by Mark Thompson
The College of Humanities & the Arts welcomes Avizia Long to the Department of World 
Languages and Literatures! Originally from Marion, North Carolina, Avizia completed her PhD at Indiana University and has taught at IU, North Carolina State, University of Guam, and Texas Tech. She has also co-authored a book, Sociolinguistics and Second Language Acquisition: Learning to Use Language in Context, and her work has been published in several academic journals.
Her research interests include the acquisition of variation by second language learners of Spanish, the role of instructor characteristics in classroom-based language learning, and task-based language teaching for second language pronunciation learning. As far as teaching goes, her interests include Hispanic linguistics and all areas of Spanish-related language teaching.
“Prior to joining the SJSU community, I was most excited about the diversity of the student population,” she says. “I see myself in my students in so many ways, and I’ve really enjoyed working with them and learning from their stories with each passing week.” Avizia is also impressed by the diversity and expertise of her departmental colleagues. “I’m constantly humbled by how hard everyone works to facilitate the success of our students. I’m very happy and proud to be a member of the SJSU community, and I look forward to offering my expertise and service for many years to come.” And we’re happy to have you!
Welcome, Avizia!
