The opening date for submissions to the 2026 Becker Undergraduate Award will be announced shortly.  

About 

This undergraduate award commemorates Yvonne Becker and highlights her invaluable contribution to the Department. The award fund totals $500. During the annual Becker Colloquium, the certificate(s) of achievement will be presented. An invite to a meal with the colloquium speaker and Linguistics faculty will also be offered. 

Meet the past winners

Get inspired by reading these winning submissions and check out the interviews with the winners.

2025

Elizabeth Alvarez Alfaro (co-winner)
Finding The Odd One Out: Exploring the Development of Rhyme Acquisition in Preschool Years: Interpretation Guide

Carley Carder (co-winner)
The Role of Self-Monitoring and Repair in AAC Communication for Children with Autism: A Literature Review

2024

Kayla Koch
Reading Across Writing Systems: The System Accommodation Hypothesis in Cross-Linguistic Visual Word Recognition

2023

Rebekah Wong
Manifesting Politeness in Children Cross-Culturally

Eligibility criteria

The eligibility criteria for 2026 submissions will be posted here shortly.

Selection criteria

• Originality of ideas; 
• Understanding of linguistic concepts;
• Clarity of expression.

Submission instructions

Please send your submission as a Word file to lingchr@sfu.ca and lingasst@sfu.ca and include the completed Nomination Form (available for download shortly) from your nominating instructor.