Dr. Li-Jen Kuo

Dr. Li-Jen Kuo has a master’s degree in Language, Learning, and Policy from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in Second Language Acquisition and Teacher Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Currently an Associate Professor in the College of Education at Texas A&M University, her research and teaching center on second language acquisition, teacher education, and the integration of STEAM with second language instruction. Her research has been supported by the U.S. National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation and the U.S. Department of Education. The impact of her research is evidenced by an exceptionally high number of citations (more than 5,000) for a scholar of her rank. She serves as a U.S. federal proposal reviewer for the Linguistics program with the National Science Foundation and the International Research Studies Program with the Department of Education. 

Dr. Kuo has served as the director for six cohorts of the STARTALK Student Program. She successfully planned and implemented the professional development for each of the STARTALK Student Programs and provided professional support for teachers beyond STARTALK. 

Dr. Kuo has also established herself as an innovative postsecondary educator and has successfully developed two courses certified by Quality Matters, a national certification program that recognizes high-quality online and blended courses. One of Dr. Kuo’s areas of expertise is the integration of content-area instruction and technology with second language instruction. Her research on this topic has been published in high-impact journals in the field, including the International Journal of Science & Mathematics Education, Computers & Education, and Computer-Assisted Language Learning. The impact of her work is also evidenced by invited talks and panel discussions on this topic by world language communities in the U.S. and in Europe, including “Integrating STEM with K-5 World Language Instruction: A Project-Based and Learner-Centered Approach” and “Unit & Lesson Design: Creating Units for Global Competence.”

You can learn more about Dr. Kuo’s research and outreach projects at her research group website: Cross-Linguistic Literacy & Cognition Research Group.