in research and practice of language learning and teaching. So I'm excited about our chapter in a new book that connects research and pedagogy!

Brilliance as always from @jessicacalarco.com

For their first project, my Kids and Society students have to create an infographic clarifying a common misconception about "kids these days." I'd prefer that they not use AI to create their projects, so I made my own infographic explaining why : )

Claudia Fernández continues to lead and inspire! So many nuggets of wisdom in this podcast episode! youtu.be/y6STokJpv8s?...

The dissertation is officially out in the world! (If anybody needs or wants a copy, please get in touch! Be warned... it is over 300 pages...) www.proquest.com/docview/3236...

People have embraced authoritarianism in large part because they've been sold individualistic explanations for social problems. If you think people are poor or unhoused because they've made "bad choices," then you'll see appeal in authoritarian leaders who promise to punish those who are "bad."

Please sign and share! www.thepetitionsite.com/223/510/092/...

Yes! Faculty, staff, students & alumni make a university strong. “Corporate boards of trustees are not synonymous with the universities themselves, and they are not the ones most motivated to defend the core values of higher education. We are. And we won’t capitulate.”

The newest interview from TASK: Journal on Task-Based Language Teaching with Marije Michel was just published (Open Access! 🔓)! Check it out! doi.org/10.1075/task...

Hot off the press! (If you can’t access it, please get in touch)

Check out my latest blog post where I caution us not to accept Trump’s framing of the issue that concedes that undocumented immigrant children are somehow less deserving of a free public education educationallinguist.wordpress.com/2025/07/17/l...

Cool to see this book officially available for pre-order! Really proud of this collaborative international project. benjamins.com/catalog/lllt...

I am now officially Dr. Matt Coss! Words can't really capture my gratitude to everyone, including my #langchat friends, who made this journey possible and so worthwhile. (Dissertation acknowledgements here: bit.ly/3ZKnWfz). On to the next adventure!

Sending this off tomorrow!

Important to note that, despite positive press, modern languages at Cardiff University are far from saved. Ancient History and Religion lose their named degrees, but at least there is some commitment (for now) to teach those topics as part of other degrees.

Another day, another short-sighted attempt by a UK university to cut Modern Languages. This time it's Bangor, planning to discontinue German and Chinese and reduce staffing in French and Spanish. Please sign: www.change.org/p/stop-cuts-...

If you want to show your support for the MLA's lawsuit against the dismantling of the NEH, please contribute to Paving the Way, the first fund on this page: www.mla.org/About-Us/Sup...

Always exciting to see new empirical work related to the research-practice relationship, especially when it’s excellent work from a good friend! doi.org/10.1111/modl...

How do we build more #retrievalpractice into our lessons? On the podcast, Dr. Pooja Agarwal (@retrievelearn.bsky.social), Dr. Janell Blunt, and Dr. Michelle Rivers share nine simple, easy, fun retrieval strategies that can be added to any lesson. www.cultofpedagogy.com/retrieval-in...

In January Cardiff University announced it was opening a consultation to cut 400 FTE academic staff and merge or close departments. I've made an episode focused on Modern Languages which is earmarked for closure: spareathought.podbean.com

Some encouraging news! Still more battles to fight, but winning is possible.

Hot off the press in @actfl.bsky.social The Language Educator (Spring, 2025 Issue)! If you can't get access to a copy of this article and would like one, please reach out! Also, be sure to check out the Online Bonus Content where we share free resources from the @oasisdatabase.bsky.social and more!

NOLA here we come! Excited for #ACTFL2025

Today was a full-circle, life-giving-, joy-FULL afternoon for me as a WL teacher, an SLA researcher, and a teacher educator. This afternoon, @doriec.bsky.social came to my ‘Second and Foreign Language Learning’ class to talk with 28 pre-service K-5 and WL educators about her scholarship (1/3)

Excited that the March NECTFL Review issue features a peer-reviewed article I co-authored with Nancy Zimmerman of @kutztownu.bsky.social on the @psmla.bsky.social Peer Mentoring Program and its impact on language teacher growth and sustainability! #langchat 🔗https://www.nectfl.org/nectfl-review/

I feel like we need to keep saying this because it’s so insane: This is a legal U.S. resident who has been detained for over a month now for his political opinions.

Let’s be clear. When the President defies the Supreme Court, it is the role of Congress to remove him from office. Full stop.

Another successful AAAL in the books!

Thrilled to share something we have been working on for years! Racial Justice in Multilingual Education is a bold new space for groundbreaking ideas, fresh perspectives, and innovative research. #NewJournal #MultilingualEducation You can visit us at rjme.org. First issue is coming August 2025!

Please consider calling AND writing letters to your representatives (I have heard that different reps respond better to one or the other!) www.votervoice.net/Shares/BAAAA... #langchat

“Horrible” “outrageous” “ridiculous” “stupid”—none of these words even come close to capturing the way we should be reacting to this catastrophically moronic decision. Thank you ACTFL for the explicit condemnation of this foolishness. www.actfl.org/news/actfl-s...

If you are a language teacher or both a researcher and a teacher and will be at AAAL, join Caitlyn Pineault and me for a networking session on Saturday of the conference! (Feel free to share with anyone you think might be interested!)

If you will be attending AAAL in Denver in two weeks and are a grad student or know some graduate students, feel free to share this flyer for this Special Session on Sunday of the conference!

New #openaccess book by Cesar Requena-Ramos (2025) "Toward Consensus Building in Second #Language Acquisition: A Sociophilosophical Perspective", published by #AppliedLinguistics Press www.appliedlinguisticspress.org/home/catalog...

A post from June 2024. frenchteachernet.blogspot.com/2024/06/what...

🚨Please help support languages at the University of Illinois Chicago!!! (Please share widely!) The work at UIC is field-leading, and the students of one of the most diverse public universities in this country deserve a high quality multilingual humanities education!

As the late great Toni Morrison said, “If you can only be tall because someone is on their knees, then you have a serious problem.”

The most recent executive order establishing an official language is blatant fear of the multilingual and multicultural diversity that makes this place beautiful. (Rooted, as always, in racism and xenophobia, mind.)

Next Friday!

Now that things are official I am really excited to share: This fall I’ll be joining the Department of Modern Languages and Classics at the University of Alabama as Language Assessment Coordinator and Assistant Professor of Applied Linguistics! 🐘

Just got a tip from a guy at the FAA. You'll never believe who is still getting new government contracts while all the contracts at the Department of Education and USAID and other agencies are being nuked from orbit.

www.linguisticscareerlaunch.com has some great information about careers outside of academia for linguists - very much relevant for #appliedlinguistics, too.

Read now: Cardiff’s closure of modern languages will tongue-tie its humanities www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/card... @emmacayley.bsky.social