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Photograph of Naomi Baron

Naomi Baron Prof Emerita World Languages and Cultures

Degrees
PhD Linguistics, Stanford University

BA English and 麻豆果冻传媒 Literature, Brandeis University

Bio
Naomi Baron鈥檚 research interests include language and technology, reading, first language acquisition, the relationship between speech and writing, the history and structure of English, and higher education.

A former Guggenheim Fellow, Fulbright Fellow, Fulbright Specialist, and Visiting Scholar at the Stanford Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, she has published ten books. Always On: Language in an Online and Mobile World won the English-Speaking Union鈥檚 Duke of Edinburgh English Language Book Award for 2008. Words Onscreen: The Fate of Reading in a Digital World appeared in 2015. How We Read Now: Strategic Choices for Print, Screen, and Audio was published in March 2021.

Baron's current research is on artificial intelligence and writing. Her newest book is Who Wrote This? How AI and the Lure of Efficiency Threaten Human Writing, (Stanford University Press 2023).

Baron taught at Brown University, Emory University, and Southwestern University before coming to 麻豆果冻传媒, where she served in the College of Arts and Sciences as associate dean for undergraduate affairs, associate dean for curriculum and faculty development, chair of the Department of Language and Foreign Studies, and director of the TESOL Program. For six years, she was executive director of the university鈥檚 Center for Teaching, Research, and Learning. She has taught or been a visiting scholar at the University of Gothenburg (Sweden), the University of Stavanger (Norway), the University of Zurich (Switzerland), and the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (Italy).


Professor Baron has appeared extensively in the media, including interviews on Good Morning America, ABC News 20/20, CNN, The Diane Rehm Show, All Things Considered, the BBC, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the Chronicle of Higher Education, the New Yorker, Fortune, and Time.
See Also
For the Media
To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.

Partnerships & Affiliations

  • Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication
    Editorial Board

  • Language@Internet
    Editorial Board

  • Language Sciences
    Editorial Board

  • Visible Language
    Editorial Board

  • Writing Systems Research
    Editorial Board

  • Mobile Media & Communication
    Editorial Board

Scholarly, Creative & Professional Activities

Selected Publications

Recent Opinion Articles

  • The Conversation, January 19, 2023.
  • Inside Higher Ed, September 6, 2023.
  • LitHub, September 12, 2023.
  • Chronicle of Higher Education, October 3, 2023.

Research Report

  • , 2021.

Books

  • Who Wrote This? How AI and the Lure of Efficiency Threaten Human Writing. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2023.
  • How We Read Now: Strategic Choices for Print, Screen, and Audio. New York: Oxford University Press, 2021.
  • Words Onscreen: The Fate of Reading in a Digital World. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015.听
  • Always On: Language in an Online and Mobile World. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.听
  • Alphabet to Email: How Written Language Evolved and Where It鈥檚 Heading. London: Routledge, 2000.
  • Growing Up with Language: How Children Learn to Talk. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1992.
  • Pigeon-Birds and Rhyming Words: The Role of Parents in Language Learning. Center for Applied Linguistics/Prentice Hall Regents, 1990.
  • Computer Languages: A Guide for the Perplexed. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1986.
  • Speech, Writing, and Sign. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1981.
  • Language Acquisition and Historical Change. Amsterdam: North-Holland, 1977.

Edited Journal Issues

  • Mobile Phones in Cross-Cultural Context: Sweden, Estonia, the USA, and Japan听(editor), themed section of New Media & Society 12 (1), 2010.
  • Theory and Methodology in Semiotics (editor, with Nikhil Bhattacharya), special issue of Semiotica 26 3/4, 1979.

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Films/Documentaries

  • Children Learning Language: How Adults Can Help (with Louise Schrank), co-scripted and appeared in 24 minute video (The Learning Seed).
  • Oral Traditions: The Printed Word and Democracy, scripted and appeared in 10 minute segment on the history of writing for one-hour documentary (Library of Congress Global Literacy Project).

Honors, Awards, and Fellowships

  • Visiting Fellow, Digital Society Initiative, University of Zurich (2019)
  • Visiting Scholar, National Reading Centre, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway (2018)
  • Fulbright Specialist, Catholic University of Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium (2017)
  • Betty T. Bennett Faculty Scholar-Administrator Award, CAS, 麻豆果冻传媒 (2013)
  • Visiting Scholar, Stanford Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences听(2012-2013)
  • English-Speaking Union's Duke of Edinburgh English Language Book Award (Winter 2008) for Always On
  • Fulbright Fellow, Sweden (Fall 2007)
  • 麻豆果冻传媒 Presidential Research Fellow (AY 2007-2008)
  • "Professor of the Year," AU University Honors Program (2006)
  • English-Speaking Union's Duke of Edinburgh English Language Book Award competition (2000), Alphabet to Email "Highly Commended"
  • President, Zeta of Washington Chapter (麻豆果冻传媒), Phi Beta Kappa (1998-2000)听 听
  • President, Semiotic Society of America (1987)
  • Guggenheim Fellow (1984-1985)

AU Experts

Area of Expertise

Reading in print versus onscreen; mobile phones, email, instant messaging, and text messaging; social networking; relationship between spoken and written language; history of English; general linguistics; higher education

Additional Information

Naomi S. Baron is professor emerita of linguistics in the Department of World Languages and Cultures in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is the author of nine books, including How We Read Now: Strategic Choices for Print, Screen, and Audio; Words Onscreen: The Fate of Reading in a Digital World; Always On: Language in an Online and Mobile World; and Alphabet to Email: How Written English Evolved and Where It鈥檚 Heading. David Crystal wrote of How We Read Now that 鈥淣aomi Baron has done a huge service to everyone involved in the study, teaching, and practice of reading 鈥 which means all of us.鈥 Nicholas Carr called Words Onscreen 鈥渆ssential for educators, parents, and everyone who loves to read. The late William Safire described Always On as his choice for 鈥渕ost influential and seminal language book of the year.鈥 The book was winner of the 2008 English-Speaking Union鈥檚 Duke of Edinburgh English Language Award competition. Baron鈥檚 research focuses on the effects of technology on language, social interaction, and learning. She has conducted cross-national studies of mobile phone use and of print versus digital reading practices. A Guggenheim Fellow and Swedish Fulbright Fellow, she was also a Visiting Scholar at the Stanford Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. Among her news media appearances, Baron has been on ABC鈥檚 Good Morning America and 20/20, CNN, PBS鈥檚 News Hour, National Public Radio, BBC Radio, CBC Radio, and Voice of America. She has been interviewed by such newspapers as the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, and Boston Globe.

For the Media

To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.

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