Lauren is a doctoral student whose research interests include assessment and instruction considerations for English learners in multi-tiered systems of supports (MTSS), English learners who are receiving special education services, second language acquisition, and biliteracy. Currently, her dissertation investigates the influence of home literacy practices on vocabulary and reading outcomes in a transitional bilingual program. Artzi is currently a Researcher at the American Institutes for Research and co-webmaster with the Vocabulary special interest group of the American Educational Research Association. At Maryland, Artzi served on the Reading Buddies research team which experimentally investigated outcomes (for English learners and their non-EL peers) from cross-age peer learning in general education classrooms. Prior to that position, Artzi was a Research Associate at the Center for Applied Linguistics. She earned her Master's degree in TESOL at Tel Aviv University, and was a former K-12 ESOL teacher in the U.S. and Israel.
Yu comes from China with a Mongolian nationality which is a minority group identity in China. She was an English major in college. Then she came to the United States to pursue her Master’s study in TESOL. After graduation, she pursued another Master’s study in Computer Science and worked in the Information Technology field for about six and half years. In spring 2007, sheI joined Second Language Education and Culture program. Her research interests include children and adult ESL learning, children literacy development, computer-assisted language learning, educational statistics, etc. Yu Bai would love to participate in both researching and teaching in the future. She aslo has dreams to publish a book, open a school, travel around the world, do different things with meaning, and enjoy the process of life.
Christina is a doctoral student in the ALLE program. Her research interests include family literacy in connection to early literacy of bilingual children and English Language Learners (ELLs) and novice/veteran ESOL teacher education with a specific focus on helping general classroom teachers develop skills and strategies to effectively teach ELLs. She taught multiple grades at the elementary level for several years as a classroom teacher and resource teacher/coach. She also taught beginning ESOL to adults. While teaching she earned her Masters in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus in TESOL and bilingual education. Christina enjoys yoga, traveling, and spending time with her family.
Megan is a PhD student in the ALLE program. She is interested in teacher education, especially how preservice teachers of culturally and linguistically diverse students learn to teach. At UMD, Megan has worked on three primary areas of research related to the teaching and learning of English learners: cross-age peer learning, teacher collaboration, and teacher education. She earned her M.S. in TESOL from the University of Rochester (Warner School) and taught K-12 ESOL in upstate New York.
Margaret is a doctoral student in the ALLE program. Her research interests include studying the identity development of pre-service world language teachers. Prior to coming to Maryland, she worked as a middle and high school foreign language teacher for five years and has also volunteered as an ESL teacher for adults and international students in Ohio.
Natalia is a doctoral student in Second Language Education and Culture at the College of Education, University of Maryland. She holds a master’s degree in Hispanic Linguistics as well as in Teaching English as a Second Language from the Pennsylvania State University. Her academic interests include foreign language education, classroom-based research, and language assessment. She is also interested in second language acquisition and applied linguistics. Natalia has taught Spanish for several years in the U.S. and in Argentina and very much enjoys involving students in learning.
Tabitha is a doctoral student in the ALLE program. She earned an M.A. in Foreign and Second Language Education from the Ohio State University and a B.S./B.A. in French and Spanish Education from Miami University. She began her teaching career as a TEFL Peace Corps Volunteer in Madagascar. Since then, she has taught language on five different continents to students ranging from pre-schoolers to adults. Her most recent adventure took her to Indonesia, where she taught pre-service teachers at the State Islamic Institute of Salatiga as an English Language Fellow (a program of the U.S. State Department). Her research and teaching interests are novice teacher education and teacher learning across the life span. She also enjoys running and wearing funny hats.
Maggie is a doctoral student in the Applied Linguistics and Language Education program. Her research interests include dual language education and native language instruction. She most recently was an instructional coach at DC Bilingual Public Charter School. Her teaching experience includes teaching 2nd grade dual language in Washington DC and teaching in Puerto Rico. Maggie earned her Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy at the Fletcher School at Tufts University. She enjoys yoga, tennis (a newly acquired hobby), traveling, coffee, and raising her two bilingual daughters, Vivian and Frida Lou. She also has two furry children (cats), Moshe and Petunia.
Ethan is a doctoral student in the ALLE program whose research interests include multilingual and bilingual education in American public schools and social justice. He has an Ed.Ma. in Human Development and Psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and an M.A. in Applied Linguistics from UMass Boston. His B.A. is in Classics: Ancient Greek from Yale College. He has taught high English Language Arts and Latin at the high school level, humanities and ESL at the college level, and ESL to adults. He also has significant experience running out-of-school time programs, including athletics. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer (Teacher Trainer and University Teacher) in Mongolia. He is interested in social and political activism and enjoys spending time with his wife and three sons, Temuulen, Nagarjunai, and Asanga.
Johanna Tigert
Johanna is a doctoral candidate whose research interests include English learners and literacy, heritage language education, ESOL teacher education, and sociocultural contexts of second language acquisition. Her dissertation examines the multilingual literacies of young heritage language learners. Johanna was born and raised in Finland. She earned her first Master's degree in Russian language and literature from the University of Eastern Finland, and her second Master's degree in TESOL from the University of Notre Dame of Maryland. She has several years of experience teaching English and Finnish in PK-12, higher education, and heritage language school settings. Johanna enjoys traveling, reading in different languages, and raising her two bilingual children.
Qin Yao
Qin is a doctoral candidate whose research interests include corrective feedback, immersion education, content-based instruction, second language acquisition, Chinese language teacher education, and Chinese linguistics. Her dissertation investigates oral corrective feedback in Chinese immersion classrooms. Qin grew up in China. She earned her Master's degree in Linguistics at University College London. She has experience teaching English as a foreign language in China, and has involved in Chinese language teaching and teacher training since she came to the US. Qin enjoys traveling and running very much.
