Doctoral Students

We have a wonderful group of gifted and diverse doctoral students in Language Arts & Children’s Literature.

Juan Du received a B.A in English with a minor in International business from Zhejiang Sci-Tech University in P.R. China and a M.Ed. in ESOL/Bilingual education from the College of Education, University of Florida. Before coming to UF for her graduate degree, she taught business English in a junior college in P.R. China for two years. Her research interests include how to coach ESL/EFL students to become effective writers and how the technology integration in the classroom affect k-12 ESL/EFL student’s writing development. You may contact Juan at dujuan@ufl.edu.

Hsiao-Yu Chang obtained a B.A. in Economics and Foreign Language from National Taiwan University and a M. A. in e-Learning Technology from National Hsinchu University of Education in Taiwan. With seven-year teaching experience, she had taught English to students from seventh to ninth grade. Her research interests focus on bilingual education and cover the following dimensions: designing suitable teaching materials or using creative technology devices to enhance English for EFLs/ ESLs (English as Foreign/Second learners), and leading student teachers to become effective and professional instructors. You may contact Hsiao-Yu at hychang@ufl.edu or hychang0917@gmail.com

Patricia Jacobs received a B.A. in French Literature from SUNY Albany and A M.A. in English Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. She taught English as a Second Language in Tokyo, Japan and New York City. She taught fifth and seventh grade English and Social Studies in New York City, and tenth grade English at Columbia High School in Lake City, FL.  Her research interests include how writing is taught to accommodate all learners and how to coach and mentor student teachers to become effective writing instructors. You may contact Patricia at patrjac@bellsouth.net

Qing Liu received a B.A. in English from Sichuan International Studies University and a M.A. in Linguistics from Chongqing University in China. She taught Chinese language to international students at Shenzhen and Chongqing in China and Children’s literature at College of Education (COE), UF. Since her enrollment at COE from 2006, she visits U.S. elementary and high school classrooms frequently and has been an active volunteer. She is interested in educational practices in China, especially English writing education. Her dissertation is about the teaching and learning dynamics of teachers from English-Speaking countries and their Chinese students in college English writing classrooms. You may contact Qing Liu at qingliu@ufl.edu

Mary Ellen Oslick is a Ph.D. candidate in Curriculum and Instruction in the School of Teaching and Learning at the University of Florida. She has taught fifth and sixth grade Language Arts in Texas. As a graduate assistant at the University of Florida, she has taught Children’s Literature, Intermediate Reading, and Multicultural Children’s Literature. Mary Ellen’s research areas of interest include: multicultural children’s literature; reading and writing instruction with diverse learners; and pre-service teacher instruction in the areas of elementary education, children’s literature, and reading instruction. She is currently working on her dissertation, “Black Preadolescent Male Responses to Children’s Literature Addressing Criminal Justice Issues.”  Email: meoslick@ufl.edu

Prisca Rodriguez received a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Puerto Rico – Mayagüez campus and an M.A. in Liberal Studies from the University of Central Florida. She taught Honors English and Young Adult Literature at the university of Puerto Rico – Mayagüez. She taught English as a second language in Randolph, Massachusetts and Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. She also has several years’ experience teaching middle and high school students in Language Arts, ESOL, Spanish, and French. Her research interests include the development, application, and assessment of visual literacy in K-12 curricula. You may contact Prisca at prisca_ufl@yahoo.com

Soim Shin received her B.S. in Child & Family Studies from Yonsei University (Seoul), her B.A. in English Education from Korea University (Seoul), and her M.A. in Drama, Language Arts, Literature, & Reading Education from The Ohio State University. While studying at OSU, she wrote columns on children’s literature for the Korean newspaper, Chicago Choongang- Ilbo.  She taught seventh grade, ninth grade, and college level English in Seoul, South Korea. She teaches children’s literature for ProTeach undergraduate students at UF.  Her research includes the relationship of Korean/ English literacy instruction at K- 12 levels in South Korea and its potential for change in traditional literacy curriculum in other contexts of literacy education. You may contact Soim Shin at ohio74@ufl.edu

Lauren Thibodeaux received her B.S. in Family, Youth and Community Sciences from the University of Florida and her M.Ed. in Elementary Education from the University of North Florida. She taught kindergarten in Jacksonville, FL and prekindergarten in Nashville, TN. Her research interests include the use of multicultural children’s literature across the curriculum and preparing preservice teachers for effective instruction with struggling readers. Lauren can be contacted at lauren05@ufl.edu

Shih-Fen Yeh received a B.A. in Chinese Literature from Fu-Jen University in Taiwan and a M. Ed. in ESOL from the University of Florida. She was an administrator in a private school for 10 years and taught Freshman English and English Teaching in Universities and Teacher’s College for 8 years in Taichung, Taiwan. Her research interests include bilingual education, biliteracy, children literature, multicultural children’s literature, reading, and EFL writing. You may contact Shih-Fen at shihfen@ufl.edu

Kathleen C. Colantonio Yurko received a B.A. in English Literature from Virginia Tech where she won the “Emily Morrison Prize for Poetry”. She also received a M.A. in British and American Literature from Clemson University where she taught freshman composition courses. Kathleen has taught English and Reading to at-risk youth girls grades 6-12. She currently teaches English and Drama at a high school east of Gainesville where she appears on a local educational show. Her research interests include multicultural pre-adolescent and adolescent female literature and literacy issues facing teenagers living in poverty culture. You may contact Kathleen at kccyurko@ufl.edu