UA English Professor Wins Malkemes Prize from the American Language Institute

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Dr. Lucy Pickering, assistant professor in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) within the English department at The University of Alabama, has been awarded the 2003 Fred W. Malkemes Prize by The American Language Institute of New York University’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies.

Pickering is in UA’s College of Arts and Sciences. The $1,000 award was announced at the 25th annual winter conference of the NYS TESOL Applied Linguistics Special Interest Group held recently. The honor was awarded Pickering for her article “The Role of Tone Choice in Improving ITA Communication in the Classroom.” It was singled out for its readability and detailed documentation.

Pickering holds a doctorate in applied linguistics from the University of Florida. Before coming to UA she taught in the ITA (International Teaching Assistant) program at the University of Florida. She also has taught English to speakers of other languages in England, Hungary and elsewhere in the United States.

The Malkemes Prize was established in memory of Fred W. Malkemes, a respected educator and, for nearly 20 years, a faculty member of NYU’s American Language Institute. The Malkemes Prize selection committee seeks articles on topics that were of special interest to him including: teaching and classroom practice; language teacher education; adult literacy; computer-assisted language learning; and developing materials for use in English as a second language classrooms for beginning students.

The American Language Institute has been providing English instruction to speakers of other languages for more than 50 years. It is one of the largest and most respected programs in the country, offering courses at all levels of proficiency. The Fred W. Malkemes Fund, founded in 1988, is a permanent endowment of New York University.