I am an assistant professor of ESL/ELL education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, where I teach graduate courses in ESL methods and second language acquisition. I was born and grew up in Turkey, where I received my bachelor’s degree in English language teaching. My journey in the United States began when I moved to Nevada to get my master’s degree in TESOL at the University of Nevada at Reno, where I served as a research/teaching assistant. Later on, with the support of a William Livingston Fellowship, I received my PhD in 2012, under the direction of Dr. Elaine K. Horwitz, in foreign language education program, at the University of Texas at Austin.

I taught ESL in the Intensive English Program at Texas State University at San Marcos. I also received a competitive grant from the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Texas at Austin to develop an intensive foreign language curriculum. While involved in this curriculum development project, I authored two textbooks, Life With Turkish I and II.

I became a member of TexTESOL III (TT3) in 2007. Soon after, I joined the board as the news editor and served for TT3 for 3 years. During my service, I helped organizing the 2011 TexTESOL state conference, which was a great success, as well as a number of TexTESOL III regional conferences, workshops, and seminars. I am currently the general editor of the TexTESOL Journal. I read and evaluate proposals submitted for the international TESOL Convention every year. I am always curious about the changes and developments in the fields of TESOL, second language acquisition, bilingual education, and applied linguistics. In order to closely follow current research and pedagogical practices in these fields, I am a regular member of various organizations, such as American Association of Applied Linguistics, American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, American Educational Research Association, National Association of Bilingual Education, National Council of Teachers of English, and of course our very own TESOL International Association.

My research, in broad terms, is centered on interaction. My understanding of interaction has changed over time. Initially, I viewed interaction from a cognitive perspective, but I then became more interested in social aspects of interaction and the role of sociocultural factors. My current research works with discourse, narrative, and pedagogy at the intersections of second language acquisition, interactional sociolinguistics, and social psychology. My goal is to understand the complex relations between positional identities, social interaction, and second language learning in ESL classrooms. I have a number of articles and reviews in various refereed journals such as Applied Linguistics, Journal of Sociolinguistics, Asian EFL, TESL Reporter, Texas Papers in Foreign Language Education, and Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development.

I am excited about the opportunity to serve as the chair-elect for the Applied Linguistics Interest Section. I believe that it is a privilege to serve this amazing group of professionals. I look forward to communicating with you all and wish you a very Happy New Year!