PhD in Linguistics
Nilima Hakim Mow
Nilima Hakim Mow
Language Documentation & Revitalization; Sociolinguistics; Second Language Acquisition; TESOL; Computational Linguistics
Ph.D. Student, Linguistics Program; Research Assistant
President, Graduate and Professional Students Association (GAPSA)
Nilima is a third-year Ph.D. student in the Linguistics Program of the English department and a research assistant on the NSF CAREER project "Documenting Temporal Contrasts in Akuzipik, an Alaska Native Language, and Community Linguistics in Service of its Continuance." Nilima is actively involved in researching endangered languages, including Akuzipik and Hawrami. Nilima's research interests include language documentation and revitalization, sociolinguistics, and computational linguistics. Nilima is also passionate about TESOL, second language acquisition, and teaching pedagogy.
Current Research
Translanguaging Pedagogy for Yupik Language Revitalization and Reclamation: A Community-Based Linguistic Study
Exploring St. Lawrence Island English: Language Contact, Variation and Akuzipik Influence
Selected Publications
Grants and Fellowships
- Graduate Student Travel Fund, Provost Office, George Mason University ($950)
- Scholars for the Dream Travel Awards (2026), Conference on College Composition and Communication ($1000)
- 2026 Chairs’ Memorial Scholarship, Conference on College Composition and Communication ($750-Denied)
- COGEL Travel Award, Honorable Mention (2026), Linguistics Society of America
- GAPSA President Scholarship (2025), Graduate Student Life, George Mason University ($10,000)
- College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS) Deans Office Travel Grant (2025), George Mason University ($2000)
- GAPSA President Scholarship (Summer 2025), Graduate Student Life, George Mason University ($1500)
- Linguistics Program Research Award (2025), George Mason University ($500)
- Engaged Summer Fellow (2025), Office of Community Engagement and Civic Learning, George Mason University ($6000)
- Research Award (2025), Linguistics Program with the support with support from the CHSS Associate Dean of Graduate Academic Affairs ($900)
- Indigenous Language Scholar Award, American Association of Applied Linguistics (AAAL) 2025 Conference
- Graduate Student Travel Fund (2025), George Mason University ($500)
- George Mason University English Department Scholarship for the NHC Graduate Student Summer Residency Program (2025) ($2100)
- Conference Travel Award (2025), The Office of the CHSS Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, George Mason University ($500)
- Summer Research Fellowship, Center for Adaptive Systems of Brain-Body Interactions (CASBBI) National Research Traineeship Program for Summer 2024, George Mason University ($8500)
- Graduate Scholarship Spring for Conference Travel, George Mason University ($1000)
- Graduate Student Travel Fund (2023), George Mason University ($500)
- 2021-2022 Ball State University Excellence in Teaching Award for the Master’s Level
- Diversity Travel Fellowship (2021), BUCLD 46 (The 46th annual Boston University Conference on Language Development) ($350)
- Most Engaging Teaching Materials, Writing program, Ball State University
- National Scholars Award ($9500) by Eastern Michigan University (2019) (Denied)
Courses Taught
ENG 103: "Rhetoric & Writing" in the Writing Program, Ball State University
ENG 114: Research Composition in the Writing Program, Ball State University
Education
3rd Year Linguistics Ph.D. Program Student, George Mason University
MA in Linguistics and TESOL, Ball State University-2022
MA in Linguistics, University of Dhaka- 2017
BA in Linguistics, University of Dhaka-2016
Recent Presentations
Conference Presentations:
Mow, N. (2025, April). While there is AI, Is translingualism dead? Panel presentation at the 2025 Annual Convention Conference on College Composition and Communication, Baltimore, MD.
Mow, N. H., Schreiner, S. L., Nowpakahok, A. B., Ungwiluk, T. Y., & Avalnun, P. T. (2025, April). Community Voices: Best practices for language revitalization and reclamation. Symposium on American Indian Languages (SAIL 2025), University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.
Mow, N. H. (2025, March). Building community relationships in Indigenous language research: a case study from St. Lawrence Island, Alaska. 2025 American Association for Applied Linguistics Conference, Denver, Colorado.
Mow, N. H. & Schreiner, Sylvia L.R. (2025, March). Challenges and Insights: Surveying Language Attitudes in an Endangered Indigenous Language Community. International Conference on Language Documentation and Conservation (ICLDC), University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Mow, N. H. (2025, February). Excluded at the Table: Navigating Halal Food Accessibility as a Muslim PhD Student at Academic Conferences. Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics (GURT 2025), Georgetown University, Washington DC.
Mow, N. H. (2025, February). Enhancing reading comprehension for adult learners through metacognitive strategies. 24th TESOL and Applied Linguistics Graduate Students Conference (TALGS), Greensboro College, NC.
Mow, N. H. (2024, October). Revitalizing Akuzipik language and mental health: Creative arts for community well-being [Poster Presentation]. 12th Indigenous Language Institute Symposium, Albuquerque, NM.
Mow, N. H. (2024, April). A grammatical sketch of negation in Hawrami. Mason Graduate Interdisciplinary Conference, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA.
Mow, N. H. (2024, March). Totally and completely: A corpus-based behavioral profile study of near synonymous adverbs [Poster Presentation]. 2024 American Association for Applied Linguistics Conference, Houston, Texas.
Mow, N. H. (2024, February). The impact of cross-linguistic influences on L2 development of an Urdu-speaking language informant. 23rd TESOL and Applied Linguistics Graduate Students Conference (TALGS), East Carolina University, Greenville, NC.
Mow, N. H. (2023, October). Best practices in Indigenous language immersion programs. International Conference on Language Documentation, Education, and Revitalization, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN.
Mow, N. H. (2023, May). Bangla-English code-switching: Features and frequency. 9th Annual Symposium on Language Research, University of California, Davis, CA.
Mow, N. H. (2022). Interlanguage influences on L2 development. Ball State University Student Symposium, Ball State University, Muncie, IN.
Mow, N. H. (2021). Bangla-English code-switching. Ball State University Student Symposium, Ball State University, Muncie, IN.
Workshop Presentations:
Mow, N. H. (2025, February). Assessing adult ESL learners: A workshop for teachers of adult ESL learners. 24th TESOL and Applied Linguistics Graduate Students Conference (TALGS), Greensboro College, NC.
Mow, N. H. (2024, February). A workshop on thematic lesson plans. Presentation. 23rd TESOL and Applied Linguistics Graduate Students Conference (TALGS), East Carolina University, Greenville, NC.
In the Media
Nilima Mow (PhD Linguistics Student) Elected as Graduate and Professional Student Association (GAPSA) President
George Mason linguistics making an impact at ICLDC 2025
2021-2022 Ball State University Excellence in Teaching Award Winner
The Research Remix Podcast by Mason Libraries
Mason linguists go to TALGS
GMU CHSSS Social Media Page
AAAL 2025 Indigenous Language Scholar Award