Two decades of linguistic research and language development at Payap University

Thomas M. Tehan, PauletteResearch Hopple, and language development at Payap University & Debbie Lynn Paulsen SIL International Payap University

There is another linguistics department that has flourished with Howard McKaughan’s expert input. Dr. McKaughan helped to found not only the Linguistics Department at the University of Hawai‘i, but also the Graduate Linguistics Department at Payap University. He donated many of his own books to augment the linguistics holdings at Payap. In addition to the more strictly academic contributions, Howard regularly indulged his love for storytelling. As he used to say, he didn’t let lack of facts ruin a good story. He kept his colleagues in stitches that first semester of the Department.

1. A little historical background Between 1987 and 1989, Dr. McKaughan was involved with Payap on a periodic basis as he contributed to the design of the curriculum, taught two of the first classes, and served as the department head of the new master’s program for the first semester. (He was succeeded in the next semester by Dr. Frances Woods.) Howard was also keen to help the University set up a graduate school. The vision and aims of the future department at Payap had been discussed earlier by Paulette Hopple with Dr. Ken Pike when he was in in February 1986. Ken stopped off in Hawai‘i to visit with Dr. McKaughan, to whom he is indirectly related, on his way home to the United States from his academic tour in Thailand. Howard was interested in what he heard about the new program and sensed he might be able to make a significant contribution toward its success. Dr. McKaughan made an exploratory trip to Chiang Mai during late 1987 to make connections, meet the necessary people, and coordinate with Paulette Hopple, who initiated the program and laid the groundwork for the department on behalf of SIL. On that trip, Howard drove around on a beat-up blue motorcycle (a significant contrast to the Harley-Davidson that he owned in the United States) and appeared to be thoroughly enjoying the culture of Chiang Mai—a city of thousands of little motorcycles. Later, after his retirement from the University of Hawai‘i, Dr. McKaughan returned to Thailand for one semester, early June to early October 1988, teaching one of the basic-English classes while he worked to improve the administrative design of the program and write curriculum for the courses. He contributed his well honed expertise to improve the basic structure and align it to international standards before he had to return to the United States. Paulette had drafted the curriculum and the plan of the program, and Howard proficiently wrote all the course descriptions in a way that sped the program through the approval process. This first outline, which became the initial structure of the program, had three tracks: majors in

Loren Billings & Nelleke Goudswaard (eds.), Piakandatu ami Dr. Howard P. McKaughan, 311–314. Manila: Linguistic Society of the Philippines and SIL Philippines, 2010. 312 THOMAS M. TEHAN, PAULETTE HOPPLE, & DEBBIE LYNN PAULSEN anthropological linguistics, translation, and teaching English as a second language (TESL). It is different now because of our response to changing needs and the fact that TESL has spun off into its own graduate program. Howard’s library contribution to Payap consisted of many old and valuable linguistic books, but the main librarian refused his frayed classics because they didn’t look so spiffy. Howard joked that he was glad the same standard didn’t apply to seasoned scholars. After Howard returned to the United States in 1988, Dr. Boonthong Phoocharoen, then vice-president for academic affairs at Payap, and Dr. Frances Woods, who had recently moved to Payap from Thammasat University in Bangkok, submitted the forms to the Office of University Affairs, under the Thai Ministry of Education, and worked with the examiners through the revisions and registration forms, eventually getting the program approved in record time. Miraculously, the whole process from the submission of the curriculum in late 1988 to the opening of the program in June 1989 moved quickly through the government bureaucracy. Certainly part of the credit for this speed goes to Howard McKaughan’s skillful organization and ease of writing; he has a way of making something complex appear simple and easy to understand. Howard returned to Thailand just before the school year began in 1989, serving as the first department head and teaching phonetics and grammar courses during that first semester in the Linguistics Department. With Dr. Woods also having arrived at Payap the year before, Howard decided to leave the continuing administration in Paulette’s and her hands, so he returned to the United States at the end of the first semester. We began with two students.

2. Linguistics at Payap today Since the time Howard McKaughan was here, Payap has granted the Masters of Arts in Linguistics to over forty individuals who have contributed to the study and development of languages in Asia. Among these graduates are individuals who have subsequently taught at several university-level institutions, including Payap and other universities in Thailand, as well as linguistic- and theological-training schools in various countries. Students have come from Australia, Canada, , England, Germany, , Japan, Laos, (Burma), , New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, the United States, Vietnam, and Wales. Several of the students (as well as faculty) have published academic articles and presented papers at academic conferences. Subjects include cognitive linguistics, functional grammar, phonology, morphology, syntax, discourse analysis, sociolinguistics, endangered languages, anthropological linguistics, translation, and language survey. Students have also published in linguistic publications such as Cognitive Linguistics, Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area, Mon-Khmer Studies, and proceedings of several conferences. Many Payap MA theses represent the first substantial investigation into some of the languages of minority groups in Asia. The following linguistic theses and shorter SPECIAL PROJECTS have been written at Payap: Rujrat Chaisong. 1992. Participant identification in a selection of Thai narratives (special project). Sukchai Chawla. 1992. A comparison of cohesion in a selection of Thai and Punjabi narratives (special project). Kirk Roger Person. 1993. Discourse considerations on the hortatory speech of Phra Phayom. Chaiyathip Katsura. 1993. An analysis of cohesion on Sgaw Karen folk narratives. Hpung Sarep. 1995. A study of the morphology of verbs and nouns of the Sinwal dialect of the Rawang language. RESEARCH AND LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT AT PAYAP UNIVERSITY 313

Maran Ja Gun. 1996. A translation of Maumwi ‘the Jinghpaw origin myth’ and an ethno-semantic analysis of U ‘birds’ (special project). Amnuayporn Chowyong. 1996. A study of final particles in conversational Tai Lue at Donchai Village, Pua District, Nan Province. Usitara Juntawieng. 1997. A discourse study of a selection of the Northern Thai sermons of Phrakhru Sophon Boonyaphorn (Tuu Cok). Anongporn Kongton. 1997. Some difficulties in translation from English into Thai: With application to the book Understanding and guiding teenagers (special project). Suzanne Renee Person. 1998. The story of Mae Laa: A discourse analysis of a Northern Thai life history in its cultural context. Jenwit Suknaphasawat. 1999. A phonological description of the Lahu Bakeo language. Tej Bahadur Jirel. 1999. Selected discourse features of Jirel Folk narratives. P. Christopher Thomas. 1999. A study of the verb phrase in Chodri. R. Vasantha Vembu. 1999. A study of clause and sentence structure in the Chodri Language, Gujarat, India. Margaret Ukosakul. 1999. Conceptual metaphors motivating the use of Thai ‘face’. Rikio Teruya. 2001. The conceptual structure of love and related emotions in part three of the Japanese novel Kokoro. Saw Lar Baa. 2001. The phonological basis of a Sgaw and Northwest Karenic orthography. Khoi Lam Thang. 2001. A phonological reconstruction of Proto-Chin. Chutiphan Keerakittiwat. 2002. A semantic analysis of Thai proverbs and metaphors about women. Sengfa Holanouphab. 2003. Final particles in Vientiane Lao. Noel Kya Heh. 2003. A descriptive study of Akha sentence final particles. Sudrutai Arunsirot. 2003. A phonological analysis of three Central . Waraporn Chaikuna. 2003. The analysis of clause structure in Lahu Shi. Phuong Vi Vo. 2003. Conceptual metaphors of ‘love’ in Vietnamese: An analysis of selected poems and songs, past and present. Duong Tan Le. 2003. A phonological comparison of Koho and Maa varieties. Jamin R. Pelkey. 2004. Phowa verbal semantics. Myar Doo Myar Reh. 2004. A phonological comparison of selected Karenic language varieties of . Prang Thiengburanathum. 2004. Aspect and evidentials in Lahu Shi: A cognitive perspective. Chaorun Zhou. 2004. Discourse cohesion in three west-central Thailand Pwo Karen folktales. Xinyi Zhao. 2004. Translation theory in the Chinese context: A comparative approach. Natnapang Burutphakdee. 2004. Khon Muang Neu kap Phasa Muang: Attitudes of Northern Thai youth towards Kammuang and the Lanna script. 314 THOMAS M. TEHAN, PAULETTE HOPPLE, & DEBBIE LYNN PAULSEN

Jaranya Thepornbanchakit. 2004. A discourse analysis of the plot and profile of M. R. Kukrit Pramote’s short story, “Mom”. Lei Duan. 2004. A sociolinguistic study of language use and language attitudes among the Bai people in Jianchuan County, China. Maliwan Tuwakham. 2004. Language vitality and language attitudes among the Yong people in Lamphun Province: A sociolinguistic study. Linda Marie Markowski. 2005. A comparative study of Kuy varieties in Cambodia. Ji Hongli. 2005. A study of language use and language attitudes among the Bisu speakers in China and Thailand. Kayoko Nagakura. 2006. Elements of Ngochang grammar. Tatsuro Daniel Arisawa. 2006. A storyline analysis in Iu-Mienh narrative discourse with some insights from cognitive linguistics. Minh Thi Tuyet Pham. 2006. Headhunters and wild pigs: Aspects of Mae Hong Son Shan narrative discourse. Kitjipol Udomkol. 2006. A phonological reconstruction of Proto-Bisoid. Khee Shein Mang. 2006. A syntactic and pragmatic description of verb stem alternation in K’Cho, a Chin language. Apiradee “Baep” Chantanaroj. 2007. A preliminary sociolinguistic survey of selected Tai Nua speech varieties. Khar Thuan. 2007. A phonological description of Falam Chin.

Today the Linguistics Department at Payap University continues to prepare linguists who desire to work in Asia, contributing to some of the less privileged language groups of the area through translation, language planning, and development. For more information, see the web site: .