L. J. Randolph Jr. [he/any]

Lab Director, Assistant Professor of World Language Education

Website: ProfeRandolph.com

Email: [email protected]

L. J. Randolph Jr. is an Assistant Professor of World Language Education and affiliate faculty in Second Language Acquisition at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Before working in higher education, he spent a decade as a Spanish and ESL teacher at the high school level. His research, teaching, and community engagement focus on various critical issues in language education, including teaching Spanish as a heritage/home/community language, incorporating justice-centered/anti-racist/anti-colonial pedagogies, and centering Blackness and Indigenousness. An advocate for abolitionist, liberationist, and transformative language education, he has held leadership roles in many professional language associations at the state and national level, including 2024 president of ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages). He enjoys traveling, spending time with family, biking around Madison, playing board games and video games, and reading/watching horror and sci-fi.

Jason Smith [he]

Teaching Faculty, Program Coordinator of M.S. in World Language Education

Website: jasonnsmith.net

Email: [email protected]

Jason N. Smith is teaching faculty and the Program Coordinator of the World Language Teacher Education Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He teaches graduate methods and linguistic courses. He has over 20 years of experience teaching French and Spanish in the K-12 setting (public, private/independent, and boarding). His research interests include critical language theory (langcrit), critical intercultural competency (CIC), and culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogies. He conducted a qualitative case study on the implementation and use of critical interculturality in K-12 language courses using critical consciousness theoretical frameworks to create an inclusive professional development program, which centered around critical self-reflection. In addition to language and research, Jason loves being outdoors (hiking, camping, etc.), traveling, reading, and exploring new places with his daughter and husband.

Ruth Olayemi Adeniyi [she]

Ph.D., Second Language Acquisition

Ruth Olayemi Adeniyi is a PhD student in Second Language Acquisition with a minor in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research focuses on heritage language acquisition, bilingual education, and identity formation among African immigrant communities in the U.S., with a focus on Yoruba language maintenance. She is also interested in linguistic diversity, open educational resources (OER), and fostering intercultural competence to enhance learner motivation and engagement. Ruth holds an MA in Language, Literature, and Translation (French and Francophone studies) from UW-Milwaukee and a BA in French from Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria. With over 4 years of experience teaching French, she was awarded a university-wide Teaching Fellowship at UW-Milwaukee in 2022/23. Ruth currently teaches College Composition and works as a Writing Center instructor at UW-Madison. Outside of her scholarly pursuits, she enjoys movies, traveling, practicing calligraphy, and catching up with family and friends.

Izabela de Souza [she]

Ph.D., Curriculum & Instruction

Izabela de Souza is an educator, curriculum developer, and scholar. A Ph.D. student in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she holds an MA in International Educational Development from Teachers College, Columbia University, where she received the 2022 Shirley Chisholm Trailblazer Award. Known as Iza, she earned her BA in Language and Literature from Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie in Brazil. Her research interests encompass counter-colonization, Amefricanity, and Afrocentrism, particularly as they apply to Brazil’s curriculum development, teacher practices and training, and collective accountability and healing. Outside of her academic pursuits, she enjoys traveling, spending time with her dog, Odara, working out, and watching TV dramas.

Jiahao Liang [he]

Ph.D., Curriculum & Instruction

Jiahao Liang is a Ph.D. student at the School of Education, UW-Madison, specializing in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on world language education. He currently serves as a Chinese Language TA for intermediate-level students in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at UW-Madison. Jiahao began his graduate studies in Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages by integrating community-based historical and cultural stories into Chinese language instruction for non-native speakers, particularly heritage language learners. He has a strong interest in expanding conventional Chinese language teaching by incorporating multicultural education, social justice education, and citizenship education. As a Hakka individual who grew up in southern China and developed proficiency in two local dialects, he aspires to contribute to language preservation efforts in his hometown by engaging extensively in minority language curriculum design and second language education research.

Tingting Schwartz (张婷婷) [she]

Ph.D., Curriculum & Instruction

Tingting Schwartz (张婷婷) is a Ph.D. student in World Language Education with a minor in Educational Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Working with transnational teachers and young learners, she focuses her research on multilingual literacy, critical language awareness, critical childhood studies, and teacher education. She supervises preservice teachers and works as a project assistant for the WIDA ACCESS assessment. Tingting has fifteen years of teaching experience across K-12 and postsecondary levels in China and the U.S. She advocates for language education as MCTLC’s language advocacy chair and curriculum coordinator for We As One. She also leads monthly Chinese Storytime and Art Play sessions at Madison Public Library. A proud mom of three bilingual and biracial children, she enjoys reading, drawing, crafting, and family playing time.

Curtis Wright [he]

Ph.D., Curriculum & Instruction

Curtis (Light) Wright is a Ph.D. student in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he is advised by Dr. L. J. Randolph Jr. and Dr. Carl Grant. His research explores how campus ministry programs shape domestic and international students’ identity, belonging, and social development. Using raciolinguistics and ethnographic approaches, he examines how these programs help students navigate racial and linguistic ideologies while fostering inclusive communities. Curtis has a background in Japanese linguistics and multicultural education, which informs his interdisciplinary approach. In addition to his academic work, he enjoys exercising, watching Japanese film and digital media, and discovering new international cuisines.

Gengqi (Greyson) Xiao [he]

Ph.D., Second Language Acquisition

Gengqi (Greyson) Xiao is a PhD student in Second Language Acquisition with a minor in Educational Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Before his doctoral studies, he earned an M.S.Ed. in TESOL from the University of Pennsylvania and taught ESL at an urban high school. His research centers on two major streams. First, he takes a raciolinguistic perspective to interrogate the sociolinguistic roots that have historically stigmatized certain linguistic practices and continue to marginalize them in contemporary society. Second, he draws on critical frameworks such as translanguaging and English as a lingua franca to create alternative classroom and policy practices that challenge dominant language ideologies. Through his work, he seeks to bridge sociolinguistic research and educational policy to advocate for linguistic justice. He enjoys music composition, kayaking, and watching movies.