BIO (LONG)
Dr. Patricia (Patsy) Duff is Professor of Language and Literacy Education at the University of British Columbia, former Associate Dean of Research in the Faculty of Education (2019-23) and former President of the American Association for Applied Linguistics; she was Conference Chair for the AAAL 2021 Virtual Conference. Her teaching and program coordination at UBC have been in the graduate and post-undergraduate certificate programs in Teaching English as a Second Language and Modern Language Education primarily. She was co-founder and research lead in the Centre for Research in Chinese Language and Literacy Education for many years (2008-18). Patsy’s main scholarly interests, as an applied linguist, are related to language socialization across bilingual and multilingual settings; academic discourse socialization; qualitative research methods in applied linguistics (especially case study and ethnography and complementary approaches to research); issues in the teaching, learning, and use of English, Mandarin, and other international languages in transnational contexts; heritage/Indigenous language education in Canada and other countries; the integration of second-language/multilingual speakers in schools, universities, workplaces, and society; multilingualism and work; pop culture and education; academic discourse socialization; and sociocultural, sociolinguistic, and sociopolitical aspects of language(s) in education.
Patsy’s books include (from most recent): Language Socialization (co-edited with S. May), a 30-chapter volume in the Encyclopedia of Language and Education series (Springer, 2017); Teaching and Learning English Grammar: Research Findings and Future Directions (co-edited with M. Christison, D. Christian, & N. Spada, Routledge, 2015); Learning Chinese: Linguistic, Sociocultural, and Narrative Perspectives (with co-investigators/authors Anderson, Ilnyckyj, Lester, Wang, & Yates; De Gruyter, 2013); Language Socialization (Vol. 8, Encyclopedia of Language and Education, co-edited by N. Hornberger, Springer, 2008); Case Study Research in Applied Linguistics (Lawrence Erlbaum/Taylor & Francis, 2008; and Chinese version in 2010); Inference and Generalizability in Applied Linguistics (co-edited with M. Chalhoub-Deville & C. Chapelle; John Benjamins, 2006). Patsy has also co-edited the following special issues of journals: (1) a special issue of the Modern Language Journal on “Second Language Acquisition [SLA] Across Disciplinary Borders” (with H. Byrnes, 2019); and (2) two special issues of the Canadian Modern Language Review, on “Languages and Work” (2000) and on “Indigenous, Heritage and Minority Language Education in Canada” (2009). Under the auspices of CRCLLE, she produced a volume entitled Issues in Chinese Language Education and Teacher Development (with P. Lester [aka E. VanGaya], 2008). Patsy’s articles and chapters have also appeared in many of the top journals in applied linguistics and second language education nationally and internationally and in several dozen books, and she has consulted on language education issues for APEC summits in China and Chile. [See publications.] Patsy is currently working on her single-authored books, Ethnographic Research in Applied Linguistics (Taylor & Francis/Routledge), and a revised edition of her Case Study Research in Applied Linguistics, among other writing projects (both under contract).
Patsy has served on the editorial boards of many journals (e.g., Modern Language Journal, Canadian Modern Language Review, Annual Review of Applied Linguistics (ARAL), Chinese Language and Discourse, Language Teaching). Currently, she is on the boards of: Modern Language Journal, L2 Journal, Classroom Discourse, Global Chinese,TESL Canada Journal, and other journals in Korea, Thailand, and Iran. She edited the Research Issues section of the TESOL Quarterly for 12 years, chaired the Research Advisory Committee of The International Research Foundation for English Language Education (TIRF) for six years, and has long been involved in the American Association for Applied Linguistics in various roles, most recently as elected 2nd VP, then (1st) Vice President of the Association, and President of AAAL in March 2021. She has served UBC as Director of Modern Language Education and as Director (and co-founding member) of the UBC Centre for Intercultural Language Studies for several years, promoting cross-faculty initiatives related to languages at UBC and beyond, graduate advisor, and deputy head of department. Currently, she is part of the exciting Language Sciences Initiative research cluster at UBC.
Patsy has worked in many different international contexts. Earlier in her career she taught English in Korea, Japan, Canada, and the United States; she then taught applied linguistics in a graduate program in China for a year; and has taught short applied linguistics courses elsewhere (in the US, China, Japan, Hungary, etc.) in recent years. She has conducted research in Central Europe, East Asia, and North America, and has given invited lectures in these and many other parts of the world. She has had the pleasure and privilege of being a Visiting Scholar (or equivalent titles, such as Visiting Professor, Colleague, Lecturer, Scholar in Residence) at Monash University and the University of New South Wales (Australia); the American University in Cairo; Teachers College, Columbia University; the University of Pecs (Hungary); the University of Hawaii; OISE/University of Toronto; Penn State University; Temple University, Japan; and Carnegie Mellon University (USA).
Patsy’s research has been supported by five major grants/fellowships from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), two from the Spencer Foundation/US National Academy of Education, and two from the UBC Hampton Fund. As Associate Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Education at UBC, she supports her colleagues’ research programs and knowledge mobilization efforts, facilitates nominations for honorary professorships and chairs and related honours and awards, and raises the visibility of faculty research and centres across campus (and beyond).
Patsy was awarded the title of Distinguished University Scholar at the University of British Columbia in 2004, and in 2007 she received the University of British Columbia Killam Faculty Teaching Prize. In 2017, she was honoured to receive the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) Distinguished Scholarship and Service Award for her contributions to applied linguistics.