Profile for Heather Linville

Brief biography

Dr. Linville is Associate Professor and Director of TESOL at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse. Heather holds a PhD in Language, Literacy and Culture from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Her research explores how teachers act as advocates for ELs and how teachers’ personal, experiential, and contextual factors influence their advocacy actions. She works to prepare all TESOL and general education pre-service teachers at her university as advocates for ELs. Heather’s on-going research interests include language teacher education, critical language awareness, and social justice for ELs. Heather has published in TESOL Journal (“ESOL Teachers as Advocates: An Important Role?”), Fourth Estate, the publication of TexTESOL (“Preparing New Teachers for the Advocacy Role”), the TEIS newsletter (“Advocacy or Activism: What Do We Expect from ESOL Teachers?”), and in an edited volume on teacher agency (“ESOL Teacher Advocacy: A Response to Teacher Education Standards”). She has also published an edited volume, Advocacy in English Language Teaching and Learning, Dr. James Whiting (Plymouth State University). Heather has served as the Conference Program Chair for WITESOL and is currently the Chair of the Standards Professional Council for TESOL International.