Sean Allison, PhD

Sessional Associate Professor of Linguistics & World Languages; Co-chair of Department of Linguistics & World Languages; Coordinator, French Minor
"Life is like a box of chocolates," Forrest Gump tells us, "you never know what you're gonna get." I'm grateful for the chance to teach at TWU to give students the opportunity to broaden their view of the world from a Christian perspective and provide them with opportunities to experience life unexpected.

Dr. Sean Allison and his wife Lezlie, who also teaches at TWU, live in Abbotsford. They work with Wycliffe Bible Translators and have been involved in a Bible translation project in West Africa since 1998. Sean also serves as a linguistics consultant for translation projects in French-speaking Africa. He has taught French at TWU since 2015 and has served as the French Program coordinator since 2020. As well, he is the co-chair of the Linguistics and World Languages department. Sean was honored to receive the Davis Distinguished Teaching Award for the academic year 2023-24. He thoroughly enjoys teaching at TWU, and loves to see students thrive in their educational experiences.

  • Completion of PhD in Linguistics at the University of Colorado at Boulder; 2007-2012. Dissertation title: Aspects of a Grammar of Makary Kotoko (Chadic, Cameroon)
  • Completion of DEA (Diplôme d’Etudes Approfondies - indepth studies diploma) in Linguistics, Université Marc Bloch, Strasbourg, France; 1996-1997. Thesis title: Une étude comparative du [ɹ] anglo-américain et du [ʀ] français dans les positions post-pausales accentuées : Vers une phonétique acoustique corrective
  • Completion of Maîtrise (“Masters”) in Linguistics, Université Marc Bloch, Strasbourg, France; 1992-1993
  • Completion of Licence (“Bachelor’s degree”) in Linguistics, Université Marc Bloch, Strasbourg, France; 1991-1992
  • Completion of DEUG (Diplôme d’Etudes Universitaires Générales - general university studies diploma) in Linguistics, Université Marc Bloch, Strasbourg, France; 1989-1991
  • Completion of the Certificat Pratique de Langue Française (Practical Certificate of the French Language) and the Diplôme d’Etudes Françaises (French Studies Diploma), Institut International d’Etudes Françaises, Strasbourg, France; 1988-1989

Expertise

French, French Linguistics, Functional/Typological Linguistics, Morpho-syntax, Discourse analysis, Chadic languages, Syntactic theories

Selected bibliography:

  • Coauthored with Lezlie Allison. Healthy Local Churches through Bible Translation. Ecclesia 2. https://northviewinstitute.org/healthy-local-ch... (2023)
  • The notion of ‘word’ in Makary Kotoko. In Alexandra Aikhenvald & R.M.W. Dixon & Nathan White (eds.), Phonological word and grammatical word: A cross-linguistic typology. Oxford University Press: Oxford. pp. 260-284. (2020)
  •  Allison, Sean & Henry Tourneux & Adam Mahamat. Bibliographie Kotoko – Kotoko Bibliography. Online manuscript available at kotokoresources.net. (2020)
  • A Grammar of Makary Kotoko (Grammars and Sketches of the World’s Languages, Volume 12). Brill: Leiden. (2020)
  • Conditional constructions in Makary Kotoko. Studies in African Linguistics 46. 33-49. (2017)
  • Borrowings but no diffusion: A case of language contact in the Lake Chad basin. Journal of Language Contact 10. 395-421. (2017)
  • Aspects of a Grammar of Makary Kotoko (Chadic, Cameroon). Boulder, CO: University of Colorado at Boulder PhD dissertation. 606pp. (2012)
  • Linguistic Evidence for the Islamization of the Makary Kotoko by the Kanuri. in H. Tourneux, Ed. Topics In Chadic Linguistics III. Historical Studies. Papers from the 3rd Biennial International Colloquium on the Chadic Languages, Villejuif, November 24-25, 2005. 2007, Rüdiger Köppe: Köln. Coll. Chadic Linguistics, Vol. 4, p. 9-25. (2007)
  • Alphabet et orthographe de kotoko de Makari (mpadə) (Makary Kotoko Orthography Statement). SIL ms. 31pp. (2006)
  • Livret d’introduction à l’orthographe de la langue kotoko parlée aux alentours de la ville de Makari (mpadə) (Makary Kotoko Transition Primer). SIL ms. 70pp. (2006)

Awards & Honors

  • Trinity Western University’s Davis Distinguished Teaching award, ‘conferred upon an undergraduate faculty member who has demonstrated a high level of excellence in the craft of teaching and has made a significant contribution to the pedagogical life of the University’ (2023-2024)
  • Graduate Part-time Instructor Teaching Excellence award, Graduate school of the University of Colorado at Boulder (Spring 2011)

Affiliations & Memberships

  • Member of Wycliffe Bible Translators since 1995
  • Member of SIL (formerly Summer Institute of Linguistics) since 1995
  • Member of SIL Cameroon branch since 1997

  • FREN 101/102 Introduction to French
  • FREN 111/112 Intermediate French
  • FREN 305/306 Langue écrite et orale
  • FREN 360 Grammaire française avancée
  • FREN 380 Phonétique et prononciation