Robin Barr, Linguist in Residence, Principles of Linguistics: Robin Barr holds a PhD in Linguistics from Harvard with concentrations in both Indo-European and psycholinguistics. Her research on morphology involves the relationship between language learning and language change, and she is always happy to hear of new irregular verbs or refinements for wug-tests. Her daughter has been one of her favorite informants, and students are likely to encounter data from her on their problem sets. Dr. Barr is also an avid amateur oboist.

Brock Brady, Co-Director of the American University TESOL Program: Brock Brady teaches courses in Language Assessment, Cultural Issues in the ESL/EFL Classroom, and Curriculum and Materials Development.  His research interests include cross-cultural discourse analysis, teaching pronunciation, language assessment, and distance learning. Brady is currently a Director on the Board of TESOL, Inc, and is the association's representative to the United Nation's Non-Governmental Organization program.  A former Fulbright Scholar and former Peace Corps Volunteer, Prof. Brady has taught in Korea, Paris, France, Panama, South Africa, and several West African countries. 1993 to 1997, he managed English Teaching Programs for the State Department in Burkina Faso and Benin.

Younghee Sheen, Assistant Professor, English Language Teaching I, Pedagogical Grammar: Prof. Sheen received her PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Nottingham (UK). She holds an MA and EdM in Applied Linguistics from Teachers College, Columbia University. Her main research interest is instructed second language acquisition, in particular, the role of form-focused instruction and corrective feedback in language learning. She has published a book chapter and several articles on these topics in Language Teaching Research, Studies in Second Language Acquisition, and TESOL Quarterly. She is a recipient of, and co-principal investigator, on a 2007 TESOL International Research Foundation Grant.

Karen Taylor, TESOL Practitioner in Residence, Principles of Linguistics, Language Assessment (K-12), ELT III:  Karen earned her M.A. in TESOL from the Monterey Institute for International Studies. She has over twelve years of experience teaching language learners and training their teachers in Namibia, Mexico, California, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C.  Since joining the AU TESOL faculty as an adjunct professor in 2001, Karen's interests have come to include teaching methodology, program and curriculum design, pronunciation teaching, and the critical use of technology in language education.  Karen recently completed a 1-year Fulbright grant through which she served as a TEFL curriculum designer and teacher trainer at the Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, in Mérida, Mexico. Her spare time is devoted to gardening and singing with her band, TakomaZone.

Emma Archer, Graduate Assistant: A first-year student in the MA in TESOL program, Emma earned her BA in English Literature and Spanish from Bethany College in West Virginia. While a student at Bethany, she had the opportunity to teach in Spain, Costa Rica and rural West Virginia. She served as an AmeriCorps Energy Express mentor, worked as an AT and senior fellow in Bethany’s English and Foreign Language Departments, and most recently completed a stint as a hotel front desk clerk. A love of learning and teaching about language and culture led her to American University.

Jennifer Lubkin , Graduate Assistant: Jennifer earned her BA in Anthropology and Education from Washington College in Chestertown, MD and later completed a TEFL certificate in Guadalajara, Mexico. She recently finished service as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Azerbaijan where she taught English to middle-school students and opened an English language center. Jennifer is currently working toward her MA in TESOL and enjoys playing with her cats, Simon and Kira, and studying Spanish and Azeri in her free time.

Huijin Yan , Graduate Assistant: A first-year student in the MA TESOL program. Huijin earned her bachelor's degree at the Beijing International Studies University in 2003. She spent 3 years teaching English in a middle school in Beijing, sharing in every single triumph that her naughty teenage students made in their English study. Huijin really enjoys English culture and wishes to get a deeper sense of it so taht she can bring more interesting topics to her class in the future.