Princeton University

JAMIE RANKIN is coordinator of language teaching and pedagogy and has been a senior lecturer in the department since 1991. After completing a Ph.D. in German literature at Harvard University, he went on to specialize in second language acquisition and pedagogy in the Department of Second Language Studies at the University of Hawaii. His current research focuses on the dynamics of foreign language classrooms, with particular emphasis on classroom interaction and the role it plays in teaching and teacher training. Much of his research takes the form of collaborative classroom research with graduate student assistants instructors in the department, and several of these studies have been published--including two awarded the Unterrichtpraxis' prize for Best Articles of the Year in 1999.

As coordinator of German language teaching, he has helped develop on-line placement testing for German; created interactive computer modules with digitized video and sound files for use in Beginning German; and founded the Princeton-in-Munich program for Beginning and Intermediate German Students. He is co-author of the Handbuch zur deutschen Grammatik (Houghton Mifflin), one of the leading German textbooks used in the USA, and is the author of the accompanying Arbeitsheft, which provides process writing exercises and authentic listening activities in conjunction with the textbook. In 1996 he was a recipient of the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching at Princeton. He has served since 1994 on the editorial board of Die Unterrichtspraxis for teaching German in America.