Michigan State University

Arts and Letters College Directory

Peter De Costa

  • Professor
  • Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures
Biography

Peter I. De Costa is a full professor in the Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures (LiLaC). . He is part of the core faculty within the Second Language Studies Ph.D. Program and the MATESOL Program. He also directs the Language Policy and Practice lab that is situated within the College of Arts & Letters.Through a joint appointment with the College of Education, Peter is also a member of the MSU Department of Teacher Education (TE):  http://education.msu.edu/search/Formview.aspx?email=pdecosta@msu.eduWithin this department, Peter is the Director of the ESL K-12 endorsement in the MATC (Master of Arts in Teaching and Curriculum) Program, the Director of the Graduate Specialization in K-12 English as a Second Language in the MATC Program, and the Director of the Graduate Certificate in English Language Learner Education in the CITE (Curriculum, Instruction and Teacher Education) Program.Before joining MSU, Peter taught at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California.  He also taught ESL at the University of Wisconsin-Madison while pursuing his doctorate. Prior to that, he was a teaching fellow at the National Institute of Education at Nanyang Technological University. He began his career as a high school English teacher in Singapore.

Peter’s primary area of research is the role of identity, ideology, and emotion in applied linguistics. He researches other applied linguistic issues, including World Englishes, CLIL and EMI education, critical classroom discourse analysis, and ethics. Much of his current work is centered on language teacher emotions.Areas of Expertise:– Second Language Acquisition– Sociolinguistics (specifically Language Policy and Planning)– Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)

To find out more about his work, go to:https://independent.academia.edu/PeterDeCostahttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Peter_De_Costahttp://orcid.org/0000-0003-0389-1163

Peter is a recipient of several awards: the Fulbright scholarship (Harvard University, 2001-2002), the M.A.K. Halliday scholarship (conferred by the Applied Linguistics Association of Australia, 2008), the American Association of Applied Linguistics Graduate Student Travel Award (2010), the University of Wisconsin-Madison Dissertator Fellowship (2010), the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Second Language SIG Dissertation of the Year Award (2012), and the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Language and Social Processes SIG Emerging Scholar Award (2016). In 2022, he was awarded the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Second Language SIG Midcareer Award.

Peter is the co-editor of TESOL Quarterly (until June 2026):

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal/15457249/homepage/editorialboard.htmlHe is the President Elect of the American Association of Applied Linguistics (AAAL):https://www.aaal.org/executive-committee

And he is an associate editor of The Modern Language Journal

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal/15404781/homepage/editorialboard.html

Peter is also an active member of the following professional organizations:– The American Association for Applied Linguistics (he is a past President of AAAL) –American Educational Research Association (AERA)–  TESOL International AssociationHe is the past (2017-2019) chair of the Second Language Research SIG of AERA.If you have questions about Peter’s research, please feel free to contact him.

Works

Books

De Costa, P. I. (2016). The power of identity and ideology in language learning: Designer immigrants learning English in Singapore. Springer.

De Costa, P. I. (Ed.) (2016). Ethics in applied linguistics research: Language researcher narratives. Routledge.

Phakiti, A., De Costa, P.I., Plonsky, L., & Starfield, S. (Eds.) (2018). The Palgrave handbook of applied linguistics research. Palgrave.

De Costa, P.I., Crowther, D., & Maloney, J. (Eds.) (2019). Investigating World Englishes: Research methodology and practical applications. Routledge.

Mirhosseini, S-A., & De Costa, P.I. (Eds.) (2020). The sociopolitics of English language testing. Bloomsbury.

Heugh, K., Stroud, C., Taylor-Leech, K., & De Costa, P.I. (Eds.) (2021). A sociolinguistics of the south. Routledge.  

De Costa, P.I., Lee, J., & Li, W. (Eds.) (2022). International students’ multilingual literacy practices: An asset-based approach to using semiotic resources. Multilingual Matters.

De Costa, P.I., & Ustuk, O. (Eds.) (2023). A sociopolitical agenda for TESOL teacher education. Bloomsbury.

De Costa, P.I., Ahmed, A., & Cinaglia, C. (Eds.) (2024). Ethical issues in applied linguistics scholarship. John Benjamins.

Mirhosseini, S-A., & De Costa, P.I. (Eds.) (2025). Critical English medium instruction in higher education. Cambridge University Press.

De Costa, P.I., & Nazari. M.  (Eds.) (2026). Emotions of TESOL teacher educators: International perspectives. Cambridge University Press.

(For journal articles and book chapters, go to: https://independent.academia.edu/PeterDeCosta)

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