If applications warrant, the Emerging Scholar Award will be divided between one emerging scholar and one early career scholar. The committee encourages nominations for both types of scholars.
Eligibility LSP SIG members who are graduate students or recent graduates (graduated no more than 5 years prior to the award date) are eligible to apply. Candidates are to submit texts that focus on language and social processes in education to the LSP SIG award committee. The text may be a paper, a web page, or related product and may have been recently published or considered publishable. The text topics must focus upon language and social processes in education and must be considered scholarly products, such as empirical research studies, theoretical papers, reviews of research, or considerations of educational practice, among other texts.
Any AERA member may nominate a candidate, who must be a member of the LSP SIG (joining the SIG at the time of nomination is permitted). Materials to Submit The application packet will include the nominating letter, a cover letter from the candidate, a vita, and a hard copy of the text.The writing sample should focus on language and social processes in education. This may be a paper, a digital resource, or related product created by the scholar. Papers may have been recently published or considered publishable (doctoral students may submit papers for past or potential conference presentations; early scholars should submit texts that are published or publishable). Topics of writing samples must focus on language and social processes in education, broadly defined. These may include empirical research studies, theoretical papers, reviews of research, or considerations of educational practice, among others. The cover letter written by the candidate should address the significance of the writing sample and her/his related scholarship to language and social processes research in education. The nominating letter should address the candidate’s merit as an emerging scholar in the field of language and social processes research.
Emerging Scholar Award Selection Applications will be assessed by the following criteria: Overall quality; extent to which the topic addresses language and social processes of education; and significance for research, theory, and/or practice. The committee will also consider the candidates' scholarship history as evidenced in their curriculum vita, the cover letter, and a letter from the scholar who has nominated the candidate. Materials from both emerging and early career scholars will be subject to rigorous review and held to high standards, but, the committee will acknowledge and take into account potential differences between emerging and early career scholars.
Emerging Scholar Award Committee The Emerging Scholar Award Committee will be made up of at least 3 LSP SIG members, one of who will serve as Chair of the committee. If you are interested in participating as a committee member or chair please contact the LSP SIG chair.
For information regarding the Emerging Scholar Award, including deadlines, please download the following PDF.
Scholar Flyer 2016(PDF)
About the AwardThe Dr. John J. Gumperz Memorial Award for Distinguished Lifetime Scholarship has been established in memory of Dr. John Gumperz, linguist, anthropologist, and developer of Interactional Sociolinguistics. Through his lifelong commitment to learning and developing ideas, John Gumperz was as a role model, and he laid a foundation for deconstructing deficit models of education based on linguistic performance. This award recognizes and honors the lifelong distinguished scholarship of a senior scholar whose program of research in language and social processes and professional service have made significant contributions to our field and to the work and vision of the Language and Social Processes Special Interest Group. The LSP SIG has a long tradition of encouraging the future of our field as well as making visible the roots of and routes to current and future research. With the Dr. John J. Gumperz Memorial Award, we seek not only to recognize the work and contributions of our senior scholars, but also, like Dr. Gumperz, their capacity to serve as role models for commitment to learning and to exploration and development of ideas.
Eligibility A nominee for senior scholar will have been working in the field for at least twenty years. While the award’s emphasis is on lifelong contributions to research in language and social processes and to the LSP SIG, it is open to nominations by any AERA member of any senior scholar meeting the eligibility criteria. The senior scholar’s program of research places research focused on language and social processes in education at the forefront; the scholar’s professional service will also be considered, particularly in terms of contributions to the field and to the work and vision of the LSP SIG (evidenced through review of the CV, including list of publications as well as professional service, letter of nomination, and other supportive letters and/or materials).
Materials to Submit Nominations should be based on the fact that this award is intended to recognize the lifetime contributions of the awardee to research on language and social processes and to the work and vision of the LSP SIG. The nomination materials will include a nominating letter (from the scholar making the nomination), a vita, and any additional letters (up to three) and/or materials in support of the nomination.
Criteria The nomination will be assessed by the following criteria: the candidate’s program of research and professional service and contributions to the field and to the work and vision of the LSP SIG. While it is not anticipated, the award committee may determine, based on AERA guidelines, that, based on submitted nominations, none of the entries in a given year meet the standards set for the award, in which case no award will be given that year.
Nomination Materials The application packet should include in an electronic file folder: