Becker Essay Award
The opening date of the application window for submissions to the 2026 Becker Essay Award will be announced shortly. Please refer to the criteria and instructions below.
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This undergraduate essay award commemorates Yvonne Becker and highlights her invaluable contribution to the Department. The award fund totals $500. During the annual Becker Colloquium, the certificate(s) of achievement will be presented. An invite to a meal with the colloquium speaker and Linguistics faculty will also be offered.
Meet the past winners
Get inspired by reading these winning essays! Also included with each of the releases is an interview with the winner, in which they share what motivated them to submit, the guidance and encouragement that they received from their nominating instructor, and what sparked the main idea that underlies their essay.
2025
Elizabeth Alvarez Alfaro (co-winner)
Finding The Odd One Out: Exploring the Development of Rhyme Acquisition in Preschool Years: Interpretation Guide
Carley Carder (co-winner)
The Role of Self-Monitoring and Repair in AAC Communication for Children with Autism: A Literature Review
2024
Kayla Koch
Reading Across Writing Systems: The System Accommodation Hypothesis in Cross-Linguistic Visual Word Recognition
2023
Rebekah Wong
Manifesting Politeness in Children Cross-Culturally
Eligibility criteria
- The essay must be submitted by an undergraduate student in good standing.
- The student must be actively enrolled in one of the following programs: a Linguistics program (including major, joint major, or extended minor), an Indigenous Languages program, the Linguistics discipline within the Cognitive Science program, the Certificate in the Linguistics of Speech Science, the Certificate in Teaching ESL Linguistics, or a Post-Baccalaureate Diploma program that includes a Linguistics course.
- The essay should be between 3,500 and 7,500 words.
- The essay must be supported by an instructor's nomination (download form below).
- If the essay is a result of coursework, the essay should be supported with a nomination from the instructor who taught the course.
- If the essay is independently composed, please seek a nomination from one of your previous instructors from the following programs: a Linguistics program (including major, joint major, or extended minor), an Indigenous Languages program, the Linguistics discipline within the Cognitive Science program, the Certificate in the Linguistics of Speech Science, the Certificate in Teaching ESL Linguistics, or a Post-Baccalaureate Diploma program that includes a Linguistics course.
Selection criteria
- Originality of ideas;
- Understanding of linguistic concepts;
- Clarity of expression.
Submission instructions
Please submit your essay as a Word file via email to lingchr@sfu.ca and lingasst@sfu.ca and include the completed Nomination Form (download below) from the nominating instructor.
