Biography
I was hired in 1988 to design and run BYU's first intensive Arabic program, which was based at its Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies. I continued to run domestic and overseas programs until 2022. Intensive language study has been a major research focus. From 2002 to 2015, I served as director of the National Middle East Language Resource Center. Our surveys of over a thousand students, site visits and interviews we conducted led to the creation of Project Perseverance, an effort I initiated to assist students to develop a growth mindset and become more effective learners. Case studies resulting from it can be found at https://projectperseverance.byu.edu/. From 2017-2024, I directed BYU's federally-funded Arabic Flagship Center which assisted students to achieve professional-level proficiency, a rare accomplishment for an undergraduate. I now supervise our students participating in our College's Master of Arts in Professional Language program that is essentially a five-year program to accomplish the same but graduate with both a bachelor's and master's degree.
Research Interests
second language acquisition, positive psychology, study abroad, history of ArabicTeaching Interests
Arabic, Old and New Testament, sociolinguisticsHonors and Awards
- Creative Works Award, BYU Creative Works (2014 - 2014)
- Distance Education Course Award (K-12), University Continuing Education Association (2010 - 2010)
- Access to Language Education Award (2008 outstanding language learning website), Computer-Aided Language Instruction Consortium (2008 - 2008)
Professional Citizenship
- Committee/Council Member, Modern Language Association (2011 - 2014)