Speaker Bios

Maria Yoneyama is completing her MA in TESOL from San Francisco State University, where she developed her language teaching philosophy as an English teacher. With nearly four years of teaching experience in Japan, she has become interested in the relationship between anxiety and English learning, which inspired her capstone research. After graduating, she hopes to contribute to English education in Japan, focusing on adult learners with business-oriented goals.

Jas Zeng is graduating with an MA in Linguistics and a Graduate Certificate in Computational Linguistics. She graduated with her BA in Linguistics from the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) in 2020. She is interested in morphology, Large Language Models, Cognitive Linguistics, and Chinese Linguistics. Her graduate work focuses on the semantics of a specific particle, LE, in Mandarin, gathering natural language data to explore speakers’ usage and definitions.

Alejandra Robles is graduating with an MA TESOL degree from San Francisco State University. She also earned her B.A. in English Education from San Francisco State University. Alejandra’s experience as a conversation club leader with EducationUSA Georgia and as a volunteer with the American Language Institute’s Conversation Partner Program inspired her to research conversation clubs. Her capstone curriculum focuses on developing pragmatic skills in a conversation club environment to support language development for usage in real-world scenarios and academic life. 

Christine Xiong is graduating from San Francisco State University with an M.A. in TESOL. She obtained a B.A. in English at Sacramento State. Christine is a tutor at SF State's tutoring center, TASC, and a teaching assistant with the American Language Institute. Her research centers on creating a national curriculum for dual Hmong language programs to preserve the Hmong culture. Christine hopes to teach abroad while researching Hmong language in Southern China and Southeast Asia. 

Jackie Zhen is graduating with an MA in TESOL from San Francisco State University. She also obtained her B.A. In English Education from San Francisco State University in 2022. She is interested in teaching English as a second language abroad after graduating and has worked closely with newly immigrated high school students on their English literacy. Her graduate work focuses on what TESOL professionals need to consider when teaching abroad in Hong Kong in order to be successful educators in their unique language-learning environment.     

Chester Diaz is graduating with an MA in TESOL and a Certificate in Teaching Composition. With over seven years of experience working with English learners in the US and overseas, his primary focus is to help students in the contemporary state of language learning. A language learner as well as teacher, he is concerned with pedagogical theory and first-hand experience to provide an evidence-based and empathic approach to teaching. This interest has led him to research AI technologies and how they can be responsibly integrated into language study.

Samuel Grant is graduating with an MA in English Composition from San Francisco State University, where he also received a BA in English Education. As a Graduate Teaching Assistant at SFSU, he promoted rhetorical understanding and digital literacy as a means to help students practice new genres of writing and to prepare them for their continued education. After graduating, he plans to start teaching at community colleges in the Sacramento area where he was first inspired to go into teaching.

Mele Thomas is a graduate student at San Francisco State University, where she earned her bachelor’s degree and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in linguistics. She is also enrolled in the Post Baccalaureate Computational Linguistics Certificate, with hopes of future work in the NLP and AI field. Her capstone research explores gendered biases in Large Language Models (LLMs) in order to investigate and further improve the integration of linguistics and AI. 

Cody Fisher is a graduate student at San Francisco State University in the field of Composition. Cody also earned a Bachelor's degree in Literature, a Master's degree in Literature, as well as certificates in Teaching Composition and Post-Secondary Reading from San Francisco State. Cody is interested in becoming a professor of English, pursuing a career teaching both literature as well as composition. His goal is to bridge the gap between reading and writing and incorporate both into their respective teachings. 

Malleeswari Jagabattuni (MJ) is graduating from San Francisco State University with an MA in Linguistics specializing in Computational Linguistics. She also has an MA in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages and a BA in Anthropology from San Francisco State University. Her background is in English education where she worked with immigrant communities. Her research interests lie in the syntax-semantics interface where she has studied polysemy and how large language models handle commonsense reasoning.

Elan Rodriguez is graduating from San Francisco State University with an M.A. in English Composition. He also obtained a B.A. in English Education with an emphasis in creative writing from Cal State Long Beach. With plans of teaching at the community college level, he is interested in how to show students that the writing process can empower them in areas outside of school. His capstone focuses on the current usage of A.I. during the writing process, and how it can be used responsibly and become a new form of digital literacy. 

Annemarie Sheehan Fortier is graduating with a MA in TESOL, having also completed a The Certificate in the Teaching of Composition. She currently works as a substitute teacher at San Francisco Unified School district, often with English learners in elementary and high schools. Her teaching career began in Europe and Africa. She will enter a teacher certification program in order to return to the K-12 classroom and continue to work with English learners.

Efi Turnip is a graduate student in the English Literatures program at San Francisco State University. Her work concentrates on American poetry and poetics from modernism to the present, with a particular focus on forms of indeterminacy and intersubjectivity. She is currently doing research for a thesis on the writing of Clark Coolidge and is the author of Viennoiseries, The Gold Rush, and the forthcoming Under a Sturgeon Moon.

Gabriela Pires is a graduate student in English Literature at San Francisco State University, specializing in Victorian studies, material culture, and food history. Her research examines 19th-century cookbooks, domestic periodicals, and the literary intersections of food studies. She serves as the social media manager for the Dickens Project at UC Santa Cruz.

Gurleen Babra is graduating from San Francisco State University with an M.A. in English Literatures. She served as a Graduate Teaching Associate (GTA Faculty) at SF State in Fall 2024 teaching ENG 114. With the MA Program, she also completed the Certificate in Teaching Reading, and Certificate in Teaching of Composition at SF State. Her research interest revolves around critical race theory, ethnic studies, and biopolitics. Her scholarly work has appeared in Contemporary Literature in English: Recent Perspectives, Trends and Issues in Contemporary Literature, New Horizons: A Multidisciplinary Research Journal (Volumes: XV and XIII).