Stephen L. Walter, Ph.D.
Degrees
- Ph.D. Linguistics (descriptive linguistics, semantics, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics), University of Texas at Arlington, 1980
- M.A. General linguistics and semantics, U. of Texas at Arlington, 1976
- B.A. Religious education, theology, Biblical studies, Washington Bible College, 1969
Current positions
- Department of Language Development Chair, Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics (GIAL) Dallas, TX. (2003– )
- Associate Professor Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics
(GIAL), Dallas, TX. for:
- Social Science Research Methods (2000– )
- Statistical Methods (2000– )
- Literacy Megacourse (1999– )
- Member of GIAL Academic Affairs Committee, (2000– )
- International Literacy and Education Consultant (2000– )
- Editor, SIL Series in Language and Education (1999– )
Other experience
- Adjunct Associate Professor, Doctoral Seminar in Research Methods. University of Texas at Arlington. (2008)
- Consultation on early reading assessments in Mali and Niger. PLAN USA. (2007)
- Consultation on Instructional Time Study carried out in Mali. World Bank (2007)
- Consultation to HELPS International on the development of standardized tests for schools providing Ixil-medium education. Guatemala (2007– )
- Research design workshop leader: comparing mother tongue and non mother tongue approaches to education in Cameroon (2005) and for same workshop in Lubuagan, Philippines (2004).
- Literacy Project Consultant: designed/carried out a three–year evaluation on the literacy component of an internationally funded literacy and development project in Mondolkiri province, Cambodia (2005)
- Consultant: one week event on development and design of an international strategy for doing literacy assessment. UNESCO Institute of Statistics. (April 2004)
- Project leader: for research team of international/national educators to design, implement, and analyze a National Reading Survey assessing reading instruction in primary schools in Eritrea. (2002).
- International Literacy Coordinator–SIL, International (1988–1999).
- Assistant Professor–Seminar on Multilingual Education. University of North Dakota, Summer (1999).
- Adjunct Assistant Professor–Literacy program management course. University of North Dakota, Summers (1997, 2000, 2005).
- Training program leader – seminar for SIL literacy consultants in Africa. Nairobi, Kenya (1997).
- Seminar leader – training in design/funding of literacy projects for NGOs working in Asia. Jakarta, Indonesia (1996).
- Consultant – organizational assessment of SIL in Burkina Faso and PNG, GILBERT in Ghana, and TLAP in the Philippines with written reports done for Canadian International Development Agency (1991, 1992)
- Director of Language Programs – for teams carrying out field research and applied linguistics among ethnic groups in Colombia under the auspices of SIL. (1984-1988)
Memberships
- Comparative and International Education Society
- International Reading Association
Language proficiency
- English (FSI 5-Native Speaker)
- Spanish 3+/4
- Tzeltal 2
- French 1+
Research interests
- Minority language education
- Language of instruction issues
- Bilingual education
- International education
Selected publications
Publications in SIL International Bibliography
2008. “The language of instruction issue: framing an empirical perspective. ” In Handbook of Educational Linguistics, Bernard Spolsky and Francis Hult (eds). Blackwell, London: UK.
2005. Eritrea National Reading Survey (with Patricia M. Davis). Report presented to the Eritrea Ministry of Education. Pp. 1-503
2003. “Does language of instruction matter?” In Language and Life: Essays in Memory of Kenneth L. Pike. Mary Ruth Wise and T. Headland, and R. Brend, eds. Publications in Linguistics, No.139. Dallas: SIL International and the University of Texas at Arlington.
1994. “Mother tongue literacy–the Work of the S.I.L. ” In Writing and its Use–an Interdisciplinary Handbook of International Research. . pp.798-802. New York: Walter de Gruyter Press.
1994. “Language policy, literacy and minority languages - What can we expect? ” (with Kay R. Ringenberg). Policy Studies Review, pp. 341-366.
1991. (Vol. ed.) Can literacy lead to development? A case study in literacy, adult education and economic develoment in India, by Uwe Gustafsson. Publication in Linguistics, No. 97. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and the University of Texas at Arlington.
1981. “Multicultural communication and education. ” (With Marvin K. Mayers). Harvard Educational Review, 179-184.
Selected papers presented
2008. “Designing educational assessments for experimental mother tongue education programs. ” GIAL Academic Forum Series, Dallas, TX.
2007. “Is this camel carrying too much stray? ” Comparative and International Education Conf., Baltimore, MD.
2005. “Reinventing education in Eritrea. ” Paper presented at SIL/UND Forum Series in Linguistics. Grand Forks, ND.
2005. “Designing a research program in mother tongue education. ” GIAL Forum Series. Dallas, Texas.
2004. “Bilingual education in Guatemala. ” GIAL Forum Series. Dallas, Texas.
2003. “Learning English in Eritrea. ” GIAL Forum Series, Dallas, Texas.
2003. “Mother tongue education in Eritera. ” GIAL Forum Series,Dallas, Texas.
2002. “National Reading Survey. ” Report presented to the Ministry of Education , Seminar in Education, Asmara, Eritrea.
2000. “Recent research in bilingual education: How extensible? ” SIL/UND Forum Series in Linguistics, Grand Forks, ND.
1999. “What we know about Adult Literacy–The experience of one NGO. ” World Bank, Washington, DC.
1997. “World literacy - issues and trends. ” SIL/UND Forum Series in Linguistics, Valley City, ND.
1993. “Mother tongue literacy and education in the minority languages of the Peoples' Republic of China. ” Paper presented in Indiana University Literacy Forum. Bloomington, Indiana.
Selected online publications
2000. “Explaining multilingual education: information on some tough questions. ” In Work Papers of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, University of North Dakota Session 2000. Vol 44. Online. URL: http://www.und.edu/dept/linguistics/wp/2000Walter.PDF