2026-2027 GSC Newsletter Sub-Committee
Dilay Candan
Dilay Candan is a PhD student in Applied Linguistics and ESL at Georgia State University. Her experience teaching English language learners has shaped a research agenda focused on making corpus-based tools and approaches accessible and pedagogically meaningful in L2 classrooms. Drawing on corpus linguistics, construction grammar, and L2 pragmatics, her work investigates how learners acquire and deploy pragmatic constructions across proficiency levels and task contexts, and how data-driven learning, including AI-enhanced DDL, can support pragmatic competence development. She is also interested in discourse analysis, technology-enhanced language learning, and how corpus literacy shapes the way learners engage critically with language evidence. Broadly, her research seeks to close the gap between corpus research and everydayclassroom and assessment practice. Website: https://dilaycandan.wixsite.com/dilay-candan
Zhiying (jenni) Li
Zhiying (Jenni) Li is a Ph.D. candidate in Second Language Education program in the School of Teacher Education at Florida State University. She earned her MA in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) from University College London (UCL). Her research interests lie in the areas of instructed second language instruction, task-based language teaching, and learner psychology in second language learning. She is currently working on her dissertation about the effects of learners’ self-efficacy on their experiences in L2 tasks.
Adékúnmi Ọlátúnjí
Adékúnmi Ọlátúnjí is a PhD student in the Department of Second Language Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Kúnmi has taught English for general communicative and academic purposes since 2012. One strand of her research examines the productive role of 'negative' emotions for transnational TESOL program management through a critical pedagogy framework; another investigates heritage language use among Yorùbá diaspora speakers. A third strand of Kúnmi's work involves materials development and editing, including writing children’s ESL books for Ladybird Education, editing student and departmental publications, and contributing to a grassroots collaborative textbook project. Her research and teaching are grounded in principles of decoloniality.
Olessya Akimenko
Olessya Akimenko is a PhD Candidate in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University, whose doctoral research study is supported by the Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship (SSHRC CGS D). She has also taught several Education courses at Simon Fraser University and has been involved in various research projects. Before embarking on her doctoral journey, Olessya worked as an EAL/EFL and EAP teacher for more than 10 years – experience that inspired her to conduct her current research which explores how discourses pertaining to English language education in Canada shape the professional identities and experiences of teachers of English as an additional language. Her other research and educational interests include dialogic pedagogy, the pedagogy of multiliteracies, antiracist education and intersectionality.
Mobina Hosseini
Mobina Hosseini is a third-year PhD student in Language Education and Multilingualism at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Before beginning her doctoral studies, she spent more than a decade teaching English across diverse educational settings, a foundation that continues to inform both her scholarly perspective and her commitment to understanding teachers' lived experiences. Her research focuses on world language education, language teacher learning, language policy and planning, and intercultural competence in K–12 classrooms. She is particularly interested in examining how intercultural competence develops alongside linguistic proficiency and how language classrooms can foster both dimensions of learning
Member Testimonials
During the 2019-2020 academic year, I had the opportunity to serve on the GSC steering committee and as one of the co-editors for the GSC Newsletter. Working on the newsletter allowed me to be a part of the community of emerging scholars in applied linguistics. I was able to read the work of our peers and think about next directions for research. I appreciated learning about the perspectives of fellow graduate students, and I enjoyed working with authors to share their voices. This position also focused on communicating the work of other GSC sub-committees, including webinars and events embracing diversity in AAAL. I’m proud of the work we do as a community of scholars, teachers, and advocates!
-Nicole King