| Betty J. Birner Associate Professor Northern Illinois University Department of English DeKalb, Illinois 60115-2863 (815) 753-6607 bbirner@niu.edu Discourse, pragmatics, functions of syntactic constructions, reference,
semantics/pragmatics interface, cognitive science Education Ph.D. Linguistics, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. 1992. Dissertation: The Discourse Function of
Inversion in English. B.A. English, Hope College, Holland, Michigan. Cum laude.
1982.
Books 1998. Birner, B., and G. Ward. Information Status and Noncanonical Word Order in English. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 1996. Birner, B. The Discourse Function of Inversion in English. Outstanding Dissertations in Linguistics. NY: Garland Publishing. 1994. Spears, R.A., B. Birner, and S. Kleinedler. NTC’s
Dictionary of Everyday American English Expressions. Lincolnwood, IL:
National Textbook Co. Journal Articles 2003. Birner, B. “Metaphor and the reshaping of our
cognitive fabric.” Zygon Journal of Religion & Science.
To appear. 1996. Birner, B., and G. Ward. “A crosslinguistic study of postposing in discourse.” Language and Speech: Special Issue on Discourse, Syntax, and Information 39:111-140. 1996. Birner, B., and S. Mahootian. “Functional constraints on inversion in English and Farsi.” Language Sciences 18:127-138. [Volume also published as K. Jaszczolt and K. Turner, eds., Contrastive Semantics and Pragmatics, Amsterdam: Elsevier.] 1995. Birner, B. “Pragmatic constraints on the verb in English inversion.” Lingua 97:233-256. 1995. Ward, G., and B. Birner. “Definiteness and the English existential.” Language 71:722-742. 1994. Birner, B. “Information status and word order: An analysis of English inversion.” Language 70:233-259. 1993. Ward, G., and B. Birner. “The semantics and pragmatics of and everything.” Journal of Pragmatics 19:205-214. 1992. Birner, B., and G. Ward. “On the interpretation of VP inversion in American English.” Journal of Linguistics 28:1-12. 1988. Birner, B. “Possessives vs. indefinites: Pragmatic
inference and determiner choice,” in IPRA Papers in Pragmatics
2.1/2:136-46. Conference Proceedings and Book Chapters ------. Ward, G., and B. Birner. “Information ordering.”
In B. Aarts, ed., Handbook of English Linguistics. In prep. 2003. Ward, G., B. Birner, and J. Kaplan. “A pragmatic
analysis of the epistemic would construction in English.” In
R. Facchinetti, M. Krug, and F. Palmer, eds., Modality in Contemporary
English [Topics in English Linguistics 44, B. Kortmann and E.
Traugott, general eds.]. Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter. 2001. Ward, G., and B. Birner. “Discourse and information structure.” In D. Schiffrin, D. Tannen, and H. Hamilton, eds., Handbook of Discourse Analysis. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. 119-137. 1998. Birner, B. “Recency effects in English inversion.” In M. Walker, A. Joshi, and E. Prince, eds., Centering Theory in Discourse. Oxford University Press. 309-326. 1996. Birner, B. “Form and function in English by-phrase passives.” In Proceedings of the 32nd Annual Meeting, Chicago Linguistic Society. 23-31. 1996. Ward, G., and B. Birner. “On the discourse function of rightward movement in English.” In A. Goldberg, ed., Conceptual Structure, Discourse and Language. Stanford, CA: Center for the Study of Language and Information. 463-479. 1995. Birner, B. “Inference and intonation in English inversion.” In B. Palek, ed., Item Order in Natural Languages: Proceedings of LP’94. Prague: Charles University Press. 245-264. 1994. Birner, B., and G. Ward. “Uniqueness, familiarity, and the definite article in English.” BLS 20:93-102. 1994. Ward, G., and B. Birner. “English there-sentences and information status.” In Proceedings of the Israeli Association of Theoretical Linguistics Ninth Annual Conference and the Workshop on Discourse. 165-183. 1993. Birner, B., and G. Ward. “There-sentences and inversion as distinct constructions: A functional account.” BLS 19:27-39. 1992. Ward, G., and B. Birner. “VP inversion and aspect in
written texts,” in D. Stein, ed., Cooperating With Written Texts: The
Pragmatics and Comprehension of Written Texts. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
575-88. Reviews, Squibs, Working Papers, and Other Publications 1999. Birner, B. “Frequently asked questions about Linguistics.” Series of brochures for laypersons written under contract with the Linguistic Society of America. [series 2] 1998. Birner, B. “Frequently asked questions about Linguistics.” Series of brochures for laypersons written under contract with the Linguistic Society of America. [series 1] 1997. Ward, G., and B. Birner. “Response to Abbott’s discussion note.” Language 73:109-112. 1996. Birner, B. Review of R. Geluykens, From Discourse Process to Grammatical Construction: On Left-Dislocation in English and C. Ford, Grammar in Interaction: Adverbial Clauses in American English Conversations. Studies in Language 20.2:455-80. 1994. Ward, G., and B. Birner. “A unified account of English fronting constructions.” University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics 1:159-65. 1993. Ward, G., and B. Birner. “There-sentences and information status.” Northwestern University Working Papers in Linguistics 5:51-68. 1992. Birner, B., and G. Ward. “On the use and interpretation of and everything.” Northwestern University Working Papers in Linguistics 4:13-19. 1991. Birner, B. “Specific and non-specific one-anaphora.” Northwestern University Working Papers in Linguistics 3:1-11. 1991. Birner, B., and G. Ward. “A pragmatic analysis of VP inversion.” Northwestern University Working Papers in Linguistics 3:13-29. 1989. Birner, B. “On the ‘referential-attributive’ distinction.” Northwestern University Working Papers in Linguistics 2:1-12. 1988. Birner, B. “But as conventional implicature:
Identifying the source of contrast.” Northwestern University Working Papers
in Linguistics 1:16-28. Invited Talks 2003. Workshop on Dislocated Elements in Discourse: Syntactic,
Semantic, and Pragmatic Perspectives, Zentrum für Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft,
Berlin, Germany. November. 1998. Conference on Linguistics and Phonetics (LP ’98), Ohio State University. September. 1996. Department of Linguistics, University of California at San Diego. 1995. AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey. July. 1995. Institute of Cognitive Science, University of Colorado at Boulder. March. 1995. Department of Linguistics, University of Colorado at Boulder. March. 1995. Center for Cognitive Science, Ohio State University. February. 1995. Department of Linguistics, Ohio State University. February. 1994. Department of Linguistics, University of California at Santa Cruz. February. 1993. Department of Linguistics, Wayne State University.
November. Other Talks and Presentations 2003. “Epistemic modals and temporal reference.” LSA
Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia, January. [with J. Kaplan and G.
Ward] 2001. “Epistemic must and would: A pragmatic differentiation.” SDSU Linguistics Student Association Spring Colloquium, San Diego State University, March. [with J. Kaplan and G. Ward] 2001. “Referential ambiguity in the ‘that would be X’ construction.” Midwestern Conference on Film, Language, and Literature, Northern Illinois University, March. [with J. Kaplan and G. Ward] 2001. “Language and prejudice.” New Ideas in Language and Language Learning Conference, Northern Illinois University, March. 2001. “Open propositions and epistemic would.” LSA Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., January. [with J. Kaplan and G. Ward] 1997. “Standards, prejudice, and Ebonics: The perspective from linguistics.” Department of Social Psychology brown bag lecture, Northwestern University, March. 1997. “Discourse constraints on PP + there in English.” LSA Annual Meeting, Chicago, January. 1996. “The correlation of form and function in English argument reversal.” Conference on Functionalism and Formalism in Linguistics, 23rd UWM Linguistics Symposium, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, April. 1996. “Scalar implicature and what is ‘said’.” Northwestern University Department of Linguistics Noon Hour Colloquium, April. 1996. “Discourse functions of syntax and bridging.” Ninth Annual CUNY Conference on Sentence Processing, New York, March. [with G. Ward] 1996. “Passivization and inversion: A functional correspondence.” LSA Annual Meeting, San Diego, January. 1995. “Discourse structure, inference, and marked syntactic constructions.” Defining Cognitive Science at IRCS 1995, Institute for Research in Cognitive Science, University of Pennsylvania, April. 1995. “Pragmatic constraints on word order in Farsi.” LSA Annual Meeting, New Orleans, January. [with S. Mahootian] 1994. “Definites, uniqueness, and speaker intent.” LSA Annual
Meeting, Boston, January. 1994. “Constituents out in left field: The functions of fronting in English.” LSA Annual Meeting, Boston, January. [with G. Ward] 1993. “Information status and the verb in English inversion.” Computational Linguistics Feedback Forum, University of Pennsylvania, October. 1993. “Definiteness and there-sentences.” Fourth International Pragmatics Conference, International Pragmatics Association, Kobe, Japan, July. [with G. Ward] 1993. “Information status and English inversion.” LSA Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, January. 1993. “There isn't the definiteness effect to deal with anymore.” LSA Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, January. [with G. Ward] 1992. “Discourse status and sentence position in English inversion.” Linguistics Department Colloquium, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, October. 1992. “On the interpretation of and everything and everything.” LSA Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, January. [with G. Ward] 1991. “The forest behind the trees: Pragmatic competence and syntactic choice.” Tutorial given at the workshop on the Grammatical Foundations of Prosody and Discourse, sponsored by NSF. University of California, Santa Cruz, June. [with E. Prince, E. Vallduví, and G. Ward] 1991. “English inversion: Types and functions.” Northwestern University Department of Linguistics Noon Hour Colloquium, February. 1991. “Discourse entities and the referential/attributive distinction.” LSA Annual Meeting, Chicago. January. 1991. “On the interpretation of VP inversion.” LSA Annual Meeting, Chicago, January. [with G. Ward] 1989. “A semantico-pragmatic taxonomy of English inversion.” LSA Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., December. [with G. Ward] 1989. “VP inversion and aspectual ambiguity in written texts.” International Conference on the Semantics and Pragmatics of Written Texts, Giessen University, Federal Republic of Germany, September. [with G. Ward] 1987. “Possessives vs. indefinites: Pragmatic inference and
determiner choice.” LSA Annual Meeting, San Francisco, December. Grants Received 2003. Faculty Development Grant, Northern Illinois
University. $1,662 to attend the Linguistic Institute. 2001. Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program, Northern
Illinois University. One-semester grant for undergraduate research
assistant, plus $150 for expenses. Courses Taught University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee: Depaul University: Northwestern University: Northern Illinois University: Professional Service Member, Department Council, Department of English, Northern Illinois
University (Fall 2003- Presenter, Workshop on Writing Abstracts for Conference Presentations, English Graduate Student Association, Northern Illinois University (2003) Faculty sponsor, Linguistic Society of DeKalb (graduate reading group; Fall 2002-present) Member, Graduate Studies Committee, Department of English, Northern
Illinois University Member, Assessment Subcommittee, Undergraduate Studies Committee, Department of English, Northern Illinois University (Spring 2002-Spring 2003) Dissertation committee member (David Gugin, Dept. of English, 2002-present) Master’s thesis committee member (Meredith Larson, Dept. of Psychology, M.A. 2003) Master’s thesis committee member (Xu Xu, Dept. of Psychology, M.A. 2003) Honors Capstone Project faculty adviser (Nichole Altmix, Spring 2002) Panel member, Presentation on Graduate School, Sigma Tau Delta, Northern Illinois Illinois University (2001) Team member, Sigma Tau Delta Black Team, DeKalb County Annual Spelling Bee (2001) Cognitive Studies Liaison, Plan One Steering Committee, Northern Illinois University (2001-present) Member, Cognitive Studies Committee, Northern Illinois University (2000-present) Advisory Editor, Current Research in the Semantics/Pragmatics Interface (CRiSPI), Elsevier (1997-present) Editor, Northwestern University Working Papers in Linguistics,
vols. 1-2 (1987-89) Professional Development Professional Affiliate, Linguistic Institute, Michigan State University
(2003) Participant, Juggling, Dogs, and Assessment: The Importance of Feedback, Critical Thinking, and Punctuation assessment workshop, Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center, Northern Illinois University (2003) Honorary member, Sigma Tau Delta Honor Society (2001-present) Participant, General Education Transformation Initiative Workshop – Plan One, Northern Illinois University (2001) Participant, IRB 101 one-day training course on human-subjects research, Northern Illinois University (2001) Participant, Teaching Effectiveness Institute, Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center, Northern Illinois University (2000) Professional Affiliate, Linguistic Institute, The Ohio State University (1993) Professional Affiliate, Linguistic Institute, Stanford University (1987) Member, Linguistic Society of America (1987-present)
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