Directory

Research Interests

• Self-Directed Learning in Digital Discourse
• Second Language Writing Feedback
• Teaching Language with Authentic Materials 
• Educational technology and online teaching

Biography, Education and Training

Elu Tu earned her Ph.D. degree in the Curriculum and Instruction Department—World Language Education program with a minor in Educational Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2016. Her research interests are instructional technology, self-directed learning, and digital literacy. Her recent project was funded USD 10,000 to develop a best practice for authentic materials instruction in world language education. She asserts that language learning is a transdisciplinary practice to understand and connect to multi-cultures. Cultivating global citizens is her passion and determination to incorporate technology and language pedagogy. Her life goal is to found and run a successful foundation/NGO dedicated to promoting and advancing digital justice.

Honors, Awards and Grants

GRANTS

• MRRC Grant—Southern Connecticut State University, $2000 for 2019-2020, Research project for A New Generation of Chinese Immigrant Youth: On Fuerdai's Economic Privileges, National Identity, and Educational Selectivity.
• Curriculum Development Grant— Southern Connecticut State University, $5000 for 2019-2020 with Dr. Cardone, Activity for Developing a Chinese Minor.
• MRRC Grant—Southern Connecticut State University, $2000 for 2018-2019, Presenting at Annual Conference of North American Taiwan Studies Association.
• Faculty Development Fund— Southern Connecticut State University, $2900 for 2018-2019 with Dr. Cardone and Dr. Schmitt, Project: Video Conferencing at Southern; Next Steps
• Start Preliminary Proof-of-Concept Fund—University of Connecticut, awarded $10,000 for 2019-2020, Project: Land in Fog of World Languages: A Platform to Create Learning Activities through Authentic Videos.

 AWARDS

• SCSU Career Champions— Career champions are faculty or staff members at SCSU who made a significant impact regarding a student's career trajectory  

Selected Publications

• Tu, I. (2021) Developing Self-Directed Learning Strategies through Creative Writing: Three Case Studies of Snowball Writing Practice in a College Chinese Language Classroom. Thinking Skills and Creativity, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2021.100837 (SSCI Index)
• Tu, I. (2020) An Investigation of second Language Writers’ Complex Dynamic Systems with Retrodictive Qualitative Modeling: Three Case Studies of Learners of Chinese. Journals of US-China Education Review A , 10:3, 95-112.
• Tu, I. (2018) Emerging Second Language Writing Identity and Complex Dynamic Writing: A Transdisciplinary Perspective. Journal of World Languages, 4: 3,160-181.

Selected Presentations

Tu, I. (Aug 15-20, 2021). Technology-mediated corrective feedback and instruction in

language learning (Symposium 167). The World Congress of Applied Linguistics

(AILA),  Groningen, Netherlands. (virtual)

Tu, I. (May 18-20, 2020). Emerging H5P and Authentic Materials for Language Instruction:

A Case Study in a Chinese Classroom (Session 5). The H5P Conference 2020, Madison, WI, United States. https://h5pcon-2020.h5p.org/program.html (Conference canceled)

Tu, I. (Apr. 3-5,2020). Emerging Interactive Technological Applications and

Authentic Materials for Language Instruction: A Case Study in a Chinese Classroom (Potomac II Workshop). CLTA Annual Conference, Washington DC, United States. https://clta-us.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/2.16Version_CLTA2020ConfernceProgram.pdf

(Conference canceled)

Piemontese, L. and Tu, I. (Feb. 7-9, 2019). Solving Puzzles to Improve Proficiency and

Communication. Workshop presented at the Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, NY, United States.

Piemontese, L. and Tu, I. (Oct. 21-22, 2018). Breaking through Communication. Workshop

presented at the CT Council of Language Teachers, CT, United States.

Gleason, J. and Tu, I. (Mar. 27-30, 2018). Theory for what? Scaffolding ESOL teacher

knowledge of SLA. Paper presented at the TESOL 2018 International Convention & English Language Expo, IL

Tu, I. and Chiu, Y. (Mar. 24-27, 2018). Cultivating Self-Directed Learners in Chinese

Classroom: A Case Study of Snowball Writing Practice at the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL), IL

Tu, I. (Nov. 20, 2017). A Comparison Study of Paper-based, Digital Text-based, and Video

Based Writing Feedback in a College ESL Classroom. Paper presented at the 4th Annual Faculty Research Tapas in SCSU, CT

Tu, I. (Mar. 15-18, 2017). Does the “Best Practices” Help Students’ Self-Directed

Learning in Second Language Writing? A Qualitative Study on Relation between Teacher’s Written Responses and Students’ Self-Directed Learning. Paper presented at the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC), OR

Teaching Interests

• Chinese Language
• Second Language Theories
• Bilingualism
• Instructional Technology in Language Teaching