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Lyris Wiedemann

Lyris Wiedemann

Senior Lecturer in the Language Center
B.A., Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Romance Languages (Major in Portuguese and Brazilian/Portuguese Language and Literature) (1965)
M.A., Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Education (Teaching) (1976)
M.A., Stanford University, Linguistics (1982)
Ph.D., Stanford University, Education (Curriculum and Teacher Education - Language Arts and Foreign Language Teaching) (1983)
PDF icon Curriculum Vitae PDF

I have been the director of the Portuguese language program at Stanford since 1996. I earned a B.A. in Romance Languages, a specialization in Linguistics, and an M.A. in the teaching of languages and literature in my native Brazil (PUC-RS and UFRGS). I received an M.A. in Linguistics and a Ph.D.in Education from Stanford. Before joining the Language Center at Stanford, I was a professor of Linguistics and Education at two major universities in Brazil (UFRGS and PUC-RS) for several years, and the associate director of the UC-Berkeley Portuguese Program for nine years. I am a certified ACTFL OPI. OPIC and WPT tester, a SOPI rater by CAL, and a translator by the American Translators Association. In 2005, I was awarded the prestigious Baker Fellowship by Middlebury College, and in 2009, the AATSP Maria Isabel Abreu prize for the best research article on the teaching of Portuguese. My research interests include sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, acquisition of cognate languages, development of cultural competence, and translation. I am one of the creators of the international symposium on Portuguese for Spanish Speakers: Acquisition and Teaching, which had its fifth edition in 2014, and an author and editor of several scholarly articles and books.

Professional Affiliations & Activities: 
Editoral Board Member, Tópicos em Lingüística Aplicada/Topics in Applied Linguistics, Universidade Federal de Brasília, Brasília, Brazil (2001)
Editoral Board Member, Revista Eletrônica Sobre Português Como Língua Estrangeira (Portuguese Language Journal), University of Florida, Gainsville (2005)
Editorial Board Member, Trabalhos em Lingüística Aplicada, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (2007)
ACTFL-MLJ Paul Pimsleur Award for Research in Foreign Language Education Committee Member (by invitation), The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) (2012 - 2012)
Advisory Committee Member, Portuguese Special Interest Group (SIG), The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) (2011 - 2014)
Oral Presentation Interview (OPI)Evlauator, The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) (2002)
Writing Proficiency Test (WPT) Evlauator, The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) (2008)
Oral Proficiency Interview Evaluator, The Lauder Institute (2001 - 2003)
Member Accreditation Committee for Portuguese, American Translator Association
Member, Editorial Board of the FIPSE EUnet Project, National Foreign Language Center (2000 - 2001)
Member, American Association of Applied Linguists (AAAL)
Member, American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP)
Member, American Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages (ACTFL)
Member, American Translators Association (ATA)
Member, Brazilian Studies Association (BRASA)
Member, Modern Languages Association (MLA)
Liaison with the National Office of Phi Lambda Beta, Portuguese Honor Society of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (1993 - 1996)
Honors & Awards: 
Recipient of the Robert L. Baker Residential Summer Research Fellowship, Middlebury College (2004)
National Endowment for the Humanities, Learning Language Through Cultural Texts: Brazilian Portuguese (2003 - 2006)
Scholarship for doctoral studies, The Brazilian Ministry of Education (1976 - 1980)
AATSP Prize, Maria Isabel Abreu (2009)
Publications: 

Cowles, M. A., & Wiedemann, L. (2008). Immersion program design: Planning for the future. HISPANIA-A JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE TEACHING OF SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE, 91(1), 220–221.

Wiedemann, L., & Cowles, M. A. (2008). The Impact of Target-Country versus Home-Country Immersion Programs on Foreign Language Learners of Portuguese. Connections, 2.

Wiedemann, L., & Scaramucci, M. (2008). Português para Falantes de EspanhoL: Ensino e Aquisiçãol/Portuguese for Spanish Speakers: Teaching and Acquisition. Selected Articles in Portuguese and English. São Paulo, Brasil: Pontes.

Cowles, M. A., & Wiedemann, L. (2007). Programas de Português: importância da avaliação lingüística. Portuguese Newsletter.

WIEDEMANN, L. (2006). Session: Innovative approaches to teaching Portuguese. HISPANIA-A JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE TEACHING OF SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE, 89(1), 154–155.

Cowles, M. A., de Oliveira, S. M., & WIEDEMANN, L. (2006). Portuguese as a second language: In the United States, in Brazil, and in Europe. HISPANIA-A JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE TEACHING OF SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE, 89(1), 123–132.

Wiedemann, L., Cowless, T., & de Oliveira, S. M. (2006). Perspectives on the Evaluation of Portuguese as a Foreign Language (United States, Brazil, and Europe). Hispania, 89(1).

Wiedemann, L. (2005). Adobe Style Guide for Portuguese Translations.

Simões, A., Carvalho, A. M., & Wiedemann, L. (2004). (A. Simões, A. M. Carvalho, & L. Wiedemann, Eds.)Português para Falantes de Espanhol/Portuguese for Spanish Speakers. São Paulo, Brasil: Pontes.

Cowles, M. A., WIEDEMANN, L., & Thomas, S. L. (2002). EU-BrazilNet: Web-enabled language instruction. HISPANIA-A JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE TEACHING OF SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE, 85(3), 629–632.

WIEDEMANN, L. (1999). O 'Evangelho Segundo Jesus Cristo'. HISPANIA-A JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE TEACHING OF SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE, 82(1), 23–25.

Wiedemann, L. (1998). Portuguese Translations: What Clients Need to Know. The ATA Chronicle, XXVII (8), 34(36).

Wiedemann, L. (1986). An Exploratory Study on Language Acquisition in the Domain of Body Parts. Letras De Hoje, 21(4).

Wiedemann, L. (1984). Structuralism, Transformationalism and Sociolinguistics: an Analysis of Three Approaches in Language Teaching. Letras De Hoje, 17(2).

Wiedemann, L., & Bonamigo, E. (1977). Adolescent Creativity in Compositions. Letras De Hoje, 29.

Wiedemann, L., Scranton, L. G. B., & Detain, M. H. (1976). Interference of a Second Language Literacy of Bilinguals. Rio de Janeiro, Fundação Movimento Brasileiro de Alfabetização.

Wiedemann, L. (1976). Writing and Testing Hypotheses. Letras De Hoje, 24.

Wiedemann, L., & Bonamigo, E. (1975). Identifying Reinforcing Events for Adults in Literacy Programs. Rio de Janeiro, Fundação Movimento Brasileiro de Alfabetização.

Marques, J., Grijo, J. C., Bristoti, N. P., Louro, G., Bandiera, M., Maia, I., & Wiedemann, L. (1975). Educators for Tomorrow: an Analysis and Assessment of a School of Education. Porto Alegre: UFRGS.

Wiedemann, L. (1972). Suggestions for 'Area Lessons'. Porto Alegre: PUC-RS.

Wiedemann, L. (1972). Six Group Dynamic Techniques for Developing the Ability of Speaking. Porto Alegre: PUC- RS.

Wiedemann, L. (1971). Expressionism in "The Passion according to G.H.". Letras De Hoje, 6.

Wiedemann, L. (1970). Developing Oral Expression in Portuguese: Six Classroom Techniques. Letras De Hoje, 5.

Wiedemann, L. (1969). Integrating Courses with Basis on Texts. Letras De Hoje, 4.