American Association For Applied Linguistics Logo

Meet the 2026 AAAL Election Candidates

Second Vice President Candidate: Agnes Weiyun He
FFAL Trustee: Charlene Polio
Member-at-Large Candidate: Stephen May

Nominating Committee (Four will be elected):

JEDI (3yr) (One will be elected):

JEDI (2 yr) (One will be elected):

Second Vice President Candidate

Agnes Weiyun He
Stony Brook University  

Agnes Weiyun He is SUNY Distinguished Professor of Applied Linguistics, Founder and Director of the Center for Multilingual and Intercultural Communication (MIC) at Stony Brook University, and Past Secretary of AAAL (2022-2026).  A multilingual scholar whose life has unfolded across many boundaries, she brings to applied linguistics a deep commitment to understanding languages as vital human resources that sustain dignity, diversity, collective well-being, as well as the development of cognition.

Agnes received her BA in English from Beijing Foreign Studies University, a Diploma in Education from the National Institute of Education (Singapore), an MA in English as a Second Language from the University of Arizona, and a PhD in Applied Linguistics from UCLA. Focusing on heritage language socialization and intercultural communicative competence, her scholarship foregrounds lived experience and cultural and interactional situatedness. Her research has been supported by the Spencer Foundation, the U.S. National Academy of Education, the U.S. National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Education. She was named a Guggenheim Fellow in 2011.

Agnes is the author and editor of four books, including Voices of Immigration (2025, Cambridge University Press), and numerous articles that have helped shape scholarship in heritage language studies, language socialization, and discourse analysis. She was among the earliest scholars to demonstrate how heritage languages challenge essentialist notions of identity, community, and culture by emphasizing contingency, hybridity, and indeterminacy. Her work has appeared in journals such as Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, Language in Society, The Modern Language Journal, Journal of Pragmatics, Research on Language and Social Interaction, Linguistics and Education, Journal of Narrative and Life History, The Heritage Language Journal, and Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, among others.

Agnes is recognized for her dynamic, innovative, and inclusive academic leadership. She has a long record of fostering interdisciplinary collaborations that elevate research standards, broaden intellectual participation, and promote cultures of shared inquiry. This is reflected in her service as Director of MIC (2014–present), Chair of the Department of Asian and Asian American Studies (2014–2020; 2023–2024), a member of editorial boards and international review panels, as well as Secretary of AAAL. Her leadership vision is to cultivate an intellectually rigorous, ethically grounded, and holistically inclusive scholarly community that empowers applied linguistics not only to participate in, but to help lead, the work of defining and narrating our times.

FFAL Trustee

Charlene Polio
Michigan State University  

I am a professor at Michigan State University in the Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures, where I direct the MA in TESOL and Applied Linguistics and teach in the Second Language Studies Ph.D. Program. My research interests focus on language learning and research methods in multilingual writing, and more recently, on corpus-based analyses of published research. I maintain a keen interest in research that benefits language teaching and learning. I am a current outgoing co-editor of TESOL Quarterly. For AAAL, I have served as a member-at-large, former newsletter editor, and former editor of Annual Review of Applied Linguistics. I have also served on several AAAL committees including the Dissertation Award Committee and the Promotion and Tenure Guidelines Revision Task Force. During my time at Michigan State University, I have mentored many graduate students, and I look forward to serving on a committee whose purpose is to support graduate students.

Member-at-Large Candidate

Stephen May
University of Auckland  

Dr Stephen May
Tēnā koe, hello
I am Professor of Māori and Indigenous Education in the Faculty of Education and Social Practice, University of Auckland, New Zealand. 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. My work encompasses 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 130 articles and chapters, along with 27 books on these topics, including, most recently, Mobilizing multilingual identities: Language policy, teaching, and learning (2026). I am a founding co-editor of the journal Ethnicities (2001 - ), 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.


I have been attending and presenting at AAAL since 2003. I have also previously served on the AAAL Book Award Committee (2018-2020), and was elected last year as a member of the Dissertation Award Committee. I would welcome the opportunity and privilege to serve as an AAAL member at large, and would bring to the position my interdisciplinarity, wide international engagement, and my long collaborative involvement in and commitment to the scholarship of social and educational justice.

Nominating Committee Candidate

Sender Dovchin
Curtin University  

Professor Sender Dovchin is a Senior Principal Research Fellow and Dean International at Curtin University, Australia. She is also an Australian Research Council Fellow and a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Research Fellow. Previously, she worked at the University of Aizu in Japan and the National University of Mongolia. Professor Dovchin has also served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, the nation's top journal. She currently holds the position of Editor-in-Chief for Critical Inquiry into Language Studies, an international Q1 journal. As a world-leading applied linguist, Professor Dovchin has been recognized by The Australian Research Magazine in 2021, 2024, and 2025 as the top linguist in the nation and among the top 250 researchers across all fields in Australia. She is also ranked in the top 2% of the most cited scholars globally, according to the Stanford University citation database. Proud of her Mongolian heritage, Professor Dovchin actively incorporates Southern theories, including Indigenous perspectives, into her work. She has led multiple high-impact research projects focused on empowering people from Indigenous, refugee, and migrant backgrounds in Australia and beyond. Professor Dovchin has authored numerous research monographs and edited volumes with prestigious international publishers such as Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press. Additionally, she has published over 70 peer-reviewed journal articles, widely regarded as benchmarks of scholarly excellence in the discipline.

Regarding my extent of involvement in AAAL, I have been actively engaged with the association in several capacities over recent years. I served as a member of the AAAL Book Award Committee for two years, contributing to the review and selection of scholarly works that advance the field. In 2023, I was invited to deliver a plenary keynote, which reflects both recognition of my research leadership and my longstanding contribution to applied linguistics. In addition, I have supported early career scholars by serving as a mentor in the AAAL Early Career Mentorship Workshops, helping emerging researchers navigate publication, career development, and equitable research practices. With regard to my qualifications for the position, my record demonstrates extensive scholarly leadership and service within the field. I am an internationally recognised researcher in applied linguistics, with a strong track record of publications, competitive research funding, editorial experience, and deep engagement with both academic and community stakeholders. My service to AAAL, combined with my broader contributions to applied linguistics scholarship—including keynote invitations, editorial leadership, community impact, and sustained mentorship—positions me well to contribute meaningfully and responsibly in this role.

Nominating Committee Candidate

Sihui (Echo) Ke
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University  

Dr. Sihui (Echo) Ke is an Associate Professor at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Her research focuses on second language reading. She has led and collaborated on multiple externally funded projects, including grants from the Hong Kong Research Grants Council and the U.S. Department of Education. She has received the 2025 Association for Reading and Writing in Asia (ARWA) Award for Mid-Career Excellence and the 2018 ACTFL Research Priorities Initiative Award.

Dr. Ke has been an active member of AAAL for over a decade, serving as a frequent presenter, colloquium organizer, and abstract reviewer, as well as Second Language Acquisition Strand Co-Coordinator for the 2021 AAAL Conference. She also brings extensive editorial experience as a board member and reviewer for leading journals, and has served as a reviewer for major awards, including the ACTFL-NFMLTA/MLJ Paul Pimsleur Award for Research in World Language Education and the AERA Division H Outstanding Publications Awards.

In seeking election to the Nominating Committee, Dr. Ke aims to leverage her research expertise in applied linguistics along with her deep familiarity with AAAL's scholarly community. She is committed to providing services to AAAL, foster disciplinary diversity, and promote collaboration between Asian and international academia in applied linguistics.

Nominating Committee Candidate

ChengChen Li
Shanghai Jiao Tong University  

Chengchen Li is a Full Professor of Applied Linguistics at the School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China. Her research interests encompass positive psychology, second language (L2) writing, task-based language teaching, and bilingualism. She has published over 60 articles in internationally refereed journals, such as Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, The Modern Language Journal, and Studies in Second Language Acquisition.

She is the author of the monograph A Positive Psychology Perspective on Chinese EFL Students’ Emotional Intelligence and Classroom Emotions (Wuhan University Press, 2020) and the forthcoming book The Underlying Factors and Mechanisms of Foreign Language Learning Engagement Among Rural Left-Behind Children: A Positive Psychology Perspective (Shanghai Jiao Tong University Press, 2026). Professor Li serves as Co-Editor of the Journal of Multilingualism and Multicultural Development, Associate Editor of Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching and Contemporary Foreign Language Studies, and Book Series Editor for Routledge Studies in the Psychology of Language Education. She also sits on the editorial boards of several prestigious journals, including Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, The Journal for the Psychology of Language Learning, and Research Methods in Applied Linguistics.

Additionally, she holds the position of Vice President of the International Association for the Psychology of Language Learning. Dr. Li’s research contributions have been recognised by her inclusion in Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers list (2024-2025) and Stanford’s World’s Top 2% Scientists list (2022-2025).

She has been actively involved with AAAL in multiple capacities over the years. Her engagement includes regular attendance at AAAL meetings and conferences, where she has presented as an individual and served as a symposium organiser (2025), as well as several years of service as an abstract reviewer. Furthermore, she serves on the association's editorial board for its flagship journal, the Annual Review of Applied Linguistics.

She believes that her active engagement, relevant background, and strong research interests make her an excellent candidate for this position.

Nominating Committee Candidate

Anna Mendoza
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign  

I am an Assistant Professor of Linguistics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where I coordinate the MA TESOL practicum with the local refugee center. Hence, my current research interests involve trans/plurilingual pedagogies in community education for older adult learners (aged 30+) with limited exposure to print literacy. Prior research on trans/plurilingual pedagogies in different settings has appeared in TESOL Quarterly, Journal of Language, Identity, & Education, System, Foreign Language Annals, Modern Language Journal, Journal of English for Academic Purposes, and the book Translanguaging and English as a Lingua Franca in the Plurilingual Classroom (Multilingual Matters). Currently, I am working on a co-edited book titled Research Methodologies in Plurilingualism in Language Education (Routledge), and a special issue of the journal Babylonia titled “Using Students’ Other Languages in Language Teaching and Learning.” I am a peer reviewer for the BIH and DIS strands at AAAL and have served on the Conference Connections committee for the last two years. I also serve on the editorial boards of TESOL Quarterly and Foreign Language Annals and am Associate Editor of International Multilingual Research Journal. These experiences have given me organizational skills, international networks, and broad disciplinary knowledge for serving on the Nominating Committee.

Nominating Committee Candidate

Miguel Perez-Milans
University College London 

I am Professor of Language, Discourse and Communication and Co-Director of the UCL Centre for Applied Linguistics at the University College London. I have worked in higher education for over 20 years in Spain, Hong Kong, the Chinese Mainland and the United Kingdom. I have also been Co-Editor-in-Chief of various journals, including: Language Policy (Springer); Language, Culture and Society (Benjamins); and London Review of Education (UCL Press). I've always been interested in the ethnographic study of how language and communication mediate wider institutional, socioeconomic, political and historical configurations, and in the role of everyday meaning-making practices in the (un)making of alternative worlds. I have closely collaborated with linguistic minorities, educators, and social organisations as they strive for social change and for lives worth living. My involvement with AAAL goes back many years and has entailed various roles, more recently as Member (and Chair) of the Book Award Committee (2022-2025). Although based outside the US, I feel deeply connected with many colleagues at different career stages within the association, including people that I have worked with in different places and service capacities over the years. I hope this long-term commitment to the network can be of help to the Nominating Committee.

Nominating Committee Candidate

Nihat Polat
University of Maryland

A first-generation college graduate who grew up in a bilingual Kurdish-Turkish community, Dr. Polat earned his Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics and Foreign Language Education from The University of Texas at Austin. He has had over 15 years of leadership experience at various institutions as Department Chair, Associate Dean, Center Director, etc. His research is situated at the intersection of applied linguistics, teacher education, and educational psychology. He studies how people learn and use additional languages, what individual and socio-cultural variables affect processes of learning and using multiple languages, and how we can prepare educators and develop innovative pedagogies to help multilingual learners succeed in K-12 education. Along these lines, he has authored/co-authored over 50 peer-reviewed publications, including five books. Many of his works have been published in journals including Applied Linguistics, TESOL Quarterly, Modern Language Journal, etc. He has also conducted over 100 invited and peer-reviewed scholarly presentations at major conferences. He has received several institutional and foundation grants, while also receiving five institutional research awards (e.g., Presidential Scholarship Award, Early Career Faculty Award for Excellence in Scholarship). Recently, he received the 2022 Leadership through Research Award from the Second Language Research SIG of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). He has served as chair of the Applied Linguistics Intersection at TESOL (2015) and on multiple review panels (e.g., Fulbright National Screening Committee, U.S. Department of Education).

Nominating Committee Candidate

Naoko Taguchi
Northern Arizona University  

Naoko Taguchi is Professor in the English Department at Northern Arizona University, where she teaches courses in applied linguistics and TESOL. Her primary research interests include second language pragmatics, intercultural communication, technology-enhanced language learning, and English-medium education. Her recent books include the Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics Pragmatics Volume (2025, Wiley), Generative AI and Pragmatics: Implications for Research, Teaching, and Assessment (in preparation; Cambridge University Press) and the Routledge Handbook of SLA and Pragmatics, 2nd Edition (in preparation, Routledge). She is the co-editor of Language Learning (Wiley) and Applied Pragmatics (John Benjamins). She currently serves on 14 editorial and advisory boards for journals, book series, and professional organizations. For AAAL, she served as an abstract strand coordinator for Pragmatics six times (2009-2024), as a Member-at-Large on the Executive Committee (2016-2021), and as a member and the chair of the Nominating Committee (2013-2015). 

Nominating Committee Candidate

Francis Troyan
The Ohio State University  

Francis John Troyan is Professor of Multilingual Language Education and Interim Associate Chair of the Department of Teaching and Learning, as well as affiliated faculty in French and Italian, at The Ohio State University. His teaching and research focus on language teacher education, performance assessment, and language teacher identities and ideologies. During his time as a member of AAAL, he has served as proposal reviewers for a number of strands and, most recently, as a strand co-coordinator for second and foreign language pedagogy. His research has appeared in The Canadian Modern Language Review, Foreign Language Annals, Language and Education, System, Teaching and Teacher Education, and Language and Sociocultural Theory. He is a co-editor of The Routledge Handbook of Research in World Language Instruction (2025), as well as a co-author of Implementing Integrated Performance Assessment (2023) and Implementing Integrated Performance Assessment (2013). He received the 2022 ACTFL/NYSAFLT Anthony Papalia Award for Excellence in Teacher Education and the 2018 Northeast Conference Stephen A. Freeman Award for Best Published Article on Teaching Techniques. Dr. Troyan is co-editor of Foreign Language Annals.

JEDI Candidate (3 Year)

Laura Mahalingappa
University of Maryland  

Laura Mahalingappa is an Associate Professor in Applied Linguistics and Language Education at the University of Maryland. Her research focuses on multilingual learners, critical language awareness in teacher education, and writing, with particular attention to equity, belonging, and linguistic justice in K–12 and higher education contexts. As a multiracial and multilingual scholar, Laura’s commitment to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion is influenced by both her personal background and professional trajectory. Drawing on sociolinguistic, critical, and raciolinguistic perspectives, her work examines how language norms and institutional practices inform the experiences of minoritized students and teachers. Her scholarship, teaching, and service consistently center marginalized communities, critical pedagogies, and culturally sustaining approaches, informed by her commitment to advancing more inclusive educational contexts.

Laura has been actively involved in AAAL as a long-standing member and presenter (since 2011) and served as Reading, Writing, and Literacy Strand Co-Coordinator for the past two years. As a previous MSEd program director for five years, she has developed programs and collaborative structures for diverse constituencies. She brings extensive experience mentoring students, collaborating with teachers and schools, and fostering inclusive academic communities. Together, these experiences position her to work with the AAAL community and contribute meaningfully to advancing justice-oriented policies, programs, and organizational practices in the JEDI role.

JEDI Candidate (3 Year)

Prem Phyak
Teachers College Columbia University  

Dr. Prem Phyak is an associate professor of language, society, and education at Teachers College, Columbia University. He is an Indigenous Yaakthung from Nepal. Before joining Teachers College, he worked at Tribhuvan University, Nepal, for a decade and the Chinese University of Hong Kong for three years. His research areas include language policy, multilingual education, translanguaging, decoloniality, social justice, and Indigenous language education. 

Dr. Phyak has co-authored a book, Engaged Language Policy and Practices (with Kathy Davis), and co-edited The Handbook of Translanguaging (with Li Wei, Jerry Won Lee & Ofelia Garcia) and Multilingual Education in South Asia: At the Intersection of Policy and Practice (Lina Adinolfi & Usree Bhattacharya). He has published articles in multiple journals such as Language Policy, Applied Linguistics Review, The Modern Language Journal, Language in Society, Current Issues in Language Planning, Journal of Language, Identity and Education, and Comparative Education Review. He serves as an associate editor of Diaspora, Indigenous and Minority Education. 

Dr. Phyak has been an active member for more than two decades. He has served as Chair of the Resolution Committee, Strand Coordinator for Language and Ideology (three terms), and a member of the Nomination Committee (one term).

JEDI Candidate (2 Year)

Ashley Moore
University of Toronto/OISE  

I am Assistant Professor in Language and Literacies Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto. Broadly, my research aims at grasping the effects of power on the linguistic trajectories of plurilingual people, especially those belonging to equity-deserving groups. I have been continuously involved in various JEDI-focused initiatives within AAAL since 2021, including as co-chair of the 2022-2023 DEIA Task Force, the 2023-2024 JEDI Working Group, and the 2024-2025 JEDI Ad Hoc Committee. Since 2025, I have served the Ad Hoc Committee as a committee member. In collaboration with many wonderful colleagues, we have achieved important goals in our mission to support people across AAAL in enacting its commitments to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. These have included establishing the JEDI Standing Committee, installing the new JEDI Officer as a member of the Executive Committee, and developing the AAAL Inclusive Presenter Guidelines. 

There is still much work to do. If elected, I will continue to be guided by the noted need for (a) expansive conversations about the relevance of JEDI principles to the varied work of AAAL members, and (b) evidence-based, systemic transformation within the association and the field.

JEDI Candidate (2 Year)

Hyunjung Shin
University of Saskatchewan  

Hyunjung Shin (she/her) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Curriculum Studies at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. Her research examines social difference/inequality in language education and addresses these issues through transformative pedagogies and teacher education.
She has served the AAAL community since 2008, beginning as a student member of the conference organizing committee, where she initiated the first “Evening for Graduate Students” event. She recently completed a three-year term on the Book Awards Committee, served as co-strand coordinator for Sociolinguistics at AAAL 2023, and reviewed abstracts for multiple conference strands.

Beyond the USA, she has contributed as Associate Book Editor for Asia TEFL, conference organizing committee member for AILA 2027 and the ISB 16, and as an editorial board member for international journals.
As a female Asian faculty member at a Canadian university with a large Indigenous population, she connects research with community collaboration through leadership in JEDI initiatives, including co-chairing the Immigrant Advisory Table at Immigration Partnership Saskatoon, co-chairing her college’s EDI committee, and serving on the federal Newcomer Language Advisory Body. She is a 2025 Arbor Award recipient for volunteer mentoring of international graduate students. Her experience will strengthen AAAL’s JEDI efforts through a distinctive perspective.

Top of Page