Memories - J Malone

Maryland English Institute Director reflects

As I've been reflecting on my years working under and with Steve, here are the two primary memories I have of him:

(1) As a teacher, Steve was incredibly unique. Rather than direct and explicit teaching, Steve built up the story surrounding the issue (usually related to language assessment and/or analytical methodology) by slowly connecting some of the dots, but then expecting the students to fill the others in. While this was sometimes frustrating, it was also extremely helpful for me in learning how to think carefully in applying the issues to a particular problem. Steve's expertise and understanding of the fraught issues surrounding subjective human ratings, along with specific methods for accounting for them, revealed his passion for fairness and equity in language assessment. In many ways, I think Steve was a researcher in human psychology, masquerading as a language assessment and analysis expert in SLA. I learned so much from his teaching.

(2) As an advisor, Steve's office furniture reflected the psychological nature of working with him. The extreme recline of the chairs in his office made it feel like we were in a psychiatrist's office at times, and the lime green walls did little to change that perception. His very subtle humor and manner could be discombobulating, but was also genuinely reflective of him. While Steve was intensely private in his personal life (in contrast to others in the department), one always got the sense that one had his full attention when in his office. I appreciated the way he would continue to think about the issues surrounding my projects, often sending an idea for an analytical tool or a weird semi-obselete program for running an analysis. He enjoyed thinking outside the traditional SLA box, and I think that served him well in training students.

Since Steve was so understated, it would be easy to overlook his accomplishments and contributions to UMD. I think we should celebrate him instead.

Jon Malone, Interim Director, Maryland English Institute