Bio
Lindsay Preseau received her Ph.D. in German with a specialization in Germanic Linguistics from the University of California, Berkeley in 2018 and her B.A. from the University of Michigan in Linguistics. Her research lies at the intersection of sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, and language pedagogy, bringing qualitative and quantitative research on the social dimensions of language into dialogue with the ways language are taught and legislated. Her current projects focus on (1) scholarly and popular understandings of migrant language(s) and their influence on language pedagogy and policy and (2) gender-inclusive language in world language teaching.
Dr. Preseau’s 2020 monograph, “Kiezenglish: Multiethnic German and the Global English Debate,” documents the erasure of English in characterizations of migrant language in Germany, drawing on corpus linguistics and ethnographic linguistic fieldwork conducted in migrant language educational settings. Her research has been supported by the Berlin Program for Advanced German and European Studies, the U.S. Department of Education, the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service), and ISU’s CEAH (Center for Excellence in the Arts and Humanities).
In her teaching, Dr. Preseau strives to interdigitate the cultural, linguistic, and cognitive dimensions of language, bringing together the study of language as an art and as a science.
Courses Taught (Past & Present)
GER 3010: Reading
GER 3040: German for Global Professionals
GER 3200: Germany Today
GER 3700: Berlin Tech(no) Cultures Global Seminar
GER 3750: Grimms’ Tales
WLC 2030(X): The Global Professional: Building an International Career
Research Areas
Sociolinguistics, Applied Linguistics, Second Language Acquisition and Pedagogy, Language Policy and Planning, Language and Gender, Language and Migration
Selected Publications & Awards
2025. LAS International Service Award 2025.
“Divisive Concepts in the German Classroom: Supporting LGBTQ+ Students.” German as a foreign language. 2025, 1. https://shorturl.at/du8vn
2025. “Equitable Placement Assessment in Undergraduate German Programs.” Unterrichtspraxis: 58, 1. http://doi.org/10.1111/tger.12301.
2025. Center for Excellence in the Arts and Humanities Research Grant. Project Title: “Affective Polarization in Language Politics: Emotional and Aesthetic Reactions to Gender-Inclusive German”
2024. with Spino, LeAnne, and Niko Tracksdorf. “Unmaking gender binaries across the curriculum: An exploration of novice and advanced course content through student perspectives.” In: Redoing linguistic worlds: Unmaking gender binaries, remaking gender pluralities. Ed. Kris Knisely and Eric Russell. pp. 89-116. doi.org/10.21832/9781800415102-010
2024 with Shell, Scott. “The Cincinnati Runestone: Origins, Transcriptions, and Transcultural Context.” Futhark: International Journal of Runic Studies 13. pp. 115-127. https://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1847936/FULLTEXT01.pdf
2023-2024. Ty Henderson Innovation Fellow, World Languages and Cultures, Iowa State University
2023. Travel and Research Grant, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Iowa State University.
2023. “Representations of Linguistic Precarity in German Film: Discourses of Appropriateness in German Class and Welcome to Germany.” In: Representing Social Precarity: Work, Poverty, and Dispossession in German Literature and Culture. Ed. Sophia Duvernoy, Karsten Olson, Ulrich Plass. pp. 296-313.