Ilona Vandergriff
Faculty- Professor
Area of Expertise:
German language; learning and teaching world languages
Pronouns:
She/her
Speaks:
German (native), English (near-native), French (fair), Spanish (reading and listening competency), Gothic, Old Norse, Old English, Old Saxon, Early New High German, Old High German, Middle High German, Latin (reading competency)
About Professor Vandergriff
Ilona Vandergriff is Professor of German (Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley). She received her B.A. equivalent in German and English from the Free University of Berlin and her M.A. in German from San Francisco State University. Currently, she is serving as undergraduate (for undergrads whose last names begin with M-Z) adviser. Prof. Vandergriff teaches courses in language, linguistics, applied linguistics, and culture.
Dr. Vandergriff's main research interest is in foreign language use and development, in particular, in technology-mediated environments. She is the author or co-author of more than two dozen articles in a wide range of publications, including Teaching German/Die Unterrichtspraxis, Journal of Pragmatics, Language Learning and Technology and HUMOR. International Journal of Humor Research. A finalist for the 2019 American Association of Applied Linguistics AAAL Book Award, her book Second-language Discourse in the Digital World. Linguistic and social practices in and beyond the networked classroom (2016) illustrates an innovative, practice-driven approach to technology in second-language (L2) learning that begins with what L2 users do when they connect with others online. She is currently working on a new book on standards-based approach to social media in the World Languages classroom.
Professor Vandergriff also works as a translator specializing in handwritten documents.