Student Profile

Çağrı Güzel

Ph.D. Candidate in Education: Language, Literacy, & Culture with Emphasis in Second Language Acquisition

Portrait of Çağrı Güzel

Çağrı Güzel is a PhD Candidate in the Graduate Group in Education at the University of California, Davis (UCD), specializing in second language acquisition (SLA), improvisational drama, and teacher education. His research focuses on the integration of immersive virtual reality and improvisational drama to enhance SLA.

Prior to UCD, Güzel worked as a Language Specialist at Google, providing linguistic expertise for language processing projects, particularly on the Google Assistant. He earned his bachelor’s degree in English Language and Literature at Erciyes University, and his bachelor’s thesis delved into morphemic and phonological distinctions in Turkish dialects. He also has significant experience teaching English as a Foreign Language in Turkiye (K-12, college level, adult) and attending language teaching courses in London, UK. Güzel pursued a master’s degree in education with a TESOL focus at California State University, San Bernardino, where he explored the transformative potential of improvisational drama in enhancing oral proficiency and motivation.

Güzel’s innovative educational methodologies are further augmented by specialized training in improv strategies from Northern California’s largest comedy school, infusing their scholarly work with dynamic and creative pedagogical approaches to language education. He has been actively involved in teaching various courses to college students at UCD since 2018, including Introduction to Schools, Educational Psychology, and Diversity in K-12 Education at School of Education; Introduction to American Studies, Technology in American Lives, and Race, Culture & Society in the United States at American Studies Department; Grammar and Introduction to Linguistics at Linguistics Department; and Hot Topics, Global Awareness through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and Intercultural Research Project at Continuing and Professional Education.

Education

Ph.D. in Education–Language, Literacy, & Culture with Emphasis in Second Language Acquisition (2018-in progress)

University of California, Davis 

M.A. in Education–TESOL (2017)

California State University, San Bernardino

B.A. in English Language and Literature (2014)

Erciyes University

Research Interests

  • Second Language Acquisition
  • Educational Drama
  • Immersive Virtual Reality
  • Teacher Education
  • Educational Equity

Research Experience

University of California, Davis

Principal Investigator (2022-present)

Research Partnership with Immerse Inc.

  • The Affordances of Immersive Virtual Reality in Second Language Acquisition 

Graduate Research Assistant (2021-present)

  • The Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, and Social Studies Content for Relational Understanding and Integrating Strategies in eLearning for English Learners Project (STEMSS CRUISE EL), funded by US Department of Education.

Principal Investigator (2019-present)

Research Partnership with Global Education for All, Global Affairs 

  • Improvisational Drama mediated through Immersive Virtual Reality to Support Speaking and Presentational Skills.

Graduate Research Fellow (2018-2019)

  • Teachers as Learners Project, funded by The James S. McDonnell Foundation 

Partnership between UC Davis School of Education and London Globe Theatre

Graduate Research Fellow (2018-2019)

California State University, San Bernardino

Graduate Research Assistant (09.2014-02.2017)

Principal Investigator (2016-2017)

  • Developing Oral Proficiency and Motivation through Script-Based and Improvisational Drama 

Teaching Experience

University of California, Davis

School of Education

            Associate Instructor (2022-present)

  • EDU 115 Educating Children with Disabilities

            Guest Lecturer (2020-22)

  • EDU 100 Introduction to Schools
  • EDU 110 Educational Psychology 
  • EDU 115 Educating Children with Disabilities
  • EDU 153 Diversity in the K-12 Classroom
  • EDU 185 Learning in a Digital Age

            Graduate Teaching Assistant (09.2018-Present)   

  • EDU 100 Introduction to Schools
  • EDU 110 Educational Psychology: General
  • EDU 115 Educating Children with Disabilities
  • EDU 153 Diversity in the K-12 Classroom

Department of American Studies

Guest Lecturer (2020-22)

  • AMS 05 Technology in American Lives
  • AMS 10 Introduction to American Studies

            Graduate Teaching Assistant (09.2018-Present)

  • AMS 05 Technology in American Lives
  • AMS 10 Introduction to American Studies
  • AMS 30 Images of America & American Popular Culture
  • AMS 59 Music & American Culture
  • AMS 156 Race, Culture & Society in the United States

Department of Linguistics 

            Associate Instructor (2022-present)

  • LIN 106 Grammar

   Graduate Teaching Assistant (2022-Present)

  • LIN 001 Introduction to Linguistics

Continuing and Professional Education

            Instructor of Record (2022-present)

  • Global Awareness through Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs by the United Nations)
  • Global Awareness & Intercultural Communication (GAIC), Hot Topics
  • Intercultural Research Project
  • Academic Engagement Track, Sustainable Development Goals
  • US Society and Culture

California State University, San Bernardino

School of Education

Graduate Teaching Assistant (2014-2017)

  • EESL 521 Technology-Enhanced Language Learning
  • EESL 545 Writing Methods in TESOL
  • EESL 670 Principles & Practice in TESOL

Professional Activities and Service

  • Chair, Education Graduate Student Association, School of Education at UC Davis (2020-present)
  • Global Education for All Fellow (2021-present)
  • Mondavi Center Administrative Advisory Committee Member, (2021-present)
  • Conference Session Chair at AERA 2022
  • Proposal Reviewer for TESOL 2022 International Convention
  • Proposal Reviewer for TESOL 2022 Uzbekistan Regional Conference and TESOL China Assembly
  • Cultural Representative at Greenheart International, US (2012-present)
  • ESL Tutor at College of Extended Learning, California State University, SB (2015-2016)
  • ESL Reading Tutor at Watson & Associates Literacy Center, California State University, SB. (2014-2015)

Scholarships, Fellowships & Grants

  • Graduate Group in Education Graduate Program Fellowship Award for Research Funding, University of California Davis, 2022-2023
  • Graduate Group in Education Graduate Program Fellowship for Research Funding, University of California Davis, 2021-2022
  • Graduate Group in Education Program Fellowship for Conference Travel Award, University of California Davis, 2021-2022
  • International Scholarship for PhD Students, Turkish General Directorate of Higher Education, 2019-2022
  • SOE/GGE Conference Travel Award, University of California Davis, 2021
  • Graduate Group in Education Graduate Program Fellowship, University of California Davis, 2018-2019
  • Graduate Group in Education Program Fellowship for Conference Travel Award, University of California Davis, 2018-2019
  • Graduate Group in Education Research Fellowship, University of California Davis, 2018
  • Globe Education Academy Graduate Research Fellowship, 2018
  • Student Research and Travel Grant, California State University, San Bernardino, 2016
  • International Scholarship for master’s degree Students, Turkish General Directorate of Higher Education, 2014-2016
  • International Students Merit Scholarship, California State University, San Bernardino, 2015
  • The Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) Faculty/Student Grant, California State University, San Bernardino, 2014-2015
  • International Scholarship for bachelor’s degree Students, Turkish General Directorate of Higher Education, 2010-2014

Conference Presentations

  • Guzel, C. (2024). iVR Empowers International TAs in Language Communication. The annual meeting of the TESOL International Convention & English Language Expo, PhD Forum, Tampa, Florida, US.
  • Guzel, C. (2022). Developing Second-language Oral Proficiency through Immersive Virtual Reality. The annual meeting of the Computer Assisted Language Instruction Consortium (CALICO) Seattle, Washington, US.
  • Guzel, C. (2022). Improvisational Drama Mediated Through Immersive Virtual Reality in Second Language Acquisition. The annual meeting of the TESOL International Convention & English Language Expo Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US.
  • Guzel, C. (2021). Process Drama Mediated Through Immersive Virtual Reality in Second Language Acquisition. The annual meeting of the Graduate Student Association of Applied Linguistic, Northern Arizona University, Virtual.
  • Sanchez, S. L., & Athanases, S. Z., & Guzel, C. (2019). Social justice possibilities of classroom drama across subjects and grades: New teachers’ conceptions and early practices. The annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), Toronto, ON, Canada. 
  • Guzel, C. (2018). Developing oral proficiency and motivation through script-based and improvisational drama. 16th Annual Graduate Student Research & Scholarship Symposium, California State University, San Bernardino. 
  • Guzel, C. (2017). Developing oral proficiency and motivation through script-based and improvisational drama. Young Leaders Summit, Turkish American Youth & Education Foundation-TAYEF Washington D.C.
  • Guzel, C. (2016). Developing oral proficiency and motivation through script-based and improvisational drama. The annual meeting of the TESOL International Convention & English Language Expo Baltimore, Maryland, US.
  • Guzel, C. (2016). Developing Oral Fluency through Dramatic Scripts and Improvisational Drama. 14th Annual Graduate Student Research & Scholarship Symposium, California State University, San Bernardino. 
  • Guzel, C. (2015). Developing Oral Fluency through Dramatic Scripts and Improvisation in English-for-Speakers-of-Other-Languages Programs. Word Up Conference, Lake Arrowhead, California.
  • Guzel, C. (2015). Developing Oral Fluency through Dramatic Scripts and Improvisation in English-for-Speakers-of-Other-Languages Programs. 13th Annual Student Research & Scholarship Symposium, California State University, San Bernardino.

Affiliations

  • American Educational Research Association (AERA)
  • American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL)
  • TESOL International Association

Faculty Advisors

Dr. Margarita Jimenez-Silva, Primary Advisor

Dr. Carlee Arnett

Dr. Julia Menard-Warwick

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