Will Travers M.Sc.

Kontakt

Teaching and research interests

• Multilingualism

• L3 acquisition and teaching

• German as a second foreign language

Forthcoming Inside the L3 classroom: University-level foreign language classes for bilinguals in the United States. In: Anna Krulatz, Georgios Neokleous, and Anne Dahl (Eds.): Educational implications of classroom-based research on teaching foreign languages in multilingual settings. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.
2017 Spanish as a Pivot Language for Third Language Learning in the United States. Hispania, 100: 5, 279-284.
Book reviews
In production Jason Rothman, Jorge González Alonso, Eloi Puig-Mayenco (2019), Third language acquisition and linguistic transfer. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. International Journal of Multilingualism.
2018 Blair Bateman, Marilena Mattos, Marcus Brasileiro, and Nieves Pérez Knapp (2016), Perspectivas: Português para Falantes de Espanhol. Ronkonkoma, NY: Linus Learning. Hispania, 101: 4, 658-659.
Conference presentations
October 2018: Predictors of success among bilinguals in the L3 classroom. Paper at the 2018 Second Language Research Forum at the Université de Québec à Montréal (Canada)
June 2017: The effects of multilingualism and linguistic distance on additional-language learning. Paper at the 2017 International Symposium on Bilingualism at the University of Limerick (Ireland)
November 2016: Creating a French for Spanish Speakers curriculum at the university level. Presentation at the 2016 ACTFL Annual Convention & World Languages Expo in Boston (United States)
November 2015: The promising field of French for Spanish Speakers, from its origins to present day. Presentation at the 2015 ACTFL Annual Convention & World Languages Expo in San Diego (United States)
November 2015: Spanish as a pivot language for L3 learning across the US. Presentation at the 2015 ACTFL Annual Convention & World Languages Expo in San Diego (United States)
May 2015: Teaching cognate languages and assessing linguistic distance at the US Foreign Service Institute. Paper at the 2015 Conference on Receptive Multilingualism „REMU 2015“ at the University of Eastern Finland at Joensuu (Finland)
Guest lectures and invited talks
March 2019: Teaching Cognate L3 Languages at GU: Challenges and Triumphs. Panelist in a panel discussion organized by the Initiative for Multilingual Studies at Georgetown University in Washington, DC (United States)
March 2019: Developing Accelerated Language Classes for Bilingual Students. Invited talk hosted by the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning at American University in Washington, DC (United States)
January 2019: Guest lecture on foreign language teaching methodologies for Dr. Nicholas Subtirelu’s How Languages are Learned class (LING-251) at Georgetown University in Washington, DC (United States)
November 2017: Developing Accelerated Language Classes for Bilingual Students. Invited talk hosted by the World Languages and Cultures Department at the University of Maryland in College Park (United States)
September 2017: Current Trends in Multilingualism Research: A Report from the Poznań Workshop. Panelist in a panel discussion organized by the Initiative for Multilingual Studies at Georgetown University in Washington, DC (United States)
July 2017: L'insegnamento delle terze lingue nelle università statunitensi. Invited talk hosted by the Centro Linguistico di Ateneo at the Università degli Studi Roma Tre in Rome (Italy)

Research and teaching experience
2019 – 2020 TU Darmstadt Dept. of Linguistics and Multilingualism. Research on the teaching of German as a second foreign language.
2015 – 2019Georgetown University Dept. of Spanish and Portuguese. Classes included Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced Spanish, as well as Gateway to Linguistics and Introduction to Spanish Linguistics, both taught in Spanish.
2016 – 2018Georgetown University Dept. of French and Francophone Studies. Created a French for Spanish Speakers curriculum and taught this class for 4 semesters.

University education
Since 2016 Doctoral studies at Georgetown University in Spanish Linguistics, with specializations in multilingualism and L3 acquisition.
2014 – 2016 MS in Spanish Linguistics from Georgetown University, Department of Spanish and Portuguese.
2001 – 2005 BA from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Selected grants and awards
2019 – 2020 Fulbright Research Award from the U.S. Department of State for a year of study and research at TU Darmstadt.
2019 NFMLTA/NCOLCTL Graduate Students Research Support Award.
2017 ACTFL Summer Language Scholarship for 1 month of Italian language study in Rome, Italy.
2015 Critical Language Scholarship from the U.S. Department of State for two months of Urdu language study in Lucknow, India.