The 2025 American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) conference took place from March 22–25 at the Sheraton Denver Downtown in Denver, Colorado. With the theme Relational Accountability, the conference focused on how researchers can consider and honor their relationships with participants—human and non-human—throughout their work. It brought together scholars from around the globe for insightful sessions, networking, and conversations about the future of applied linguistics.
This year, UW-Madison’s English Department was well represented, with students and faculty showcasing their impactful research:
Undergraduate Presenter
- Sophie Jane Boes, senior in the English Language and Linguistics Program, shared her research, Generative AI, Acceptability, and Processing Effects: Policy Considerations for Higher-Educational Institutions. Boes examined how generative AI models process syntactic constructions compared to human judgments, addressing the challenges and opportunities of AI in educational policy.
ELL undergraduate student Sophie Boes next to her research poster.
Master’s Presenters
- Jill McLeod, MA student in the Applied English Linguistics Program, presented her poster, “Well, Here Is My Advice”: pragmatic transfer in L2 English and L2 Korean. Her research highlighted pragmatic transfer in advice-giving across linguistic and cultural contexts, providing valuable insights into second-language learning strategies.
AEL graduate student Jill McLeod presenting her poster to other conferencegoers.
Doctoral Presenters
- Vatcharit “Pond” Chantajinda, PhD student in the English Language and Linguistics Program, presented Learning Context and the Computation of Implicature in English Determiners: A Replication of Cho (2022). His research focused on Thai ESL learners’ challenges in understanding scalar implicatures, contributing to the growing field of interlanguage pragmatics.
ELL graduate student Vatcharit “Pond” Chantajinda giving his talk. - Macy Floyd, PhD student in the English Language and Linguistics Program, planned to present An Analysis of the Influence of Prosody on Pragmatic Competence in L2 Commissive Evaluation. Although Macy was unable to attend, her research delves into how prosody impacts modal selection and pragmatic competence in language learners, providing vital insights into the role of prosody in second-language acquisition. ·
Faculty Presenter
- Professor Juliet Huynh from UW-Madison’s English Language and Linguistics Program, alongside Kristen Fleckenstein, Assistant Professor of Linguistics at Coastal Carolina University, presented a poster titled Unos or Algunos: Investigating Pragmatic Processing by Heritage Spanish Speakers and Late Spanish-English Bilinguals. Their study offers significant findings on bilinguals’ processing of pragmatic violations in Spanish quantifiers, providing valuable insights into heritage speaker language use.
ELL Professor Juliet Huynh next to her research poster.
Attendees
Several UW-Madison English Department students attended the AAAL conference, gaining valuable insights, supporting their colleagues, and representing the department in this prestigious academic forum:
- PhD students from the English Language and Linguistics Program: Mariam Balogun, Kevin J. de Armas Buchhorsts, Fabiola M. Martinez Del Valle, and Piyaboot “Seer” Sumonsriworakun
- MA student from the Applied English Linguistics Program: Kuangzi Li
The AAAL 2025 conference was an exciting opportunity for UW-Madison’s English Department to engage with the global linguistics community. The department takes great pride in the contributions of its students and faculty, whose work continues to shape the field.