About

Grant Goodall is Professor of Linguistics at the University of California San Diego, where he also directs the Experimental Syntax Lab and the Linguistics Language Program. He is the author of many books and articles on syntax (the human ability to combine words into sentences) and on the development of syntax as children and adults acquire a new language. He conducts research on a variety of languages and is one of the authors of Conéctate, a widely-used textbook for learning Spanish.

A native of California, Grant Goodall was educated in both the U.S. and Mexico and has spent much of his life on the border between the two. He has taught or lectured in over 20 countries. In addition to English and Spanish, he has spoken Esperanto since early adolescence and is now a member of the Akademio de Esperanto.

Full CV

He was educated at:

• Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

• UCLA (B.A. in Linguistics)

• MIT

• UC San Diego (Ph.D. in Linguistics)

As an undergraduate, he studied syntax with Robert Stockwell, Susan Plann, and Joseph Emonds. As a graduate student, he studied syntax with David Perlmutter, Sandra Chung, S.-Y. Kuroda, Jim McCloskey, Edward Klima, Noam Chomsky, and Luigi Rizzi.

His dissertation committee consisted of:

• Sandra Chung (co-chair)

• S.-Y. Kuroda (co-chair)

• Stephen R. Anderson

• Zeno Vendler

• Walter Savitch

Prior to joining UC San Diego, Grant Goodall worked for many years at the University of Texas at El Paso. He has also held visiting appointments at Université de Genève (Switzerland), Universidad Nacional del Comahue (Argentina), and Brigham Young University.

Media appearances

Grant Goodall is frequently interviewed on invented languages, second language learning, and other topics. Here are some samples:

• CNN: How to learn a language online (2009)

• CNN: From brain to language to accent (2010)

• KPBS: UCSD grad creates language for HBO's 'Game of Thrones' (2013)

• NBC News: Why Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg spent years learning Mandarin Chinese (2014)

• San Diego Union-Tribune: SD learning program eases English lessons for Somalis (2016)