Georgette Ioup

Georgette Ioup (May 17, 1940 – May 28, 2024) was an American linguistics professor and researcher. She examined the ways people learn new languages (called second-language acquisition), and one of her research papers was considered "one of the most impactful studies published in SSLA [Studies in Second Language Acquisition]", according to Cambridge University Press.^[1]

Georgette Ioup
Born	(1940-05-17)May 17, 1940 Altoona, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	May 28, 2024(2024-05-28) (aged 84)
Burial place	New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Occupation(s)	linguistics professor and researcher
Employer	University of New Orleans
Known for	Second-language acquisition research

Early life

Georgette Ioup was born May 17, 1940, in Altoona, Pennsylvania, to Elias George and Angeline (Kattouf) Ioup.^[2] In 1958, she graduated from Altoona High School.^[2] She earned a B.A. degree in classical languages from Wilson College in 1963, an M.A. in linguistics from New York University in 1973, and a Ph.D. in linguistics from the CUNY Graduate Center in 1975.^[2]

Academic career

From 1985 to 2007, Ioup worked as a professor in the Department of English at the University of New Orleans.^[2] Before joining the University of New Orleans, Ioup served as a professor at the American University in Cairo and the University of Washington in Seattle.^[2]

During her career, Ioup's linguistics research was published in several academic journals, including Linguistics and Philosophy^[3] and Language Learning: A Journal of Research in Language Studies.^[4]

In 1987, she and linguistics researcher Steven H. Weinberger were co-editors of the book Interlanguage Phonology: The Acquisition of a Second Language Sound System (Newbury House Publishers). A 1990 review of this book in Second Language Research called it a "well integrated, comprehensive mixture of established and recent articles, covering all major issues of phonology."^[5]

Ioup was the primary author of "Reexamining the Critical Period Hypothesis: A Case Study of Successful Adult SLA in a Naturalistic Environment," published in March 1994 in the journal Studies in Second Language Acquisition, which examined "the ability of adults to achieve nativelike competence in [a] second language" without the benefit of formal schooling. On May 22, 2018, Cambridge University Press released a video interview of Ioup discussing this article, as part of the press's series on "authors of key papers" talking about "their influential articles."^[1] In the interview, Ioup explained that while teaching in Egypt, she had met a British student, Julie, who reported learning Egyptian Arabic "as an adult but in the manner of a child," meaning the student never had formal training in Egyptian Arabic and could only speak the language, not read or write it.^[1] Ioup recounted that this student's ability to learn Egyptian Arabic led Ioup to reconsider the so-called critical period hypothesis, which claims that languages need to be learned at a young age (usually before puberty) in order to achieve nativelike fluency.^[1]

Personal life

Ioup had two brothers: George E. Ioup (March 26, 1939 – January 20, 2016), a former professor of physics at the University of New Orleans, and William E. Ioup, a one-time president of Superior Tree Company in Arkansas.^[2][6]

She had a son, Elias Z. K. Ioup, and a daughter, Carole Mashamesh.^[2]

Georgette Ioup told The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate that she left Seattle and relocated to New Orleans "because she wanted to raise her son near her kind-hearted brother [George]."^[7]

Death

Ioup died May 28, 2024, at age 84.^[2] She is buried at St. Louis Cemetery in New Orleans.^[2]