1952
Born in Madrid, Spain, to parents Edward and Andree.
1975
Earns a Bachelor of Arts in French and literature at University College London.
1975
Serves as director at the Algerian Petroleum Institute until 1976.
1976
Teaches English as a second language at the Regent School of English in London.
1978
Is a teaching assistant for ESL and applied linguistics at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) until 1979.
1979
Earns a Master of Arts in ESL studies at UCLA.
1980
Is an academic coordinator at Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana until 1981.
1981
Is an assistant professor at Khartoum Polytechnic and a key English language teaching officer for the British Council of Sudan until 1983.
1988
Earns a PhD in applied linguistics at UCLA; Is director of ESL courses at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) until 1998.
1995
Serves as an associate professor of linguistics at UIUC until 2015.
1997
Authors “Managing Curricular Innovation.”
1998
Is director of the Language Learning Laboratory at UIUC until 2003.
2000
Is the director of the division of English as an international language at UIUC until 2005; Authors “Conversion Analysis.”
2005
Marries Susan Gomzo.
2007
Serves as an English Language Specialist at the U.S. Department of State until 2016.
2013
Co-directs the Discourse, Social Interaction and Translation Laboratory at UIUC until 2015.
2014
Receives an INSPIRE Grant to visit Stockholm University.
2015
Earns the title of emeritus associate professor of linguistics at UIUC; Edits “Handbook of Classroom Discourse and Interaction.”
2018
Co-edits “Conversation Analysis and Language Alternation.”
2021
Co-edits “Conversation Analytic Research on the Classroom: Theory and Practice.”