ABOUT ME
As a kid, my family moved around the United States a lot. Since my family was always moving to new places, I loved traveling, and always felt drawn to people who had themselves traveled far. I guess that's why I like working with international students! I began teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages in 2005, and I love that I keep meeting new people and learning new things while helping students reach their goals. I've been at Lehigh for 9 years now, and my favorite part of my job is helping international students discover the hidden gem that is Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Welcome!
Education
Ph.D., Applied Linguistics
Ball State University
M.A., TESOL
Murray State University
B.A., Spanish & Art History
Vanderbilt University
Philosophy of Teaching
My teaching philosophy is a constant pursuit of an ever more student-centered classroom. My goal is to limit my own lecturing to less than 20% of class time. I’m not “there” yet, but I’ve increased the amount of student activity and student talk in all my classes. My administrative philosophy is to serve as a teacher coach, fostering teacher agency and facilitating each teacher’s individual, autonomous professional growth. Our students benefit from our department’s diversity of teaching styles.
Professional Interests
- Dialect equality
- Teaching composition to ESL students
- Teacher coaching
- Culture
- Tutoring international students
Selected Professional Presentations
- 2023 "First-Year Writing and ESL Integration: A Case Study." Conference on College Composition and Communication, Chicago, Illinois.
- 2023 "Comparing Sheltered vs. Mainstream FYW Sections for Multilingual Writers." Conference on College Composition and Communication, Chicago, Illinois.
- 2021 "First-Year Composition and ESL Integration: A Case Study." TESOL, Houston, Texas.
- 2019 "How Can We Get Them to Speak English?: Multilingualism in Higher Education." With Mark Ouellette. Symposium on Teaching and Learning, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
- 2019 "Scaffolding First-Year Composition Students to Research through Eco-composition." Conference on College Composition and Communication, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
- 2017 "Raising Environmental Awareness with University Writing Activities and Group Projects." With Jennifer Lund and Jennie Roloff Rothman. TESOL, Seattle, Washington.
- 2011 “Connecting Memory and Research Through Eco-Composition.” Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment. Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.
- 2011 “Communicating Across Cultures: The Role of Culture In the Tutoring Session.” With Elmar Hashimov. East Central Writing Center Conference, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan.
- 2011 “The Southern Dialect in Kokomo, Indiana.” Practical Criticism Midwest, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana.
- 2009 “The Translation of Protestant Hymns into Korean.” Language and Linguistics Student Conference, University of Central Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
- 2009 “Telling Half the Story: The Absence of Discourse Transcriptions in Neurolinguistic Research.” Practical Criticism Midwest. Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana.
Publications
- 2018, April 24. "Teaching ESL Writers Research Through Eco-Composition." Environmental Responsibility Professional Learning Network Newsletter, no. 8. With Mary Newbegin, Teresa Cusumano, and Kayla Landers
- 2013 “Eco-Composition: Blending Memoir and Research Paper.” Chapter in the online teaching guide for The Colors of Nature: Culture, Identity, and the Natural World, pp. 85-97. Edited by Alison Hawthorne Deming and Lauret E. Savoy. Minneapolis: Milkweed Editions.
- 2012 “Teaching Dialect Awareness in the College Composition Classroom: An Evaluation.” Dissertation accepted and submitted in fulfillment of requirements for a Ph.D. in English.
- 2012 “Teaching Linguistic Diversity through Theater Arts.” Film submitted as part of the project “Inclusive Pedagogy and Diversity: Education for the 21st Century.” Film, Ball State University. With David Concepción.
- 2009 “Connecting Memory and Research Through Eco-Composition”. Indiana English, Volume 31, Number 1. As Ashley Nicole Ellison.
Languages Spoken
English, Spanish, Korean