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| Name: |
William C. Spruiell |
Last Updated: 08/26/2000 |
| University Address |
Department of English Language and
Literature
Central Michigan University
Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859 |
Navigation:
|
| Email |
sprui1wc@mail.cmich.edu |
| Office Telephone |
(517) 774-2665 |
Education:
 | Rice University, Ph.D. in Linguistics received May, 1990.
Dissertation titled Perspectives on Nominalization. |
| University of Florida, M.A. in Linguistics received
August, 1986. |
| University of Florida, B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies
received May, 1983. |
Professional Positions:
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| Assistant Professor, Dept. of English Language and
Literature, Central Michigan University. 1996- |
| Assistant Professor, Dept. of English, Western Carolina
University. 1994- 1996. |
| Temporary Assistant Professor, Dept. of English Language
and Literature, Central Michigan University. 1992-1994 |
| Teacher Special Program, Dept. of English, Language and
Culture Center, University of Houston, 1991- 1992 |
| Research Associate, Department of Linguistics and
Semiotics, Rice University, 1990-1991. |
| Teaching Assistant, Department of Linguistics and
Semiotics, Rice University, 1988-1989. |
| Teaching Assistant, University of Florida English
Language Institute, 1985 (ESL). |
| Teaching Assistant, University of Florida Linguistics
Program, 1984-1986. |
Publications:
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| 1998 |
with Gray Kochhar-Lindgren. "Michael
Bishop" (Biocritical essay). Science Fiction
Writers, 2nd ed. New York: Scribners. |
| 1996 |
"A Lack of Alien Verbs: Coinage in Modern
Science-Fiction." Proceedings of the 23rd LACUS
Forum. |
| 1995 |
"Entities and Effort: Toward an Alternative
Simplicity Metric." Proceedings of the 22nd LACUS
Forum 525-536. |
| 1994 |
"Possible Sources of Participant Nominalizers:
Implications for Typology." In Proceedings of the
21st LACUS Forum, 13-26. |
| 1992 |
"Explaining the Meanings of Participant
Nominalizations." Southwest Journal of
Linguistics 11: 61-79. |
| 1990a |
Perspectives on Nominalization. Ph.D.
Dissertation, Rice University. |
| 1990b |
"Metonymy and participant nominalization." Proceedings
of the 17th LACUS Forum pp. 226-239. |
| 1989 |
"Giving and causation: the functions of ?aoy
in Khmer." In Proceedings of the 15th LACUS
forum, ed. by Ruth M. Brend and David G. Lockwood,
pp. 249-260. Lake Bluff, Illinois: LACUS. |
| 1987 |
with Cynthia F. Meyer and Barbara Paskay "An
analysis of child language as a test of the Systemic
theory of circumstantials." . In Proceedings of
the 14th LACUS Forum, ed. by Sheila Embleton, pp.
467-477. Lake Bluff, Illinois: LACUS. |
Scholarly Papers
Presented:
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| 1999 |
"Copular Constructions, Participant Roles, and
the Lexicon." 26th LACUS Forum, Edmonton,
Alberta, Canada. |
| 1998a |
"You might should check your verb agreement:
Northern grammars, Southern Students." Annual
meeting of the National Council of Teachers of English.
Nashville, TN. |
| 1998b |
"The fact is, maybe: Some (pseudo)-epistemic
markers in political discourse." Annual meeting of
the American Association for Applied Linguistics.
Seattle, Washington. |
| 1997a |
"(Quasi-)Symmetrical Participant Roles."
1997 Michigan Linguistic Society Annual Conference. Mount
Pleasant, Michigan. |
| 1997b |
"Wearing Multiple Hats: A Usefully Complex
Theory of Participant Roles." 1997 International
Systemic-Functional Congress. Toronto, Canada. |
| 1996a |
"A Lack of Alien Verbs: Coinage in Modern
Science-Fiction" 23rd LACUS Forum. |
| 1996b |
"Neologism, Style, and the Problem of Cognitive
Effort" Rice University Linguistics Colloquium. |
| 1995 |
"Entities and Effort: Toward an Alternative
Simplicity Metric." 22nd LACUS Forum. |
| 1993 |
"Can Object Concepts Buy You Nouns and
Verbs?" Annual meeting of the Michigan Linguistic
Society. |
| 1992 |
"Explaining the Meaning of Participant
Nominalizations" Annual meeting of the Linguistic
Association of the Southwest |
| 1991a |
"Nominals and nominalizations in Classical Nahuatl." Colloquium of the Department of
Linguistics and Semiotics, Rice University. |
| 1991b |
"Languages without participant nominalizations:
Modification as a functional equivalent and possible
source." Annual meeting of the Middle-American
Linguistics Conference. |
| 1990a |
"Metonymy and participant nominalization."
17th LACUS Forum. |
| 1990b |
"Participant nominalizations and voice."
Annual meeting of the Linguistic Association of the
Southwest. |
| 1989 |
"Problems with Noun and Verb ."
Colloquium of the Department of Linguistics and
Semiotics, Rice University. |
| 1988a |
"Giving and causation: the functions of ?aoy
in Khmer." 15th LACUS Forum. |
| 1988b |
"Different models of the Indo-European
past." Colloquium of the Department of Linguistics
and Semiotics, Rice University. |
| 1987 |
"A patient-foregrounding construction in
Khmer." Annual meeting of the Linguistics
association of the Southwest. |
Service Presentations
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| 1999a |
"Issues in ESL for Adult Literacy Programs"
Northwest Michigan Works! Service Center, Traverse City,
MI. |
| 1999b |
"ESL in the Mainstream Classroom." Pathways
to Education Annual Conference. Mt. Pleasant, MI. |
| 1999c |
"Grammar Instruction: How Different Philosophies
and Different Teaching Strategies Fit Together."
Presentation to English teachers’ group from Mt.
Pleasant School District. |
| 1998a |
ESL Workshop. READ Program, Alpena County Library,
Alpena, MI. |
| 1998b |
"ESL in the Mainstream Classroom." Pathways
to Education Annual Conference. Mt. Pleasant, MI. |
Positions Held in
Professional Organizations
| 1997 |
President, Michigan Linguistics Society |
Professional Memberships:
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| American Association of Applied Linguists |
| National Council of Teachers of English |
| Linguistic Society of Canada and the U.S. |
| Teachers of English as a Second Language. |
| Linguistic Society of America |
University Service:
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| University Undergraduate Curriculum Committee 1999 (1
semester fill-in position) |
| University Speakers Series Committee 1997- |
| English Dept. Conference Committee 1999- |
| English Dept. Personnel Committee 1997 - 1999 |
| Honors Committee 1997- 1998 |
| Linguistics Interest Group 1996- |
| English Dept. Web Site Manager 1996- |
| Library committee and Freshman Composition committee
(Western Carolina) 1994-95 |
| Service course USI 130 ("Freshman Survival";
Western Carolina) instructor 1995 |
| Faculty Advisor, Central Michigan International
Students’ Club 1993-1994 |
| Rice Linguistics Department representative to Graduate
Student Association, 1989-1990 |
| Rice Graduate Student Association Library Committee
1989-1990. |
| Rice University Lectures Committee (representing Graduate
Student Association), 1989-1990. |
Courses Taught:
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| Applied Sociolinguistics (Graduate) |
| Semantics, Pragmatics, and Language Pedagogy (Graduate) |
| Semiotics (Graduate) |
| Grammar for Writers |
| History of the English Language (Undergraduate and
Graduate Levels) |
| Old English |
| Teaching Methods in ESL (Graduate) |
| Seminar in Current Syntactic Theories (Graduate) |
| Seminar in Current Phonological Theories (Graduate) |
| Basic Linguistics (‘The Nature of Language’/
‘Language and People’) |
| ESL courses at beginning, intermediate and advanced
levels. |
| Freshman and Sophomore Composition. |
| Developmental Composition (for freshmen and for transfer
students) |
| Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature |
Areas of Scholarly
Interest
| Functions of complex derived nominal elements in grammar
and discourse |
| Typology of derivational morphology (subject of
dissertation). |
| Theory and historical views of fundamental grammatical
categories. |
| Cognitive psychological studies of lexical organization
and storage. |
| Language development; specifically, development of
grammatical categories. |
| History and structure of English. |
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