 He started out as reporter and editor for several media publications in Europe and Australia before commencing undergraduate studies at the University of Western Australia.He received a PhD in Psycholinguistics from Harvard University in 1967.Smith held positions as professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education for twelve years, professor of Language in Education at the University of Victoria, British Columbia as well as professor and department-head of Applied English Language Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.