Kevin Andia

Year of MA/PhD: 2nd year of MA in Applied Linguistics Minor in Spanish

Kevin was born and raised in Chile, South America. He is a first-born generation to pursue university education in his family. During his undergraduate program, he got involved in Spanish teaching social campaigns with Haitian immigrant's communities in Chile. Moreover, he had the opportunity to spend a year teaching at a public school in Saint Paul, MN. In 2020, his alma mater recognized him as an outstanding student from the Faculty of Education. 
Besides being a full-time student, Kevin is an active member of R.E.A.C.H, Coordinates the CMLL social media, and works as a Spanish Graduate Part-Time Instructor at Texas Tech University.

Research interests; thesis topic/title:

Second Language Acquisition and Teaching, Bilingualism, Teacher Education, Educational Technology

Academic Background (previous studies):

• B.A in Education, Universidad Católica de Temuco, Chile 2021

Email:kandiahe@ttu.edu

 

Ann Chen

Year of MA/PhD: 1st year of MA in Applied Linguistics 

Ann was born in Hsinchu, Taiwan. She majored in Fine Arts at National Changhua University of Education. In her junior year, she joined the one-year exchange program in the Education University of Hong Kong at visual art department. In 2021, she was awarded a Fulbright grant as a foreign language teaching assistant at Spelman College. She wants to pursue a higher education in language, and Allex scholarship program provided a wonderful opportunity to study in Texas Tech.

Research interests; thesis topic/title:

 

Academic Background (previous studies):

• Teaching Chinese as a second language certificate, National Tsing Hua University, 2020
• B.A. in Fine Arts, National Changhua University of Education, 2016

Email:yiachen@ttu.edu

 

Taylor Clark

Year of MA/PhD: 1st year of MA in Applied Linguistics 

Taylor began her college education in Tyler, Texas, first earning an Associate of Arts in business administration from Tyler Junior College, and then completing a Bachelor of Arts in marketing, with a minor study in graphic design at the University of Texas at Tyler. After graduating, she worked full-time for a year as a graphic designer for Sweet Potato Sky, LLC., an online content-creation company. Then she decided to pursue a second bachelor's degree at Texas Tech University, in Spanish, with a minor study in French. In the summer of 2022, she graduated with a master's degree in Hispanic linguistics, and is now working towards a second M.A. in applied linguistics.

Research interests; thesis topic/title:

Second language acquisition, multilingualism/bilingualism, psycholinguistics sociolinguistics, sociophonetics, translation theory and practice

Academic Background (previous studies):

• M.A., Hispanic Linguistics, Texas Tech University, 2022
• B.A., Spanish (minor study in French) (summa cum laude), Texas Tech University, 2021
• B.A., Marketing (minor study in Graphic Design) (summa cum laude), University of Texas at Tyler, 2017
• A.A., Business Administration, Tyler Junior College, 2015

Email:Taylor.D.Clark@ttu.edu

 

Lydia Ferris

Year of MA/PhD: M.A. Student in Applied Linguistics 

Lydia was born and raised in Lubbock, TX. She was introduced to linguistics by a visiting professor during her undergraduate and was able to then study both literature and linguistics in the Spanish department as well as in the English department. Her passion for language inspired her to pursue an M.A. in Hispanic Linguistics and she is currently pursuing a second M.A. in Applied Linguistics. She has also continued to take courses in the English department to give her another perspective through which to examine language. 

Research interests; thesis topic/title:

Second Language Acquisition, Language Dominance and Bilingualism, Applied Linguistics, Eye Tracking, Pedagogical Methods, Translation 

Academic Background (previous studies):

• M.A. in Romance Languages (Hispanic Linguistics), Texas Tech University, 2022 
• B.A. in English and Spanish, Summa Cum Laude with Honors from the Honors College, Texas Tech University, 2020 

Email:lydia.ferris@ttu.edu

Asako Higurashi

Year of MA/PhD: 2nd year of MA in Applied Linguistics 

Asako was born in Japan, where she graduated from Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo with a Bachelor in English and American literature. After graduating, she worked in the visual merchandising and marketing department in NY's fashion industry for over 5 years, as a liaison between Japan and NY. Through this experience, she witnessed a communication barrier, which fueled her desire to contribute to the development of English education in Japan. Her desire led her to join a scholarship program (ALLEX) that provided her an opportunity to study linguistics and teach Japanese at the University of Maine at Farmington from 2019 -2021. Then, another opportunity arose to expand her interest in second language acquisition at Texas Tech University where she is currently pursuing a master's in Applied Linguistics.

Research interests; thesis topic/title:

Second language acquisition, second language teaching, linguistics, sociolinguistics, second language material design and curriculum design

Academic Background (previous studies):

• ALLEX program, University of Maine at Farmington, Farmington, 2019-2021
• WUSTL-ALLEX Teacher Training Course, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, 2019
• B.A. in English and American literature, Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo, 2013

Email:asako.higurashi@ttu.edu

 

Jinsol Kong

Year of MA/PhD: 2nd year of MA in Applied Linguistics 

 

Research interests; thesis topic/title:

 

Academic Background (previous studies):

• B.A., Korean as a Foreign Language, National Institute for Lifelong Education, 2018
• Certificate of Recognition as Apple Teacher, Apple Inc., 2018
• Certificate in teaching Korean as a foreign language, Ministry of Education, 2018
• B. A., English Language and Literature, Incheon National University, 2014
• Certificate in teaching English in Middle or High school, Ministry of Education, 2014

Email:Jinkong@ttu.edu

 

Angela Pineda

Year of MA/PhD: 2nd year of MA in Applied Linguistics 

Angela grew up in Keller, TX. She completed her B.A. in Spanish education at ACU in three years and then went on to receive two Fulbright grant awards in Colombia for English teaching, one of which she carried out from 2019-2020. After spending two years abroad, she returned to Texas to pursue a master's in applied linguistics with a focus on eye-tracking and processing instruction. Her desire is to help bridge the gap between research in cognitive psychology, SLA, and second language education in order to bring the implications from the latest interdisciplinary research in language teaching into practice in K-12 public school second language programs across the U.S.

Research interests; thesis topic/title:

Brain-based teaching practices, memory, cognitive processes in second language learning; intercultural citizenship / intercultural competence; communicative competence; task-based teaching 

Academic Background (previous studies):

• B.A. in Spanish Teacher Certification (EC-12), Summa Cum Laude, Abilene Christian University, 2019 
  
  
• TESOL Certificate (Abilene Christian University), 2018 

Email:ajirik@ttu.edu

 

Reina Tanimoto

Year of MA/PhD: 2nd year of MA in Applied Linguistics 

Reina was born in Kyoto, Japan, where she graduated from Ritsumeikan University with a Bachelor of Arts in Language and Communication. Her main research was in English and Japanese education as foreign languages. She is a certified English teacher in Junior High School and High School in Japan and completed the 420-hour Japanese Educator Program. After graduating, she worked in the hospitality industry in Japan as an executive trainee for 9 months. Soon after, she moved to Singapore, where she worked at an IT company as the in-company trainer and supervisor for the customer service team. Here, she managed over 30 employees from a variety of backgrounds. She is currently pursuing a master's degree in Applied Linguistics. She teaches a Japanese course to adult learners and works as an event liaison for Japanese and Korean Language Programs.

Research interests; thesis topic/title:

Second Language Acquisition, Bilingualism, Applied Linguistics, Second Language Teaching, Eye-Tracking Studies, Japanese Pedagogy

Academic Background (previous studies):

• B.A. in Language and Communication, Ritsumeikan University, 2014
• Certification of Teaching English as a Second Language in Junior High and High School in Japan, 2014
• 420-hour Japanese Educator Program, 2014

Email:reina.tanimoto@ttu.edu

 

Vivian Wong

Year of MA/PhD: 1st year of MA in Applied Linguistics 

 

Research interests; thesis topic/title:

 

Academic Background (previous studies):

• Certificate of Qualification to teach Mandarin Chinese as Second/Foreign Language, Ministry of Education, 2022
  
  
• B. A., Adult and Continuing Education, National Taiwan Normal University, 2017

Email:jinwong@ttu.edu