Ph.D. Alumni


Ghinwa Alameen

Associate Teaching Professor [WLC]

Ghinwa Alameen (2014) is a lecturer of Arabic at Iowa State University. She has also taught classes in ESL and Linguistics. Her research interests include the integration of technology in teaching listening and pronunciation, teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language, online and hybrid course development, instructional material design, and digital literacy. She has published articles in TESOL Journal, The Handbook of English Pronunciation, TESL-EJ and conference proceedings.

Major Professor: John Levis

Dissertation title: The effectiveness of linking instruction on NNS speech perception and production


Zaha Alonazi

Graduate Student [ENGL]

Zaha Alonazi (2019) also holds a BA in Languages and Translation and an MA in Applied Linguistics from King Saud University. She taught English courses for students from various levels, intermediate, high school and college students. She taught listening, reading and speaking in addition to some introductory linguistics courses like semantics, morphology and an introductory course in applied linguistics. She has worked as an English lecturer at Majmma University in Saudi Arabia. Zaha’s major interests include language testing and assessment, second language acquisition, and technology applications in English teaching.


Nawaf Alsallami

Nawaf Alsallami (2017) holds an MA degree in TESOL from the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls and a bachelor degree in TEFL from Tabuk University, Saudi Arabia. Nawaf has taught beginner and intermediate EFL classes to elementary-level and college-level students in Saudi Arabia. His research interests include development of CALL materials and integration of CALL into EFL classes.


Kim Becker

Lecturer [ENGL]
Kim Becker earned her PhD in Applied Linguistics and Technology in Spring 2022. Her research interests include corpus linguistics and disciplinary academic writing. She earned an MA TESOL at Northern Arizona University and afterward taught ESL for nearly ten years—primarily at a community college in Nashville, Tennessee—before moving to Ames. Kim has presented her work in conferences such as AACL, SLRF, CALICO, TESOL, AAAL, and TSLL. At ISU, she has taught ISUComm Foundation Courses, as well as a Global Online Course and MOOC, Using Technology in the English Language Classroom. She is currently working as a communication consultant at the Center for Communication Excellence in the Graduate College.
Kim has one husband, two sons, four chickens, and a poodle. She loves hiking, yoga, kayaking, and reading.  She would be happy to provide advice on navigating life as a graduate student and parent, purchasing a home in Ames, or finding places to hike/kayak in the area.
Major Professor: Bethany Gray
Dissertation: Extending our understanding of unpublished graduate student writing: The creation and analysis of CorGrad

Fatemeh Bordbarjavidi

Graduate Student [ENGL]

Fatemeh Bordbarjavidi (2023) is an Adjunct Faculty at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and an Adjunct ESL Instructor at Shorelight. In addition to receiving her Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics & Technology at Iowa State University, she received her MA in TESOL at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) in 2017 and her BA in English Language and Literature at Azad University in Tehran, Iran, her home country. She taught ESL courses at UNI's Cultural and Intensive English Language Program during her master’s program. She also worked as an EFL instructor for four years in Iran. She taught ESL academic writing courses to international graduate and undergraduate students at ISU for three years.
Her research interests include corpus linguistics, academic writing, grammatical complexity, disciplinary variation, Computer-assisted language learning (CALL), Project-based Learning (PBL), and Data-Driven material design.
She is also interested in literature, arts, and theatre. She has translated, and published theatre plays by Joao Rei Villar, a 2011 Emmy Award Winner, from English to Farsi/Persian. Also, she is interested in classical music and plays Santour, a traditional Iranian instrument. She has a small, happy, and adorable Shih Tzu who makes her smile when she looks at his face.

Major professor: Bethany Gray

Dissertation title: Analysis of noun + noun sequences in discipline-specific published research articles


Mo Chen

Affiliate

Mo Chen (2019) holds her first masters degree from University of Cincinnati, majoring in TESL and second masters degree from Carnegie Mellon University, majoring in Applied Second Language Acquisition. Before joining ALT program, she taught ESL reading and writing for one semester and Mandarin Chinese for one year at University of Cincinnati. Her research interests include computer-assisted language learning, automated writing evaluation and corpus linguistics.


YunDeok Choi

YunDeok Choi (2018) is a lecturer in the Department of English Education at the International Graduate School of English, South Korea, where she teaches Research Methods. YunDeok holds an MA in Second Language Studies from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa and an MS in Linguistic from Georgetown University. Her research interests include ESL/EFL writing and speaking assessment, test development and validation, and L2 acquisition.

Major Professor: Carol Chapelle

Dissertation title: Graphic-Prompt Tasks for Assessment of Academic English Writing Ability: An Argument-Based Approach to Investigating Validity


Yoo-Ree Chung

Yoo-Ree Chung (2014) is a lecturer at Yonsei University, South Korea, where she teaches statistics for (applied) linguistics, Korean language assessment, and academic writing. Yoo-Ree holds an MA in linguistics from Yonsei University and another MA in TESL from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Her research interested in assessing productive grammatical ability in academic ESL writing and speaking assessment.

Major Professor: Carol Chapelle

Dissertation title: A test of productive English grammatical ability in academic writing: Development and validation


Kelly Cunningham

Kelly Cunningham (2018) is the director of the Graduate Writing Lab in the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Virginia. Kelly’s recent work has included UX and Systemic Functional Linguistic perspectives of technology-mediated feedback and corpus & discourse analysis of niche genres related to her undergraduate majors of art and mathematics. Her latest venture is a collaboration that aims to bring CALL research into perspective using bibliometrics. Kelly has presented her work widely and published in several journals including CorporaWriting and Pedagogy, and the Journal of English for Academic Purposes.

Major Professor: Tammy Slater

Dissertation title: Modes of Feedback in ESL Writing: Implications of Shifting from Text to Screencast


Emily Dux Speltz

Postdoc Research Associate [ENGL]

Emily Dux Speltz (2023) earned her Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics and Technology, her MA in TESL/Applied Linguistics, and her BA in English from Iowa State University. She currently works as a Postdoctoral Research Associate on the ProWrite research team (PI Dr. Evgeny Chukharev) and as the lab manager for PACE Lab. Her research interests center around the applications of writing-process research to computer-assisted writing pedagogy. During her time as a graduate student, she was a research assistant and co-instructor for ENGL 222X (Artificial Intelligence and Writing) with Dr. Abram Anders. She also taught ENGL/LING 120 (Computers and Language), English 150 (Critical Thinking and Communication), English 250 (Written, Oral, Visual, and Electronic Composition), and Honors 322 (a seminar about philosophy and ethics in NBC's The Good Place). She enjoyed working as a communication consultant and the graduate assistant director at the Writing and Media Center.

Major Professor: Evgeny Chukharev

Dissertation title: Developing and evaluating an approach to individualized, automated, process-focused feedback for university writing instruction


Richmond Dzekoe

Richmond Dzekoe (2013) is an assistant professor and director of the ESL and TEFL programs in the Department of Modern Languages at Marietta College, Ohio. Richmond has developed an online course in introduction to computer assisted language learning for the University of Ghana. He also works with Cardinal Turkson Foundation to enhance the quality of English language education for children in rural communities in Ghana. His research focuses on multimodal communication and L2 acquisition, revision in L2 writing, and the interface of digital technology and communication in the Christian church.

Major Professor: Volker Hegelheimer

Dissertation title: Facilitating revision in the English as a second language (ESL) composition classroom through computer-based multimodal composing activities: A case study of composing practices of ESL students


Idée Edalatishams

Graduate Student [ENGL]

Idée Edalatishams (2022) works at George Mason University as a Faculty ESL Specialist at the Writing Center. Her primary research is in the areas of spoken corpus linguistics, pronunciation, and multilingual speakers' oral communication. She has presented her work at conferences such as AAAL, AACL, PSLLT, CALICO, SLRF, and TSLL. During her time in the PhD program, she has taught ISUComm Foundation Courses as well as graduate and undergraduate ESL courses focused on speaking, writing, listening, and reading skills. She has also worked as a graduate communication consultant at the Writing and Media Center and as a speaking/writing consultant at the Center for Communication Excellence, Graduate College. Back in her home country, Iran, she was an English Translation major as an undergraduate, got a Master’s in ELT, taught English to adults and young adults at several language institutes and Sharif University.

Major Professor: John Levis

Dissertation: A prosodic corpus of teaching assistant classroom speech: Discourse intonation and information structure


Hui-Hsien Feng

Affiliate

Hui-Hsien Feng (2015) is assistant professor at National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology where she teaches sociolinguistics, academic writing, and English communication. Her research interests include computer assisted language learning, second language academic writing, automated writing evaluation, computational linguistics, and corpus linguistics.

Co-Major Professors: Carol Chapelle and Evgeny Chukharev-Khudilaynen

Dissertation title: Designing, Implementing, and evaluating an automated writing evaluation tool for improving EFL graduate students’ abstract writing: A case in Taiwan


Joe Geluso

Graduate Student [ENGL]

Joe Geluso (2019) is a lecturer at Rikkyo University in Tokyo, Japan, where he teaches a variety of topics in English. His research interests include corpus linguistics, phraseology, cognitive and functional theories of language, and research methods in applied linguistics. Joe regularly presents his research at international conferences and has published in journals such as Register Studies, ReCALL, and Computer Assisted Language Learning.

Major Professor: Bethany Gray

Dissertation Title: Frequency, semantic, and functional characteristics of discontinuous formulaic language: A learner corpus study


Monica G. Ghosh

Monica G. Ghosh (2016), formerly Monica Richards, received her MA in TESL/Applied Linguistics at Iowa State University, where she has taught pronunciation, speaking and teaching to international teaching assistants as well as listening/speaking, reading, writing and grammar to students in the Intensive English and Orientation Program. She has also taught a variety of English courses at Xiamen Educational College in Xiamen, China, and has led teacher-training workshops in Sumatra, Indonesia. Her primary research interests lay in pronunciation, second language vocabulary acquisition and CALL. She also enjoys materials development.

Major Professor: John Levis

Dissertation title: Not all word stress errors are created equal: Validating an English word stress error gravity hierarchy.


Jesse Gleason

Jesse Gleason (2013) is an Assistant Professor at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, Connecticut, where she teaches transdisciplinarily in programs such as: Bilingual/Multicultural Education & TESOL, Spanish, and Elementary Bilingual Education. She currently coordinates the World Language Secondary Teacher Certification program. Her teaching/research focuses on teacher education, academic literacy development, and technology-mediated language instruction. She regularly presents her research internationally and has published work in journals such as System, Language, Culture & Curriculum, and Language and Education. 

Major Professor: Tammy Slater

Dissertation title: Technology and tasks for bridging the language content gap: Teacher-researcher collaboration in a third-year Spanish writing course


Nazlinur Gokturk Tuney

Affiliate

Nazlinur Gokturk-Tuney (2020) holds an MA in TEFL from Middle East Technical University, Turkey, and a BA in English Language Teaching from Hacettepe University, Turkey. Prior to joining ISU as a PhD student, she worked as a curriculum coordinator and EFL instructor in the School of Foreign Languages at Hacettepe University. Her research interests include computer-assisted language testing, L2 speaking assessment, task design, and test validation. She has presented at regional, national, and international conferences such as METU ELT Convention, MwALT, LARC, and TESOL, and published in journals including Language Assessment Quarterly. In her spare time, she enjoys taking landscape photography, hiking, traveling, and more recently trying new recipes from Mexican cuisine.

Major professors: Carol Chapelle and Evgeny Chukharev-Hudilainen

Dissertation title: Development and Evaluation of a Spoken Dialog-System-Mediated Paired Oral Task for Measuring Second Language Oral Communication Ability


Maja Grgurovic

Maja Grgurovic (2010) is a teaching and learning specialist with the Teaching and Learning Center at Colorado Technical University Online where she does onboarding and training of online faculty in both synchronous and asynchronous modes. Previously, Maja was a faculty member and administrator at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In that role, in addition to teaching MA TESOL students, she administered the student teaching practicum. Maja’s research interests are blended language learning, CALL, language assessment, and teacher education. Maja has published in Language Learning and TechnologyCALICOInnovation in Language Learning and TeachingReCALL, and TESL-EJ.

Major Professor: Carol Chapelle

Dissertation title: Technology-enhanced blended language learning in an ESL class: A description of a model and an application of the Diffusion of Innovations theory


Sarah Huffman

Program Specialist III [G COL]

Sarah Huffman (2015) is the Assistant Director of the Graduate College’s Center for Communication Excellence at Iowa State University. Her research interests include genre analysis and academic writing instruction, best practices for training graduate student writing tutors, and systemic functional linguistic approaches to language development. Currently, Sarah leads CCE’s Graduate Peer Mentor Program and trains graduate students in the development of strategies for critically analyzing and providing constructive feedback on colleagues’ disciplinary writing.

Major Professor: Tammy Slater

Dissertation title: Exploring learner perceptions of and interaction behaviors using the Research Writing Tutor for research article Introduction section draft analysis


Haeyun Jin

Graduate Student [ENGL]
Haeyun Jin

Haeyun Jin (2022) holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in English Language Education from Seoul National University in Seoul, South Korea. Her research interests include computer-assisted language learning and assessment, integrated writing assessment, and corpus linguistics. She has presented at both local and international conferences such as SSLW, MwALT, and LARC, and published in journals including English for Academic Purposes.

Major professor: Carol Chapelle

Dissertation title: Using a technology-assisted rating tool for assessing integrated English academic writing ability: A validity study investigating rater performance and perceptions


Hee Sung (Grace) Jun

Hee Sung (Grace) Jun (2014) is a Senior Researcher at the TEPS Center, Seoul National University, South Korea, where she works on the development and validation of TEPS, TEPS-Speaking & Writing, and i-TEPS. She has also recently taught CALL and TEFL Materials and Methodology at Ewha Womans University. Her research interests are language assessment, second language writing, and CALL. She has presented in these areas at conferences such as LTRC, AALA, MwALT, EUROCALL, TSLL, and PSLLT. Her work has been published in Language Assessment Quarterly and several journals in Korea, including Journal of Educational EvaluationThe Mirae Journal of English Language and Literature, and Secondary English Education.

Major Professor: Carol Chapelle

Dissertation title: A validity argument for the use of scores from a web-search-permitted and web-source-based integrated writing test


Kadir Karakaya

Graduate Assistant [SOE]

Kadir Karakaya (2017) currently works as an instructional design assistant for Engineering-LAS Online Learning. His primary area of research includes interactionist and sociocultural approaches to instructed Second Language Acquisition. His main research interests are L2 writing, Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL), distance learning, and teacher education. His interests also include instructional design, learner training, and task-based language teaching and learning. He has presented at conferences such as TESOL, CALICO, SLRF, and TSLL.


Yasin Karatay

Postdoc Research Associate [ENGL]

Yasin Karatay holds a BA in English Language Teaching from Anadolu University and an M.A. in TEFL from Bilkent University in Turkey. He taught a variety of English courses at the tertiary level, including academic reading and writing, grammar, technical English, and English 101. He also taught theme-based courses such as Sports as a Way of Life, Photography, and Technology for Professional Students. He has presented at local and international conferences, including MwALT, AAAL, IATEFL and EuroCALL. He has worked as an EFL instructor and assistant director at Duzce University in Turkey. He was a Ph.D. student in the Applied Linguistics and Technology program and a research assistant at Iowa State University. His research interests are computer-based speaking assessment, CALL use in material development and assessment, and English for Specific Purposes.


Hyunwoo Kim

Graduate Student [ENGL]

Hyunwoo Kim (2019) holds a B.A. in English Language Education from Seoul National University, a Master’s degree in English Language Teaching from International Graduate School of English in South Korea, and a PhD in Applied Linguistics and Technology from Iowa State University. He has an official certificate in teaching English and taught English language for 5 years in secondary level EFL courses in South Korea. His research interests include computer-assisted language learning and assessment, L2 writing development, and assessment validation.


Tim Kochem

Lecturer [ENGL]
Kochem Tim

Tim Kochem (2022) is a lecturer in the English Department at Iowa State University. He has presented his work at applied linguistics, general education, and distance education conferences, such as CALICO, AAAL, AILA, the Asian Conference on Education (ACE), and the World Conference on e-Learning (e-Learn). He has published his work in journals such as the International Journal of Distance Education Technologies, TESL-EJ, and the Journal of Interactive Learning Research. His research areas include L2 pronunciation pedagogy, teacher cognitions, educational technology, classroom-based research, and distance education.

Tim received a Miller Open Education Grant, which he used to write an online textbook, Oral Communication for Non-Native Speakers of English, for the English for Teaching Purposes course (ENGL180). He was named an OER Trailblazer for his work on this project by ISU’s Open Educational Resources Grant program. He was also a recipient of the English Department Graduate Student Research Grant, which he used to develop a massive open online course, English Pronunciation Pedagogy. The course had over 2,000 language professionals enrolled from all over the world.

Major Professor: John Levis

Dissertation: Second language teacher cognition development in an online L2 pronunciation pedagogy course: A quasi-experimental study


Huong Le

Huong Le (2017) completed her M.A in TESOL/Applied Linguistics at Iowa State University in 2011 as a beneficiary of the 2009 Fulbright Vietnamese Student Scholarship, and continued to join in the ALT Ph.D program in Fall 2012. Her research interests include Corpus Linguistics, Automatic Evaluation Writing, Curriculum Design, Materials Development, and Formative Language Testing and Assessment. She has taught many ESL courses and two foundational communication courses (ENGL150 and ENGL250) at ISU.


Elizabeth Lee

Elizabeth Lee (2020) earned her Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics and Technology program at Iowa State. She worked on developing and evaluating classroom-based and program-level L2 reading assessments. Elizabeth received an ISU Brown Fellowship Award for the 2018-19 academic year. With the support of the Brown Fellowship, she investigated how assessments can better reflect the standards of the curriculum and diagnose learners' literacy strengths and weaknesses. This project closed some of the mysterious "gaps" that surround L2 reading by developing practical-yet-effective assessment tools.

Major Professor: Tammy Slater

Dissertation title: An evaluation of the English Placement Writing Test using students’ self-assessments and instructors' judgments


Hye-Won Lee

Hye-Won Lee (2015) is a Senior Research Manager at Cambridge Assessment English. She has built extensive assessment development and validation experience at leading organizations including the Center for Applied Linguistics, Educational Testing Service, and Pearson. Her research interests lie in the areas of domain analysis, innovative assessment tasks, and learning-oriented assessment. Hye-Won has presented her work at regional and international conferences such as AAAL, EuroCALL, LTRC, MwALT and SLRF and language assessment workshops for classroom teachers from various parts of the world.

Major Professor: Carol Chapelle

Dissertation title: Innovative assessment tasks for academic English proficiency: An integrated listening-speaking task vs. a multimedia-mediated speaking task


Joo-Young Lee

Joo-Young Lee (2016) is a Senior Test Development Analyst at Pearson. Previously, she taught courses on second language writing assessment, teaching methods of elementary school English, and academic writing at Seoul National University, Busan National University of Education, and Iowa State University. Her primary research interests are in language assessment, automated writing evaluation, academic writing, computer-assisted language learning, and conversation analysis. Her research can be found in Language Testing, Language Learning and Technology, and ReCALL.

Major Professor: Carol Chapelle

Dissertation title: Transfer from ESL academic writing to first year composition and other disciplinary courses: An assessment perspective


Jinrong Li

Jinrong Li (2012) is an associate professor in the Department of Writing and Linguistics at Georgia Southern University. Before that, she taught at Iowa State University and Boston University. Her research interests generally run along three main themes: 1) feedback in teaching second language writing, 2) language teaching, technology, and second language instruction, and 3) information literacy and second language writing pedagogy. Since joining Georgia Southern, Jinrong has also started working with researchers in rhetoric and composition, and has developed strong interests in identifying opportunities for productive collaboration between first and second language writing specialists. She has published her work in a variety of journals including Language Learning & Technology, Journal of Second Language Writing, Assessing Writing, CALICO Journal, and International Journal of Computer-Assisted Language Learning & Teaching (IJCALT).

Major Professor: Volker Hegelheimer

Dissertation title: The effects of synchronous text-based computer mediated communication tasks on the development of L2 and academic literacy: A mixed methods study


Zhi Li

Zhi Li (2015) is an assistant professor in the Department of Linguistics and Religious Studies at the University of Saskatchewan (UoS), Canada. Before joining UoS, he worked as a Language Assessment Specialist at Paragon Testing Enterprises (Vancouver, BC) and a sessional instructor in the Department of Adult Learning at the University of the Fraser Valley (Abbotsford, BC). From 2010-2015, he worked at Iowa State University as a research/teaching assistant, and prior to that, he was a full-time lecturer at Hunan University of Arts and Science, China. His research interests include language assessment, computer-assisted language learning, corpus linguistics, and systemic functional linguistics. He has presented his work at a number of professional conferences such as AAAL, LTRC, CAAL/ACLA, and TESOL. His research papers have been published in System, CALICO Journal, and Language Learning & Technology.

Major Professor: Carol Chapelle

Dissertation title: An argument-based validation study of the English Placement Test (EPT): Focusing on the inferences of extrapolation and ramification


Edna Lima

Edna Lima (2015) is a Lecturer in the Linguistics Department at Ohio University, where she teaches CALL II for graduate students in Linguistics, writing for research for domestic and international graduate students, and oral communication skills for international teaching assistants. She is also the developer and instructor of online courses and online certificate programs. Edna has presented her research at PSLLT, AAAL, the Canadian Association of Applied Linguistics, CALICO, TESOL, and MEXTESOL. She has published her work in JSLP, SystemWorld EnglishesTESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching, book chapters, and conference proceedings. Her research interests include CALL, especially applied to pronunciation instruction, material design, and language testing.

Major Professor: John Levis

Dissertation title: Development and evaluation of online pronunciation instruction for international teaching assistants’ comprehensibility


Stephanie Link

Stephanie Link (2015) is an assistant professor of TESL at Oklahoma State University where she teaches graduate courses in pedagogy, applied linguistics, and research methods. Her primary research interests are in the development and evaluation of emerging technologies for computer assisted language learning with a special focus on L2 writing, genre analysis, systemic functional linguistics, and automated writing evaluation. Her research can be found in the Journal of English for Academic Purposes, Journal of Second Language Writing, SYSTEM, CALICO Journal, and the CALICO Monograph Series.

Major Professor: Tammy Slater

Dissertation title: Development and validation of an automated essay scoring engine to assess students’ development across program levels


Hong Ma

Hong Ma (2016) received her PhD in Applied Linguistics and Technology from Iowa State University. Her primary research interests lay in CALL, corpus linguistics, and language testing. Her work has been published in CALICO Journal, System, and Writing & Pedagogy. While at Iowa State, she led multiple research projects, which developed and evaluated a pattern grammar inspired computer-assisted vocabulary-learning tool (PAT GRAM).

Major Professor: Carol Chapelle

Dissertation title: Developing and evaluating a pattern grammar inspired CALL tool: PAT GRAM


Shannon McCrocklin

Shannon McCrocklin (2014) is an Assistant Professor at Southern Illinois University- Carbondale where she teaches classes in TESOL, including courses in Teaching Speaking and Listening to NNSs and CALL. Her research interests include methods for pronunciation teaching and effectiveness of technology for language learning. Her work has been published in System, TESL-EJ, Canadian Modern Language Review, and the Journal of Second Language Pronunciation. She has presented at CALICO, PSLLT, and AAAL.

Major Professor: John Levis

Dissertation title: The potential of Automatic Speech Recognition for fostering pronunciation learners’ autonomy


Rania Mohammed

Hourly Employee

Rania Mohammed (2019) graduated from the Applied Linguistics and Technology program. She received her MA degree in TESL and Applied Linguistics at Iowa State University in 2013 and her BA in English language at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Prior coming to ISU, she worked for three years as an EFL instructor teaching General English classes to college-level students in Saudi Arabia. She also taught English for Specific purposes for medical students as well as Medical Terminology courses. Her research interests include prosodic features of formulaic language and material design.


Reza Neiriz

Graduate Student [ENGL]

Reza Neiriz (2023) is a Machine Learning Engineer at MetaMetrics. In addition to his Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics & Technology from Iowa State University, he holds a BA in English Language and Literature from Urmia State University, and an MA in English Language Teaching from Middle East Technical University, Northern Cyprus Campus. He is interested in Computerized and Computer-Mediated Language Teaching, and he has developed and researched a computer-mediated academic speaking test. He is also interested in web application development through Asp.Net, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and SQL Server technologies, and has used these technologies to develop language assessment solutions. He has presented at BUSEL and IATEFL conferences about computer-mediated academic productive skills tests. He has also worked as an academic English instructor and course material development and material assessment coordinator at Middle East Technical University, Northern Cyprus Campus.


Phuong Nguyen

Graduate Student [ENGL]

Phuong Nguyen is a language assessment specialist at the University of Chicago where she gives workshops on test design and development to language instructors, helps them with their test development projects, develops new language tests, and conducts test validation research. Her research interests include performance assessment, technology-mediated language learning and assessment, program evaluation, and corpus linguistics.


Anne O’Bryan

Anne O’Bryan (2010) is an online lecturer with numerous programs related to applied linguistics, such as the University of Massachusetts-Boston’s MA Applied Linguistics program where she teaches courses in SLA theory and psycholinguistics. Anne also teaches graduate courses in Wilmington University’s online MS TESOL program and is an associate faculty member in Ashford University’s undergraduate Applied Linguistics program. She continues to supervise graduate student research in the area of CALL and has presented her work at a number of professional conferences, including TESOL, CALICO, and USDLA. Her work has been published in CALICO, ReCALLTESL-EJ, and the Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics.

Major Professor: Volker Hegelheimer

Dissertation title: Investigating the impact of segmented and whole-text repetition on listening comprehension, comprehension processes, and comprehension problems


Moonyoung Park

Moonyoung Park (2015) is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction, Faculty of Education, Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK).  His research interests include English for Specific Purposes (esp. Aviation English), computer-assisted language learning, task-based language teaching, task-based performance assessment, and language program development and evaluation. Moonyoung has received grants for research on mobile augmented-reality technologies in English and task-based virtual English learning. Moonyoung publishes regularly in international journals such as his work on aviation English published in ReCALL (2018).

Major Professor: Carol Chapelle

Dissertation title: Development and validation of virtual interactive tasks for an aviation English assessment


Hardi Prasetyo

Graduate Student [ENGL]

Agustinus Hardi Prasetyo (2023) holds a Bachelor of Education in English Language Education from Sanata Dharma University, Indonesia, and an MA in Applied Linguistics from the University of Queensland, Australia. His main research interests are second language assessment (language assessment literacy) and second language teacher education.

Major professor: Gary Ockey

Dissertation title: Scenario-based language assessment: Developing a language assessment literacy test for Indonesian teachers of English as a foreign language


Mandy Qian

Affiliate

Mandy Qian (2018) received her BA in English with a specialization in IT management from Guangdong University Foreign Studies. She graduated from her MA study at ISU in Spring 2012 and is currently a PhD student in the ALT program at ISU. Mandy’s teaching experiences include working with middle school students on English reading, grammar and reading, and with college students on English writing and grammar. Her research experience has been related to designing teaching materials that are to published by the Department of State of America. Mandy’s primary research interests include second language acquisition, pronunciation, language testing and technology.


Ivana Rehman

Lecturer [ENGL]

Ivana Rehman (2021) is a lecturer in the English Department at Iowa State University where she teaches courses in academic writing and business communication. Her research interests are in second language pronunciation and computer assisted language learning. She has presented her work at national and international conferences (e.g., Pronunciation in Second Language Learning and Teaching, English Pronunciation: Issues & Practices, and Acoustical Society of America Meetings) and published in a variety of journals (e.g., Language Teaching Research, Studies in Second Language Acquisition, and Speech & Communication).


Victor D. O. Santos

Victor D. O. Santos (2017) is Data and Assessment Manager at Oregon-based Avant Assessment. Victor also has his own award-winning, language-learning start-up company called Linguacious. His main academic interests are language learning and language testing. Some of his personal interests are music, reading, traveling, stand-up comedy, learning languages and understanding how the world functions.

Major Professor: Carol Chapelle

Dissertation title: A computer-adaptive test of productive and contextualized academic vocabulary breadth in English (CAT-PAV): Development and validation


Aysel Saricaoglu

Aysel Saricaoglu (2015) is an assistant professor at Social Sciences University of Ankara, Turkey. Her research interests include computer-assisted language learning, automated writing evaluation, corpus linguistics, academic writing, and complexity. Her work has appeared in CALICOCALL, and ReCALL.

Co-Major Professors: Carol Chapelle and Evgeny Chukharev-Khudilaynen

Dissertation title: A systemic functional perspective on automated writing evaluation: Formative feedback on causal discourse


Alif Silpachai

P&S Temporary [ENGL]

Alif Silpachai (2021) received his MA in Linguistics from the University of Southern California and his BA in Linguistics from the University of California, Los Angeles. His primary research interests include pronunciation and phonetics.

Major professors: John M. Levis and Evgeny Chukharev-Hudilainen

Dissertation title: Consonant-induced pitch perturbations, domain-initial strengthening, and word learning success in a tone language


Karina Silva

Instructional Technology Specialist III [CELT]

Karina Silva (2013) is a lecturer in the Intensive English and Orientation Program (IEOP) at Iowa State University (ISU). She teaches English classes in IEOP and courses in IEOP teacher training programs. She has also taught a graduate courses in the English department. Her research interests include teacher education, Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL), distance education, and the use of virtual worlds for language learning and teaching. She has published papers in TESL-EJ and the Journal of Digital Learning and Teacher Education. She is currently researching about university undergraduate students’ needs to succeed in their freshman year at ISU.

Co-Major Professors: Carol Chapelle and Volker Hegelheimer

Dissertation title: Preparing language teachers to teach in virtual worlds: Analyzing their content, technological, and pedagogical needs


Jordan Smith

Graduate Student [ENGL]

Jordan Smith (2019) holds a BA in English language from Brigham Young University and an MPC (master of professional communication) from Weber State University. His research interests lie primarily in the area of English Language Studies, focusing specifically on using corpus linguistic methods to study issues related to English standardization, variation, and grammar. Outside of school, Jordan enjoys running and fitness, trying to keep up with what people are saying about popular music, and spending time with his wife and three young daughters.


Ruslan Suvorov

Ruslan Suvorov (2013) is an associate professor in applied linguistics at the University of Western Ontario, Canada, where he teaches courses in second language assessment and computer-assisted language learning (CALL). His research interests lie at the intersection of language testing and assessment, CALL, and instructional technology and design, with a particular focus on second language listening and the applications of eye tracking in language assessment contexts. Ruslan has given numerous conference presentations and workshops and published in peer-reviewed journals (e.g., Language Testing, CALICO Journal), edited volumes, conference proceedings, encyclopedias, and research reports. He is a co-author of Blended language program evaluation (with Paul Gruba, Mónica Cárdenas-Claros, and Katherine Rick; Palgrave Macmillan, 2016).

Major Professor: Carol Chapelle

Dissertation title: Interacting with visuals in L2 listening tests: An eye-tracking study


Shu-Ju Diana Tai

Shu-Ju Diana Tai (2013) is a Professor of School of International Education and School of Arts and Law at Beijing University of Chemical Technology. Her research focuses on the following areas: Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL), particularly technology for pronunciation, oral communication, and writing; Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK); teacher education in CALL through TPACK-in-Action model; Computer Assisted Language Testing (CALT); English for Specific Purpose (ESP); and International Education. She presented at various conferences, including CALICO, Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE), International Conference on Computers in Education (ICCE), and Midwest Association of Language Learning Technology (MwALLT) and published in Language Learning and Technology Journal (LL&T), Proceedings of SITE and ICCE, and the Handbook of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) for Educators (2nd edition).

Major Professor: Volker Hegelheimer

Dissertation title: From TPACK-in-Action Workshops to English Classrooms: CALL Competencies Developed and Adopted into Classroom Teaching


Xuan Teng

Xuan Teng (2015) holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics and Technology and an MA in in Teaching English as a Second Language/Applied Linguistics from Iowa State University. He has taught first-year Mandarin Chinese courses in Arizona State University and a variety of ESL classes at Iowa State University. His research interests include language testing, computer-mediated communication, the development of oral proficiency, and the use of computer technology for academic writing.

Major Professor: Carol Chapelle

Dissertation title: Languaging in cyberspace: A case study of the effects of peer-peer collaborative dialogue on the acquisition of English idioms in task-based Synchronous Computer-Mediated Communication


Kristin Terrill

Graduate Student Services Specialist I [G COL]

Kristin Terrill (2023) holds a BA in English and a MA in Professional Writing, both from Northern Arizona University. Her research is in the area of English for Academic Purposes, with a focus on thesis and dissertation writing. Kristin has taught composition, English for native speakers of other languages, and an Honors course on preparing scholarship applications. Kristin has presented her research at the American Association for Corpus Linguistics (2018) conference, the British Association of Lecturers of English for Academic Purposes (2019) conference, and the International Conference on Writing Analytics (2019).

Major professor: Elena Cotos

Dissertation title: Graduate peer writing consultants as a community of practice: A study of how genre-based tutoring in a writing center affects international dissertation writers and their writing


Sonca Vo

Graduate Student [ENGL]

Sonca Vo (2019) received her MA in TESL from Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA in 2011 as a Fulbright recipient. She has had experience teaching English as foreign language at University of Foreign Languages—the University of Danang, Vietnam for nearly 8 years. Her research interests include pronunciation, corpus linguistics, language assessment, curriculum and materials development, and second language teaching methods. Sonca has presented her work at Annual TESOL Graduate Student Forum, Arizona TESOL Conference, and Australian Council of TESOL Associations International TESOL Conference. She has published in journals such as CALICO, TESL-EJ, and Journal of Australian Council of TESOL Associations.


Erik Voss

Erik Voss (2012) is a Lecturer at Teachers College, Columbia University in New York City. His research interests include language testing and technology, corpus linguistics, validation research, and computer-assisted language learning (CALL). He has presented at national and international conferences, including AsiaTEFL, CALICO, ECOLT, LTRC, MATSOL, MwALT, and TESOL, and published in Assessing Writing, Corpora, Language Testing & Technology, and Working Papers in TESOL and Applied Linguistics (Teachers College Columbia University), as well as in conference proceedings and encyclopedia chapters. Dr. Voss was a co-organizer of SLRF 2011 held at Iowa State University. He is a member of the executive board for the International Language Testing Association (ILTA) and has served as webmaster for ILTA and secretary of the Midwest Association of Language Testers (MwALT).

Major Professor: Carol Chapelle

Dissertation title: A validity argument for score meaning of a computer-based ESL academic collocational ability test based on a corpus-driven approach to test design


Ngan Hoa Vu

Ngan Hoa Vu (2016) received her PhD in Applied Linguistics and Technology from Iowa State University. While at Iowa State, she worked as a webmaster for the Applied Linguistics program website. She was also a research assistant for Dr. Elena Cotos’ project to validate the interpretation of TOEFL iBT® Speaking scores for ITA screening and certification purposes. Her research interests include second/foreign language learning, CALL, and language testing. She also developed interests in exploratory data analysis, data mining, and data visualization.

Major Professor: Volker Hegelheimer

Dissertation title: Predictive modeling of human placement decisions in an English writing placement test


Yongkook Won

Graduate Student [ENGL]

Yongkook Won (2019) is a visiting researcher at the Center for Educational Research, Seoul
National University, South Korea. His recent research focuses on investigating fairness in
language testing, designing algorithms for automated essay/speech assessment, and enhancing
language teaching and learning using Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) tools.

Major Professor: Gary Ockey

Dissertation title: The effect of task complexity on rater severity in an adaptive performance-
based second language oral communication test


Jing Xu

Jing Xu (2015) is a Senior Research Manager at Cambridge English Language Assessment. His research focuses on English language assessment, validity theory, and computer-assisted language learning. Jing has published research papers in refereed journals such as Language TestingLanguage Assessment Quarterly, and CALICO, authored two book chapters, co-edited a volume, and contributed five entries to the second edition of Greenwood Dictionary of Education. He has also disseminated his research at various conferences including AAAL, AERA, CALICO, ECOLT, LTRC, MwALT, NAFSA, and SLRF.

Major Professor: Carol Chapelle

Dissertation title: Predicting ESL learners’ oral proficiency by measuring the collocations in their spontaneous speech


Taichi Yamashita

Graduate Student [ENGL]

Taichi Yamashita (2021) is a Researcher at the Eiken Foundation of Japan. His research interests include computer assisted language learning, instructed second language acquisition, and second language assessment. He has published articles in peer-reviewed journals, such as Foreign Language Annals, Computer-Assisted Language Learning, Language Learning & Technology, and Research Methods in Applied Linguistics. His non-academic interests include badminton, table tennis, and reversi.


Hyejin Yang

Hyejin Yang (2016) is a lecturer at Yonsei University in Korea, where she teaches courses about computer-assisted language learning and English pedagogy in a graduate program of English education. She is also working as a lecture in an online English course at Sookmyung Women’s University. Her research interests focus on language assessment, CALL, and L2 speaking and writing. Her work has been published in one of the CALICO Monograph seriesSystemCALICO Journal.

Major Professor: Carol Chapelle

Dissertation title: Integration of a web-based rating system with an oral proficiency interview test: Argument-based approach to validation


Ziwei Zhou

Graduate Student [HCI]

Ziwei Zhou (2020) is a graduate of the Applied Linguistics and Technology program. He holds a Master of Education in TESOL degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Arts in English from the Central South University of Forestry and Technology in China. His research interests include phonology acquisition, pronunciation instruction and pedagogy, music cognition and speech, music-based pedagogical approaches, and critical sociolinguistics. During his time at ISU, he taught ENGL 150: Critical Thinking and Communication. Prior to this, he also taught English to immigrants and refugees in Philadelphia in the U.S, and local high school students, college students, as well as working adults in China. In addition to teaching and research, he worked with a crew of musicians and arts designers in developing music-based pedagogical products including textbooks, audios and videos, TV shows, etc.

Major professor: Gary Ockey