32.3972, All: Vivian Cook (1940-2021)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-32-3972. Wed Dec 15 2021. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 32.3972, All: Vivian Cook (1940-2021)

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Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2021 21:43:35
From: Bene Bassetti [b.bassetti at bham.ac.uk]
Subject: Vivian Cook (1940-2021)

 
We have sadly lost a leading figure in applied linguistics: Vivian J. Cook,
Emeritus Professor of Applied Linguistics at Newcastle University. Vivian will
be known to most scholars in the field for his work on second language
acquisition, particularly the concept of multi-competence. A prolific and
influential author, Vivian was a theoriser and a popular writer. Anyone who
met him will remember him as a brilliant mind and an extremely generous
person.

His main contribution has been linguistic multi-competence. First proposed in
1991, this  approach to second language acquisition developed over the years.
Vivian defined it as ‘the overall system of a mind or a community that uses
more than one language” in the 2016 Cambridge Handbook of Linguistic
Multi-competence. Multi-competence posits that the mind of an L2 user (or
community) contains a system composed of all their languages. This affects the
whole mind, including non-linguistic cognition, hence the multi-competent L2
user is qualitatively different from a monolingual. The approach has been very
influential in L2 research and beyond.

After being Lecturer in English as a Foreign Language at Ealing Technical
College and Director of the Language Service at North East London Polytechnic,
Vivian became Lecturer in Applied Linguistics at the University of Essex in
1978, and Professor at Newcastle University in 2004.

He started his prolific career as an author in 1968, and since published more
than a hundred articles and chapters, and over twenty authored or (co-)edited
volumes, many of which were translated and published in Europe and the Far
East. His wide-ranging interests included not only second language learning
and teaching, but also first language acquisition, linguistics, EFL, writing
systems and bilingual cognition. He kept writing to the very last, and his
latest book The Language of the English Street Sign will appear in January
2022.

Thanks to his open-mindedness, Vivian was always ahead of his time. In the
absence of a Europe-wide professional association, in 1989 he founded EUROSLA
(European Second Language Association), and was its first President and later
Distinguished Scholar (2014). Noticing the absence of a dedicated publication,
in 2009 he co-founded the journal Writing Systems Research. Over the years, he
brought together researchers in edited volumes on novel topics, ranging from
the effects of the L2 on the L1 to linguistic relativity in L2 users. Ignoring
disciplinary and geographical boundaries, he collaborated with linguists,
educationalists and psychologists, and always insisted on involving
researchers from all over the world. He wanted to bridge L2 research and
language teaching practice, and wrote and presented extensively on the roles
of the L1 in the L2 classroom, of the non-native teacher, of written language,
among other topics.

Vivian had a knack for making linguistics accessible, both to students and
beyond academia. He introduced many students to Chomsky’s theories with the
successful “Chomsky's Universal Grammar: An Introduction” of 1988. His
multi-competence-inspired textbook Second Language Learning and Language
Teaching is now in its fifth edition. He enjoyed writing popular books on
linguistics, including vocabulary and spelling (Accomodating Brocolli in the
Cemetary: Or, Why can’t Anybody Spell?), delighting his readers with his
friendliness and British humour. He was a very popular speaker, who gave many
talks worldwide.

He was an inspiring and caring teacher and supervisor. The doors of his home
were always open to his postgraduate students, and former students of his can
be found in universities around the world. 

Vivian will be sorely missed. His dedication to applied linguistics will
remain an inspiration for us, and we will forever miss his lively mind and his
generosity.

Vivian’s website: www.viviancook.uk
Memorial website (to go live soon): viviancook.memorial
 


Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics



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