Professor Baron is a linguist who is interested in writing about technology, language acquisition, language in social context, and the history of English. Professor Baron taught at several universities before joining American University in 1987. She is currently on the editorial boards of The Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Language Sciences, and Visible Language, as well as Director of the American University TESOL Program (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). Professor Baron is the author of several books, including the award-winning book Alphabet to Email: How Written English Evolved and Where It's Heading (Routledge, 2000), Growing Up with Language: How Children Learn to Talk (Addison-Wesley, 1992), Pigeon-Birds and Rhyming Words: The Role of Parents in Language Learning (Prentice-Hall, 1990), Computer Languages: A Guide for the Perplexed (Doubleday, 1986), Speech, Writing, and Sign (Indiana University Press, 1981), and Language Acquisition and Historical Change (North-Holland, 1977).