Academics > Colleges/Schools and Departments > College of Humanities and Fine Arts > English and Philosophy > Faculty > Saihua Xia
Saihua Xia
Assistant Professor of English
"In all my teaching, I strongly believe what Diane Larsen Freeman said: “It is not our responsibility to ENTERTAIN our students but it is our responsibility to ENGAGE our students.” No matter which type of TESOL classes I teach, I consistently consider students as active learning-constructors—constructing language teaching knowledge, skills, and critical thinking ability together with teachers and peers.”
Highlighted Publications
“Classroom Pragmatic Factors: A Two-year Study of 7 East Asian Students’ Verbal Participation Intentions.” Pragmatics and Context. Eds. Marcia Macaulay and Pilar G. Blitvich. Toronto: York University Press/Antares, 2010.
“Are they ready to participate? East Asian students’ acquisition of verbal participation in American classrooms.” Issues in Applied Linguistics, 17.2 (2009): 137-157.
“Using telephone conversations to develop awareness of pragmatic skills: An activity-theory-driven approach.” Indian Journal of Applied Linguistics (IJOAL), 35, 2 (2009); 7-31.
Negotiating frames through refusal acts: A pragmatic analysis of native/non-native speakers’ interactions in problem-solving telephone conversations.” The Open Journal of Applied Linguistics, 1 (2008): 18-29.
Courses Taught
Applied Linguistics for Second Language Teaching (online & classroom-based)
Bilingual Education
Course & Syllabus Design (online & classroom-based)
Curriculum Development (online)
Developing Intercultural Competence (online & classroom-based)
Language & Culture
Language Testing (online & classroom-based)
Linguistics & Grammars
Methods & Materials for Teaching ESL (online & classroom-based)
TESOL Field Experience
TESOL Practicum & Internship
Awards and Distinctions
Board of Regents Teacher of Excellence, Murray State University, 2011
Best Paper Award, 2007 ISLS International Conference, Hawaii, April 2007
Nomination, 2006 Distinguished Dissertation Award, ETAP, Albany
Professional Memberships and Affiliations
Second Language Writing Interest Section, TESOL International, Elected
Committee Member
KYTESOL Board, Publication Liaison
TESOL International Member