Top 5 Lists of Online Resources
Here is where you can find some of Dr. Shapiro’s favorite online resources for engaging each of the
Four Pathways for CLA Pedagogy, as presented in Chapters 4-7 of Cultivating Critical Language Awareness in the Writing Classroom

Sociolinguistics (Chapter 4)
Language variation (in the U.S.)
- PBS’s companion website for Do You Speak American?
- The Dialect Awareness Curriculum from North Carolina State University, linked to the Language and Life Project
- The SKILLS program at UC Santa Barbara, which includes links to curricular and pedagogical resources.
- The Linguistic Atlas Project (LAP)– has links to collections of U.S. speech samples
- Lingthusiasm (podcast and blog), which has teaching resources (especially the “Language and Society” section!)
Language variation (in the U.K. and elsewhere)
- The British Library’s “Accents and Dialects“ page
- David Crystal’s homepage, which has articles and resources on language diversity (Crystal’s English as a Global Language is a text I used in my course on World Englishes, discussed in Unit 4.1)
- Encyclopedia Britannica’s Varieties of English page
- The Oxford English Dictionary blog–e.g., this entry on Canadian English
Linguistic prejudice and justice
- Rosina Lippi-Green’s book, English with an Accent, – summarized on her blog and in the book’s e-resources
- John Baugh’s work on linguistic profiling–e.g., in this TEDx talk and book chapter
- The (UK-based) Accentism Project, which includes links to Accentism in the Media and online workshop materials.
- The Black Linguistic Justice website (#blacklanguage syllabus) co-edited by April Baker-Bell and Carmen Kynard, with a number of other contributors
(A related resource is Ibram X. Kendi’s TED talk on anti-racism) - The “Vocal Fries” podcast, hosted by Carrie Gillon and Megan Figueroa
- BONUS: Missy Watson’s “Politics of Language” resource page (editable Google doc)]
Critical Academic Literacies (Chapter 5)
Academic writing as a cultural artifact
- Write like a Scientist website developed by STEM faculty at Middlebury College
- WAC Clearinghouse has links to many open access books and journals, as well as teaching resources
- Puget Sound’s Sound Writing– open access textbook for students
- The Writing & Research in the Disciplines course at University of Mississippi (“Ole Miss”)
English grammar concepts and terms
- The Guide to Grammar and Writing from the Capital Community College Foundation
- Grammar Girl’s “Quick and Dirty Tips” network
- Purdue’s Online Writing Lab (OWL)- grammar page
- The British Council’s Grammar Reference webpage, part of their “Learn English” site
- Open-access grammar textbooks–e.g., Brehe’s Grammar Anatomy and Nagelhout’s Analyzing Grammar in Context
Rhetorical grammar (analyzing grammatical choices)
- Kolln & Gray’s Rhetorical Grammar
Overview
Publisher page for 2017 edition - Micciche’s (2004) CCC article on rhetorical grammar
- Graff & Birkenstein’s They Say I Say
Intro chapter, from Graff’s webpage (2014 edition) - Shapiro’s “Educators, not Editors” handout–especially for writing tutors (includes the Grammar 101 chart of error types)
Grammar controversies!
- Rants from the grammar “pundits” such as Lynn Truss and John Humphreys,
- Responses from The Conversation and the Guardian
- Steven Fry’s Don’t Mind Your Language essay, part of which is available with a glossary for English Learners and as a kinetic typography video
- Grammarly article on court cases that hinged on interpretations of grammar in legal documents
- Boland & Queen’s (2016) study from PlosOne on relationship between grammar attitudes and personality types
- Reeves’s (2014) study of racial prejudice in response to professional and academic writing
NOTE: See the links for “linguistic profiling and prejudice” above for more examples
Promoting linguistic pluralism (in academic settings)
- The 2005 documentary Writing Across Borders, from Oregon State University
- The Valuing Written Accents project at George Mason University
- The SRTOL (Students’ Rights to Their Own Language) and Black Linguistic Justice statements from CCCC and NCTE (two professional organizations for English/writing teachers)
- TEFL Equity Advocates, an organization that works to combat native-speakerism in the field of English Language Teaching
- Language on the Move, an online, peer-reviewed journal that includes research on linguistic inclusion
- Jamila Lyiscott’s “3 Ways to Speak English”- performed piece at TED conference
Media/Discourse Analysis (Chapter 6)
- Gretchen McCullough’s website, as well as her book, Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language
- John McWhorter’s TED talk “Txtng is Killing Language. JK!!!l”
- David Crystal’s writings about “internet language”
- Pew Research Center: News Habits and Media page
- Columbia Journalism Review– has research and resources
- On the Media podcast and blog
- Mike Caulfield’s open-access textbook: Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers, which includes an overview of the SIFT method, also discussed on his blog
- The American Press Institute– resources for and about journalists
- Citizen’s Handbook entry on framing
- Online tutorial on framing analysis, from Critical Media Review
- “Victims & Villains” report on news media framing of migrants in UK
- Overview of Framing Theory, from G. Davie’s Mass Communication Theory site
- George Lakoff’s website, which includes links to blog posts and other media
- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “The Danger of a Single Story” TED talk
- Introduction to Discourse Analysis video, from former student Benedikt Schneider
- Teun A. van Dijk’s website– discourses.org
- Shapiro’s 2014 (RTE) and 2017 (JLIE) and 2019 (EEE) articles employing critical discourse analysis (CDA) and counter-storytelling in relation to refugee-background youth
Communicating Across Difference (Chapter 7)
Power of language in relationships
- Positive Psychology’s page on daily affirmations
- Celeste Headlee’s TED talk, “10 Ways to Have a Better Conversation” (and other TED talks/resources tagged under “Communication”
- Psychology Today –blog/magazine often has articles about language and communication
- Esther Perel‘s blog and podcasts (e.g., search her site for “language”)
- The Gottman Institute homepage
Dialogue across difference
Some of my favorite organizations dedicated to promoting critical and inclusive dialogue:
- Learning for Justice
- Essential Partners
- Facing History and Ourselves
- On Being’s Civil Conversations Project (the On Being podcast itself has so much to offer as well–e.g., check out their “care packages” on Dialogue, Modeled and Race & Healing
Writing-as-(Re)Design
Links will be added soon!
Do you have an online resource to suggest?
Please feel free to submit your suggestions via the contact form.
I hope to update these lists regularly!
