Background:  She holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1989).  At the U of I she majored in Educational Psychology and specialized in Second Language Acquisition and Teacher Education (SLATE).  She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education from Colorado State College (now the University of Northern Colorado) and a Masters from Teachers College Columbia University.  Before entering the U of I in 1983 she had created an ESL program for the Lincoln Public Schools, working there for nine years.  She has also taught in several school districts in this country, and served with the U. S. Peace Corps in Tanzania and the Georgetown Exchange Teachers in Spain.

      Research:  Her research interests center on psycholinguistic and sociocultural perspectives on second language acquisition (SLA), on classroom interaction involving LEP students, and on teacher knowledge about language development in the content areas.  She has also collaborated on research on the implementation of the 1990 Florida Consent Decree that has affected the teaching of linguistic minority students in Florida's schools.

      Teaching:  She teaches courses at undergraduate, masters and doctoral levels and supervises several doctoral dissertations.  Courses she regularly teaches are Research in Second Language Learning and Teaching, Applied Linguistics in Second Language Teaching, Curriculum and Materials in Second Language Education, Psycholinguistics, ESOL Strategies in the Content Areas, Research Design in Second Language Learning, and Teaching Diverse Populations.

        Courses:

         FLE 5775 - Research in Second Language Learning and Teaching
 

         FLE 5795 - Applied Linguistics in Second/Foreign Language  (also FLE 4794)

          Service:  Dr. Platt performs service both in the University and in professional organizations.  She is one of two College of Education representatives on the Graduate Policy Committee, and is a member of the College of Education Faculty Council.  She also chairs the Student Committee of the Council.  In her department she is on the Promotion and Tenure/Evaluation and Salary Committee.  She has been active in the state Sunshine State TESOL organization as a frequent conference presenter, and was formerly the sociopolitical concerns liaison and newsletter co-editor.  She has also been active in the American Association for Applied Linguistics as local conference chair (1996) and an ad hoc committee pertaining to language policy in education (current).  Other organizations in which she holds membership are Teachers to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), the Linguistic Society of America, Phi Delta Kappa, and the American Educational Research Association.

      Personal:  In her spare time Dr. Platt sings in the Tallahassee Community Chorus, enjoys birding with the local Audubon chapter, gardens and landscapes at her home, and travels to visit family, friends, and faraway places every summer.

      Contact information:  Address - 209 Carothers Hall, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL  32306-4490; Office phone - (850) 644-1989; FAX - (850) 644-1880; and email - eplatt@garnet.acns.fsu.edu.