Malcolm A. Finney
- Professor & Chair
- California State University, Long Beach
- 562-985-7425
- mfinney@cs ulb.edu
Website
- Malcolm A. Finney (csulb.edu)
About me
Areas of Specialty (Teaching and Scholarship): First and Second Language acquisition, bilingualism/multilingualism, and implications for language instruction. I am particularly interested in exploring factors (including age, linguistic, socio-cultural, and psychological) responsible for difficulty that language learners (children and adults) experience in the development and use of oral language and literacy skills in a second language. Another line of research focuses on origins and properties of Creole languages, including Krio, my native language. I am interested in the extent to which the linguistic properties of Creole languages (and by extension, African American English) have been influenced by the linguistic properties of West African languages (Some of the earliest speakers of Creole languages were from West Africa).
My involvement in the local and university communities is to help create an awareness of linguistic problems faced by members of the communities and to try to help alleviate the problem. I am happy to offer my expertise and time to address the language and literacy needs of members of our communities, particularly the children and youth, as I believe that a solid education is the key to a successful life in our community.
Recent publications (3 of 9 publications)
Finney, Malcolm. 2008. Intercultural Miscommunication: Effects of Cultural Backgrounds on the Employment of Effective Communication Skills in English as a Second Language. Presented at California Federation of Interpreters Conference, 12 October, in Anaheim.
Finney, Malcolm, James Till and Naoko Tamura. 2007. Effects of Competence, Exposure, and Linguistic Backgrounds on Accurate Production of English Pure Vowels by Native Japanese and Mandarin Speakers. Presented at American Association for Applied Linguistics, 21-24 April, in Costa Mesa.
Finney, Malcolm. 2007. Creoles as Mediums of Instruction: A Realistic or an Idealistic Notion? Presented at Annual Conference of the Society for Pidgin and Creole Linguistics, 5-7 January, in Anaheim.
Similar faculty on Fresca
Publications
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Finney, Malcolm. 2008. Intercultural Miscommunication: Effects of Cultural Backgrounds on the Employment of Effective Communication Skills in English as a Second Language. Presented at California Federation of Interpreters Conference, 12 October, in Anaheim.
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Finney, Malcolm, James Till and Naoko Tamura. 2007. Effects of Competence, Exposure, and Linguistic Backgrounds on Accurate Production of English Pure Vowels by Native Japanese and Mandarin Speakers. Presented at American Association for Applied Linguistics, 21-24 April, in Costa Mesa.
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Finney, Malcolm. 2007. Creoles as Mediums of Instruction: A Realistic or an Idealistic Notion? Presented at Annual Conference of the Society for Pidgin and Creole Linguistics, 5-7 January, in Anaheim.
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Finney, M. 2007. Universal and Substrate Influence on the Phonotactics and Syllable Structure of Krio. In Synchronic and Diachronic Perspectives on Contact Languages, edited by M. Huber and V. Velupillai . John Benjamins Publishing Company.
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Finney, M. 2005. Perception of Errors in Second Language Syntax: Acquisition or Processing Difficulties? In Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Bilingualism, Arizona State University, edited by J. Cohen, 751-767. Tempe: Arizona State University.
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Finney, M. 2004. Tone assignment on Lexical Items of English and African Origin in Krio. In Creoles, Contact and Language Change: Linguistics and Social Implications , edited by G. Escure and A. Schwegler . John Benjamins Publishing Company.
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Finney, Malcolm. 2003. Effects of Linguistic and Cultural Background and Competence Level in Choice of Communication Strategies in English as a Second Language. Presented at 8th International Pragmatics Conference, July, in Toronto.
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Finney, M. 2003. Substratal Influence on the Morphosyntactic Properties of Krio. Linguistic Discovery 2.
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Finney, M. 2002. Effects of Spanish Pragmatic and Lexical Constraints in the Interpretation of L2 English Anaphora. Pragmatics 12.
Educational Background
1994 – Ph.D., University of Ottawa (Linguistics)
1988 – M.A., University of Ottawa (Linguistics)
1984 – BA (Honors), University of Sierra Leone (English Language & Literature)
Positions & Honors
2006 – Collaborative Proposal Award to develop an Undergraduate Teaching and Research Seminar entitled: “The Multidimensional Africana Male: Issues of Retention, Recruitment, and Self-Representation in the Culture and Language of College”, College of Liberal Arts, CSU Long Beach
2006 – Faculty Community Service Award , CSU Long Beach
2005 – Spirit of Service Award, Center for Community Engagement-CSULB (Valuable contributions to Long Beach community through commitment to community life and generosity of spirit)
2003-2010 – Faculty Fellow, Curriculum Development & Community Based Research, Center for Community Engagement, CSULB
2003 – Member, Family Learning Center Committee, Long Beach Public Libraries
2003 – Associate to Advisory Board , Long Beach Public Library Foundation
2002 – Outstanding Service Learning Faculty Member , Center for Community Engagement-CCE (Certificate of Appreciation)