Department of French and Italian

Associate Professor of French and Applied Linguistics
Chair, Department of French & Italian

Personal Information
My childhood in France, Denmark, Madagascar, and Kenya set the stage for my interest in second language acquisition and foreign language pedagogy. I earned a BA in French at Eckerd College, an MA in French with a minor field in German from Florida State University, and a PhD in French with a specialization in applied linguistics from Emory University. When I came to Vanderbilt in 1988, I served as director of the French language program and coordinator of graduate teaching assistants. In addition, I have served as department chair and taught numerous times at Vanderbilt-in-France program in Aix-en-Provence. e-mail me

Research Interests
Instructed second language learning, the role of literature in second language/culture acquisition, the role of L1 in L2 learning, the acquisition of grammar, bilingual studies, cognition.

CV 408.doc

Virginia M. Scott, Curriculum Vitae, Word Document

Representative Publications

Rethinking Foreign Language Writing. Heinle & Heinle, 1996.

SLA and the Literature Classroom: Fostering Dialogues (AAUSC Issues in Language Program Direction). Heinle & Heinle 2001. [Co-edited with Holly Tucker.]

Traitement de textes: Une introduction à l'expression écrite. Prentice-Hall, 2000. [Co-authored with Elizabeth New.]

An Applied Linguist in the Literature Classroom. The French Review 74: 538-49, 2001.

Reading Culture: Using Literature to Develop C2 Competence. Foreign Language Annals 35: 622-31, 2002. [Co-authored with Julie Huntington.] (Nominated for the MLA Kenneth W. Mildenberger Prize.)

Cloze Windows and Aesthetic Discoveries: Opening Visions for Teaching Literature. The French Review 78: 278-86, 2004.

Literature, the Interpretive Mode, and Novice Learners. The Modern Language Journal 91: 3-14, 2007. [Co-authored with Julie Huntington.]

AmeriQuests, et quoy plus. AmeriQuests Journal, Vanderbilt University Center for the Americas 1(1), 2004.

What's the Problem? L2 Learners' Use of the L1 During Consciousness-Raising Form-Focused Tasks. The Modern Langauge Journal 92: 100-113, 2008. [Co-authored with María José de la Fuente, George Washington U.]

Recent workshops and presentations