Faculty
Program Coordinator
Israel Sánz-Sánchez
Languages and Cultures
Professor Sánz-Sánchez joined WCU in 2009. His area of concentration is the history of Spanish in the United States, the development of dialectal diversity in Latin America, and historical sociolinguistics. His current research focuses on the Spanish of New Mexico and northern Mexico, phonological and morphological change in Latin American Spanish during the colonial period, and the linguistic and historical approaches to the Hispanic archival heritage of the US Southwest. At West Chester, Professor Sanz-Sánchez has taught and developed courses in Spanish as a second language, Spanish phonetics, the history of the Spanish language, Spanish in the United States, and linguistic discrimination. You can contact Professor Sánz-Sánchez at ISanzSanch@wcupa.edu.
Contributing Faculty
Mahmoud Amer
Languages and Cultures
Professor Amer came to WCU in 2011, and is one of the faculty members in the graduate TESOL Program, as well as the coordinator of Arabic language instruction at WCU. He specializes in mobile learning, computer assisted language learning (CALL), second language acquisition, and Arabic language learning. He has published in a variety of academic journals, and is the developer of the Alarabia: A Communicative Approach for Teaching Arabic for Non-Native Speakers textbook (2011), as well as of a variety of mobile apps for the learning of Arabic. At West Chester, his teaching concentrates on Arabic language and culture courses, linguistics and TESOL research methods courses. You can contact Professor Amer at MAmer@wcupa.edu.
M
aria José Cabrera
Languages and Cultures
Professor Cabrera came to WCU in 2007. Her area of concentration is on the linguistics of Spanish. She focuses on Spanish-English bilingualism, second-language acquisition and pedagogy, and sociolinguistics. At West Chester, she has taught and developed courses in Spanish linguistics, Spanish phonetics, Spanish for heritage speakers, second-language proficiency development, and Spanish as a second language. Professor Cabrera is also the coordinator of lower-level Spanish. You can contact Professor Cabrera at MCabrera@wcupa.edu.
Jelena Colovic-Markovic
Languages and Cultures
Professor Colovic-Markovic came to WCU in 2013 and is one of the faculty members in the graduate TESOL Program. She specializes in second language (English) vocabulary acquisition, second language (L2) reading and writing, applied corpus linguistics, and content-based instruction. She has recently published her work in TESOL International Journal and The TESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching. At West Chester, her teaching is in the areas of TESOL: pedagogical structure of the English grammar, L2 testing, L2 vocabulary development, and content-based instruction. You can contact Professor Colovic-Markovicat JMarkovic@wcupa.edu.
Stephen M. DiDomenico
Communication and Media
Professor DiDomenico (he/they) came to West Chester in 2020. Dr. DiDomenico’s research interests are interdisciplinary and they use qualitative methods—especially conversation and discourse analytic approaches—to examine the situated communication practices that participants use to construct activities, identities, and relationships in ordinary and professional settings. Recent topics of interest have included mental health help seeking and support services, technology use and embodiment in face-to-face conversation, and genres of oral narrative in LGBTQ communities. Dr. DiDomenico enjoys teaching courses related to a variety of areas including language & social interaction, interpersonal communication, research methods, and presentational speaking. You can contact Professor DiDomenico at SDidomenico@wcupa.edu.
Cheryl Gunter
Communication Sciences and Disorders
Professor Gunter came to WCU in 1999. She has long experience as a speech and language pathologist in academic and clinical environments. Her research focuses on a wide variety of areas, including the treatment of communication disorders, pedagogical techniques for students with special communicative needs, and accent reduction techniques for the ESL classroom. She is the author (with Mareile Koenig) of Communication Development and Disorders for Partners in Service as well as a long list of instructional materials for students and professionals in the field of communication. She teaches courses in speech and language development, articulation disorders and clinical phonology, alternate and augmentative communication, accent modification and multicultural communication, and other areas. You can contact Professor Gunter at CGunter@wcupa.edu.
Elaine B. Jenks
Communication Studies
Professor Jenks came to WCU in 1992. She focuses on communication issues in clinical environments and in the family. Within this broader area, she has authored papers on issues such as doctor-patient communication, children with a visual impairment, and the interface between narration and pregnancy loss. Professor Jenks's teaching covers a variety of topics at the graduate and undergraduate levels, including communication theory, health, friendship and family communication, public speaking, and research methods. You can contact Professor Jenks at EJenks@wcupa.edu.
Sojung Kim
Communication Sciences and Disorders
Professor Sojung Kim came to WCU in 2011. Prior to coming to WCU, she worked as an early intervention provider for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene for four years, and as faculty research associate at Arizona State University by supervising graduate clinicians and teaching undergraduate and graduate classes. Her research interests include language assessment and intervention in infants and toddlers, research methodology and statistics, and diverse computer software programs for language transcripts. You can contact Professor Kim at SKim@wcupa.edu.
Mareile A. Koenig
Communication Sciences and Disorders
Professor Koenig joined WCU in 1990. She has extensive clinical experience in supporting children with Autism Spectrum Disorders through home-based and center-based models involving behavioral and developmental evidence-based approaches. Her research and teaching interests include the professional preparation of SLPs for autism treatment; cross-disciplinary collaboration; and issues related to the communication, social cognition, and behavior of children with ASD. Professor Koenig participated as a Co-Facilitator of the Education/Certification Sub-Committee of the Pennsylvania Autism Task Force, serves as a consultant to support groups for families of children with autism, and is a collaborator in the cross-disciplinary Autism Certification Program at West Chester University. You can contact Professor Koenig at MAreilekoening@gmail.com.
Maria-Eirini Panagiotidou
English
Professor Panagiotidou came to WCU in 2013. She specializes in cognitive approaches to intertexuality and literature, and her fields of interest encompass cognitive poetics, ekphrasis, iconicity, literary linguistics, pragmatics, and sociolinguistics. She has recently published her work in Language and Literature and the Journal of Literary Semantics and has presented at a variety of academic venues. At West Chester, her teaching concentrates on introductory linguistics, sociolinguistics, grammar, cognitive poetics and stylistics as well as English composition courses. You can contact Professor Panagiotidou at MPanagioti@wcupa.edu.
Innhwa Park
Languages and Cultures
Professor Park came to WCU as a faculty member in the graduate TESOL Program in 2013.
She uses conversation analytic methods to study language and social interaction. Her
research interests also include second language learning and use in and out of the
classroom. She has recently published her research in Discourse Studies, Journal of
Pragmatics, and Linguistics and Education. At West Chester, her teaching is in the
areas of TESOL and content-based instruction, sociolinguistics, listening/speaking
instruction, and bilingualism. You can contact Professor Park at IPark@wcupa.edu.
Joshua Raclaw
English
Professor Raclaw (they/he) came to WCU in 2016. Their current research uses conversation
analysis to examine how speakers of English use both language and the body during
social interaction, with a focus on discourse markers in American English and the
use of gaze, laughter, and touch during everyday talk. They have also conducted research
in sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology examining issues of language and identity
in the U.S., particularly with respect to gender and sexuality. Professor Raclaw has
a range of teaching interests in linguistics, including topics in conversation analysis
and discourse analysis, sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology, and the grammar
and phonology of English. You can contact Professor Raclaw at JRaclaw@wcupa.edu.
Esther (Chui Kian) Smidt
Languages and Cultures
Professor Smidt came to WCU in 2011, and is one of the faculty members in the graduate
TESOL Program. She specializes in second language acquisition and pedagogy, computer-assisted
language learning (CALL), distance education, and immigrant identity. She has published
in a variety of academic journals. At West Chester, her teaching is in the areas of
TESOL, bilingualism, curriculum development and pedagogy. You can contact Professor
Smidt at CSmidt@wcupa.edu.
Patricia Swasey Washington
Communication Sciences and Disorders
Professor Patricia Swasey Washington came to WCU in 2009. She has extensive experience as a speech-language pathologist, providing services to monolingual and bilingual individuals in a variety of settings (including school and healthcare). Prior to joining the faculty of the Communication Sciences and Disorders Department of West Chester University, Professor Swasey Washington served as interim director of clinical education and clinical services as well as speech-language supervisor for the Temple University Speech-Language-Hearing Center. Her research focuses on the development of language in Spanish-speaking English Language Learners. You can contact Professor Swasey Washington at PSwaseyWashington@wcupa.edu.
Dominik Wolff
Languages and Cultures
Professor Wolff came to WCU in 2015, and is a faculty member in the graduate TESOL
program. He has conducted research on a variety of topics in the field of applied
linguistics, such as the perception of corrective feedback and the effect of emotions
on language teacher development. In addition to his presentations at numerous domestic
and international conferences, he has been a reviewer for a variety of academic journals
and the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) conference. At West Chester,
he has taught and developed courses on language teaching methods, second language
research methods, linguistics, pedagogical grammar, and second language acquisition.
You can contact Professor Wolff at DWolff@wcupa.edu.
Retired Faculty
Garrett G. Molholt
English
Professor Molholt came to WCU in 1987. As a phonologist, he specializes in speech
processing and the applications of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) techniques
to the development of fluency in non-native speakers of English. He has published
a variety of single- and co-authored studies on this area. He is also the author of
the monograph Accent Reduction Via Acoustic Analysis: ESL Applications of the Visi-Pitch
II 3300 (Lincoln Park: Kay Elemetrics Corporation, 1998). He also has an extensive
background in several languages of India, including Sanskrit, Urdu, Hindi, Tamil and
Bengali. At West Chester, his teaching covered a variety of areas of linguistics,
including general linguistics, the structure of the English language, sociolinguistics
and phonetics. You can contact Professor Molholt at GMolholt@wcupa.edu.
Frederick R. Patton
Languages and Cultures
Professor Patton came to WCU in 1981. As a member of the Russian faculty at WCU, he taught a variety of courses in Russian language and culture, as well as courses in the Linguistics minor, including "Intro to Linguistics" and "Language Communities in the United States and Canada." You can contact Professor Patton at FPatton@wcupa.edu.
Andrea Varricchio
Languages and Cultures
Professor Varricchio came to WCU in 1986 with a concentration in Spanish linguistics and the application of linguistic theory to discourse analysis. She specializes in a variety of teaching methodologies in second-language acquisition and student-oriented teaching, including service-learning, internships, and study abroad programs. Professor Varricchio has published and presented papers on the applications of service learning and technology with the implementation of the ACTFL standards (i.e., the ‘5 C’s’) in the second-language classroom. At WCU, Professor Varricchio taught and developed courses in Business Spanish, Spanish for the Professionals, and a broad range of undergraduate and graduate courses in Spanish language and culture. You can contact Professor Varricchio at AVarricchio@wcupa.edu.
Faculty Resources
The Linguistics Program's SharePoint site is a login-only resource for faculty that includes prior course syllabi, committee meeting minutes, and other documents