Walt Wolfram
William
C. Friday Professor
wolfram@social.chass.ncsu.edu
Over the past three decades, Professor Wolfram has pioneered
research on a broad range of vernacular dialects, including
African American English, Puerto Rican English, Appalachian
English, Ozark English, Southern English, American Indian
English, Vietnamese English, Outer Banks English, and Lumbee
English. In 1969 he published one of the first linguistic
descriptions of African American Vernacular English and
helped launch the national awareness about the role of vernacular
dialects in American society. For 25 years he worked at
the Center for Applied Linguistics, where he directed the
Research Program. At the same time, he taught for 20 years
at the University of the District of Columbia.
He
has authored or co-authored books profiling the sociolinguistics
of diverse communities, such as A Sociolinguistic Description
of Detroit Negro Speech (1969), Sociolinguistic Aspects
of Assimilation: Puerto Rican English in New York City (1974)
Appalachian Speech (1976), Variation and Change in Geographically
Isolated Speech Communities: Appalachian and Ozark English
(1988), Hoi Toide on the Outer Banks: The Story of the Ocracoke
Brogue (1997), Dialect Change and Maintenance on the Outer
Banks (1999), and The Development of African American English
(2002). He has also authored or co-authored a number of
textbooks, including The Study of Social Dialects in American
English (1974), Phonological Analysis: Focus on American
English (1981), Dialects and Education: Issues and Answers
(1989), Dialects and American English (1991), American English:
Dialects and Variation (1998) and Language Variation in
Schools and Communities (1999). His latest books are the
The Development of African American English (2002) and Fine
in the World: Lumbee Language in Time and Place (2002).
Over 200 of his articles have been published in professional
research journals. He is active in professional organizations,
serving as the Past-President of the Linguistic Society
of America, Past-President of the Southeastern Conference
on Linguistics, and Past-President of the American Dialect
Society.
A
prominent concern of Professor Wolfram involves the application
of basic research findings to social and educational problems,
and he has conducted numerous workshops and seminars for
school systems and other public and private agencies. He
is particularly interested in the effective dissemination
of information on language variation to current practitioners
and to the American public. This interest has included work
on several TV documentaries about dialects in the United
States, including the award-winning documentary American
Tongues, as well as The Ocracoke Brogue and Indian by Birth:
The Lumbee Dialect. He has also served as the linguistic
consultant for the Children's Television Company, the producers
of Sesame Street and the Electric Company.
In
1992, he was named the first William C. Friday Distinguished
Professor in the English Department at North Carolina State
University, where he focuses his research efforts on the
dialects of North Carolina under the aegis of the North
Carolina Language and Life Project. Since his arrival at
North Carolina State University, he has been received the
College of Humanities and Social Sciences Distinguished
Research Award (1995-96) and the NC State Alumni Association
Outstanding Research Award (1995-96); he has also received
the NC State Alumni Association Distinguished Graduate Professor
Award (1999-01). The North Carolina Language and Life Project
received the North Carolina Museum Council Group Volunteer
Service Award in 1999. Under his direction, the program
in language variation studies at North Carolina State University
has become one the top programs in the United States for
field-initiated research on language variation. He also
co-directs the Duke-NC State collaborative PhD program in
English Linguistics.
