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Awards
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AERA 2026 SLR SIG Awards: Calls for Nominations 

Each year, our SLR SIG honors outstanding scholarship and service through three awards celebrating excellence and leadership in the field. These awards highlight the creativity and impact of our members whose work continues to shape and inspire the field of language education. Please consider nominating your colleagues and students for the following awards:

  1. AERA Second Language Research SIG Leadership through Research Award
  2. AERA Second Language Research SIG Mid-Career Award
  3. AERA Second Language Research SIG Outstanding Dissertation Award
This award recognizes senior scholars who have made significant and exemplary contributions through their research, teaching, and professional service in the field of second language research (SLR). Contributions should reflect the purpose and goals of the SLR SIG: (1) to advance knowledge related to second language education; (2) to encourage scholarly inquiry related to second language education; and (3) to promote the use of research to improve teaching and learning. The award recipient will be officially recognized at the AERA Annual Meeting in 2026 and will be invited to give a short address during our SIG business meeting.
  • Leadership Through Research Award Committee Co-Chairs: Dr. Maria Coady (mcoady@ncsu.edu), Dr. Luciana de Oliveira (deoliveiral@vcu.edu), and Dr. Giselle Martinez Negrette (giselle@illinois.edu)
  • Deadline: Monday, December 1, 2025. Late submissions will not be considered.
  • Submit nomination materials by email to the Award Committee Co-Chairs. Please see the attached call for nominations for detailed instructions.

2. AERA 2026 SLR SIG Mid-Career Award: Call for Nomination

This award honors an outstanding scholar who has developed a research agenda for between six and 15 years beyond the conferral of the doctoral degree. The award is designed to recognize an individual with a promising program of research on significant issues reflecting the purpose and goals of the Second Language Research SIG: (1) to advance knowledge related to second language education; (2) to encourage scholarly inquiry related to second language education; and (3) to promote the use of research to improve teaching and learning. The award recipient will be officially recognized at the AERA Annual Meeting in 2026 and will be invited to give a brief address during our SIG business meeting.

  • Mid-Career Award Committee Co-Chairs: Nelson Flores (nflores@upenn.edu), Hyun-Sook Kang (hka@illinois.edu), and Trish Morita-Mullaney (tmoritam@purdue.edu) 
  • Deadline: Monday, December 1, 2025. Late submissions will not be considered.
  • Submit nomination materials by email to the Award Committee Co-Chairs. Please see the attached call for nominations for detailed instructions.

3. AERA 2026 SLR SIG Outstanding Dissertation Award: Call for Nomination

The Second Language Research Special Interest Group of AERA honors an outstanding dissertation completed during each calendar year. The award recipient will be officially recognized at the AERA Annual Meeting in 2026 and will be invited to present their study during our SIG business meeting.

Eligibility: Candidates must have completed and filed their dissertation between January 1, 2024 and November 15, 2025. Candidates do not need to be members of the Second Language Research SIG at time of nomination, but membership is required for the Dissertation Award winner.

  • Dissertation Award Committee Co-chairs: Dr. Mariana Lima Becker (mariana.becker@uga.edu), Dr. Aris Moreno Clemons (aclemon8@utk.ed), Dr. Scott Grapin (scott.grapin@hunter.cuny.edu)
  • Deadline: Friday, November 14, 2025. Late submissions will not be considered.
  • Submit nomination materials by email to the Award Committee Co-Chairs. Please see the attached call for nominations for detailed instructions. 

Previous Award Recipients

2024 Award Winners

  • Leadership Through Research Award (co-recipients): 
  • Dr. Maria Coady, Goodnight Distinguished Professor in Educational Equity and Professor of Multilingual Education at North Carolina State University.
  • Dr. Megan Madigan Peercy, Special Assistant to Provost and Professor of Language, Literacy, & Social Inquiry, and Teacher Education & Professional Development, University of Maryland, College Park. 
  • Mid-Career Award (co-recipients): 
  • Dr. Maneka Brooks, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Educator Preparation and Associate Professor of Reading Education, College of Education, Texas State University.
  • Dr. Kellie Rolstad, Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics and Language Education, Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership, University of Maryland, College Park.
  • Outstanding Dissertation Award: 
  • Dr. Martha Sandstead, College of Education, Oregon State University; dissertation title "Transformative pedagogies of voice: Creating the conditions of voice in bilingual students' writing" 

2023 Award Winners

  • Leadership Through Research Award:
    • Dr. Manka Varghese, University of Washington
  • Mid-Career Award (co-recipients):
    • Dr. Hayriye Kayi-Aydar, University of Arizona
    • Dr. Becky Huang, The Ohio State University
  • Outstanding Dissertation Award:
    • Dr. Caitlin Fine, Metropolitan State University of Denver

2023 Winners - SIG-sponsored financial support to attend the meeting(s)

Graduate Student Travel Awards

  • Cameron Smith, Doctorant / Ph.D. Candidate, Faculté d’éducation / Faculty of Education, Université d’Ottawa / University of Ottawa
  • Xuan Zhou, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Educational Psychology, School of Education and Human Development, Texas A&M University

Conference Registration Sponsorships

Graduate student recipients

  • Zahra Golneshan, Educational Research, Language and Literacy Program, Werklund School of Education University of Calgary
  • Jessica McConnell, Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies, College of Education and HumanDevelopment, The University of Texas at San Antonio (place-based)
  • Adnan Mohamed, College of Education, Washington State University

Early-career scholar recipients

  • Mimi Masson, Ph.D., Professeure adjointe / Assistant Professor, Département de pédagogie, Faculté d'éducation, Université de Sherbrooke

2022 Award Winners

  • Leadership through Research Award: Nihat Polat
  • Mid-Career Award: Peter De Costa
  • Outstanding Dissertation Award: Zhongfeng Tian
  • Graduate Student Travel Award: Kuang Li and Martha Sandstead
  • SLR SIG place-based and virtual conference registration sponsorships
    • Graduate Student Recipients: Benjamin James (place-based) and Vashti Lee (place-based)
    • Early-career Scholar Recipients: Eve Ryan (virtual) and Zhongfeng Tian (place-based)

2021 Winners

  • Leadership through Research Award: Jeff MacSwan
  • Mid-Career Award: Yuliya Ardasheva and Michele Back
  • Dissertation Award: Mitchell Ingram
  • Graduate Student Travel Award: Ye Shen and Min-Seok Choi

2020 Winners

2019 Winners

  • Leadership through Research: Margaret R. Hawkins
  • Mid-Career Award: Lorena Llosa and Megan Madigan Peercy
  • Outstanding Dissertation Award: Emily Machado
  • Graduate Student Travel Award: Zhongfeng Tian and Kathryn Wagner

2018 Winners

  • Leadership through Research Award: Mary Schleppegrell
  • Mid-Career Award: Amanda K. Kibler
  • Outstanding Dissertation Award: Kristen L. Pratt

2015 Winners

  • Distinguished Dissertation Award: Colette Despagne
  • Travel Grant Award: Hyun Jung Joo and Min Wang

2014 Winners (awarded in 2015)

  • Leadership Through Research Award: Dr. Ryuko Kubota
  • Mid-Career Award: Dr. Lucie Viakinnou-Brinson
  • Distinguished Dissertation Award: Dr. Susana Franco-Fuenmayor

2013 Winner

  • Distinguished Dissertation Award: Dr. Peter De Costa

2012 Winners

  • Leadership Through Research Award: Bonny Norton 
  • Mid-Career Award: Eva Lam 
  • Distinguished Dissertation Award: Jennifer Wooten

 
 
 
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