Carl Blyth is an applied linguist with a background in interactional sociolinguistics, pragmatics and technology. His research interests lie at the intersection of language, culture and interaction, particularly cross-cultural and intercultural online interaction. Blyth directs the Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learning (COERLL), one of 15 federally-funded foreign language resource centers around the country, designed to produce and disseminate Open Educational Resources (OERs) for the Internet public (e.g., online language courses, reference grammars, assessment tools, corpora, etc.).
Currently, Blyth is examining online discussions between French and American college students taken from Cultura, an on-going telecollaboration between MIT and various French universities to demonstrate how miscommunication arises in cross-cultural discussions between French and American interlocutors who are largely unaware that their different cultures possess divergent "stance scripts," that is, culture-specific ways of expressing an opinion. His research aims to identify the elements of conversational behaviors that index cultural ways of thinking and performing.
Blyth is interested in the use of digital tools and social media to facilitate collaborative social action, exploring the use of eComma, textual annotation software developed in the English Department at the University of Texas. The goal of the eComma project is to understand how second language readers build collaborative commentaries of a given L2 text with the aid of this web-based annotation software. Blyth worked with colleagues and graduate students over the years to build a suite of online pedagogical materials for French (e.g., Tex's French Grammar, a pedagogical reference grammar; and Français interactif, a 'blended learning' environment for beginning French).
Ph.D.
in French Linguistics, Cornell University, 1990
M.A.
in French, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1986
B.A.
in International Relations, University of North Carolina, 1980
Applied linguistics (instructional technology, corpus linguistics, pedagogical grammar); French sociolinguistics (style, stance and interaction); Discourse studies (narrative analysis, cultural scripts, indexicality)
Series Editor,
AAUSC Issues in Language Program Direction (2005 - Present)
Journal Article Referee,
Canadian Modern Language Journal (2004 - Present)
Journal Article Referee,
Language Learning & Technology (2000 - Present)
Journal Article Referee,
Calico (2000 - Present)
Journal Article Referee,
Modern Language Journal (1999 - Present)
Journal Article Referee,
International Journal of Applied Linguistics (1999 - 2001)
Technology Consulting Board,
Holt, Rinehart & Winston (1998 - Present)
Board Member,
Institut Français de Washington (1998 - Present)
Journal Article Referee,
AAUSC Issues in Language Program Direction (1997 - Present)
Journal Article Referee,
The French Review (1996 - Present)
Grant Referee,
Sociolinguistic Research, National Science Foundation (1994 - 2004)
Manuscript Reader,
Heinle & Heinle; McGraw-Hill; Prentice Hall; Holt, Rinehart & Winston; St. Martin's Press; Nonce Language Consultants
"Untangling the Web: Nonce's Guide to Language and Culture on the Internet" (1999)
Provosts Senior Teaching Fellow
- The University of Texas at Austin (2013)
Exemplary Online Learning Resource Award
- Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching (2009)
Access to Language Education Award (given to Français interactif)
- CALICO Executive Committee, CALICO Annual Conference (2009)
Best of the Humanities on the Web (given to Français interactif)
- National Endowment for the Humanities (2006)
First Place in the Innovative Instructional Technology Awards
- Center for Instructional Technology, UT-Austin (2004)
Presidents Associates Teaching Excellence Award
- The University of Texas at Austin (1998)
Faculty Fellow
- Center for Instructional Technology, UT-Austin (1998)
Innovative Instructional Technology Awards, First Place
- Center for Instructional Technology, UT-Austin (1997)
Dean's Fellowship
- The University of Texas at Austin (1997)
