Department of Learning, Teaching and Curriculum

Dr. Jenny Arcila earned her bachelor's degree from Kent State University in early childhood education. She began teaching in Naples, Florida, where she taught multilingual students, which inspired her research interests, specifically researching preservice teachers' beliefs about using multiple languages in the classroom.

She earned her master's degree in reading education from Florida Gulf Coast University while teaching in Naples. After teaching for 12 years, she began work on a doctorate degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Her research interests center around preservice and inservice teachers' perceptions of and beliefs about using multiple languages and biliteracy in their classrooms to support their multilingual students.

Dr. Arcila is a member of the American Educational Research Association, TESOL International, and American Association for Applied linguistics.

Connect with Dr. Arcila on LinkedIn.

Selected Publications

• Arcila, J. (2023). Using reflective practice with critical incidents pedagogy to investigate and enhance preservice teachers’ understanding of biliteracy for classroom practice through reflective practice [In publication doctoral dissertation]. University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
• He, Y. & Arcila, J. (2023, May 4-5). Engaging multilingual families: A literature review [Virtual paper session]. AERA Annual Meeting, Virtual, United States.
• Arcila, J. (2023, March 18-21). Enhancing preservice teachers’ understanding of biliteracy for classroom practice through reflective practice [Roundtable discussion]. AAAL Convention, Portland, OR, United States.
• Bagwell, D. & Arcila, J. (2023, March 21-24). Case method pedagogy: Exploring ESL teacher identity development with vignettes [Conference presentation]. TESOL Convention, Portland, OR, United States.
• Arcila, J. & Bluey, B. (2007, May 2-5). Teaching young author’s conferences and writing to culturally and linguistically diverse learners [Conference presentation]. ACEI Conference, Tampa, FL, United States.

Dr. Arcila's curriculum vitae.