Wilga Rivers

Wilga Marie Rivers (13 April 1919 – 23 June 2007) was an Australian linguist and Professor of Romance Languages. While she taught at both the secondary-education and college level throughout her life, she spent the majority of her career on the faculty of Harvard University.[1] There, she served as a Professor of Romance Languages and Coordinator of Language Instruction in Romance Languages, fulfilling these roles until her eventual retirement in 1989.[1]

Rivers was best known for her work in the field of foreign language acquisition and foreign language pedagogy, promoting and popularizing a number of methods used in modern language teaching. In opposition to the popular audiolingualism in her contemporary era, Rivers advocated for a shift towards an interactive and communication-based method of language teaching. She also promoted the use of technology and integration of psychology in language teaching, stances that were not wide spread at the time.[2]

  1. ^ a b Kramsch, Claire J. (1989). "People: Wilga M. Rivers on Her Retirement". The Modern Language Journal. 73 (1): 53–57. doi:10.2307/327268. ISSN 0026-7902. JSTOR 327268.
  2. ^ "Wilga Marie Rivers". Harvard Gazette. 20 November 2008. Retrieved 21 April 2021.