Applied Linguistics Faculty

Applied Linguistics Faculty

Gulbahar Beckett

Professor [ENGL]

Gulbahar Beckett, (M.Ed., Queen’s University; Ph.D., University of British Columbia), Professor of TESL/Applied Linguistics, focuses on project-based second/foreign language acquisition and socialization; Content-based second/foreign language (a.k.a English as a medium of instruction/learning); Second and minority language policies; Technology integrated teaching and learning; and Academic literacy. She has numerous publications including books, chapters, and articles in such journals as Review of Educational Research (RER); Language Policy; TESOL Quarterly; The Modern Language Journal; The Canadian Modern Language Review; The English Language Teaching Journal; TESL Canada Journal; Journal of Research on Computing in Education; Distance Education; Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education; Journal of Mixed Method Research; andApplied Measurement in Education. She has also obtained various grants and fellowships totaling over $2 million. Additionally, she has chaired/supervised numerous doctoral dissertations and masters thesis/projects. She is an associate editor of Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education journal (Routledge).

Carol Chapelle

Distinguished Professor [ENGL]

Carol A. Chapelle, (M.A. and Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Distinguished Professor, investigates second language assessment and learning materials, with a focus on how technology is changing research and practice. Her most recent books are The Handbook of Technology and Language Learning and Teaching (Wiley, 2017; with S. Sauro) and Teaching Culture in Introductory Foreign Language Textbooks (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016).  She is editor of the Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics(Wiley, 2013) as well as co-editor of Language Testing and of the Cambridge Applied Linguistics Series.  Other books include Building a validity argument for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (Routledge, 2008; with M. Enright and J. Jamieson) and English Language Learning and Technology (open access from John Benjamins, 2003).  Her awards include the 2015 American Association for Applied Linguistics Distinguished Service and Scholarship Award and the 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award in Language Testing given by the University of Cambridge and the International Language Testing Association.

Evgeny Chukharev

Associate Professor [ENGL]

Evgeny Chukharev, (M.S. Computer Science, Arkhangelsk State Technical University, and Ph.D. Linguistics, Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia), Associate Professor, investigates cognitive processes underlying language acquisition and use (currently focusing on written language production) and applies corpus methods to research in historical linguistics (with a focus on the grammar of Gothic). His research program has been funded by the National Science Foundation and Educational Testing Service.

Elena Cotos

Associate Dean [G COL]

Elena Cotos (M.A., Moldova State University; Ph.D., Iowa State University), Associate Professor, investigates topics that bridge corpus-based analysis of written and spoken academic discourse, genre-based automated evaluation of scientific writing, and computer-assisted language learning and assessment – all converging to address teaching and learning needs within the field of Language for Specific Purposes. Her works have been published in multiple journals including English for Specific Purposes, JEAP, Journal of Writing Research, Writing & Pedagogy, ReCALL, CALICO, Language Learning and Technology, Language Testing, and more. She authored the book Genre-Based Automated Writing Evaluation for L2 Research Writing (2014), co-authored Oral communication for Non-Native Speakers of English (2020) and Preparing to Publish (2021), and co-edited Digital Writing Technologies: Impact on Theory, Research, and Practice in Higher Education (2023). Currently, she is writing a book titled Technology-Enhanced Move Analysis: Methodological Advances in Research Article Genre Studies for the Cambridge Applied Linguistics Series. She has also contributed to a number of edited books, handbooks, and encyclopedias. Dr. Cotos serves as the Associate Editor of the English for Specific Purposes journal. She is the principal investigator on the Research Writing Tutor project. Her most recent externally funded projects include the design and worldwide delivery of global and massive open online courses related to academic writing pedagogy, which are sponsored by the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and delivered in partnership with FHI360 and the OPEN Program. Internally funded projects focus on the AI-facilitated literature review process and on sustainable OER and AI-based infrastructure for research writing. Outside of the English Department, Dr. Cotos serves as the Associate Dean for Professional Development in the Graduate College and as the Founding Director of the Center for Communication Excellence.

Bethany Gray

Professor [ENGL]

Bethany Gray, (M.A., Iowa State University and Ph.D., Northern Arizona University), Professor, uses corpus linguistics methodologies to investigate register variation, with a focus on grammatical and lexico-grammatical variation in a range of contexts: in learner language, across disciplines, over time, and across general registers. Her books include Linguistic Variation in Research Articles: When Discipline Tells Only Part of the Story (John Benjamins, 2015) and The Register-Functional Approach to Grammatical Complexity: Theoretical Foundation, Descriptive Research Findings, Application (with D. Biber, S. Staples, and J. Egbert, 2022, Routledge), and Designing and Evaluating Language Corpora: A Practical Framework for Corpus Representativeness (with J. Egbert and D. Biber, Cambridge University Press, 2022). She serves on the Editorial Board for the Journal of English for Academic Purposes and is the co-founding editor of the journal Register Studies. She chaired the 2016 American Association for Corpus Linguistics (AACL) Conference, hosted at Iowa State.

Volker Hegelheimer

Professor and Chair

Volker Hegelheimer, (M.A., Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Professor, researches applications of emerging technologies in language learning and language testing.  His publications have appeared in journals such as Language Learning & Technology, Language Testing, System, Computer-Assisted Language Learning, ReCALL, CALICO Journal, and he contributed to several edited volumes on Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) and was a co-author of the TESOL Technology Standardsfor ESL teachers and learners monograph (2007-2009). He is the co-editor for the spring 2016 CALICO Journal special issue on automated writing evaluation. He has presented his research and held academic workshops at numerous national and international conferences and has secured over $1.5 million in funds from external funding agencies such as Pearson, Educational Testing Service, the National Science Foundation, and a $1.2 million grant for materials development and training from the U.S. Department of State (2011-2013). He teaches courses on technology in language teaching and research, language assessment, and research methodology.

John Levis

Professor [ENGL]

John M. Levis, (M.A. and Ph.D., University of Illinois Urbana Champaign), Professor of Applied Linguistics and TESL, studies second language pronunciation and speech intelligibility, with a focus on how second language pronunciation research affects the teaching of pronunciation. He is the author of the book Intelligibility, Oral Communication, and the Teaching of Pronunciation (Cambridge, 2018). He is co-author of the new OER book Teaching Pronunciation with Confidence: A Resource Book for Teachers and Learners (2024). John is also the founder of the annual Pronunciation in Second Language Learning and Teaching conference and is the founding editor of the Journal of Second Language Pronunciation. He is co-editor for the Phonetics & Phonology section of the Encyclopedia for Applied Linguistics (1st and 2nd editions), and four books, Social Dynamics in Second Language Accent (DeGruyter, 2014), the Handbook of English Pronunciation (Wiley, 2015, 2019), Critical Concepts in Linguistics: Pronunciation (2017, Routledge), and Second Language Pronunciation: Bridging the Gap Between Research and Teaching (Wiley, 2022).

Gary Ockey

Professor [ENGL]

Gary J. Ockey, (M.A., University of Utah, Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles), Professor, investigates second language assessments, with a focus on the use of technology and quantitative methods to better measure oral communication. His books include Assessing L2 Listening (co-authored), John Benjamins (2018), and Another Generation of Fundamental Considerations in Language Assessment (Co-editor), Springer (2020). Introducing second language assessment, Cambridge University Press, 2024. He has published in various journals, including Applied Linguistics, Language Learning,  Language Assessment Quarterly, Language Testing, Modern Language Journal, and TESOL Quarterly. He was the co-founder of the Language Assessment Research Conference (LARC), has served as the Editor of the TOEFL Research Report Series (2012-2014), and has served as an associate editor and editor of Language Assessment Quarterly (2013-2022).

Jim Ranalli

Associate Professor [ENGL]

Jim Ranalli, (M.A., University of Birmingham; Ph.D., Iowa State University), Associate Professor, investigates connections between L2 academic writing, self-regulated learning, and technology. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation and has been published in Assessing Writing, CALICO Journal, Computer-Assisted Language Learning, Educational Psychology, Journal of Second Language Writing, Language Learning & Technology, and other publications. Jim teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in linguistics, language teaching methodology, computer-assisted language learning, and L2 writing and technology. He currently serves as the director of undergraduate studies for the Department of English, the coordinator of the writing component of ISU's English Placement Test, and an associate editor of Language Learning & Technology.

Sinem Sonsaat-Hegelheimer

Assistant Professor [LAS]

Sinem Sonsaat-Hegelheimer (M.A., Hacettepe University; PhD, Iowa State University), Assistant Professor, works on second language pronunciation teaching and learning, materials development and evaluation, and computer-assisted language learning. She has co-authored chapters in several books and published her research on various journals such as TESOL Quarterly, CATESOL Journal, and Speech Communication. She chaired the Speech Pronunciation and Listening Interest Section (SPLIS) of TESOL International Association between 2020-2021. She is the editorial assistant of Journal of Second Language Pronunciation since 2015, and she is the co-editor of “Second language pronunciation: Bridging the gap between research and teaching” (Wiley, 2022) with John Levis and Tracey Derwing.

Emeritus Professors

Dan Douglas

Professor (Emeritus)

Dan Douglas, (M.A., University of Hawaii, Honolulu; Ph.D., Edinburgh University), Professor Emeritus, studies context in second language acquisition and testing language ability in specific academic and professional contexts. His books include Understanding Language Testing (Routledge 2010) and Assessing Languages for Specific Purposes (Cambridge 2000). He was President of the International Language Testing Association from 2005 to 2006 and again from 2013 to 2015, and Editor of Language Testing from 2002 to 2007.

Barbara Schwarte

Barbara Schwarte, (PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) is Associate Professor Emerita. Her research interests include the pragmatics of cross-cultural communication and the teaching of critical thinking skills. Barbara is co-author of three ESL and co-produced a teacher-training video series on the Roles of the ESL Teacher.  Her professional activities include serving as President (2000-2001) of the International TESOL Association and as chair for the association’s TESOL 1997 Conference in Orlando, FL. Barbara served as director of Iowa State University’s Intensive English and Orientation Program (IEOP) from July 2004 to August 2013, where she initiated the program’s development of learning outcomes and their assessment and of EFL teacher training short courses.

Tammy Slater

Associate Professor Emeritus [ENGL]

Tammy Slater, (M.A. and Ph.D., University of British Columbia), Associate Professor Emerita, draws upon analytic methods from Systemic Functional Linguistics to investigate and understand the development of academic language through content-based and project-based teaching and learning, particularly in ways that inform and advance the field of literacy education for English language learners. She has published in several journals, including Linguistics and Education and Theory into Practice, and has co-authored chapters in several books.

Roberta Vann

Professor Emer (Emeritus) [ENGL]

Roberta Vann, MS, PhD (Indiana), Professor Emerita: literacy and discourse issues related to second language learning.