The Paul Pimsleur Award for Research in Foreign Language Education was created in 1977 in response to the initiative of an anonymous donor. It was established as a memorial to Paul Pimsleur and recognizes his contributions to the profession as an outstanding teacher, researcher, and expert on test creation and interpretation. His professional influence was felt internationally, and his work lives on through the Pimsleur Aptitude Tests and the materials for independent language learning that he created.
The recipient(s) of the Pimsleur Award shall be the author(s) of an outstanding contribution to research in world language or second language education. The study shall have been published during the previous calendar year (i.e., the 2020 Award will be given for work published during the calendar year 2019). The quality of the research and its potential impact on world language learning or teaching comprise the principal criteria for selection. The research may be language-specific or language-general. Studies using any quantitative, statistical procedures for data gathering and data analyses, qualitative/descriptive research approaches, or mixed approaches will be considered.
We are currently seeking volunteers to serve on the Awards Committee. Committee members review the dossiers of those nominated and rate them on a provided evaluation rubric.
Requirements:
Volunteers should have a background in conducting research.
Number of hours committed varies depending on the number of nominations received, generally 2-3 hours.
Approximately 2-5 volunteer committee members are selected by the ACTFL Past President to serve for the awards cycle each year. They are notified in May; work begins in early June and is completed online. Nomination materials are posted on the Awards Community for committee members to access, along with a rubric. Deadlines will be set by the committee chair and passed along to the committee.
Volunteers currently serving on another ACTFL Committee (SIG Officers, Board Committee, etc.) are not eligible to apply. Volunteers are limited to service on one committee at a time.