M.A. The Ohio State University (German Literature and Applied Linguistics), 2017
M.A. Free University of Berlin (German as a Foreign Language: Teaching Culture), 2016
B.A. University of Luxemburg (European Cultures, German, English), 2013
B.B.A. (equiv.) Business School Dortmund (Human Relations), 2007
During the 2018-2019 academic year, I collected data in Germany for my ethnographic multiple case study with refugees from Syria, Iran, Iraq, and Somalia. The goal of my research was to gain a deeper understanding of refugees’ literacy and language practices, their roles and functions in refugees’ everyday lives, and how they developed and transformed over time and between spaces. Furthermore, I aimed to foreground refugees’ perspectives on literacy, language learning, and integration and to identify related needs and challenges. For this, I examined in depth the processes of how adult refugees develop and maintain their literacy and language practices and make meaning. In a second step, I looked at how these local practices were interconnected with global issues of mobility, literacy, and language learning in the context of refuge and migration.
My field work and research in Germany was partially funded by the Office of International Affairs Academic Enrichment Grant and the College of Arts and Sciences (Ohio State).
Courses taught
At Ohio State, Columbus, OH
German 1101 – SP17
German 1102 – AU17, SP18
German 1103 – AU15, SP16, AU16, SU18
German 3102 – AU17 (Co-taught with Prof. Grotans: Graduate Teaching Apprenticeship)
At the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
German Review (Intermediate level) – Winter 2011/2
At Intercultural Academy, Dortmund, Germany
German for the Professions – Summer 2017
At VHS Hagen, Germany
Integration Course: German for Refugees and Migrants
Summer 2017
Summer 2018 – Summer 2019
Conference Presentations
“Über den Unterricht hinaus: Untersuchung schriftsprachlicher und multimodaler Praktiken im Alltag von erwachsenen Geflüchteten“, Presentation at 2. Konferenz des Netzwerks Flüchtlingsforschung, Eichstätt, Germany, October 2018 (upcoming).
“Extensive Reading in the German Language Program”: Roundtable presentation at the ACTFL Convention, Nashville, November 2017.
“Hacking the communicative modes in a blended classroom”: Co-presenter at the ACTFL Convention, Nashville, November 2017.
“Combined Explicit & Implicit Reading Instruction in the German Language Program” presented at Indiana University Graduate Student Conference in Germanic Studies, Bloomington, March 2017.
Research Interests
- Translingual and Multilingual Literacy Practices and Events
- (L2) Literacy as Social Practice
- Multimodality and Superdiversity
- Narrative Inquiry
- Autoethnography
- Reading in a Second/Foreign Language
- Extensive Reading
- Reading-Writing Connections
- Motivation and Investment in (L2) Reading, Learning, and Teaching
- Identity in L2 Learning, Teaching, and Research
- Second Language Acquisition
- Foreign Language Education
Awards, Grants, and Stipends
Academic Enrichment Grant (2018-2019), Office of International Affairs, OSU
Research Tuition Stipend (2018-2019), College of Arts and Sciences, OSU
Graduate Service Award (2018), Department of Germanic Languages & Literatures, OSU
University Service and Projects at Ohio State
2017 – 2018 President of the Graduate Student Working Group for Foreign Language Research and Teaching (FLRT)
2017 – 2018 Secretary of the Germanic Graduate Student Association (GGSA)
2017 – 2018 Student Representative to the Graduate Advisory Council (GAC)
2017 – 2018 CGS Representative to the University Recreational Sports Committee (URSC)
2017 – 2018 Second Language Research Forum 2017 (SLRF): Reviewer, Workshop Organization & Coordination
2017 Member of the OSU Fulbright Review Panel for English Teaching Assistants in Malaysia
2017 Coordinator of the German Reading Circle
2016 – 2017 Liaison to the German Club
2015 – 2016 Member of the Kaffeestunde Committee
Employment
2018 – 2019 German & English Language Teacher, VHS Hagen, Germany
2015 – 2018 Graduate Teaching Associate, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
2017 German Language Teacher, VHS Hagen & Intercultural Academy Dortmund, Germany
2014 – 2016 Graduate Associate, Institute for School Quality (ISQ), Berlin, Germany
2012 – 2014 Item Developer, Luxemburg Centre for Educational Testing, University of Luxemburg
2011 – 2012 Teaching Intern, Department of Asian and European Languages, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2010 – 2012 Undergraduate Associate, Research Unit EMACS, University of Luxemburg
2004 – 2009 Administrative Associate, Thalia Service GmbH, Hagen, Germany
