Graduate Student Grantees

TLTC offers two semester-long grants per year to qualified Liberal Arts graduate students interested in foreign language instructional technology.  The purpose of the grant program is to draw graduate students into the community of foreign language scholars and to further development of foreign language technology at UT-Austin.  Grants are equivalent to TAships/AIships ($7,000 to $8,000).

Grant applicants are currently enrolled Liberal Arts graduate students.  Proposals are related to a foreign language taught at UT-Austin and are undertaken in collaboration with a language faculty member.

Grants have been awarded for Fall 2007 and Spring 2008 semesters.  The Fall 2007 recipient is Kelle Keating, and the Spring 2008 recipient is Cory Lyle.  Both recipients are from UT's Department of French and Italian.

Read more about TLTC graduate student student grants ...

Graduate Research Fellow, Spring 2008: Cory Lyle

Cory Lyle is TLTC's Graduate Research Fellow for the Spring 2008 semester.  He is a first-year doctoral student in Hispanic Linguistics.  He received his MA in Romance linguistics from the Department of French and Italian at UT Austin.

In Spring 2008, Cory will help revise the advanced French curriculum (fifth and sixth semester), adding a web-based oral proficiency component.  This component is based on the SOPE (an online Spanish Oral Proficiency Exam) currently in use in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese.

Graduate Research Fellow, Fall 2007: Kelle Keating

Kelle Keating is TLTC's Graduate Research Fellow for the Fall 2007 semester.  She is a second-year doctoral student in French linguistics in the Department of French and Italian, having received her Master's in French at Arizona State University in 2004.  In conjunction with her graduate studies, she has taught French at the university level for five years.

In Fall 2007, Kelle will be creating a musical component for French department's first-year curriculum Français Interactif.  She aims to add at least one French or Francophone song per chapter, along with various accompanying pedagogical activities.  This project has two objectives: first, song lyrics will afford students practice in reading culturally authentic texts; second and more importantly, the songs themselves will act as a portal to introduce students to various Francophone cultures and musical genres.  Kelle's desire is that through studying Francophone songs, students will discover yet another reason to be passionate about studying French!

Kelle's interest in this project is not merely pedagogical; music is one of her greatest passions.  Her Master's research focused on Québec's modern chanson engagée, or politically-oriented music.  The genre of music Kelle loves best of all, though, is jazz.  She grew up listening to the fabulous harmonies of the Manhattan Transfer and the amazing vocals of the First Lady of Song, Ella Fitzgerald.  If you ever spot Kelle stopped at one of Austin's many traffic lights, she will most likely be bopping to some sort of jazz, swing, or French rap.  Her other interests include tap dancing in the hall, as well as hitting the ice for a flying camel or two before heading to work.