Dwight Atkinson

English as a Second Language; Social, cultural, economic and political contexts of English

Dwight Atkinson is an applied linguist and second language educator who specializes in writing (first and second language), qualitative research approaches, and second language acquisition. Current projects include an attempt to establish a view of second language acquisition on "sociocognitive" principles, research in India on the experiences of vernacular language-schooled students in English-language universities, and a booklength study of different theories of culture impacting TESOL and applied linguistics. Past work has covered a wide variety of topics, from the history of medical and scientific research writing in English, to critiques of commonly used concepts in university writing instruction such as critical thinking and voice, to explorations of the concept of culture, to writings on qualitative research methods. Atkinson teaches courses in qualitative research, postmodernism, and second language acquisition at Purdue, where he is an assistant professor of English.