2021 Panelists

Researcher Panel

Panel facilitated by: Amelia Tseng, American University

Dr. Amelia Tseng is Assistant Professor in World Languages and Cultures. Her research addresses how language shapes and is shaped by identity across immigrant generations in Latinx diasporic contexts, focusing on multilingualism, dialect variation, discourse, and understandings of ethnocultural identity. Dr. Tseng is Principal Investigator on the Washington, D.C. Latinx Language and Identity project (DCLLIP). She holds a research appointment at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, is affiliate faculty in Anthropology and the Center for Latin American and Latino studies at American University, and directed the American University Bilingual Education program from 2014-2016. Her university teaching and research have been recognized through awards from American University, Georgetown University, the Society for Applied Anthropology, and the National Science Foundation.

Luis Cerezo, American University

Dr. Cerezo is Associate Professor of applied linguistics and Director of the Spanish language program at American University (Washington, DC). He has also served as a consultant, for example at companies like Berlitz and at the Fulbright Commission. His research investigates how to maximize the learning and teaching of additional languages through videogames, computer-mediated communication, and hybrid and online curricula premised on instructional approaches such as guided induction, metacognitive instruction, and vicarious interaction. Author of various games, simulations, and short films, his scholarly work has been published in journals like Studies in Second Language Acquisition, Computer Assisted Language Learning, and Language Learning & Technology.

Shannon Sauro, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Dr. Shannon Sauro (Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania; Docent, Malmö University), is a specialist in technology-mediated language teaching and learning in the Department of Education at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), USA. She has taught at universities in the United States and Sweden. Her areas of research include the intersection of online fan practices and language learning and teaching as well as the role of virtual exchange/telecollaboration in language teacher education. She is an associate editor for the journal Language Learning & Technology, a past president of the Computer-Assisted Language Instruction Consortium (CALICO) and is currently an executive board member for UNICollaboration (new window), an international organization for virtual exchange.

Nicole Ziegler, University of Hawaii at Manoa

Dr. Nicole Ziegler is Associate Professor of Second Language Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her research agenda focuses on instructed second language acquisition, task-based language teaching (TBLT), and computer-assisted language learning (CALL). Her primary interests include the investigation of task-based interaction and the role of corrective feedback in traditional and computer-mediated contexts on learners’ perceptions, development, and performance. Dr. Ziegler’s research also explores the role of language in the commercial shipping industry (Maritime English), focusing specifically on the development of authentic task-based materials based on the linguistic, communicative, and pragmatic needs of this unique context.