2025 AAAL Candidates
Second Vice President Candidate: Glenn Martínez
Secretary Candidate: Virak Chan
Member-at-Large Candidate: Doris Warriner
FFAL Trustee: Scott Jarvis
Nominating Committee Candidates (4 will be elected):
- Dustin Crowther
- Nelson Flores
- Shaofeng Li
- Kevin McManus
- Miguel Pérez Milans
- Tracy Quan
- Bedrettin Yazan
- Lawrence Jun Zhang
Book Award Committee Candidates (2 will be elected):
Dissertation Award Committee Candidates (3 will be elected):
Distinguished Public Service Award Committee Candidates (2 will be elected):
Second Vice President Candidate
The University of Texas at San Antonio
"Glenn Martínez is professor of Spanish, Bicultural/Bilingual Studies, and Public Health, Dean of the College of Liberal and Fine Arts, and Stumberg Distinguished University Chair at The University of Texas at San Antonio. Martínez’s research focuses on the applied linguistics of language in healthcare contexts and language and culture practices as a catalyst for health equity. His research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Patient-Centered Research Outcomes Institute, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the US Department of Education, among others. He has authored and co-authored multiple books on issues related to Spanish in healthcare and Spanish in the United States. His work has also appeared in top journals including Language Policy, Applied Linguistics, Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, Patient Education and Counseling, and Academic Medicine. Martínez serves the applied linguistics profession as co-editor-in-chief for Applied Linguistics.
"Glenn Martínez has served AAAL in various capacities. He has been a member of the Association since 2004, having presented over a dozen times at the conference. He served two terms as chair of the Resolutions Committee working with members and leaders to introduce the 2013 Resolution Affirming Commitment to Promote Diversity in AAAL. Additionally, he served on the Executive Committee as Treasurer of AAAL from 2017-2021. As Treasurer, Martínez worked with the EC to ensure the long term financial stability of the Association in the face of significant pandemic-related challenges. He also worked with the FFAL Trustees to enhance the fund through a strategic development process that has continued up to the present. Currently, Martínez serves AAAL as FFAL Trustee."
Secretary Candidate
Purdue University
"Dr. Virak Chan is a Clinical Associate Professor in literacy and language at Purdue University, where he advances research and practice in language education. He leads a study abroad program to Cambodia, offering students firsthand experience in international education and fostering cross-cultural understanding. Additionally, he coordinates the English Language Learner (ELL) pathway for the undergraduate teacher education program, preparing future educators to support linguistically and culturally diverse students. His dedication to teacher preparation extends to mentoring students and collaborating with faculty to integrate best practices in ELL education.
A native of Cambodia, Dr. Chan earned a Bachelor of Education in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) before moving to the United States. He spent over a decade training English teachers and coordinated a Master’s program in TESOL for two years, shaping the professional development of educators in multilingual settings. As a Fulbright scholar, he earned his M.A. in TESOL from San Jose State University in 2008 and later completed his Ph.D. in Culture, Literacy, and Language at the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2016. His research focuses on language and education policies, instructional practices for diverse learners, teacher development, bilingual and multilingual education, and linguistic landscapes.
"Beyond his academic and teaching commitments, Dr. Chan has been an active member of the American Association of Applied Linguistics (AAAL) for over a decade. In recognition of his scholarly contributions, he received the AAAL Graduate Student Award in 2016. Over the years, he has actively engaged with the association in various capacities, including serving as a conference volunteer, a mentor in the AAAL mentoring program, and a strand coordinator for the Bilingual, Immersion, Heritage, and Language Minority Education (BIH) strand. Through these roles, he has contributed to the professional growth of emerging scholars and the advancement of research in applied linguistics."
Member-at-Large Candidate
Northwestern University
"I am currently a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Northwestern University. Prior to this appointment, I was Professor in the Department of English at Arizona State University. My areas of expertise include language and ideology; language and culture; analysis of discourse and interaction; educational linguistics; and research methodology. In my research and teaching, I draw on theoretical and methodological approaches from applied linguistics, educational anthropology and linguistic anthropology to investigate the social, political, economic, and ideological dimensions of language, literacy, and mobility. For instance, I have examined how narratives of lived experience are collaboratively constructed, historically influenced and ideologically mediated; the symbolic and material effects of social practices, understandings and policies that are influenced by large-scale processes such as displacement; and the values attached to various ways with words and ways of knowing.
"I have been an active contributing member of the American Association of Applied Linguistics (AAAL) since 2004—organizing colloquia, serving as strand coordinator, mentoring new scholars, and chairing the Distinguished Scholarship and Service Award Committee. I also regularly attend and present at the AILA conference. For me, AAAL has been an intellectual “home” that I happily return to each year and also an exciting community that inspires me with its contributions to theoretical innovation, methodological rigor, and interdisciplinary collaborations. I also appreciate the organization’s commitment to fostering critical perspectives on questions of equity and inclusion—and to translating those understandings into action. I would welcome the opportunity to serve the organization as Member-at-Large and would strive to make contributions with integrity in order to continue moving the organization forward."
Fund for the Future of Applied Linguistics (FFAL) Trustee Candidate
Northern Arizona University
"Scott Jarvis is the Stoller-Grabe Endowed Distinguished Professor of Applied Linguistics at Northern Arizona University. He is also currently serving as Editor-in-Chief of Language Learning, and has just completed a four-year term as Treasurer of the American Association for Applied Linguistics. His main areas of research are crosslinguistic influence, lexical diversity, and forensic linguistics. His recent research has inter alia investigated conceptual transfer, comprehension and comprehensibility of legal language, and the modeling and measurement of lexical diversity.
"Scott's qualifications for the position of FFAL Trustee include his years of service as AAAL Treasurer (2021–2025), Executive Director for Language Learning (2015–2021), and department chair at both the University of Utah (2017–2023) and Ohio University (2004–2009). Scott has been a member of AAAL since 1998."
Nominating Committee Member Candidate
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
"I am an associate professor in the Department of Second Language Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. My primary research agenda emphasizes the attainment of intelligible speech for additional language speakers, inclusive of both speaker- and listener-based variables. Specifically, I take into account the linguistic and intercultural considerations that define native-nonnative and nonnative-nonnative interaction. Given the increased global spread of English, much of my research is informed by Global Englishes scholarship. I have been a AAAL member since 2014 and have previously served AAAL in multiple roles. First, I was a member of the Conference Connections committee from 2019–2022, and then served as the committee chair from 2023–2024. This committee put AAAL student members into contact with senior members during the annual conference as a means of providing mentorship. I additionally served as coordinator for the phonology and oral communication strand for the 2023 (co-coordinator) and 2024 (sole coordinator) conferences. Finally, in 2023, I served as a panelist for a workshop designed to provide first-time attendees with guidance on how to best make use of their time at the annual conference.
"As chair of the Conference Connections committee, I was required to become highly familiar with AAAL’s senior, junior, and student membership (in my last year as chair, the committee paired 221 student members with 131 junior/senior members). To ensure student members were provided with the best mentorship possible, I was required to be well aware of the range of specializations and expertise that exist across the AAAL membership. This experience, and the familiarity that comes along with it, will greatly serve me as a member of the AAAL Nominating Committee. Through Conference Connections, as well as multiple university-level general education committees, I am highly experienced working as a collaborative member of a committee team."
Nominating Committee Member Candidate
University of Pennsylvania
"Nelson Flores is a professor in educational linguistics and affiliated faculty with the Center for Latin American and Latinx Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. His research examines the intersection of language and race in shaping U.S. educational policies and practices. He has been the recipient of many academic awards including the 2022 AERA Early Career Award, 2020 Graduate Center of the City University of New York Graduate of the Last Decade, 2019 James Alatis Prize for Research on Language Planning and Policy in Educational Contexts, 2017 AERA Bilingual Education SIG Award and a 2017 Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship. He has previously served on the AAAL Virtual Communities Task Force and the AAAL Outreach Award Committee. He is also a regular mentor via AAAL Conference Connections as well as the AAAL Graduate Student Council Mentoring Roundtable and has engaged in a range of informal initiatives focused on promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in the organization and the field."
Nominating Committee Member Candidate
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
"Shaofeng Li is Professor of Applied Linguistics at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, where he conducts research and teaches courses on second language acquisition and language pedagogy. He received a Ph.D. in Second Language Studies from Michigan State University. Dr. Li has published on a wide range of topics including task-based language teaching and learning, corrective feedback, second language writing, research methods, meta-analysis, and cognitive and affective individual difference factors such as anxiety, motivation, language aptitude, and working memory. His publications constantly appear in leading journals in the field of applied linguistics, such as Applied Linguistics, Applied Psycholinguistics, Language Learning, Language Teaching, Language Teaching Research, Modern Language Journal, Studies in Second Language Acquisition, TESOL Quarterly, among others. He is the founding editor and editor-in-chief of Research Methods in Applied Linguistics, the first and only journal focusing exclusively on research methods in applied linguistics. He is also the book review editor of TESOL Quarterly, and the co-editor-in-chief of Digital Studies in Language and Literature. He is included in the Stanford University list of the world’s top 2% most influential scientists. His recent book projects include a monograph on task-based language teaching, an edited volume on individual difference factors in second language acquisition, and an edited volume on individual differences and task-based language teaching and learning. He serves on the editorial boards of a number of journals and has given plenary and keynote speeches at various academic venues. He has held university positions in the U.S., New Zealand, and China.
"Shaofeng Li has been involved in AAAL in various roles. He has served as coordinator of review panels since 2022. In 2022, he coordinated the abstract reviews for the strand of second language acquisition, and from 2023 to 2025, he handled the review process for the strand of research methods. Since 2011, he has served as an abstract reviewer almost every year for the annual conference. He has organized five colloquia, with themes including individual differences in task-based language teaching (2025), methodological innovations (2023), individual differences in second language acquisition (2022), implicit language aptitude (2021), and meta-analysis (2013). In 2022, he introduced a plenary speaker at the annual conference. He has also contributed to other events at AAAL, such as the editors’ forum, board meetings of journals, etc. Since 2006, he has attended the annual conference and given more than 20 presentations."
Nominating Committee Member Candidate
The Pennsylvania State University
"I am an associate professor at Penn State (joining the University of Pittsburgh in fall 2025), where I also direct the Center for Language Acquisition and the Center for Advanced Language Proficiency, Education, and Research, a Title VI Language Resource Center. In my research, I study how socio-cognitive factors (e.g., awareness, attention, immersion, instruction) shape and support second language (L2) learning, using experimental, corpus-based, and observational techniques. I have also developed significant expertise in replication research, shaped by my interests in research design and the use/quality of evidence in theory development. I offered a pre-conference workshop at AAAL 2025 drawing on my expertise in replication studies."
Prior involvement in AAAL
"My involvement in AAAL started with conference participation and then as a reviewer for different strands over the years. I have also contributed significantly to AAAL as colloquium organizer, discussant, and mentor through AAAL’s Conference Connections initiative. Most recently, I served on the Dissertation Award Committee (2021-23). During this time, I collaborated with others in reviewing the dossiers of many excellent dissertations in our discipline. I am excited to be able contribute to AAAL’s mission as a member of the nominating committee."
Qualifications for the position
"In addition to my AAAL service, I have held several office positions for other professional associations, including the ACTFL (Chair, dissertation award committee) and the Association for French Language Studies (membership secretary, workshops coordinator). These experiences as well as those from Penn State (as faculty member and research center leader) have provided me substantial experiences required for this committee. For example, I have developed significant breadth of understanding about our field and the different ways in which we think about and research language and its use. I also have considerable experience in journal editing, event co-ordination and planning, and collaboration."
Nominating Committee Member Candidate
University College London
"I am Full Professor of Language, Discourse and Communication and Co-Director of the UCL Centre for Applied Linguistics at UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society, University College London (UK). I received my PhD. in Socio- and Applied Linguistics from the Autonomous University of Madrid (Spain), followed by postdoctoral fellowships at King’s College London (2010-2011) and The University of Hong Kong (2011-2012). I have also worked as Assistant Professor at The University of Hong Kong (2012-2015) before joining University College London in 2016.
"I have been Co-President elect of the EDiSo Association for Studies on Discourse and Society (2019-2023). I am former Co-Editor in Chief of Language Policy journal (Springer, 2020-2025), and co-founder and former Editor of Language, Culture and Society (John Benjamins, 2019-2024). I’m currently Co-Editor in Chief of London Review of Education (UCL Press) and Working Papers in Urban Language and Literacies. I have been actively involved in AAAL as elected member of the Book Award Committee (2022-2025) at which I have also acted as Chair for the last year (2024-2025).
"I believe that my disciplinary trajectory and my experience in leading positions at AAAL and beyond constitute useful qualifications for the AAAL Nominating Committee, a committee that requires knowledge and a particular understanding of the association, its past trajectory and its future aspirations. I hope I am given the trust to continue contributing to this organisation."
Nominating Committee Member Candidate
University of Colorado, Boulder
"I am an Assistant Professor of Hispanic Linguistics in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Prior, I was on the faculty at Colby College and then the University of Delaware, where I was also director of the world language teacher education program. My areas of expertise include second and heritage language education, study abroad, and critical language pedagogies, with particular emphasis on the intersections of language, identity, and ideology. My research has appeared in journals such as Modern Language Journal, L2 Journal, and Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, and in edited volumes like the Routledge Handbook of Study Abroad Research and Practice. I have co-edited (with Rebecca Pozzi and Chelsea Escalante) a book titled ""Heritage Speakers of Spanish and Study Abroad"" (Routledge). I have presented and led multiple workshops and webinars for students, researchers, and practitioners locally and internationally. While my research and teaching focus on Spanish, my previous experiences teaching English abroad as well as my background as a Cantonese heritage speaker have influenced and broadened my scholarly work, interests, and collaborations.
"I have been a member-at-large of AAAL since 2015 and an active presenter at several annual conferences. I have served as the SLA strand co-coordinator for the 2021 annual conference. Additionally, I have been a mentor to three graduate students as part of the 2022 and 2023 Conference Connections program. In service to the profession, I am currently on the Foreign Language Annals editorial board and the expert panel for assessing Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition’s (CARLA) Title VI Resource Center Grant. I believe my ample academic and professional experiences, along with my commitment to advancing the field of applied linguistics through AAAL, have prepared me to partake in the integral and important work of the Nominating Committee."
Nominating Committee Member Candidate
University of Texas at San Antonio
"Hi colleagues, my name is Bedrettin Yazan. I am a scholar of identity and critical autoethnography focusing on educator preparation at the nexus of ideologies, emotions, and agency. I work as an Associate Professor in the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio. I have experience teaching English in Türkiye and preparing teachers to work with English language learners in the US. I have served TESOL and AAAL in various roles (e.g., Public Affairs and Engagement Committee, Conference Strand Coordinator, Nominating Committee, Interest Section Chair, Conference Connections Committee). My research focuses on language teacher learning and identity, collaboration between ESL and content-area teachers, language policy and planning, and world Englishes. Methodologically, I am interested in critical autoethnography, narrative inquiry, and qualitative case study. I am currently serving as the co-editor of TESOL Journal and associate editor of International Multilingual Research Journal and Second Language Teacher Education. I also have a book series with Bloomsbury Academic called Critical Approaches and Innovations in Language Teacher Education.
"I am interested in serving the AAAL community as part of the nominating committee since I have prior leadership experience at TESOL and AAAL, which has prepared me for that potential role. I've been a committed member of AAAL and served the organization in different roles. I would like to maintain that commitment and service in a new role because it is my academic home and I believe I have more to learn from more experienced colleagues who have been leading the organization."
Nominating Committee Member Candidate
University of Auckland
"Dr Lawrence Zhang is Chair Professor of Linguistics-in-Education and Associate Dean, Faculty of Arts and Education, University of Auckland, New Zealand. He is a long-time AAAL member. His research spans cognitive, linguistic, sociocultural and developmental factors in reading/biliteracy development, critical reading awareness in language education, metacognition, self-regulated learning (SRL) and reading development in L1 and L2 contexts, bilingual/biliteracy acquisition and bilingual/biliteracy education in primary and secondary schools, and learning and teaching English as a second/foreign language at university settings, the effects of self-regulated reading and writing instruction on bilingual/biliteracy development, emotions in learning and teaching, and teacher identity and cognition in language teacher education. Dr. Zhang was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at University of Oxford's Department of Education. He was the sole recipient of the TESOL Award for Distinguished Research 2010-2011 awarded by the TESOL International Association. In 2016, he was honored with the recognition by TESOL International Association with the award of "50 at 50", which acknowledged "50 Outstanding Leaders" in the world in the field of TESOL. He has served TESOL as a member of the nominating committee and the Board of Directors. He has also worked as Chair on the TESOL Quarterly editors search committee. He has served AAAL on the Outstanding Research Paper Award committee. Dr Zhang has worked as an editorial board member for several international journals, including Applied Linguistics Review, Journal of Second Language Writing, RELC Journal, TESOL Quarterly, System, among others. He has just completed his 7-year service as co-Editor-in-Chief for System (Elsevier). He is also one of top 2% most-cited Linguists in the Stanford University Academic Rankings."
Book Award Committee Member Candidate
Shanghai International Studies University
"I am professor of Multilingual Education at the University of Iowa and visiting professor of Language Planning and Policy at Shanghai International Studies University. My areas of expertise are Educational Linguistics, Language Policy and Planning, and Multilingual Education. I have been a member of AAAL for about 20 years and coordinator for the LPP strand for the past three years.
"Before joining the University of Iowa in 2013, I held faculty positions in education and linguistics at Washington State University and Texas A&M University and I was a visiting lecturer at the University of Equatorial Guinea and the University of Costa Rica. I serve on six journal editorial boards, the Board of Trustees for the Center for Applied Linguistics, and I am the co-editor in chief (with Angel M.Y. Lin) of the journal ""Language Policy"".
"I have published four books with competent and inspiring co-authors, two of which have been translated into Chinese. The most recent is ""Epistemological and Theoretical Foundations in Language Policy and Planning"" (2023, with Gazzola, Gobbo, and Leoni de León). I am currently working on the second edition of ""Language Policy"" (2013, Palgrave Macmillan). I am committed to AAAL, and happy to serve in any capacity, but I won't be upset if you vote for someone else."
Book Award Committee Member Candidate
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
"Hyun-Sook Kang (Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania) is an Associate Professor and the Program Coordinator of Global Studies in Education within the Department of Education Policy, Organization & Leadership in the College of Education at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA. She is also an Affiliate Faculty in the Centers for East Asian and Pacific Studies and Global Studies and for the Women and Gender in Global Perspectives Program. She studies language practice and ideologies in relation to global mobility and internationalization of education.
"Since 2003, Hyun-Sook has been an AAAL member and presenter over time as a graduate student and faculty member. She has taken on different roles, such as a conference proposal reviewer, conference strand coordinator, mentor for an AAAL Conference Connections program, and member of an AAAL Professional Development subcommittee.
"In her current faculty position, Hyun-Sook mentors many diverse students pursuing their advanced degrees in Education, both online and on-campus, by exploring a wide range of topics and issues including educational justice in the US and globally. She has been active in serving the Applied Linguistics community, by reviewing proposals and manuscripts for monographs and edited books, as well as journal article and conference paper submissions. She is Co-Editor of the Journal of Language, Identity & Education.
"Hyun-Sook’s research, teaching, and service experience, along with her long-term engagement with AAAL, will position her to make a meaningful contribution to the AAAL Book Award Committee."
Book Award Committee Member Candidate
University of California, Irvine
"Jerry Won Lee is a professor of applied linguistics in the Department of English at the University of California, Irvine. He currently serves as Director of the Program in Global Languages & Cultures and as Director of the International Center for Writing & Translation. His areas of expertise include the sociolinguistics of globalization, critical applied linguistics, and world Englishes. He first presented at the AAAL Annual Meeting in 2013 when he was a graduate student at the University of Arizona. For the conference he has served as coordinator for the Language & Ideology strand, co-coordinator for the Sociolinguistics strand, and abstract reviewer for the Educational Linguistics strand. He has also served on the Distinguished Scholarship & Service Award Committee (2022). He is the author of several articles and book chapters and the author/editor of eight books. Recent books include: the Handbook of Translanguaging co-edited with Li Wei, Prem Phyak, and Ofelia Garcia (Wiley-Blackwell forthcoming); Entangled Englishes, co-edited with Sofia Rudiger (Routledge 2025); Language as Hope, co-authored with Daniel Silva (Cambridge University Press 2024); and Locating Translingualism (Cambridge University Press 2022), which is the winner of the 2024 AAAL Book Award."
Book Award Committee Member Candidate
The Ohio State University
"I am pleased to be considered for the AAAL Book Award Committee (2026-2029). I have been an active member of AAAL for many years and would like the opportunity to serve the organization that has supported me professionally and has been an important space for my academic growth. Writing a book is an ambitious undertaking; the AAAL Book Award is the most prestigious award for book authors in our field and an important way to recognize and support colleagues who – like AAAL as an organization – are pushing applied linguistics forward.
"I am a Professor of Multilingual Language Education at the Ohio State University. My research focuses on the sociolinguistics of language education. I look at intersections of language learning and teaching, identity, and ideologies within an educational social justice framework. I have worked extensively in Mexico and Latin America and bilingual education and ESL contexts with Latine students in the U.S. I have over 50 publications including two books. I have advised many doctoral students; I was a Fulbright Scholar (Mexico) and English Language Specialist (Philippines) and have done keynote talks in eight different countries.
"I first joined AAAL as a doctoral student in 2004. Since then, I have participated in 16 AAAL conferences, including as a paper presenter, colloquia organizer, discussant, and graduate student mentor. Since 2010, I have served as a proposal reviewer and have reviewed for various strands.
"I have extensive experience reviewing research articles and book manuscripts. From 2019-2022 I served as co-editor of the TESOL Journal. I am currently on the editorial board of TESOL Quarterly, JLIE, and IMRJ. I have also served as an ad hoc reviewer for no fewer than 24 journals including AEQ, Applied Linguistics, and MLJ and book manuscripts for multiple publishers."
Dissertation Award Committee Member Candidate
Arizona State University
"Dr. Katie Bernstein is an associate professor in early childhood and emergent bilingual education at Arizona State University. She holds a PhD in Language, Literacy, and Culture with a specialization in second language acquisition from UC Berkeley. Katie’s research focuses on young emergent bilingual students and the contexts that shape their learning–from peer interactions, to teachers’ and school principals' beliefs about language learning, to state language policies impacting dual language programs. Katie was winner of the 2016 AAAL Dissertation Award and the 2024 AAAL Research Article Award (with co-authors). Her research has also twice been nominated for TIRF’s James E. Alatis Prize in research on language policy and planning in education.
"Katie has served AAAL as a proposal reviewer for over a decade and as the 2022 and 2023 strand coordinator for Language, Culture, and Socialization. She has also been a Conference Connections mentor since 2019 and spoken twice at AAAL Graduate Student Council events. Beyond AAAL, Katie has served on multiple research award committees through the American Educational Research Association, including the Language and Social Processes SIG’s Emerging and Early Career Awards and the Second Language Research SIG’s Mid-Career Award. Katie founded a graduate student/early career research mentoring program for AERA’s Language and Social Processes SIG in 2015 and co-chaired it until 2018. Katie served from 2020-2023 as editor-in-chief of the open-access, trilingual EuroAmerican Journal of Applied Linguistics and Languages and is currently associate editor for two other journals. She has reviewed proposals and books for Multilingual Matters and Routledge, as well as grant proposals for the Spencer Foundation’s Large Grant Program and the National Academy of Education (NAEd)/Spencer Dissertation Fellowship Program. She would love to bring these experiences back to serve AAAL on the Dissertation Award Committee."
Dissertation Award Committee Member Candidate
University of Miami
"I am an Associate Professor at the University of Miami. My interdisciplinary work focuses on language teaching and learning with a focus on digital literacies for immigrant students. I have written widely in the field about translanguaging and cultivating teacher's critical multilingual language awareness. I am the former Awards Committee Chair for the Writing and Literacies SIG at AERA. This year, I was a member of the Dissertation Award Committee for the Second Language Research SIG at AERA. I have been an active member at AAAL from my time as graduate student to the present, and I attend and share my research almost every year at AAALs annual conference. I would be honored to serve on the dissertation award committee and I am committed to amplifying the work of early-career scholars."
Dissertation Award Committee Member Candidate
University of Auckland
"As an interdisciplinary scholar, traversing applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, education, and sociology, it initially took me some time to find my academic ‘home’. AAAL is that for me. I have been attending and presenting at AAAL since 2003. I have also previously served on the AAAL Book Award Committee (2018-2020), so being a member of the Dissertation Award Committee would further my longstanding involvement in AAAL, as well as providing an international perspective.
"I am a Professor of Education in Te Puna Wānanga (School of Māori and Indigenous Education) at the University of Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand. My work traverses language rights, language policy, language revitalization, Indigenous, bilingual and multilingual education, the ""multilingual turn"" in language teaching, critical ethnography, and language and race/ism. I have published over 120 articles and chapters, along with 26 books, including Language and minority rights (2nd ed., 2012), and The multilingual turn (2014). My most recent book is Critical ethnography, language, race/ism and education (2022, with Blanca Caldas). I was Series Editor of the Encyclopedia of Language and Education (3rd ed., 2017), and I am a founding co-editor of the journal Ethnicities (2001 - ). I am Coordinating Editor of the Language, Education and Diversity Book Series (Multilingual Matters; 2020 - ) and Co-Editor of Studies in Minority Languages and Communities (Palgrave; 2019 - ). I am an AERA Fellow and a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand (FRSNZ). My personal homepage is https://stephenamay.com .
"As a critical, interdisciplinary, language educator, I am passionately committed to issues of Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. My academic career has focused on how to achieve more equitable schooling experiences and outcomes for minoritized bi/multilingual students in too-often monolingual and highly discriminatory education systems. As a White, cis-gender male, I am always cognisant of my positionality and aim to be as critically reflexive as possible in both my life and my work. As best I can, I apply the principles of relationality, reciprocity and accountability, as outlined in Kaupapa Māori research, the Indigenous research framework developed by Linda Tuhiwai Smith (2012), in my longstanding collaborative work with Indigenous scholars and scholars of color."
Dissertation Award Committee Member Candidate
Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning
"Dr. Paul Meighan is a Gael sociolinguist specializing in the sociopolitical dimensions of applied linguistics and multilingualism, with a particular focus on colonialingualism, decolonizing language education, and Indigenous language reclamation. He currently teaches ESL at Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, Canada.
"Dr. Meighan holds a PhD in Educational Studies from McGill University (2023), an MA in TESOL from Trinity Western University (2019), and a BA in European Studies from King’s College London (2006). His research examines how colonial mentalities and structures shape language policies, student identities, and literacy practices, with an emphasis on advancing linguistic and epistemic justice for Indigenous and minoritized communities. His work has been published in leading international journals, including AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, Language Policy, and the Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. He is also co-editor of the forthcoming Routledge Handbook of Racial and Epistemic Inequity in Applied Linguistics.
"Since 2019, Dr. Meighan has been actively involved in the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL), serving in various leadership roles. He was a member of the Graduate Student Award Committee (2021), led the social media sub-committee for the AAAL Graduate Student Council (2022), and participated in the AAAL Future of the Conference Taskforce (2022). He has engaged in scholarly discussions on language rights, epistemic justice, and Indigenous language revitalization, reflecting a commitment to fostering equity in applied linguistics. His experience and research background as an early career scholar position him well to serve on the AAAL Dissertation Award Committee, where he can evaluate innovative research that advances equity and inclusion in applied linguistics. For more information on Dr. Meighan’s work, visit his academic website www.paulmeighan.com."
Dissertation Award Committee Member Candidate
University of Tokyo
"I am a Project Assistant Professor in the Center for Global Education at the University of Tokyo, where I teach academic writing courses and content courses in applied linguistics. I completed my M.A. at the University of Hawai‛i at Mānoa and Ph.D. at Carnegie Mellon University. My research examines the intersections of race, language, and identity, focusing on the experiences of multicultural and Multiethnic individuals. I am particularly interested in the ways language is used to negotiate identity, justify discrimination, and perpetuate ethnoracial and gender inequalities. My work has been featured in the Journal for Multilingual and Multicultural Development, the Journal of Identity, Language, and Education, and ELT Journal.
"I have been an active member of AAAL since 2015, regularly presenting and attending conferences. Although I was unable to run for AAAL leadership roles in the past due to maternity leave and child-raising, I am finally ready and honored at another opportunity to run/serve. Outside AAAL, I regularly review abstracts for conferences and journal article manuscripts for organizations such as the Japan Association of Language Teachers and the Journal for Multilingual and Multicultural Development. I also regularly work with Ph.D. students, reviewing and advising them on their writing and dissertation research.
"I am also highly committed to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in all aspects of my work. I run an organization called “Diversity Cafe” at the University of Tokyo, which regularly holds events to promote social dialogue and awareness of DEI issues among faculty and students. In addition, I serve on the University of Tokyo’s DEI Research Division, which works to address the needs of underrepresented community members.
"I am honored to stand for election for the AAAL Dissertation Award Committee and would look forward to the opportunity to serve."
Dissertation Award Committee Member Candidate
Hunter College, City University of New York
"Maverick Y. Zhang is on faculty at Hunter College, City University of New York. Maverick's scholarship deals with the complexity of multicultural and multilingual education in connection with various issues such as those around race, class, nationality, and sociopolitical struggles. Their areas of expertise include discourse studies, multilingual education, teacher education, qualitative methodology, critical posthumanism, critical literacy, and functional linguistics.
"Over the past six years, besides working closely with AAAL Past-President Linda Harklau, Maverick has been actively involved in AAAL as a conference presenter (for six consecutive years), GSC committee member, GSC webinar speaker, Multilingual Matters graduate roundtable co-organizer, and student mentor. In addition to completing their dissertation two years ago, Maverick was also trained in qualitative research design, has published singled-authored, original empirical studies via several peer reviewed journals in the field of applied linguistics, studied and collaborated with applied linguists across the world (e.g., Canada, U.S., UK., Hong Kong SAR) and in different theoretical paradigms, and is currently mentoring final year doctoral students in their dissertation writing. A junior faculty at a public university, Maverick dedicates their time to mentoring language teachers, doctoral students, and serving professional organizations at the national/international level."
Distinguished Public Service Award Committee Member Candidate
University of Oslo
"Pia Lane is Professor of Multilingualism at the Department of Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies, University of Oslo. She is the coordinator of Centre for Multilingualism in Society across the Lifespan (MultiLing) and PI of the project Indigenous language resilience: From learners to speakers (in collaboration with Professor Haley De Korne). Her research focuses on multilingualism in Northern Norway, with a particular emphasis on language policy, language shift and language revitalisation in relation to Indigenous and minoritised languages. Pia Lane has attended the AAAL conference since 2022, and in addition to presenting her own research, she has reviewed abstracts for the Language Maintenance and Revitalization and Language Planning and Policy strands and has served as a mentor.
"Her publications include From Silence to Silencing? Contradictions and Tensions in Language Revitalization. Applied Linguistics, 44 (5): 833–847, Standardizing Minority Languages: Competing Ideologies of Authority and Authenticity in the Global Periphery, Routledge (co-edited with James Costa and Haley De Korne 2017) and Negotiating Identities in Nordic Migrant Narratives - Crossing Borders and Telling Lives. Palgrave (co-edited with Bjørghild Kjelsvik and Annika Bøstein Myhr 2022). She is co-founder and co-editor-in-chief of Linguistic Minorities in Europe Online (LME), published by De Gruyter.
"Since 2026, Pia Lane has been Norway’s national member on the Committee of Experts for the European Charter for Regional or Minority languages (under the auspices of the Council of Europe). She served as a member of the Norwegian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (2018-2023), a parliamentary commission of inquiry. The Commission’s task was to investigate the Norwegian government's Norwegianisation policy and injustice against the Sámi, Kven/ Norwegian Finns and Forest Finns, to examine the repercussions of this assimilatory policy, and to propose initiatives for further reconciliation."
Distinguished Public Service Award Committee Member Candidate
University of Massachusetts Lowell
"Dr. Chris Montecillo Leider is assistant professor education in the School of Education at University of Massachusetts Lowell. Her work focuses on multilingualism, teacher beliefs about language diversity, collaborative ethnographic methods with scholars and educators of color, and policy and civil rights issues regarding teacher education and racialized multilingual learners’ access to education. She is the elected president of MATSOL, a former ESL and Spanish language teacher, and a proud Filipina American who grew up in southeast Alaska. She believes in the power of community collaboration and advocacy and currently supports an ELL Task Force in her hometown in advocating for the civil rights of classified English learners. She is project director and principal investigator of Responsive Opportunities for Personalized Educator Systems and Supports, a federally funded grow your own bilingual teacher development grant that takes a grassroots, community cultural wealth approach to diversifying the teacher workforce. Dr. Leider has attended and presented at AAAL for the past several years and is the co-chair of the 2025 Conference Colloquium, Contesting Boundaries and Identities in Applied Linguistics: Insights from Asian Diaspora Scholars, Activists, and Allies. She deeply appreciates that AAAL aims to recognize public service through the Distinguished Public Service Award."
Distinguished Public Service Award Committee Member Candidate
University of Regina
"I am a Professor of Language and Literacies Education and the Associate Vice-President (Research) at the University of Regina, Canada. My research is grounded in critical applied linguistics, with an overarching focus on the relationship between settler colonialism and language. In my research projects, I have examined language variation and multilingualism in educational institutions, language-in-education policy and practice, and Indigenous language revitalization.
"For the past decade, I have been actively involved in applied linguistics organizations. From 2014 to 2020, I served as Vice President, President, and Past President of the Canadian Association of Applied Linguistics (ACLA-CAAL). I have also contributed to the International Association of Applied Linguistics (AILA) as a committee member for the Policy Endorsement Committee and the Solidarity Scholarship Adjudication Committee. As a member of AAAL, I have presented my research at annual conferences, reviewed proposals for the Bilingual, Immersion, Heritage, and Minority Education (BIH) and Sociolinguistics (SOC) strands, and participated in discussions that foreground issues of social justice in language education. Currently, I serve as a trustee on the board of the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL), volunteer as a member of the editorial board for the Canadian Modern Language Review, and act as a series co-editor for the Handbooks of Applied Linguistics series with De Gruyter Mouton.
"My qualifications for the Distinguished Public Service Award Committee are rooted in my extensive leadership experience, my dedication to fostering inclusive research practices, and my commitment to applied linguistics as a force for positive social change. My critical approach to language education aligns with the committee’s mandate to recognize contributions that elevate the public impact of applied linguistics."
Distinguished Public Service Award Committee Member Candidate
Seattle Colleges
"As Professor Emerita at Seattle Colleges and former president of TESOL International Association (2014-2015), I bring over 40 years of experience in Applied Linguistics and TESOL as a teacher educator, program leader, and researcher. I have authored numerous publications, including the recent book, The Development of Personal Learning Environments in Higher Education: Promoting Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learner Autonomy (Routledge, 2024), and served as Chief Editor for the ""Foreign Language Teacher Education and Development"" series by Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. My involvement with AAAL started in 1996.
"My extensive public service includes serving on the Human Rights Committee of the Washington State American Federation of Teachers (2021-present), the Adult Education Advisory Committee of OCTAE (Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education), U.S. Dept of Education (2010-2016), being a Fulbright Senior Scholar in Taiwan (2011-2012), acting as Fulbright Liaison for Seattle Colleges (2022-present), and serving on the National Screening Committee for U.S. Fulbright Student Programs since 2014. I was the founding president of the Macao Association of Applied Linguistics (2016-2018) and currently serve on advisory boards for several TESOL programs. I maintain strong connections with global language educators and have delivered over 100 keynote and featured presentations in over 60 countries. In 2021, I was recognized by the U.S. Department of State’s English Language Specialist Program as one of 30 specialists making a lasting impact on TESOL.
"As a transnational critical applied linguist and pracademic, I am deeply committed to advancing AAAL’s mission and goals. With a global perspective gained from my work in China, Macau, Canada, and the USA, I have actively promoted Culturally Responsive Teaching, social justice, and anti-bias and anti-racism (ABAR) initiatives in teaching, research, and faculty professional development. I look forward to serving on the Distinguished Public Service Award Committee and utilizing my extensive experience to recognize non-AAAL members whose efforts raise public awareness about critical social issues related to language."