Main profile

Thomas

Conners

Research Scientist -- Retired

Interests: 

Linguistics

Field Linguistics, Corpus Linguistics, Language Documentation and Description, Typology

Units: 

ARLIS, CASL

Degree(s): 

PhD, 2008, Linguistics, Yale University MPhil, 2002, Linguistics, Yale University MA, 2000, Linguistics, Yale University BA, 1999, Linguistics, Yale University

Graduation Year: 

2008

Contact: 

tconners@umd.edu

tom.conners@gmail.com

Role(s): 

Faculty

About: 

I worked for the UMD - Center for Advanced Study of Language as a Faculty Research Scientist.  I retired from UMD in 2020 and moved to the School of Language Studies, Foreign Service Insitutute, Department of State.  I am now the Division Director for Near East, Central, and South Asian languages, with broad responsibility for 24 intensive language programs training Foreign Service Personnel for work as Diplomats. I now work in the field of Applied Linguistics, bringing second language acquisition principles and experiential learning to adult learners.  

Prior to joining the State Department, my research focused on language description, documentation, typology, and the analysis of underlying lingustic systems.  Within that general framework, I view language as both a cognitive and social system.  My approach to language work was empirical, that is, has taken theory to be in the service of accurate description rather than the converse.  I let empirical evidence drive analyses of language structure and use; this empirical approach has led to a strong interest in corpus, and from there elements of computational linguistics. 

Areally, I have been focused on Austronesian languages, more specifically the languages of Western Indonesia.  Having spent over 10 years working and conducting field work in Indonesia, my work has been been focused on and informed by engagement with languages of Indonesian and the braoder Southeast Asian linguistic area -- particularly Javanese and Jakarta Indonesian.   I have also worked on South Asian languages including Punjabi, Bangla, and Urdu.

Collaborators: 

Claudia Brugman, Anne David, Amalia Gnadesikan, Nikki Adams, Aric Bills