As a linguist, Baron is principally interested in computer-mediated communication, writing and technology, language in social context, language acquisition, and the history of English. A Guggenheim Fellow, Fulbright Fellow, and past president of the Semiotic Society of America, she has written seven books:
- • Always On: Language in an Online and Mobile World (Oxford, 2008)
 Always On
- • Alphabet to Email: How Written English Evolved and Where It's Heading
(Routledge, 2000)
• Growing Up with Language: How Children Learn to Talk (Addison-Wesley, 1992)
• Pigeon-Birds and Rhyming Words: The Role of Parents in Language Learning
(Prentice-Hall, 1990)
• Computer Languages: A Guide for the Perplexed (Doubleday, 1986)
• Speech, Writing, and Sign (Indiana University Press, 1981)
• Language Acquisition and Historical Change (North-Holland, 1977)
In November 2008, Always On was the winner of the English-Speaking Union's Duke of Edinburgh English Language Book competition. In October 2000, Alphabet to Email was "Highly Commended" in the same competition.
Baron taught at Brown University, the Rhode Island School of Design, Emory University, and Southwestern University before coming to American University in 1987. From 1987-1992, she was associate dean for undergraduate affairs, and from 1992-1994 served as associate dean for curriculum and faculty development in the College of Arts and Sciences at AU. From 1996-2000, she chaired the Department of Language and Foreign Studies. She was president of American University's Zeta of Washington chapter of Phi Beta Kappa between 1998 and 2000. In Fall 2007, Baron held a Fulbright Award at Göteborg University in Sweden, and for 2007-2008 was recipient of an AU Presidential Research Award. Baron is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Language@Internet, Language Sciences, Mobile Communication Research Annual, Visible Language, and Writing Systems Research as well as co-director of American University's TESOL Program (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages).
Selected Recent and Forthcoming Publications: In Press
"Three Words about Mobile Phones: Cross-Cultural Findings from Sweden, the US, Italy, Japan, and Korea," to appear in the Proceedings of the COST Action 298 Conference, "The Good, the Bad, and the Challenging: The User and the Future of Information and Communication Technologies," Copenhagen, May 13-15, 2009. [PDF File]
“The Myth of Impoverished Signal: Dispelling the Spoken Language Fallacy for Emoticons in Online Communication,” to appear in Jane Vincent and Leopoldina Fortunati, eds., Emotion and ICTs. London: Peter Lang. [PDF File] “Assessing the Internet’s Impact on Language,” to appear in Robert Burnett, Mia Consalvo, and Charles Ess, eds., The Blackwell Handbook of Internet Studies. Blackwell. “Instant Messaging: Rethinking Theory and Practice,” to appear in Susan Herring, Dieter Stein, and Tuija Virtanen, eds., Handbook of the Pragmatics of CMC. Mouton de Gruyter. “Mobile Phones: Communication Options and Pragmatic Choices” (with Rich Ling), to appear in Susan Herring, Dieter Stein, and Tuija Virtanen, eds., Handbook of the Pragmatics of CMC. Mouton de Gruyter. “Are Instant Messages Speech?” to appear in Jeremy Hunsinger, Matt Arnold, and Lisbeth Klastrup, eds., Handbook of Internet Research. Springer.
“Discourse Structures in Instant Messaging: The Case of Utterance Breaks,” to appear in Susan Herring, ed., Computer-Mediated Conversation. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press. [PDF file] “Change in Language – or in Language Attitudes? The Real Effects of Online and Mobile Communication,” Educational Leadership. 2008
"Adjusting the Volume: Technology and Multitasking in Discourse Control," in James E. Katz, ed., Handbook of Mobile Communication Studies. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 177-193.[PDF file]
“Instant Messaging by American College Students: A Case Study in Computer-Mediated Communication,” in Salonee Priya, ed., Netlingo: The Metamorphosis of Language. Bangalore, India: Icfai University Press, pp. 141-161.
“Linguistics,” in International Encyclopedia of Communication, Wolfgang Donsbach, ed. Oxford: Blackwell.
2007
"Emerging Patterns of American Mobile Phone Use: Electronically-Mediated Communication in Transition" (with Rich Ling), in Gerard Goggin and Larisa Hjorth, eds., Mobile Media 2007. Proceedings of an International Conference, University of Sydney, July 2-4, Chapter 23. [PDF file] "Text Messaging and IM: Linguistic Comparisons of American College Data " (with Rich Ling), Journal of Language and Social Psychology 26: 291-298. [PDF file] 2005
"Killing the Word by Snippets," LA Times, Op-Ed, November 28.[PDF file] "Tethered or Mobile? Use of Away Messages in Instant Messaging by American College Students" (with Lauren Squires, Sara Tench, and Marshall Thompson), in R. Ling and P. Pederson, eds. Mobile Communications: Re-Negotiation of the Social Sphere. Springer-Verlag, pp. 293-311. [PDF file] [PDF Figures] "The Future of Written Culture," Ibérica, Journal of the European Association of Languages
for Specific Purposes. (Special Issue, Santiago Posteguillo, ed.) 9:7-31. [PDF file] "The Written Turn," English Language and Linguistics 9:359-376. [PDF file] "Cybertalk at Work and at Play," Visible Language 39(1): 64-84. "Who Wants to be a Discipline?" The Information Society 21(4):1-3. [PDF file] "Instant Messaging and the Future of Language," Communications of the ACM 48(7): 29-31. 2004
"See You Online: Gender Issues in College Student Use of Instant Messaging," Journal of Language and Social Psychology 23:397-423. [PDF file] 2003
“Language of the Internet,” in Ali Farghali, ed. The Stanford Handbook for Language Engineers. Stanford: CSLI Publications, pp. 59-127. [PDF File] “Why Email Looks Like Speech: Proofreading, Pedagogy, and Public Face,” in Jean Aitchison and Diana Lewis, eds., New Media Language. London: Routledge, pp. 102-113. [PDF File] 2002
“Who Sets Email Style: Prescriptivism, Coping Strategies, and Democratizing Communication Access,” The Information Society 18:403-413. [PDF File] 2001
"Put on a Public Face," op-ed, New York Times, April 11.
"Commas and Canaries: The Role of Punctuation in Speech and Writing," Language Sciences, 23(1):15-67.
1999
"History Lessons: Telegraph, Telephone, and Email as Social Discourse," in Bernd Naumann, ed., Dialogue Analysis and Mass Media. Tubingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag, 1-34.
1998
"Letters by Phone or Speech by Other Means: The Linguistics of Email," Language and Communication 18:133-170. [PDF File 1] [PDF File 2] [PDF File 3]
"Writing in the Age of Email: The Impact of Ideology versus Technology," Visible Language 32(1):35-53.
Selected Recent Lectures: 2008
"Text, Talk, or View: The Role of Control, Culture, and Cost in Using ICTs,” International Conference on “The Role of New Technologies in Global Societies: Theoretical Reflections, Practical Concerns, and Its Implications for China,” Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, July 30-31 [PDF File] “Mobile Phone Use by University Students: Swedish, American, and Japanese Perspectives,” Ninth International Conference of the Association of Internet Researchers (AOIR), Copenhagen, Denmark, October 16-18. [PDF File] 2007
"Gresham's Ghost: The Future of Written Culture," Plenary Address, Swiss Association of University Teachers of English, Biannual Conference, Zurich, Switzerland, May 4. [PDF file] "'Whatever': Is the Internet Destroying Language?," Oslo, Norway October 5 [PDF file][PowerPoint] "My Best Day: Presentation of Self and Social Manipulation in Facebook and Instant Messaging," Eighth International Conference, Association of Internet Researchers, Vancouver, British Columbia, October 18-20. [PDF file] 2006
Keynote Address, College of Saint Rose (Albany, NY), President's Day Opening Convocation. Keynote Address, Loft Literacy Center (Minneapolis, MN), Conference on "Reading and Writing the Future" April 22.
Invited lecture series on computer-mediated communication, University of Udine, Italy, April 3-6. 2005
"Language Under the Radar: Redefining Spoken and Written Discourse", Sixth International Conference of the Association of Internet Researchers, Chicago, IL, October 6-9. [View Slideshow] 2004
“You Are What They Post: Identity Construction on the Internet,” Fifth International Conference of the Association of Internet Researchers, University of Sussex, UK, September 19-22.[View Slideshow] 2003
“IM and SMS: A Linguistic Comparison” (with Rich Ling), Fourth International Conference of the Association of Internet Researchers, Toronto, October 16-19. 2002
“Text in the Fast Lane,” Third International Conference of the Association of Internet Researchers, Maastricht, The Netherlands, October 13-16. 2001
“Whose Words: Commonplaces, Canned Text, and Intellectual Property,” Second International Conference of the Association of Internet Researchers, Minneapolis, October 10-14.
Current Research:
Professor Baron is currently studying cross-cultural mobile phone use in Sweden, the US, Italy, Japan, and Korea. |
Naomi Baron
Naomi Baron
Always On