Welcome!

I am an assistant professor of applied linguistics at Northern Arizona University, where I also completed a BA in Spanish (2002) and an MA in Teaching English as a Second Language (2004). Before returning to NAU, I taught English, Spanish, and introductory courses on language learning and teaching at Caribbean University (Puerto Rico), Arizona State University, and most recently at Michigan State University, where I received my PhD in Second Language Studies under the supervision of Sue Gass and Shawn Loewen. I teach courses in the MA-TESL and PhD in Applied Linguistics programs on SLA, language teaching, and research methods.

My research program generally falls into two categories within the field of SLA: (a) studies of interest to L2 theory and practice, and (b) quantitative research methods. Like many in the field, I hope for much of my research--as well as that of my colleagues--to have relevance to the L2 classroom. (See L2 Matters under Links). Examples of my work in this area include studies of strategy instruction, interaction and lexical development in the L2 classroom, and acquisition of past tense morphology in L2 Spanish. My other main research area, quantitative methods, focuses on study designs and the use of statistics. More specifically, I am currently employing meta-analytic and research synthetic techniques to examine methodological quality in the field. This line of research seeks to better understand and improve the means which applied linguistics research is carried out and reported on. (See my Research page for details of current and on-going projects.)