People

Dr. Julio C Rodríguez is the Director of the Language Flagship Technology Innovation Center, Director of the Center for Language and Technology, and Director of the National Foreign Language Resource Center at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. He has a graduate degree in translation and interpretation, a MA in applied linguistics, and a PhD in curriculum and instructional technology specializing in the context of technology use and integration into language teacher education. Within the broad area of instructional technology, he is now primarily focused on faculty development programs, project-based language learning, materials development, online course design and improvement, and design-based research. He is currently involved in a national initiative to infuse project-based learning in the foreign language curriculum. Before coming to the University of Hawaii, he directed the curriculum development division for online courses at Iowa State University, where he lead and participated in several grant-funded materials development projects including an award-winning online course. Rodriguez has published and presented on instructional technology, project-based language learning, and design-based research, including a co-edited publication on design-based research in computer-assisted language learning.

Dr. Spring is the Associate Director of the Language Flagship Technology Innovation Center, Professor of Chinese Language, and the founding Director of the Chinese Language Flagship Program at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (2014-2020). She earned her Ph.D. in Chinese Language and Literature at the University of Washington. Her research interests are divided between medieval Chinese literature (especially Six Dynasties to Tang prose and rhetoric) and current issues in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (TCFL). In that area, her focus is on curricular design and implementation, content-based instruction, intercultural communicative competence, and assessment. She is the author of Making Connections: Improve Your Listening Comprehension in Chinese, which is now in its second edition. She has written numerous articles on various aspects of TCFL.

She is a frequent presenter on topics such as curricular development, assessment, teacher beliefs, adapting authentic materials, immersion Chinese, integrating technology in teaching advanced level Chinese reading, writing, intercultural communicative competence, and online communities. Spring has worked with others to define and disseminate information about The Language Flagship Programs, and has held leadership positions in the Chinese Flagship programs at the University of Oregon, Arizona State University, and the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

Dr. Angela H. Haeusler is the Program Manager for The Language Flagship Technology Innovation Center. She holds a PhD in applied linguistics from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa with a focus on multilingualism in language planning and policy. Angela has worked with local and national initiatives to foster a positive and equitable climate for world, heritage, and Indigenous language education. She applied her professional experience in journalism and public relations for several years to further the mission of the Hawaiʻi Language Roadmap, a federally funded effort to build a multilingual workforce for Hawaiʻi. Angela has taught courses on globalization, bilingual education, and language advocacy and activism, which earned her the University of Hawaiʻi’s Frances Davis Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. She has been involved with the organization of recurring Tech Center events at the national level, among those are the LaunchPad and ConnecTalks in collaboration with the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and the Flagship Hackathon.

Dr. Suzanne Freynik earned her PhD in Second Language Acquisition from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2015. She has an MA in Linguistics from the University of South Carolina, and a BA in Spanish with a minor in Arabic from Florida State University. She has previously taught academic writing and culture courses in American University’s English Language and Training Academy, served as a language program evaluation consultant for the Middle East Institute, worked as a research analyst at the Foreign Service Institute’s School of Language Studies, and collaborated with research teams on technology-mediated language learning projects at University of Maryland’s Center for Advanced Study of Language. Her research interests include the effects of proficiency and typological distance on second language sentence processing, task-based language teaching in distance- and blended-learning contexts, and leveraging technology to promote interaction in the language classroom.

Molly Godwin-Jones earned a BA in Russian Studies from the College of William and Mary, an MA in Russian Language and Literature form Boston College, and an MA in Slavic Languages and Literatures from the University of Kansas, where she also taught Russian language. In addition, she studied translation and interpretation at Pyatigorsk State University in southern Russia, where she taught English as a foreign language for four years. In her experience teaching both Russian and English, Molly enjoyed implementing technology projects, such as investigating ways to better learn vocabulary through online flashcard tools. Her current research interests include ways to incorporate digital humanities tools into the foreign language curriculum and investigating methods to improve students’ spoken fluency.

As Assistant Faculty Specialist in Human-Computer Interaction, Richard focuses on online learning environments for language instruction and research. Richard was previously assistant professor of Computer Science in the Department of Computer and Mathematical Sciences at New Mexico Highlands University. During his time at NMHU, he was principal investigator on an S-STEM grant funded by the National Science Foundation and co-directed numerous graduate research projects in data science and cyber security. Prior to his tenure at NMHU, Richard worked as the IT Specialist at the Center for Language & Technology at the University at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. He has published extensively on the topic of technology mediated representational practices in computer supported collaborative learning settings. At the Tech Center, Richard serves as the lead for “Hack The Flagship” and as technology liaison for LaunchPad start-ups. He also contributes his expertise to adaptive and blended learning initiatives.

At the Tech Center he is responsible for the development of the various software platforms that constitute the center’s technology ecosystem.

Margaret Asperheim is a first year MA student in the Linguistics department at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, and holds a BA in Linguistics from the University of California, Berkeley. Her research interests center around language documentation and conservation, with a particular focus in the ways languages express tense, aspect, mood, and negation. At Berkeley, she assembled language learning resources for the California Language Archive, and helped to create online Living Dictionaries for the Southern Sierra Miwok and Kipsigis languages. Outside of work, Margaret enjoys raising plants and animals (especially reptiles), science fiction and fantasy books, baking, and thrift shopping.

Thao (she/her) is a first-year MA student in the Second Language Studies department at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa is her second semester. She holds a BA in Economics from the Foreign Trade University in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. She taught VIET101 in Fall 2022 at UH Manoa and loves to facilitate students’ Vietnamese learning via various technology-based pedagogical practices in the classroom. In her free time, Thao enjoys making and editing short videos about her daily life and exploring new technology.

Young Chun is currently pursuing his MA in Second Language Studies at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. His research interests include second language acquisition, computer-assisted language learning, and language teacher awareness related to language learning experience. He holds a BA in Interdisciplinary Visual Art from the University of Washington, TESOL certification from Seattle University, and an MA in International Studies from Seoul National University. His work experience includes around 15 years of EFL teaching in Korea and Japan, primarily at the university level, both offline and online.

eli fessler is pursuing an MA in Linguistics at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, and holds a BA in Computer Science from Pomona College. His research interests include sociolinguistics, internet linguistics, youth language & culture, language/gender/sexuality, technology in archival & documentation work, and linguistics pedagogy & outreach. Before UH, he worked as a Program Manager at Microsoft. eli has also worked in spaces involving independent/experimental games and playful media, both digital and non-digital. He speaks Japanese, with elementary proficiency in Hungarian, Swedish, and French. Outside of work, he enjoys public transit, crossword puzzles, altcomix, ska punk, dogs, goats, and rain.

Nicole Hannah is an MA student in Second Language Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She is particularly interested in the use of arts (such as singing) to improve aspects of language learning and also curriculum development with the use of technology. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Kentucky Wesleyan College and TESOL training through online resources at Arizona State University. In addition to this, she has over four years of experience in teaching English of all levels and ages offline and online. In her free time, she enjoys singing, learning other languages (Thai and Chinese more recently), going to the beach, and reading.

Mengying is a PhD candidate in the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. She obtained her BA and MA in Chinese at Beijing Foreign Studies University. Her main research interest centers on collaborative writing and interactional studies. Aside from research, she is passionate about teaching and is committed to facilitating students’ Chinese learning via various technology-based pedagogical practices in and out of the classroom. Mengying is currently working on various projects at the Language Flagship Tech Center as a learning design assistant.

Ashley is a junior at Virginia Tech and is majoring in both International Relations and Russian. She is in her second year of being part of the flagship program and loves all the opportunities it has presented to her. As a student, she has been working as an undergraduate teaching assistant for a computer science course and she is also a member of the International Relations Organization. Through the organization, she gets to work with a team to write policy papers about current world events. After graduation, she hopes to work as an event coordinator for an international cultural institution. During her free time, she loves traveling, skiing, and going to Virginia Tech football games.

Natasha is a sophomore at the University of Georgia. She loves to study languages, dance, cook, travel, and hang out with friends. She is a Portuguese Flagship student, and additionally studies Spanish and Mandarin. In terms of dance, she is trained in ballet, but recently has changed directions, joining the Atlanta Chinese Dance Company last year and being accepted as an apprentice of her university’s Ballroom Performance Group. She is also interested in social issues, especially environmental injustice and racial inequality. She is involved in groups on campus and off, co-founding the youth-led group Georgia for the Planet and serving as her dorm’s Eco Rep as a freshman. She is currently pursuing a Romance Languages major, a Chinese major, and a Sustainability Certificate. In the future she would like to combine her passions for teaching languages, dancing, traveling, and being an activist to increase global access to education, help marginalized communities, raise awareness about environmental issues, and further cultural understanding.

He is currently studying for an M.S. Computer Science at Northeastern University – Seattle Campus. After coming back from his Capstone Year, it was time for a new path. The tech industry drew him in, but his years of language accomplishments have not been to waste. With many classmates and peers from Asia, Chi’s Mandarin skills have become a very strong asset.