Curriculum Vitae
Johanna E. Rubba
Associate Professor, Linguistics -- English Department
California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo
1 Grand Avenue, San Luis, Obispo, CA 93407
Office tel. 805.756.2184 -- Department tel. 805.756.2596 -- 
Dept. fax 805.756.6374
E-mail: jrubba@calpoly.edu -- URL: http://www.cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba
Last updated 10/11/04
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I. BACKGROUND

     POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION
  • Ph.D., Linguistics, University of California, San Diego. Dissertation: Discontinuous Morphology in Modern Aramaic. Committee: Ronald W.Langacker, Chair; Margaret A. Langdon, Suzanne E. Kemmer, Roy G. D'Andrade, William H. Propp, Robert D. Hoberman. 1993.
  • M.A., Applied Linguistics, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Minor: Teaching English as a Foreign Language. Thesis: Prototype Effects in Some Psychological Studies of Grammar. 1986.
  • B.A., Language Studies, Douglass College, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey. Major: Language Studies (Languages and Linguistics). Junior Year Abroad, U. of Manchester, England. 1975
  • LSA Summer Institute, Linguistic Society of America. University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida. 1975.

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II. ACADEMIC EMPLOYMENT

     FACULTY APPOINTMENTS - LINGUISTICS
  • Awarded tenure and promoted to Associate Professor, English Department, California Polytechnic State U , San Luis Obispo, June 1, 2001.
  • Assistant Professor, tenure-track. English Department, California Polytechnic State U , San Luis Obispo, CA. 9/1995-2001.
  • Content Instructor, University Center for Teacher Education, Cal Poly SLO. 1997-.
  • Visiting Assistant Professor, sabbatical leave replacement. Department of English, Humboldt State U , Arcata, CA. 1994-95.
  • Visiting Assistant Professor, sabbatical leave replacement. Linguistics Program, U of Montana, Missoula. Spring 1994.
  • Lecturer, Dept. of Literatures and Languages, U of California, Riverside. 1992-93.

     TEACHING  ASSISTANTSHIPS -  LINGUISTICS
  • Language Structures (Introduction to morphological analysis), Fall 1991; 
  • Introduction to Language, Winter 1990. Dept. of Linguistics, U C San Diego.

     RESEARCH ASSISTANTSHIPS-  LINGUISTICS
  • Dept. of Anthropology, Spring 1986; 
  • Dept. of Linguistics, 1984-85. Southern Illinois U at Carbondale.

RELATED PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

     FACULTY/PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS
  • Professor, English as a Foreign Language, Bourguiba Institute of Modern Languages (U of Tunis), Tunisia. 1979-83.
  • ESL Instructor, English Language Program, U Extension, U C San Diego. Summer appointments 1988-91.
  • ESL Instructor, Intensive English Program, Southeast Missouri State U, Cape Girardeau. Summer 1986.
  • ESL Instructor, ELS Language Center, Philadelphia, PA. Summer 1983.

     TEACHING ASSISTANTSHIPS
  • Analysis of German (Linguistics 1B, 1C, 1D), 1987-92; 
  • Directed Studies-Language (Linguistics 19), Spring 1990. Dept. of Linguistics, UC San Diego.
  • German (126B), Dept. of Foreign Languages and Literatures, Southern llinois U at Carbondale. Spring 1986.
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III. TEACHING & TEACHING-RELATED ACTIVITIES

     COURSES TAUGHT 

     * indicates upper-division courses. ** Indicates graduate -level courses. Hot links go to course websites.
     F = fall quarter; W = winter quarter; S = spring quarter

  AT CAL POLY(all are 4-unit courses unless otherwise noted):
 


  ELSEWHERE:
  • *ENGL 326 Language Studies for Teachers, *ENGL 328 Structure of American English, **ENGL618 Linguistic Approaches to Writing**, ENGL 101 Composition: Argument. Humboldt State U. , CA. All 4units.
  • ** ENGL 372 Syntax & Semantics, *ENGL 370 Introduction to Linguistics, ENGL 302 Composition for ESL students. University of Montana, Missoula. All 4 units.
  • LING 20: Introduction to Linguistics. University of California, Riverside. 3 units.

     NEW COURSE PREPARATION  MAJOR REVISIONS AND INNNOVATIONS IN EXISTING COURSES MULTIMEDIA
  • Developed web sites for most courses including, for each course, an information page, a syllabus, a constantly-updated assignment schedule, and (for 200- and 300-level courses) learning objectives; developed a number of online handouts usable across courses; created inventories of links to useful related pages; mounted galleries of photos from History of English Faires.

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CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT 
  • Wrote course proposal for ENGL 290: Introduction to Linguistics for Cal Poly's revised General Education Program. Fall 1998.
  • Wrote course proposal for ENGL 390: The Linguistic Structrue of Modern English, for Cal Poly's successful application to the State Department of Education for CLAD certification, Spring 1999.
 

     STUDENT ADVISING
  • Advisor, Linguistics minor, 1995-; TESL Certificate Program, 1995-97.
  • Senior project supervision:  "Children's Acquisition of Narrative Structure", Kimber Taylor, 1997; "Study of Developmental Spelling Errors in Writings of Second-Graders", Lisa Leigan, 1998; "Cal Poly Students' Acceptance of the Singular 'They' Construction as a Non-Gender-Bias Solution to the Pronoun Problem", Linda Johnson, 2000; "No Place in Education: The Consequences of Sexual Harassment in School", Kelly Cutshaw, 2000; "The Results of English-Only Instruction: An Evaluation of Proposition 227's Objectives", Richard Ruiz, 2000; "Dyslexia", Brooke Squires, 2001; "The Medical Profession's Influence on Gender Construction", Joann Hardeman, 2002.
  • Student research: Have advised a small number of students on abstracts and papers for presentation and/or publication.
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IV. PROFESSIONAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES / SERVICE TO THE PROFESSION
 

     CURRENT  RESEARCH  INTERESTS/PROJECTS
  • Grammar for the 21st Century: Design of a linguistically-based grammar curriculum for use in language arts and English instruction K-16.

    PUBLICATIONS / BOOK CONTRACTS
  • True Grammar, a structure of English textbook. Under contract to Thompson/Wadsworth/Heinle. Prospective publication 2006.
  • A Review of the National Literacy Strategy: Grammar for Writing, Syntax in the Schools, Vol. 19, No. 1, Autumn 2002, 1-7.
  • Introflection (an article on languages with discontinuous morphology). Language Typology and Language Universals, An International Handbook, Walter De Gruyter, Publisher. 2001.
  • Alternate Grounds in the Interpretation of Deictic Expressions. In Spaces, Worlds and Grammar, Gilles Fauconnier and Eve E. Sweetser, Eds. Chicago: U of Chicago Press. 1996.
  • The Interaction of Folk Models and Syntax: Case Choice after Prepositional Verbs of Cognition in German. In Cognitive Linguistics in the Redwoods, selected proceedings of the Second International Cognitive Linguistics Conference, Eugene Casad, Ed. The Hague: Mouton. 1995.
  • Grammaticization as Semantic Change: A Case Study of Preposition Development. In Perspectives on Grammaticalization, William Pagliuca, Ed. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 1994.
  • Forms Derived from Verbal Roots in Tisqopa Modern Aramaic. In Semitica: Serta Philologica Constantino G. Tsereteli Dicata, Riccardo Contini, Fabrizio Pennacchietti, and Mauro Tosco, Eds. Torino: Silvio Zamorani Editore. 1993.
  • Preposition Use in a Speaker with Williams Syndrome: Some Cognitive Grammar Proposals. With Edward S. Klima. Newsletter of the Center for Research in Language, U C San Diego, Vol. 5, No.3. 1991.
  • '...That part of the city': Mental Spaces and Ethnic Neighborhoods. In Proceedings of the Fifteenth Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society, pp. 268-277. 1988.
  • Prototype Effects in some Psychological Studies of Grammar. In Papers from the Twenty-second Annual Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society Vol. 22, pp. 318-335. 1986.

PRESENTATIONS / PARTICIPATION IN CONFERENCES/WORKSHOPS

LINGUISTICS

  • From Semantic to Phonological Motivation: Accounting for Verb Classes in Modern Aramaic. International Workshop Motivation in Grammar, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany, July 9, 1999.
  • A Network Model of Root-and-Pattern Morphology. Cognitive Morphology Workshop, Ghent, Belgium. July 1998.
  • Modern Aramaic: Endangered Language Field Report. 30-min. paper, Linguistic Society of America Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois, Jan. 3, 1997.
  • Meaning, Grammar, Discourse: Applications of Cognitive Linguistics. Invited Colloquium, Dept. of Linguistics, UC Santa Barbara. 1996.
  • A protoype model of conjugation classes in Modern Aramaic. Neo-Aramaic Panel of North American Conference on Afroasiatic Linguistics, Philadelphia, PA, March 1996.
  • On Morphological Relevance. Fourth International Cognitive Linguistics Conference, U of New Mexico, Albuquerque, 1995.
  • Two Models of Discontinuous Morphology. FAS Inaugural Conference, Berlin, 1994.
  • Neutralization and Morphophonology in Cognitive Grammar. Cognitive Linguistics Workshop, U C San Diego, 1993.
  • Discontinuous Morphology in Modern Aramaic. Cognitive Linguistics Working Group, U C San Diego, 1992.
  • Discontinuous Morphology in Modern Aramaic. Cognitive Linguistics Workshop, U C Berkeley, 1992.
  • Templatic Morphology and Epenthesis in Modern Aramaic. Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America, Philadelphia, 1992.
  • The Interaction of Folk Models and Syntax: Case Choice after Prepositional Verbs of Cognition in German. Second International Cognitive Linguistics Conference, U C Santa Cruz, 1991.
  • Alternate Grounds in the Interpretation of Deictic Expressions. Mental Spaces Working Group, Cognitive Linguistics Workshop, U C San Diego, 1991.
  • Cognitive Models and California Proposition 63: English as Offical Language. Law & Society Association, Berkeley, 1990.
  • Grammaticization as Semantic Change: A Case Study of Preposition Development. Cognitive Linguistics Workshop, U C Berkeley, 1990.
  • Grammaticization as Semantic Change: A Case Study of Preposition Development. Nineteenth Annual Linguistics Symposium: Explanation in Historical Linguistics, U of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, 1990.
  • From Content to Function Word: The Development of Prepositions in Neo-Aramaic. 23rd Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association, Toronto, Canada, 1989.
  • '...That part of the city': Mental Spaces and Ethnic Neighborhoods. Fifteenth Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society, February, 1989.
  • '...That part of the city': Mental Spaces and Ethnic Neighborhoods. Seminar, Cognitive Science 200, U C San Diego, 1988.
  • Nonconcatenative Morphology in Modern Aramaic. 22nd Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association, Los Angeles, 1988.
  • Prototype Effects in Some Psychological Studies of Grammar. Twenty-second Annual Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society. 1986


APPLIED LINGUISTICS 

  • What's so bad about bad English? How to teach grammar so that students don't feel bad about themselves. Mini-workshop, Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar (NCTE) annual conference, North Seattle Community College, July 14, 2004.
  • Presenter, NCTE panel on Grammar Alive, November 22, 2003.
  • Co-organizer (with Melody DeMerritt), Grammar Roundtable, roundtable discussion of the concerns of teachers across disciplines regarding grammar in writing instruction. Co-sponsored by WINGED (Cal Poly's writing-across-the-curriculum program) and the English Department. November 19, 2002.
  • The History of English Faire: Using Creative Projects to Enhance Student Interest in History of the English Language. Studies in the History of the English Language II, University of Washington, March 24, 2002.
  • Grammar standards and standardized testing: A linguist's call to arms. Invited Colloquium, Dept. of Linguistics, UC Santa Barbara. 2001.
  • Contextualizing Grammar. Conducted weekend workshop, Asilomar state teachers' conference, Sept. 2001.
  • Contextualizing Grammar. Conducted weekend workshop, Asilomar state teachers' conference, Sept. 2000.
  • Grammar and Social Class: Dialect Discrimination in Language Arts. Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar (NCTE), North Hennepin Community College, Minneapolis, MN, July 2000.
  • Contextualizing Grammar. Conducted weekend workshop, Asilomar state teachers' conference, Sept. 1999.
  • ATEG's Scope, Sequence and Standards Project: Progress Report. Annual conference of the Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar, a Special Interest Group of the National Council of Teachers of English. Raritan Valley Community College, North Branch, NJ, July 16, 1999.
  • Invited Participant, Teacher Preparation for the 21st Century, Liberal Studies Department, Cal Poly. Dinner meetings bringing local K-12 teachers and Cal Poly faculty together to discuss goals for reform of Cal Poly's teacher preparation program. DATES.
  • School Partnership Case Study Presentation, National Network for Educational Renewal. With Andrea Brown and  Diane Whitehouse. Seattle, WA, March 1999.
  • Language and Gender. Women’s Studies Lunchtime Seminar Series, Cal Poly. May 3, 1999.
  • Grammar for the Twenty-First Century. Presenter and co-chair, special-interest-group panel for the Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar, National Council of Teachers of English Annual Convention, Nashville, TN, Nov. 21, 1998.
  • Grammar for the Twenty-First Century. Conducted weekend workshop, Asilomar state teachers' conference, Sept. 25-27, 1998.
  • Linguists and Teachers and Grammar, oh my! Opening keynote address, meeting of the Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar, a subcommittee of NCTE. Seattle, July 18, 1998.
  • Grammar for the Twenty-First Century. 'What Else We Do' English dept. faculty forum presentation, May 1998.
  • Ebonics. Presentation, Curriculum Study Commission Meeting, Asilomar, March 1997.
  • 'Ain't no shame': Ebonics: Fact vs. Myth. Community Service lecture, Cal Poly, Feb. 3, 1997.
  • Discussant, Asilomar Teachers' Conference of the CSC, September 1997.
  • Participant, Asilomar 46, Threads in the Tapestry of Learning, conference on language arts education held by the Curriculum Study Commission of the Central California Association of Teachers of English. Discussion group: The inclusive classroom. September 1996.
  • Invited participant, Asilomar Invitational Exploring Early Reading Instruction, Curriculum Study Commission of the Central California Council of Teachers of English, April 1996.
GUEST CLASS LECTURES
  • Language and Gender. Anthropology 433: Language and Culture. Spring 2001.
  • Equity and Bias in the Academy: A Linguistic Perspective.  Psychology 216x. Spring 2000.
  • The History of English. Bellevue Santa Fe Charter School (Middle School). Winter 2000.
  • Social Sources of Stress: Gender Identity and Stress. Psychology 315. Fall 1999.
  • Problems of ESL college writers. ENGL 502: Composition Theory. Yearly since 1995.
  • Language and Prejudice. Staff Development, Residential Life. May 1996.
  • Language and Prejudice. Ethnic Studies 320: Cultural Images of African Americans. 1995.

MERIT AWARDS / LEAVES / GRANTS / SCHOLARSHIPS /HONORS
  • Sabbatical leave, Fall and Winter quarters 2001-2002.
  • California State University Faculty Merit Increases based on performance for all years of service, 1995-2000. Awarded 1999, 2000.
  • Assigned Time for College of Liberal Arts Multimedia Project, Cal Poly, 4 units, Winter 00.
  • Assigned Time for Grant Proposal Development, Cal Poly, to prepare proposals for NEH funding of the grammar project. 4 units, Spring 1999.
  • Faculty Development Grant, Cal Poly, for book preparation and conference travel. 4 units assigned time (taken Winter 99) and $147.50 travel funds.
  • Faculty Development Grant, Cal Poly, for research/development in grammar teaching and travel to meetings of the Curriculum Study Commission of the California Association of Teachers of English. 4 units assigned time, taken Spring 98, and $1,244.00 travel support.
  • State Faculty Support Grant, Cal Poly, for R&D in grammar teaching. 4 units assigned time Winter 98.
  • Faculty Development Grant, Cal Poly, to attend teachers' conferences. $500.00, 1996.
  • Humanities Dissertation Fellowship, U C San Diego. 1 year of full-time dissertation support, 1991-92.
  • Regents Scholarship, U C San Diego. 1 year of out-of-state tuition, 1986-87.
  • Graduate Fellowship, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. 1 year of out-of-state tuition and 1 year cost-of-living stipend, 1983-84.
  • Phi Beta Kappa, Rutgers University, 1975.
  • B.A. Highest Honors, Rutgers University, 1975.
     GRANTS PROPOSED - NOT FUNDED
  • Grant Proposal, National Endowment for the Humanities, Humanities Focus Grant: Applying Linguistics to Grammar Instruction. Submitted April 1999.
  • Grant Proposal, National Science Foundation: Field Studies in Modern Aramaic. Submitted January 1996.

     OTHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES
  • Paid Reviewer, Language: Its Structure and Use, 3rd edition, and associated workbook Looking at Languages: A Workbook in Elementary Linguistics, Heinle. 2002.
  • Reviewer, National Science Foundation, for a grant proposal to fund a panel session on a special theoretical topic at an international linguistics conference. Submitted April 5, 1999.
  • Associate, National Network for Educational Renewal (a national network for promoting interaction among school districts and teacher-training programs around the country), 1998-1999.
  • National Coordinator, Scope & Sequence & Standards Subcommittee of the Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar (ATEG). A committee of 14 schoolteachers and university professors whose goal is to produce guidelines for the teaching of English grammar to complement the NCTE guidelines for language arts teaching. Beginning July 1998.
  • Appointed to the CLA Women's Studies Advisory Board, Spring 1998.
  • Co-organizer, Sixth Meeting of the International Cognitive Linguistics Association, to be held in conjunction with the Linguistics Institute of the Linguistic Society of America at the UC Santa Barbara Campus, summer 2001.
  • Paid Reveiwer, Manuscript of grammar textbook, W.W. Norton & Co., 1997.
  • Reviewer,Language. One article on spatial conceptualization. 1997.
  • Reviewer, abstracts for Conceptual Structure in Discourse and Language, U Colo. Boulder, May 1997 and 1998.
  • Instructor, China Teacher Exchange Program, Cal Poly/San Luis Unified School District. April-May 1997, June 1998.
  • Member, Editorial Board, CLiP (Cognitive Linguistics in Practice) Textbook Series, sponsored by the International Cognitive Linguistics Association, Mouton, Publisher. 1995-present.
  • Co-editor, Linguistic Notes from La Jolla, Dept. of Linguistics, U C San Diego. 1986-91.

     PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
  • Curriculum Study Commission (CSC) of the Central California Council of Teachers of English (CCCTE), affiliated with the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). Since 1996.
  • California Association of Teachers of English, 1996.-
  • National Council of Teachers of English, 1996-.
  • Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar, 1996-.
  • Linguistic Society of America, 1985-.
  • International Cognitive Linguistics Association, 1991-.

     PROFESSION-RELATED INTERNET DISCUSSION LIST SUBSCRIPTIONS
  • LINGUIST, an international discussion list on linguistic topics, some 3,000 members worldwide. 
  • Funknet, an international discussion list for persons interested in cognitive/functional approaches to linguistic theory. 
  • cogling, an international discussion list for persons interested in cognitive approaches to linguistic theory.
  • teach-ling, an international discussion list for persons interested in teaching linguistics at the undergraduate level, especially introductory courses.
  • ATEG (Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar), an NCTE-sponsored list for persons interested in matters relating to the teaching of grammar at all levels, 700 members nationwide.

V. SERVICE

     UNIVERSITY SERVICE
  • University Registration and Scheduling Committee. Appointed for the 2004-2006 term. Current project: Educating faculty about new course-registration system to be implemented Winter 2006. 
  • Member at large, California Faculty Association Executive Board. Biweekly meetings.
  • U.S. Cultural Pluralism Subcommittee of the Academic Senate. Appointed for the 2003-2005 term. Approval of course proposals and self-review of USCP program.
  • Reader, Writing Proficiency Exam (required of all students for graduation from the university), February 8, 2003.
  • Academic Senator, representing the College of Liberal Arts, 1998-2002.
  • Secured two Heaton & Crouch Memorial Scholarships for Cal Poly credential program graduates to attend the statewide Asilomar teachers' conference in Sept. 1998. These scholarships rotate among the CSU campuses, but this is the first time Cal Poly has received them. Barbara Jones and Erin Barry received the scholarships and attended the conference.
  • Campus-wide promotion of Linguistics Minor (leaflet distributed to appropriate undergraduate advisors/department heads/faculty).
  • Cal Poly Political Activism Week: Organized and staffed a table for student voter registration and campaign information. 9/30-10/4/96.

     DEPARTMENT  SERVICE
  • Employment Equity Officer, Appointments Advisory Committee, English Dept., Cal Poly, 2004-2005With 3 colleagues, will review applications, conduct screening interviews, and organize/execute campus visits for two tenure-track positions, one in linguistics. Will monitor hiring procedures for compliance with university employment equity policies.
  • Appointments Advisory Committee, English Department, Cal Poly, 2002-2003. With 3 colleagues, reviewed applications, conducted screening interviews, and organized/executed campus visits for two tenure-track positions.
  • Curriculum Committee, English Department, Cal Poly. 1995-99. Biweekly/weekly meetings; intensive work on revision of English major curriculum 1996-1997. Review of GE course proposals, 1998-1999.
  • Ad hoc Committee to Study Distribution of Professional Development Funds. Fall 1999.
  • English Education Committee, English Department, Cal Poly. 1996-99.
  • Linguistics Committee, English Department, Cal Poly. 1995-. Infrequent meetings.
  • Ad hoc committee to study office hours policy, 1996. 3-week period to prepare policy proposal.
  • Writing and grading of questions for the MA exam, Since Fall 1995.
  • Maintenance of e-mail mailing lists for students and faculty interested in linguistics- and English-as-a-second-language related notices appearing on Internet discussion lists to which I subscribe.
  • Student Representative, Search Committee, Dept. of Linguistics, U C San Diego. 1987-88.
  • Student Representative, Executive Committee, Dept. of Linguistics, Southern Illinois U at Carbondale. 1983-84.

     COMMUNITY SERVICE
  • Volunteer, campaign for SLO city council, 1998 election.
  • Radio commentator, Dave Congalton show. Two appearances in Spring 1998: one in a debate on Proposition 227, the anti-bilingual education intitiative, and one on general issues in English grammar.
  • Correspondence/editorials in Mustang Daily and LA Times on language issues.
  • Correspondencewith state and federal representatives on the issue of United States Language Policy (the 'official English' movement).
  • Participation in public comment period of most recent Language Arts Textbook adoption cycle, State Department of Education.
  • Co-operative practice-teaching arrangement, Central Coast Language Academy. Taiwanese students of English at CCLA attended my W96 ENGL 498 Approaches to Teaching English as a Second Language/Dialect for one week, during which my students conducted lessons for these visitors.
  • Referral of Poly students to area English-as-a-Second-Language schools for teaching positions.
  • Participation in political activism with a local partisan group: voter registration, presidential campaigning, public education on issues.
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