Dr. Antoinette A. Barffour

Biography

Native of Ghana, Dr. Antoinette Barffour is an Associate Professor of French and applied Linguistics, Pro-active Advisor for first Generation and International students and education abroad program director for French -speaking countries and Ghana. Prior to joining the LCR department at MSU, she worked as a lecturer of French language and francophone cultures at Washington University in St Louis, and as an associate instructor at Indiana University. Her courses are designed to help student appreciate the diversity and uniqueness of different cultures especially those of the “French-speaking” world.

Antoinette Barffour’s research and scholarship broadly focus on second and foreign language pedagogy ; language contact and outcomes including lexical borrowing, code-switching, bi/multilingualism, language attitudes and ideologies. With her background in political science, her work also examines how sociopolitical and historical processes impact colonial languages use, indigenous African languages development, acquisition, use, shift and endangerment.

Details

Education

• PhD, Romance Languages, French/Applied Linguistics Track, the University of Alabama, 2016
• MA, French Linguistics, Indiana University Bloomington, 2012
• MA, International Affairs and Administration, Missouri State University, 2010
• Master Lettres: Sciences du Langage, Université de Strasbourg, 2008

Teaching

• FRN 311 French Conversation
• FRN 316 French for the Professions
• FRN 324 Introduction to French and Francophone linguistics
• IDS 297/397 Interdisciplinary Studies Course - International Culture and Study Abroad
• FRN 414 Le français Vivant
• FRN 495 Advanced Undergraduate French
• FRN 510/610 Advanced Translation
• FRN 524/624 Advanced Topics in Francophone Linguistics
• FRN 590/690 Advanced French Grammar
• MCL695 Principles of Second language acquisition
• MCL 724 Seminar in Linguistics for foreign languages
• FRN 725 Seminar in Francophone Literature and Culture (Francophone Africa and Diaspora focus)

Professional experience

• Assistant Professor of francophone Linguistics, Missouri State University, 2017-present
• Lecturer of French, Washington University – St Louis, 2016-2017
• Graduate Teaching/Research Assistant Mentor, Missouri State University, 2019-present
• Faculty-Led Educational abroad program director, French-speaking countries, and Ghana, 2019-present
• Pi Delta Phi (French Honor Society) Faculty Advisor, Missouri State University, 2017-present
• LCR Proactive Advisor, Missouri State University, 2020 to present
• Associate Instructor, Indiana University Bloomington, 2010-2012
• Instructor of French and Study Away Public Relations’ Coordinator, Indiana University Honors Program for Foreign Languages (IUHPFL) – France, 2011-2012

Professional affiliations

• National French Honor Society (Pi Delta Phi), North Vice President, 2022-2027
• American Association of Teachers of French (AATF)
• American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL)
• National Academic Advising Association (NACADA)

Selected peer-reviewed publications

• Barffour, A. (2021). English Borrowings in French Print Media: Attitudes And Perceptions of Native Speakers of French from France. The International Journal of the Linguistic Association of the Southwest, 35 (1), 113-139. 
• Essien, H. & Barffour, A. (2021). Using Bilingual Thematic Dictionaries in African Language Pedagogy. The Journal of the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages, Vol 30, 102-135. 
• Barffour, A. (2020). L’analyse Linguistique du lapsus: Les Aspects phonétiques et Phonologiques. Akofena: Revue Scientifique des Sciences du Langage, Lettres, Langues & Communication, 002 (1), 381-398. 
• Barffour, A. (2020). Frequency and Nature of Anglicisms in Written French Advertisements: A Review of Ads in French Journals. International Journal of Humanities and Cultural Studies, 7(1), 1-13. 
• Barffour, A., & Picone, M.D. (2019). Anglicisms in Written French Mass Media: Frequency, Nature and Impact on the French Lexicon. Southern Journal of Linguistics, 43 (1), 1-24. 

Research and professional interests

• Sociolinguistics and language contact
• L2 French pedagogy
• Applied linguistics
• Language politics
• African linguistics (Twi/Akan)

Awards and honors