The Associate Vice-President Academic
Johanne Bourdages was appointed Associate Vice-President Academic in 2010.
Professor Bourdages attended high school at the Collège St-Joseph de Hull and then began studies at the University of Ottawa, where first she received an Honours Baccalaureate in linguistics. She then went on to pursue graduate studies, receiving a Master's (1982) and a PhD (1990), both in linguistics. During her graduate studies, she taught part time at the Second Languages Institute, in the Department of Linguistics and the Faculty of Education. She was also a lecturer, from 1988-89, in the Department of French Studies at York University. In 1989, she returned to the University of Ottawa, where she was hired as a lecturer in the Faculty of Education. The following year, after receiving her PhD, she became an assistant professor. In 1993, she was promoted to associate professor, and in 2002 became a full professor. From 1996 to 1998, she served as vice dean programs, and then from 1998 to 2002, as dean of the Faculty of Education. During her term, her priorities were to improve services for students, to encourage and develop a culture of research and to strengthen links with the community, particularly with the francophone community, so as to better meet the latter's particular needs in teacher education.
As an undergraduate student, she participated in the federal government's Official Language Monitor Program. This spurred her interest in second language learning and teaching, leading her to study applied linguistics and psycholinguistics. Her research, which combines theory and practice, deals primarily with oral communication in French as a second language. She has published many articles, book chapters, research reports and training packages, and has presented many papers, both in Canada and abroad. Her research projects have been funded by bodies such as the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and by the Department of Canadian Heritage's Official Languages Support Programs.
