Ellen Knell

I've been a teacher for almost 20 years. I began my teaching career as a learning disabilities specialist. As a result, I'm very interested in literacy acquisition and bilingualism. I've spent more than 10 years in Asia, and I'm a Chinese (Mandarin) speaker. After teaching in many international schools in Hong Kong and consulting for English immersion in Xi'an, China, I attended graduate school at Hong Kong University and then the University of Utah—I went from English immersion in China to Chinese immersion in Utah! Following the completion of my PhD, I worked for the Utah State Board of Education and BYU Chinese Flagship, supervising Chinese language programs. Recently I was hired as an Assistant Professor and Associate Director of Curriculum and Instruction for the Center for Language Studies at BYU. I supervise more than 50 teachers of less commonly taught languages (LCTL). I am also the dual language immersion (DLI) Minor/Endorsement Coordinator for BYU.
Recently I have become interested in the neuroscience of multilingualism and doing research with eye-tracking, functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), and electroencephalography (EEG).