2019 Conference Committee
Left to Right: Shyam, Yachao, Serpil, James, Mai, Zhaozhe, and Débora.
Photo by: Rodrigo Rodriguez-Fuentes
Zhaozhe Wang, Conference Chair
Zhaozhe Wang is a doctoral candidate in the Department of English at Purdue University, where he teaches first-year writing and the graduate practicum in oral English proficiency. His research focuses on theories and rhetoric of difference, multilingual writers’ identity and literacy practices, qualitative methodology, second language and translingual writing, and writing assessment.
Serpil Karabüklü, Abstract Co-chair
Serpil Karabüklü is a third-year Ph.D. student in Linguistics programme at Purdue University. She is interested in the semantics of event structure and modals, and the semantics-syntax interface. She worked on the grammatical aspect in Turkish Sign Language (TİD). Currently, she is working on the realizations of modals in TİD. She is currently a research assistant in Sign Language Linguistics Lab at Purdue.
James Stratton, Program Co-chair
James Stratton is a .Ph.D. student in Germanic linguistics at Purdue University. He has two areas of specialism. Firstly he is schooled in Historical Linguistics and investigates aspects of Language Variation and Change (using the variationist methodology) in the Germanic languages (both synchronically and diachronically). His recent work has focussed on the use of intensifiers in West Germanic languages. His second area of focus is Applied Linguistics where he is interested in applying the formal study of linguistics in the second language classroom.
Yachao Sun, Promotions & Proceedings Co-chair
Yachao Sun is a Ph.D. student in the Graduate Program of Second Language Studies/ESL at Purdue University, where he also teaches introductory composition for undergraduate students. His first study area is in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) with the focus on second language writing, and his second study area is in rhetoric and composition. His research interests include second language writing, translingual studies, corpus linguistics, and World Englishes. His recent work has focused on a translingual approach to second language writing.
Mai Yamamoto, Registration Co-chair
Mai Yamamoto is a third year PhD student in the Linguistics program at Purdue University. Her research interests include sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, humor, and Japanese linguistics. She currently serves as an officer of the Purdue Linguistics Association.
Shyam B. Pandey, Finance Co-chair
Shyam B. Pandey is a Second Language Studies PhD student at Purdue University, USA, where he is currently the ESL Coordinator of the Writing Lab. He holds an MEd in ELT from Kathmandu University, Nepal and an MA TESL from Minnesota State University, Mankato, USA and has extensive professional experience. Shyam has taught a variety of EFL, EAP, and Composition courses, trained primary and secondary teachers through Nepal English Language Teachers’ Association (NELTA), and led the English Access Microscholarship Program in Nepal. His research interests include multimodal composition, intercultural rhetoric, world Englishes, and teacher identity.
Débora M. Borba, Events and Volunteers Co-chair
Débora is a PhD student at the School of Languages and Cultures. She has two masters in Literature, one from Brazil (2010 - Universidade Estadual de Maringá) and other from Purdue University (2017). She has taught Literature courses as well as Portuguese and Spanish as foreign languages in Colombia and the United States. She has been involved in the PLLS Conference as a volunteer among other academic events in campus. Débora’s academic interests are Feminism and Literature, Gender and Genre, Multiculturalism and Post Colonial Studies.