Huseyin Uysal & Luis Javier Pentón Herrera
In this episode, our guests Drs. Huseyin Uysal and Luis Javier Pentón Herrera talk to us about learning the English language, and supporting young people in humanizing ways as they learn English.
Dr. Huseyin Uysal’s research interests, which tie back to several of his current endeavors, are primarily centered on studying fairness, justice and equity in language assessment, criticality in TESOL teacher education, and plurilingualism at public schools. His work has appeared in venues such as TESOL Journal, TESOL Quarterly, Linguistics and Education, and Peabody Journal of Education. He currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Education for Multilingualism, and the Associate Editor of Journal of Education, Language, and Ideology. He is the current Chair of the Bilingual-Multilingual Education Interest Section of TESOL International Association. Dr. Uysal is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of English Language Education at The Education University of Hong Kong. He holds a PhD degree in Curriculum and Instruction with a specialization in ESOL/Bilingual Education from the University of Florida. You can reach Dr. Uysal at huysal9@gmail.com.
Dr. Luis Javier Pentón Herrera’s current teaching and research projects are situated at the intersection of identity, emotions, and well-being in language and literacy education, social-emotional learning (SEL), autoethnography and storytelling, refugee education, and language weaponization. His books can be found in the University of Michigan Press, Routledge, Springer, Brill, De Gruyter, TESOL Press, Bucharest University Press, and Rowman & Littlefield. Dr. Pentón Herrera is an award-winning Spanish and English educator and a best-selling author. In 2024, he was selected as the 2024 TESOL Teacher of the Year, awarded by the TESOL International Association and National Geographic Learning. He is a Professor at VIZJA University, Poland, and a Book Series Co-Editor of the Cambridge Elements in Language and Power (Cambridge University Press) and Contemporary Perspectives on Learning Environments book series (Emerald Publishing), as well as Co-Editor of Tapestry: A Multimedia Journal for Teachers and English Learners, and Associate Editor of Language Teacher Education Research. Further, he is a Fulbright Scholar and Specialist, and an English Language Specialist with the U.S. Department of State. Previously, he served as the 38th President of Maryland TESOL from 2018 to 2019, and earned the rank of Sergeant while serving in the United States Marine Corps (USMC). Two of his professional accolades include the ‘30 Up and Coming Emerging Leaders in TESOL’, awarded by TESOL International Association in 2016, and the J. Estill Alexander Future Leader in Literacy Award, awarded by the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers (ALER) in 2018 when his dissertation was chosen as ALER’s Outstanding Dissertation of the Year. Originally from La Habana, Cuba, Dr. Pentón Herrera enjoys creative writing, playing with his two dogs, Virgo and Maui, and running in his free time. You can connect with Dr. Pentón Herrera on his Instagram: @luisjavierpentonherrera and on his website https://luispenton.com/
ORCIDs: Huseyin (0000-0003-2499-3097) and Luis (0000-0002-8865-8119)
To cite this episode: Persohn, L. (Host). (2026, Mar. 10). A Conversation with Huseyin Uysal and Luis Javier Pentón Herrera. (Season 6, No. 8) [Audio podcast episode]. In Classroom Caffeine Podcast series. https://www.classroomcaffeine.com/guests. DOI: 10.5240/F619-2EFE-72B9-79F4-04DF-F