On this page your can find information about the FLTA Supervisor/LCTL Coordinators, the FLTA Mentor, the Teaching Supervisors, MSU Language Departments, and Program Partners.
FLTA Supervisor/LCTL Coordinators
Emily Heidrich Uebel (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin‐Madison) is an Academic Specialist at the Center for Language Teaching Advancement, the Associate Executive Director of the National LCTL Resource Center, and the LCTL Coordinator, FLTA Supervisor, and BTAA CourseShare Coordinator at Michigan State University. In addition to her many conference presentations, webinars, and co-authored articles/chapters, she was the lead co-editor on the development of two edited volumes published in 2023 (Language Program Vitality in the United States and Sharing Less Commonly Taught Languages in Higher Education). She works across the nation to form cross-institutional working groups and is an officer of the ACTFL LCTL SIG. Her research interests include foreign language proficiency, educational technology and online instruction, curriculum design, LCTL education, and education abroad topics. More information can be found on her website: https://emilyheidrichuebel.com/
FLTA Mentor
Rajiv Ranjan (Ph.D., University of Iowa) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures at Michigan State University (MSU). At MSU, Rajiv is associated with the Asian Studies Program and Master of Arts in Foreign Language Teaching (MAFLT) Program. He is also the mentor for the Fulbright Language Teaching Assistants (FLTAs). Before joining MSU, Rajiv Ranjan taught as a graduate teaching assistant at The University of Iowa, Iowa City (2010-2015) where he received his PhD in Second Language Acquisition in 2015.
Rajiv’s primary area of research is generative approach to second language acquisition (SLA). His research interests also include socio-cultural approach to SLA, second language writing and speaking, language pedagogy, and morpho-syntax.
Department Chair
Dr. Yen-Hwei Lin’s research has focused on phonological representations and constraints with particular interests in feature theory, moraic and syllabic structures, the phonology-morphology interface, phonetically-based phonology, and Chinese phonology. She is the author of The Sounds of Chinese, co-editor of Lingua Sinica and an associate editor of Language and Linguistics.
FLTA Teaching Supervisors
Arabic
Dr. Brahim Chakrani is an Associate Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Languages. He obtained his B.A. in English Literature from the University of Cadi Ayyad in Marrakech, Morocco and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. While completing his graduate work, Dr. Chakrani also obtained a Certificate of Advanced Studies in the program of Second Language Acquisition and Teacher Education (SLATE) at UIUC. Prior to joining MSU, he taught at UIUC and Parkland College in Champaign and served as supervising Teaching Assistant in the African Language program at UIUC.
Bengali, Hindi, and Urdu
Dr. Rajiv Ranjan (see above) serves as the supervisor for Bengali, Hindi, and Urdu.
Chinese
Dr. Ho-Hsin Huang’s research focuses on phonology, phonetics, phonology-phonetics interface, speech perception/production and loanword phonology. Her current work is mainly on Chinese loanword phonology. She is specifically interested in loanword input representations. She is also interested in language acquisition and bilingualism.
Tze-lan Sang (Ph.D., Comparative Literature, University of California, Berkeley) teaches classes on modern Chinese literature and visual culture. Among her major publications are The Emerging Lesbian: Female Same-Sex Desire in Modern China (University of Chicago Press, 2003) and Documenting Taiwan on Film: Issues and Methods in New Documentaries (Routledge, 2012). She has also written many book chapters and journal articles on topics ranging from contemporary writers and film directors to traditional Chinese opera. Her current research focuses on three areas: 1) Chinese popular fiction in a larger web of urban entertainment culture during the first half of the twentieth century; 2) Chinese cinema—especially independent documentary films—from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and mainland China; and 3) representations of postindustrial cities. Her research has received support from the American Council of Learned Societies, the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation, the Fulbright Foundation, and the Mellon Foundation. Prior to joining MSU, she taught at Stanford University and the University of Oregon.
Kazakh, Russian, Ukrainian, and Uzbek
Dr. Jason Merrill is a Professor of Russian at Michigan State University and has served as the Director of the Middlebury College Kathryn Wasserman School of Russian since 2010. At Michigan State he teaches Russian language, Russian literature in translation, Russian cinema, and a survey of East European literature and film. He taught at Dartmouth College and Drew University before moving to Michigan State. His literary research continues to focus on the Russian Symbolist author Fedor Sologub in the context of the Symbolist movement, examining questions of influence, plagiarism, and play with intertextuality in his works. He has published articles on Sologub in the journals Russkaia literatura (St. Petersburg), Slavic and East European Journal, Scando-Slavica, Russian Literature, Slavonica, and in several collections. He has published on aspects of Russian cinema in Studies in Russian and Soviet Cinema, and on language pedagogy in Russian Language Journal and various collections and newsletters. He has co-authored two Russian-language textbooks, Animation for Russian Conversation (Focus, 2008) and Russian Folktales: A Student Reader (2001, second edition 2016). He co-edited the collection The Art of Teaching Russian (Georgetown UP, 2020) and a special volume of Russian Language Journal dedicated to teaching Russian during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Korean
Dr. Shannon Quinn serves as the Korean language teaching supervisor.
Portuguese
Dr. Saulo Gouveia teaches all levels of Portuguese language and Luso-Brazilian Culture courses. He is the Portuguese Program Convener in the Romance and Classical Studies Department. He also teaches general education Brazilian Studies courses at the Center for Integrative (IAH 207 “Literature, Cultures, and Identities”) and a Literary Theory course (ROM 805) in the department.
Gouveia has published in the areas of Brazilian Literature and Intellectual History, and more recently on eco-dystopian literature and ecocriticism. His book, The Triumph of Brazilian Modernism was published by the University of North Carolina Press, 2013. Degree: Ph.D. in Portuguese and Brazilian literature, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research interests include Ecocriticism, Environmental Dystopias, Modern and Contemporary Brazilian Literature and intellectual history, Music, and Cinema
Swahili
Dr. Deo Ngonyani is an Associate Professor of Linguistics and African languages. His research interests include language documentation, word structure, Bantu languages and Swahili studies in general. He has taught at the University of Dar es Salaam – Tanzania, Pwani University – Kenya, UCLA and Indiana University.
Jonathan Choti is an Assistant Professor of African Languages and Cultures. He teaches Swahili and a course in the Center for Integrative Studies in the Arts and Humanities (CISAH) that focuses on African cultures, languages, and literature. He is also the faculty leader of a 6-week summer education broad program known as Sustainable Community Development in Tanzania. He is a member of a number of professional bodies, e.g. the Association of Contemporary African Linguistics (ACAL), the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages (NCOLCTL), African Language Teachers’ Association (ALTA), Kenya Scholars and Studies Association (KESSA), and Chama cha Ukuzaji wa Kiswahili Duniani (Chaukidu). Choti’s research interests focus on the phonology and morphology of Bantu languages, Swahili, the pedagogy of minority languages, and language documentation. He is the 2019 recipient of the Mid-Michigan Spartans Quality in Teaching Award, co-recipient of the 2020 Excellence Award in Interdisciplinary Scholarship, recipient of the 2020-2021 Lilly Fellowship, and the 2020 Summer Hub Faculty Fellowship Program.
Yoruba and other African Languages
Dr. Galen Sibanda is an Assistant Professor of African Languages and the Coordinator of the African Languages Program. His research interests include language pedagogy and the linguistic structure of Bantu languages, particularly phonology, morphology and the syntax-semantics interface. He previously taught African languages at the University of Zimbabwe, University of California at Berkeley and Stanford University.
Quechua, Thai, Turkish, Uzbek, Vietnamese, and Other Less Commonly Taught Languages
Dr. Emily Heidrich Uebel (see above) serves as the supervisor for Quechua, Thai, Turkish, Uzbek, Vietnamese, and any other Less Commonly Taught Language not listed above.