2024-2025 GSC Newsletter Sub-Committee
Harriet Olulo
Harriet is a Ph.D. candidate in the Dual PhD/Dr. phil Transcultural German Studies Program at the University of Arizona and Universität zu Köln. Her research interests explore the intersection between identity, language learning and digital technology where she investigates the relationship between identity formation, digital storytelling and language learning, particularly among learners and L2 speakers of German in transcultural settings.
Harriet has taught German language courses in various formats (online, hybrid, and in-person) to students from diverse backgrounds across East Africa and currently teaches undergraduate students at the University of Arizona. Her interest extends to curriculum development for online teaching, where she explores the integration of digital tools to promote autonomous learning and increase engagement with authentic learning materials.
Minghui Sun
Minghui Sun is a PhD candidate in Applied Linguistics at Pennsylvania State University. Her research draws on linguistic anthropology, conversation analysis, and semiotic discourse analytic approaches to examine shared decision-making processes in small group meetings. With a specific focus on older adults, she investigates the ways in which they exercise agency, build relationships, and cultivate a sense of community through active participation and involvement in organizing events and activities, in the context of continuing care retirement communities. More broadly, she is also engaged with the methodologies of qualitative research and issues related to researcher’s positionality and ethics in conducting ethnographic studies.
Sarah Jones
Sarah is a PhD candidate in Language and Literacies Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE/UT) in Toronto, Canada. She is a seasoned language educator with over ten years of experience across Canada as well as internationally. She has also worked as a freelance copy editor and recently co-edited a book on language norms in multilingual contexts. Sarah is currently working on data collection for her dissertation on phatic communion in multilingual professional contexts. Her other research areas include pragmatics, discourse analysis, interactional sociolinguistics, and language-related issues of equity and diversity. She can be reached at sarahd.jones@mail.utoronto.ca.
Rickey Larkin
Rickey Larkin is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Second Language Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. As a returned Peace Corps Volunteer, English Language Fellow, and Fulbrighter, he has taught English from kindergarten to the university level. He has also taught sociolinguistics courses on multilingualism and multilingual education. He credits his undergraduate experience with the Myaamia Center for inspiring his professional path. His dissertation is situated in the field of language planning and policy (LPP) and takes an autoethnographic approach to examine how LPP is enacted in the Cordillera Region of the Philippines. Rickey can be reached at larkinrt@hawaii.edu.
Ifeoluwa Awopetu
Ifeoluwa Awopetu is a Ph. D student in the Applied Linguistics program at the University of Memphis. Her previous research encompasses protest/political discourse, online activism, and multimodal communication. She also loves to explore the intersections between language, identity, and ideology, particularly in computer-mediated communications and online interactions. She has taught linguistics and writing courses at the college level. Currently, she teaches English composition at UofM. Ifeoluwa can be reached at pawopetu@memphis.edu
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