William J. Stone holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics from Northwestern University; his dissertation was on African American Vernacular English with a focus on syllable structure. He has an M.A. in Linguistics from Northeastern Illinois University. He received his B.A. in French and Geography from the University of Wolverhampton in England and a post-graduate teaching diploma in French and English from St. Paul’s College, Cheltenham, England. He taught English as a foreign language in Tunisia, Qatar and Oman for a total of 13 years and English as a second language in the Chicago area for nine years. His current research interests are affective aspects of TESL, humor and engaged learning. He is an Associate Professor at Northeastern Illinois University, where he has taught Linguistics, TESL and ESL courses for the past 22 years.

His interests include African American English, pronunciation issues, grammar teaching, religion and humor both inside and outside the classroom. These interests are frequently combined. His most recent research has been in religion and humor and affective aspects of language teaching.