Cynthia Levart Zocca

Curriculum Vitae

full CV pdf - March 2010            non-academic resume pdf - April 2009

Personal Information

• E-mail - cynth  cynthax.net
• Web Page - www.cynthax.net
• Languages - Portuguese (native); English (near native); Spanish (fluent); French, German (intermediate); Italian (fluent reading)


Career Interests

• Research and teaching of Linguistics to non-linguists, especially language teachers;
• Scholarship of teaching and learning;
• Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages;
• Faculty development.


Educational History

Graduate

• PhD in Linguistics in progress, University of Connecticut, USA: - major advisor - Prof. Željko Bošković –   defense scheduled for April 22, 2010;
• Certificate in College Teaching, University of Connecticut, March 2010;
• MA in Linguistics, University of Connecticut, USA: - granted in March 2007.
• MA in Linguistics, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil: - major advisor – Prof. Jairo Nunes; - granted in January 2003; - thesis – O Que Não Está Lá? Morfologia Flexional em Elipses (What is not there? Inflectional Morphology in Ellipsis)

Undergraduate

• BA in English and Portuguese, Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Brazil: - concluded in December, 1997. - some courses: British, American, Portuguese, and Brazilian Literature, General Linguistics, Phonology, Morphology, Syntax, Semantics, and Discourse Analysis in Portuguese and English.
• Teaching Certificate in English and Portuguese, USP, Brazil; - concluded in December, 1998; - some courses: legislation, methodology, practice in teaching English as a Foreign Language and Portuguese. Other relevant courses and certificates
• Royal Society of Arts Certificate for Overseas Teachers of English (RSA - COTE), currently named In-Service Certificate for English Language Teachers – (ICELT): - University of Cambridge, UK; - obtained in August, 1996; - theory and practice of teaching English as a Foreign Language.
• Certificate in Advanced Educational Studies: - Chichester Institute of Higher Education, University of Southampton, UK; - obtained in June, 1998; - specific area: materials design.

Scholarships, Fellowships, and Awards

• University of Connecticut Graduate School Outstanding Scholar Program Fellowship, 2003-2006;
• David Michaels Teaching Assistant Award, Department of Linguistics, University of Connecticut, 2004;
• FAPESP - Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (Foundation for the Support of Research of the State of São Paulo) – one-year scholarship and stipend, 2001-2002.


Work Experience

Center for Teaching Excellence, Cornell University

. lecturer in the International Teaching Assistant Program, 2009-present

Institute for Teaching and Learning, University of Connecticut

. Writing Center tutor, 2006-2009
. instructor of Oral Communication course for international Teaching Assistants, Fall 2006
. Mentor TA in International Teaching Assistant orientations, 2004-2009

Department of Linguistics, University of Connecticut

• instructor of record (full responsibility) – Linguistics 2010Q, Summer 2008
• instructor of record (full responsibility) – Linguistics 202, Spring 2008
• teaching workshop for department orientation, Fall 2007 and 2008
• created the first mentoring program for incoming students, Fall 2007
• instructor of record (full responsibility) - Linguistics 110Q, Fall 2007
• discussion section leader for Linguistics 101: - Fall 2003 to Spring 2007; - conducted 50-minute sessions once a week; - developed activities and handouts; - created quizzes and exam questions.
• research assistant to Prof. Jonathan Bobaljik, 2006
• research assistant to Prof. Željko Bošković, 2005 English Department, University of Connecticut
• Writing Center tutor - Fall 2006, Spring 2007, Fall 2008; - tutored graduate and undergraduate students of all departments; - developed resources for assisting ESL writers. Institute for Teaching and Learning, University of Connecticut
• instructor of Oral Communication course: - Fall 2006; - taught international teaching assistants who needed English oral practice; - prepared students for meeting the university English requirements.
• mentor TA in international TA orientations: - Fall 2004 to Fall 2008; - participated in panel discussions for new international teaching assistants. University of Connecticut American English Language Institute
• ESL instructor for adults in the Intensive English Program: - Fall 2004 to Summer 2008; - courses in Listening, Speaking, Grammar, and TOEFL.
• instructor in the evening Pronunciation course, Fall 2004, Spring 2005, Spring 2008
• ESL instructor for teenagers in the High School Summer Intensive Program: - Summer 2006; - taught students from Turkey on an exchange program in the US; - courses: pronunciation, culture, grammar, conversation, writing, listening, reading.

Seven English & Espanol, São Paulo, Brazil

• tutor for the Cambridge In-service Certificate for English Language Teachers: - 2003 to 2007; - led sessions on grammar, language acquisition, reading, and methodology; - tutored candidates and graded papers.
• workshop leader, mainly in the areas of grammar and pronunciation, from 1996 to 2007;
• teacher trainer and educator: - 2001 to 2003; - prepared and led sessions on language and methodology for incoming teachers; - tutored lesson planning; - observed lessons and led debriefing sessions.
• English as a Foreign Language teacher: - 1994 to 2003; - taught teenagers ages 10-17 in-house and in their regular schools; - taught adults in-house and in-company.

Cambridge University Press, São Paulo office, Brazil

• freelance reviewer - took part in the Latin American reviewing of the Interchange Teacher’s Resource Book, levels 1 and 2 (2003), under the supervision of Carlos Barbisan
Editora Martins Fontes, São Paulo, Brazil
• free-lance technical reviewer of the Brazilian translation of The Language Instinct, by Steven Pinker (2001)

Universidade São Judas Tadeu, São Paulo, Brazil

• English Phonetics and Phonology instructor - taught the Phonetics and Phonology module of a post-graduate course for English teachers (2000 and 2001) Escola Palavra Escrita, São Paulo, Brazil
• pronunciation teacher, 2000 Universidade Camillo Castelo Branco, São Paulo, Brazil
• Linguistics lecturer in the undergraduate course for English teaching majors (2001)

Universidade de São Paulo, English on Campus Project, São Paulo, Brazil

• English as a Foreign Language Teacher - taught adults from the university community (1996 to 1998)


Presentations and panels

2008

• Member of the panel discussion ‘Science and Faith: an interdisciplinary matter’ at the Naugatuck Valley Community College, Waterbury, Connecticut
• “Like French or Chinese? Optional Wh-movement in Brazilian Portuguese” – talk at the Linguistic Society of America (LSA) 2008 Annual Meeting, Chicago
• “Gender and Markedness” – talk at the Berkeley Linguistic Society (BLS) 34th Meeting, Berkeley University
• “Knowing a Language Doesn’t Make You a Linguist!” – poster at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Meeting, Boston
• “Three Types of Gender Markedness in Predicative Nouns” – talk at the Penn Linguistics Colloquium (PLC), February 2008, UPenn
• “Ellipsis and Markedness – talk at the Markedness and Underspecification in the Morphology and Semantics of Agreement Workshop (MUMSA), Harvard University

2007

• “The Question Operator in Brazilian Portuguese” – talk at the Graduate Portuguese and Hispanic Linguistics Symposium (GRAPHSY), Georgetown University.
• “The Scientific Method and Why it Matters for the Classroom” – talk given by invitation at the Festival do Idioma Vivo (‘Living Language Festival’) at Seven English & Espanol, São Paulo, Brazil

2006

• “Even, Glad, and Any” – talk at the New England Workshop in Semantics (SNEWS), Yale University.

2004

• “A Morfologia Distribuida nas Elipses”- talk given by invitation at Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Distributed Morphology in Ellipsis.
• “Remember to Come to This Talk” – talk given by invitation at the Festival do Idioma Vivo (‘Living Language Festival’) at Seven English & Espanol, São Paulo, Brazil, on the difference between verbs followed by gerunds or infinitives in English.

2002

• “A Morfologia Distribuída no Minimalismo: identidade em anáforas superficiais.” 50o. Seminário do GEL (Grupo de Estudos Linguisticos), Sao Paulo, Brazil.
• “Syntactic Puzzles - Come Play With Grammar.” 8th BRAZ-TESOL (Brazilian Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) Conference, Florianopolis, Brazil.
• “Elipses no Minimalismo.” Workshop Pesquisas em Morfossintaxe: Perspectivas Históricas e Minimalistas, Campinas, Brazil.
• “A questão da identidade em elipses.” 5o. Encontro do Círculo de Estudos Lingüísticos do Sul. Curitiba, Brazil.

2001

• “O que não está lá - um estudo sobre morfologia flexional em elipses.” 49o. Seminário do GEL, Marilia, Brazil.
• “O que não está lá - morfologia flexional em elipses.” VII Seminário de Teses em Andamento, Campinas, Brazil.
• “Agree and Ellipsis.” I Workshop on Ellipsis and Empty Categories. Campinas, 2001.

2000

• “Grammar - How Far Should We Go?” 7th BRAZ-TESOL National Convention, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

1999

• “Getting It Right From the Start: pronunciation for beginners.” 6th LAURELS (Latin American Union of Registered English Language Schools) International Conference, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
• “Pronunciation for Beginners.” BRAZ-TESOL Pronunciation Special Interest Group One-Day Event, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

1998

• “The Role of Less Controlled Practice in Getting Teenage Learners to Talk” – talk at the First LAURELS Teacher Trainers' Conference, Maceió, Brazil.
• Panel member of the BRAZ-TESOL Pronunciation Special Interest Group panel at the BRAZ-TESOL Annual Convention, Recife, Brazil.

1997

• ”Why Wait?” 5th LAURELS International Conference on Education and Management, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
• “The Importance of Teaching Pronunciation from the Very Beginning.” I EAGILE (Encontro de Alunos de Graduação em Língua Inglesa), University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.


Publications

• forthcoming, with Jonathan Bobaljik – “Gender Markedness – The Anatomy of a Counter-Example”, draft at http://ling.auf.net/lingBuzz/000732
• with Jairo Nunes - “Morphological Identity in Ellipsis”, in Leiden Working Papers in Linguistics, v.2, n.2, 29-42, 2005;
• “O Que Não Está Lá - Morfologia Flexional em Elipses.” Estudos Lingüísticos, São Paulo, SP, v. XXXI, 2001.
• with Camilla Lieff, Marcello Marcelino, Silvia Correa, Zaina Nunes, and Elizabeth Pow. “BRAZ-TESOL Pronunciation SIG Annotated Bibliography.” BRAZ TESOL Newsletter, São Paulo, SP, v. 4/2001, p. 18-19, 2001.
• “The Role of Less Controlled Practice in Getting our Teenage Students to Talk.” Laurels News, Goiânia, GO, v. 20, p. 7-7, 1999.


Professional Organizations Memberships

• AAAS – American Association for the Advancement of Science;
• MLA – Modern Language Association;
• LSA – Linguistic Society of America;
• POD – Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education;
• Linguistics Club at the University of Connecticut.


Other Relevant Activities

• reviewer for the UConn Working Papers in Linguistics upcoming volume;
• graduate representative of the Linguistics students, 2006-2007;
• head of the Colloquium Committee, Dep. of Linguistics, UConn, 2005-2006;
• president of the Linguistics Club, UConn, 2004-2005;
• part of the NELS 35 organizing committee, 2004;
• member of the research group “Pesquisas em Sintaxe Minimalista”, supervised by Jairo Nunes, 2001-2003.
• central committee member of the BRAZ-TESOL Pronunciation SIG (Special Interest Group), 1997 to 2001.


November 2008.