I retired from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in January 2025. During 22 years in the UAB School of Education, I served in many roles but most prominently as professor of English learner teacher education, program director of English as a second language (ESL), and principal investigator of professional development grants from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA). I hold a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction (ESL) from the University of Alabama, a master's degree in teaching German from the University of California Berkeley,and a bachelor's degree in linguistics from the University of California in San Diego.
As a faculty member at UAB, I regularly taught the following courses: EESL 625 "Phonology for Second Language Teachers" in the ESL master's degree program, EESL 560 "Effective Teaching and Learning" in the alternative ESL master's program, EDC 732 "Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Instruction" in several EdS programs (ESL, secondary education, special education, school psychology), and EDC 760 "Engaging Global Communities" in the Educational Studies in Diverse Populations PhD program. I also gave presentations at over 80 conferences (in 20 states and 5 countries) and conducted professional development workshops for over 4,000 educators in Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi as well as Nicaragua, Ecuador, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
As a researcher in the field of ESL, I established a research agenda on the preparation of educators for effectively serving English learners and coupled it with my career interest in issues related to English learner pronunciation. Together with my colleagues, I examined the impact of National Professional Development grants from OELA. In another study, we examined the oral English proficiency of non-native English speakers pursuing graduate degrees in education and factors related to their identity and perceptions of self-efficacy as teachers. In earlier studies, we had examined how mainstream teachers learn to implement ESL Best Practices and how they helped their colleagues through collaborative mentoring. I also explored how visual analogies in "The Fun-Analogy Train" served to empower graduate students in understanding phonological concepts and in using such concepts to help ELLs improve their pronunciation.
While at UAB, my major service entailed leadership roles in the Alabama-Mississippi TESOL affiliate and the regional Southeast TESOL council, such as chairing the 2016 AMTESOL conference and the 2017 SETESOL conference as well as coordinating the 2025 AMTESOL conference. I also served on the Speech/Pronunciation/Listening Interest Section (SPLIS) board for the TESOL International Association. My service to UAB included serving on the Faculty Senate and chairing the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee.
Before coming to UAB in 2003, I had been a teacher educator in Paraguay for over 20 years. After initially serving as a Peace Corps volunteer, I taught linguistics at Paraguay's National University, English at a language institute associated with the British Council, and Spanish as a Second Language at the American School of Asunción where I also served as Curriculum and Professional Development Coordinator.
Dr. Susan Spezzini's CV
