Melanie C. Gonzalez

Melanie C. Gonzalez, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the English Department and the Secondary and Higher Education Department at Salem State University. She also holds leadership roles as Graduate Chairperson for the Secondary and Higher Education Department and Faculty Fellow for Global Engagement. Dr. Gonzalez earned her Ph.D. in TESOL from the University of Central Florida and has taught in diverse ESL contexts, including university intensive programs, academic composition courses, and middle school ESL.

• Research Interests: Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition, Second Language Composition, Corpus Linguistics, ESL Teacher Education, Lexical Diversity in Writing

Her recent work focuses on lexical diversity in academic writing, comparing multilingual (ML) and monolingual English-speaking (MES) writers. She examines how mid-frequency vocabulary instruction can enhance ML writers' lexical profiles and advocates for targeted vocabulary strategies. Her contributions include a 2023-24 Fulbright Garcia Robles US Scholar award in Teaching English as a Foreign Language to Mexico.

• Scientific Awards:
  • 2023-24 Fulbright Garcia Robles US Scholar (Teaching English as a Foreign Language to Mexico)
• Grants:
  • Funded by Salem State University's School of Graduate Studies and the Emilio and Mary DiFelice Endowment for Research in Education

Dr. Gonzalez actively presents at conferences like AAAL and the Symposium on Second Language Writing, emphasizing vocabulary profilers and feedback mechanisms. She collaborates with global colleagues and contributes to journals such as Vocabulary Learning and Instruction and TESOL Journal.