Alwiya Omar

Phone:

(812) 855-3323

Email:

aomar@indiana.edu

Department:

National African Language Resource Center

Campus:

IU Bloomington

Professor Omar is the Director of the National African Languages Resource Center (NALRC). She is a clinical professor of Linguistics at Indiana University, Bloomington. She teaches Kiswahili and coordinates the teaching of other African languages in the African Studies Program. Her research interests include second language acquisition, cross-cultural pragmatics, web-based language instruction, and study-abroad language programs. She directed the Kiswahili Flagship program from 2010 to 2015, the STARTALK summer Kiswahili program for middle and high school students from 2010 to 2016, and again in 2019. She collaborated with the State University of Zanzibar to develop a Kiswahili graduate curriculum, and she also taught and supervised MA and Ph.D. students in Kiswahili Pragmatics, Sociolinguistics, and Language Teaching Methodology.

Professor Omar received her Ph.D. in Second Language Acquisition from Indiana University. She was president of the National Council of Organizations of Less Commonly Taught Languages (NCOLCTL) from 2012 to 2014, and president of the African Language Teachers Association (ALTA) from 2004 to 2006. In 2018, She was awarded the A. Ronald Walton Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages for service and contributions in fostering less commonly taught language initiatives.

Professor Omar is familiar with the NALRC’s activities, having collaborated with the Center for years on material development and having co-led the Center’s Summer Language Institute with the former NALRC founding director. She brings to the Center rich experience in programming and projects for advancing African language instruction, in addition to strong leadership in the field.