Bio of Gail Shuck

Gail Shuck received her BA from Oberlin College in Anthropology, her MA in English Language and Linguistics from the University of Arizona, and her PhD in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching, also from the University of Arizona. She completed her interdisciplinary dissertation, Imagining the Native Speaker: The Poetics of Complaint in University Student Discourse, in 2001. She has taught first- and second-language writing courses for 9 years and also taught courses in spoken English and in TOEFL preparation (Test of English as a Foreign Language) in Japan and Malaysia for a total of six years.

At Boise State, Gail teaches English 122 and 123, two of the three English as a Second Language courses that prepare students for English 101. She also teaches upper division courses in the teaching of ESL, particularly for pre-service and in-service teachers. Her administrative role as ESL coordinator is to forge links between the various units on campus that serve English language learners and also to develop programs for ESL students and to provide resources for faculty who wish to learn more about helping second language learners succeed at BSU.

Toward that end, Gail works closely with the other members of Boise State's ESL Advisory Committee, a cross-disciplinary committee consisting of faculty, staff members, and administrators working toward the integration of nonnative English speakers into the university community. Please see the statement in Word Works on the future of ESL at Boise State.