The Second Language Studies (SLS) program at Michigan State University is turning 20 years old and is marking this milestone with a weekend of social and academic events, Oct. 17-19, 2025, that will involve students and faculty as well as alumni of the program who are joining the celebration at MSU from all over the world.
“It’s hard to believe the SLS program is turning 20! I joined in its second year and have had the privilege of watching it flourish,” said Shawn Loewen, Professor and Director of the SLS program. “Today, we are proud to have more than 100 alumni, many of whom are making a far-reaching impact in the field of second language acquisition as they graduate and share their work around the world. While we often reconnect with our SLS family at conferences, it’s especially meaningful to gather for this homecoming event — a chance for alumni to return to where it all began.”
A highlight of the 20th anniversary weekend celebration is the presentation by Susan Gass, Professor Emerita and the founding Director of MSU’s SLS program. In this presentation, Dr. Gass will talk about the second language acquisition field and the founding of the SLS program at MSU.
“It’s hard to believe the SLS program is turning 20! I joined in its second year and have had the privilege of watching it flourish. Today, we are proud to have more than 100 alumni, many of whom are making a far-reaching impact in the field of second language acquisition.”
Shawn Loewen, Professor and Director of the SLS program
The weekend celebration also will include panel presentations, intergenerational roundtable discussions, and various social activities and events. For those alumni who are unable to attend, there with be a zoom session with alumni from around the world.
“We have quite a few alumni in China, South Korea, and Japan, so we want to include them in some way since it’s too hard for them to come in person,” Loewen said.
SLS is an interdisciplinary doctoral degree program in the Applied Linguistics Program within the Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures at MSU. This Ph.D. program provides a firm foundation in the fields of second language acquisition, applied linguistics, and foreign language studies and explores how those fields intersect with bilingualism, corpus linguistics, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, educational linguistics, pragmatics, and language assessment. Students of the program learn how to apply theories and methods from these fields to current second language and foreign language research and teaching. The SLS program also offers a graduate program certificate in Second Language Studies.
The SLS doctoral program won the 2018 Outstanding Graduate Program Community Award presented by Michigan State University’s Graduate School. The award is part of the Graduate School Outstanding Mentoring Awards, which recognize graduate programs, faculty mentors, and doctoral students who exemplify mentoring best practices.
Amy S. Thompson, who is the first graduate of MSU’s SLS Ph.D. program having graduated from the program in 2009, was honored earlier this year by receiving the Association of Language Departments Award for Distinguished Service to the Profession presented by the Modern Language Association. Thompson is now the Mack and Effie Campbell Distinguished Professor and Director of the School of Teacher Education in the Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences at Florida State University.
For more information on Michigan State University’s SLS program, visit the Second Language Studies website. For more information on the weekend celebration, including a schedule of all the events that are planned, visit the Second Language Studies 20th Anniversary website.
By Kim Popiolek
