Connections

A Journal for Foreign Language Educators 

Volume 11 – Fall 2023

ISSN Online: 1945-0478 

ISSN Print: 1945-046X

Contributors

Junko Agnew is an Assistant Professor of Japanese in the Department of World Languages and Literature at Northern Kentucky University where she teaches Japanese language, literature, and film. She has written articles on the colonial literature of Manchukuo, on comparative literature, and on the works of Haruki Murakami.

Irina Avkhimovich is an Assistant Professor of Russian at the University of North Georgia. She teaches all levels of Russian language and upper-level content courses on literature and culture. Dr. Avkhimovich received her doctoral degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2017. Originally a scholar of literature and theater, she has expanded her research to the field of Second Language Acquisition. Her interests lie within the areas of content-based instruction and motivation. She focuses on building language skills from Intermediate to Advanced level, reading, listening comprehension, and multimodal pedagogy.

Maribel Campoy is an Assistant Professor of Spanish at the University of Indianapolis. She is a native from Spain, she has completed a bachelor's degree, master's degree and some doctoral courses from University of Cadiz. She taught English in Spain before moving to the United States. Campoy has recently finished a certification in Translation Studies from the University of Denver.

Yating Fan serves as a dedicated Chinese Lecturer at Boston University, where she is deeply committed to advancing student learning through innovative methodologies. By fostering a sense of community, Yating strives to create an inclusive educational environment. Her expertise spans curriculum development, technology integration, innovative pedagogy, and blended learning, reflecting her commitment to staying at the forefront of educational trends. Through the integration of progressive techniques, she aims to provide students with a comprehensive and dynamic learning journey, preparing them for the evolving landscape of education.

Megan Grady holds the role of Associate Director of Academic Partnerships at Butler University, where her primary responsibilities encompass the advancement of academic partnerships aimed at creating digitally enhanced for-credit programs, the strategic utilization of academic technology, and the cultivation of faculty development opportunities. In addition to her administrative role, Megan also teaches professional and public writing courses within Butler's English Department. Her background includes an Associate of Science in Broadcast Production from Vincennes University, a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology with a minor in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures from Indiana University Bloomington, and a Master of Arts in English from Butler University.

Gabriela Muniz is an Associate Professor of Latin American Culture and Literature at Butler University. She commenced her academic journey by studying art and literature in Argentina and furthered her education by obtaining a master's degree from Texas A&M. Her academic endeavors culminated in a Ph.D. in Latin American literature from the University of California, Davis. Muniz boasts many research interests, including media studies, visual studies, documentary film, identity, and ecocriticism.  She is the author of significant works, such as "Resiliencia y desecho: dos siglos de la basura como artefacto estético en Argentina y Brasil" and "Reciclando imágenes: documentales sobre arte y política en Latinoamérica."

Eden Jones is a Course Improvement Partner in the Office of Teaching, Learning and Technology at the University of Iowa. They work with large gateway courses to improve student experience and outcomes. They previously worked in the Spanish general education program and received a PhD in Spanish from UI.

Rachel Klevar supervises the elementary Spanish instructors and teaches a wide variety of Spanish classes at the University of Iowa. She holds a Ph.D. in Early Modern Spanish Literature from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Rachel's research interests include Spanish picaresque literature, cultural geography, and more recently, pedagogical best practices for flipped and online language classrooms.

Gabriela Olivares is an Associate Professor of Spanish and currently serves as the Associate Dean of the Graduate College at UNI. In addition, Dr. Olivares has a vast teaching experience K-16, has served as language coordinator at many institutions of higher education, and has trained future language teachers at the undergraduate and graduate level. Her research interests are second language acquisition, learner factors, non-traditional students, and cognition. She is also a co- author of Semillas- an open educational resource (OER) textbook of Spanish.

Giovanni Zimotti is the Director of Spanish Language Instruction at the University of Iowa. He is a champion of Open Educational Resources (OER), authoring three textbooks. His research focuses on second language acquisition with a focus on technology such as Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence. Dr. Zimotti’s dedication to accessible education earned him awards such as the 2022 Educator Award for Open Education Excellence.

Kara Mac Donald is Associate Professor, Defense Language Institute, Monterey, CA, USA with a Master’s in Applied Linguistics, TESOL and a Doctorate in Applied Linguistics. She currently conducts pre-service and in-service teacher training for faculty teaching foreign languages. She maintains a close connection to the ESL through tutoring K-12 students and her positions and involvement in California TESOL (CATESOL) and EFL classroom through her continued role/s and involvement on Korea TESOL (KOTESOL), in additional to participation in TESOL International. Her recent publications include teacher autonomy, intercultural communication, professional development post-pandemic, and L2 identity negotiation.

Sun Young Park is a Faculty Development Specialist at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center Monterey, CA, USA where she has designed, developed, and conducted pre-service and in-service training for over 17 years. She holds a Master’s in TESOL and Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from U.S. universities. She maintains connection to the ESL in the U.S. and EFL classrooms in Asia through her research in both contexts to stay abreast on issues and challenges relevant to classroom teachers. Her recent publications include teacher autonomy, intercultural communication and professional development post-pandemic. 

Nichole Neuman is a German and cinema teacher-scholar, serving as Assistant Professor of German and Hoyt-Reichmann Scholar at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. She also directs IUPUI’s Max Kade German-American Center. She regularly presents at national and international conferences on cinema, film history and archives, and representations of identity.  Her research has been published in edited volumes and journals, including Seminar, The Moving Image, and Applied Linguistics.

 Chin-Sook Pak is an Associate Professor of Spanish at Ball State University. Her current research and teaching interests are in community engagement for second language and heritage language students. She is the recipient the Outstanding Teaching Award (Ball State University), the Brian Douglas Hiltunen Faculty Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Scholarship of Engagement (Indiana Campus Compact), and the 2022 AATSP (American Association for Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese) Outstanding Scholarship Publication Award for her article, "Exploring the long-term impact of service-learning: Former students

Lynne Stallings is an Associate Professor in the English Department at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. She teaches Linguistics courses and TESOL teacher preparation courses for working with multilingual learners and seeks to create inclusive and equitable learning environments where all students can thrive. Her current research interests include teacher preparation for dual language and TESOL professionals, assessment literacy, and alternative assessment practices. She also serves on the Muncie Community Schools Dual Language

Ming Wu is an assistant professor at University of Louisville, specializing in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language. As an award-winning teacher and published scholar, she is passionately committed to facilitating student learning about the Chinese language and culture. With 20 years of experience in higher education institutions, she has taught Chinese at all levels to students from over fifty countries. Additionally, she has delivered lectures on various aspects of Chinese culture.  

Book reviews

Oriette D'Angelo (Caracas, 1990) is currently a PhD candidate in Spanish at The University of Iowa, where she also obtained an MFA in Spanish Creative Writing. She is the editor of the literary magazine Digo.palabra.txt and the research digital project #PoetasVenezolanas. She has a master’s degree in Digital Communication and Media Arts from DePaul University, Chicago. Author of the poetry book Cardiopatías (Monte Ávila Editores, 2016; Winner of the Emerging Writers Prize, 2014). Her research is about the representation of political trauma in contemporary Chilean novels, specifically about the work by Alejandro Zambra, Nona Fernández, and Alejandra Costamagna.

Gaye Walton-Price is an expert university professor, with experience teaching Arabic and ESL, philosophy and humanities, and administrating. Walton-Price earned PhD in Arabic language and linguistics at Georgetown University; and is now Arabic instructor at University of San Francisco. Since the pandemic, she has experience teaching Arabic online, including private tutoring. She has resided in Tunis, Tunisia, and in Cairo, Egypt, for extended periods, and has led tours for students to Egypt. After 20+ years’ college and university teaching experience, she shows her passion for Arabic language, in teaching, doing research, conversing in Arabic, and exploring Arab cultures. Walton-Price is a member of the FLANC board since 2015 and is co-treasurer, acting recording secretary and co-editor of Connections.

Connections. A journal for Foreign Language Educators

is a publication by the Foreign Language Association of Northern California

Please, send papers to or contact us at

connections@flanc.pw