Biography
Lisa Brittingham is a Ph.D. candidate in the French SLATE program. She has taught as an adjunct instructor for 15 years in various universities in the Midwest. She earned a B.A. degree in Music and French from Illinois Wesleyan University and an M.A. degree in French Pedagogy from Illinois State University. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, she has acted as a course coordinator in the FRIT department at The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her passion for both music and French have fueled her research interests in examining the correlation between a musical background and French pronunciation.
Research Interests
Second Language Acquisition
Second Language Learning and Teaching
Correlation between Musical training and L2 Acquisition
Relationship between Intelligibility and Nativelikeness
Relationship between musical training and musical aptitude
Relationship between perceived fluency and utterance fluency
Research Description
The purpose of my research, which is anchored in a sociocognitive paradigm, examines the possible connection between musical background and L2 acquisition in novice learners of French in higher education. More specifically, my research examines the relationship between musical training and musical aptitude for aiding in oral production of L2. My research examines both intelligibility and perceived fluency as they focus on language as communication, which is a social phenomenon. Both of these variables are concerned with the production of utterances that are understandable by listeners, thus placing an emphasis on listener comprehension. Within my research, nativelikeness and utterance fluency are examined as cognitive phenomena, as these variables are acoustically analyzed to examine the cognitive aspects of language and language acquisition.
Education
MA in French Pedagogy, Illinois State University
BA in French / Music, Illinois Wesleyan University
Grants
Knudson Fellowship 2023
Departmental Fellowship 2022
Reed Fellowship 2021
Awards and Honors
K.A. Looney Senior Award for Excellence in Teaching 2023
Montserrat Vilarrubla Award for Excellence in Teaching 2003
Courses Taught
UIUC
- FR 102: Elementary French II
- FR 103: Intermediate French I
- FR 104:: Intermediate French 2
Other Universities
- Elementary French language
- Intermediate French language
- French conversation
- French theatre
Conference Presentations
Brittingham, L. (July 23-26, 2023). The Intriguing Relationship of Music and Pronunciation. AATF Conference, Trois Rivières, Québec.
Brittingham, L. (May 2022). The Relationship Between Musical Training and Intelligibility in French pronunciation for Novice Adult Learners, SLATE Poster Symposium, The University of Urbana-Champaign, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois.
Professional Training
- American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Modified Oral Proficiency Interview (MOPI) Workshop
- Familiarisation à la méthodologie de l’enseignement du Français sur Objectifs du Français sur Objectifs Spécifiques (FOS) appliquée à différents domaines et professions
- French Advanced Placement Exam Reader
Recent Publications
Brittingham, L. (2023). Musical Background and French Pronunciation: A Mixed Methods Study. 2023 Report of the Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, 103-123. https://www.csctfl.org/about/central-states-report