Recognizing the fundamental
role of language
in teaching and learning.
LLENA (Language and Literacy in Education North America) is a chapter of the Language and Literacy in Education Network (LLEN). We are a network of educators, practitioners, and researchers with expertise in North American educational contexts who share a commitment to advancing language and literacy education through Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), genre-based pedagogy, and other functional approaches to language and learning.
LLENA brings together scholars and educators working across multilingual, multicultural, and transnational contexts to strengthen teaching, literacy development, and equitable educational opportunities for all learners. Our network promotes research-informed pedagogy, professional development, and collaboration among educators from early childhood through higher education.
Through webinars, workshops, collaborative research, and international partnerships, LLENA seeks to expand the visibility and impact of functional perspectives on language education while fostering dialogue across North America and beyond.
Executive Officers
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Dr Ruslana Westerlund
CEO, Westerlund Consulting
Ruslana Westerlund is an educational consultant, researcher, author, and founder of Westerlund Consulting, LLC. With more than 25 years of experience, she specializes in disciplinary literacy, multilingual learner education, and language development through a functional approach grounded in Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). She contributed to the development of the 2020 WIDA English Language Development Standards Framework, including Key Language Uses, Language Functions and Features, Proficiency Level Descriptors, and annotated mentor texts. Dr. Westerlund works nationally and internationally with schools and organizations to support equitable, language-rich learning environments for multilingual learners. She is co-author of Building a Language Toolkit for Teachers: A Functional Approach and focuses on disciplinary literacy, writing across content areas, curriculum design, and teacher professional learning.
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Dr Andrés Ramírez
Florida Atlantic University
Andrés Ramírez is an associate professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, FL, USA. He is also co-chair of FAU’s Hispanic Serving Institution Research Interest Group. His research explores culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogies that promote the literacy and language development of Emergent to Advanced Bilingual students (EABs). His book, currently under contract with Routledge, UK and scheduled to be published early 2027, is Translanguaging in Classroom Discourse: Genre-Based Multilingual Pedagogy and Design. He teaches courses in TESOL education, curriculum theory, and discourse analysis. His extensive scholarly work has been published and disseminated internationally in his native Colombia and the United States as well as in Australia, United Kingdom, Indonesia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, China, Israel, Canada among others.
Advisory Committee
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Professor Emerita Maria Estela Brisk
Boston College
Dr. Maria Estela Brisk is an Emeritus Professor of Education at the Lynch School of Education, Boston College. She received her Ph.D. in linguistics and bilingual education from the University of New Mexico in 1972. Her research and teacher-training interests include elementary students’ writing development, bilingual education, bilingual language and literacy acquisition, methods of teaching literacy, and preparation of mainstream teachers to work with bilingual learners. She has published many articles and books. Dr. Brisk has worked with schools to implement SFL Genre Pedagogy for the past 18 years. The books Engaging Students in Academic Literacies: Genre-based Pedagogy for K-5 Classrooms (2015); Language in Writing Instruction: Enhancing Literacy in Grades 3-8 (2021); and Engaging Students in Academic Literacies: Genre Pedagogy for K-8 Classrooms (2nd edition, 2023) as well as numerous articles and chapters reflect this work. Many of the articles and chapters were co-written with practitioners. She also has developed three 4-week online courses to prepare teachers from whole schools to teach the genres of writing. Professor Brisk comes originally from Argentina.
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Professor Emerita Meg Gebhard
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Dr. Luciana C. de Oliveira is Professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning in the School of Education at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her research focuses on issues related to teaching multilingual learners in K-12. Dr. de Oliveira’s research has focused on a functional approach to language for the past 20 years. She has authored or edited 35 books and has over 200 publications in various outlets. She is the recipient of the 2026 James E. Alatis Award for Service to TESOL, the highest honor presented by TESOL International Association, and the 2025 Leadership through Research Award by Second Language Research Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). With over 30 years in the field of TESOL, she served in the presidential line (2017-2020), as President (2018-2019), and as a member of the Board of Directors (2013-2016) of TESOL International Association. She was the very first Latina to serve as President of TESOL.
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Professor Luciana de Oliveira
Virginia Commonwealth University
Dr. Luciana C. de Oliveira is Professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning in the School of Education at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her research focuses on issues related to teaching multilingual learners in K-12. Dr. de Oliveira’s research has focused on a functional approach to language for the past 20 years. She has authored or edited 35 books and has over 200 publications in various outlets. She is the recipient of the 2026 James E. Alatis Award for Service to TESOL, the highest honor presented by TESOL International Association, and the 2025 Leadership through Research Award by Second Language Research Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). With over 30 years in the field of TESOL, she served in the presidential line (2017-2020), as President (2018-2019), and as a member of the Board of Directors (2013-2016) of TESOL International Association. She was the very first Latina to serve as President of TESOL.
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Kelly-Ann Cooney
Director of Multilingual Learner Education, Fall River, Massachusetts
Kelly-Ann Cooney (she/her) is the Director of Multilingual Learner Education in Fall River School District and owner of EdQuity, where she partners with school districts to expand access to high-quality teaching for all students. She founded EdQuity based on both research and classroom experience showing that purposeful literacy and language supports for multilingual learners benefit all learners. Her work also centers students’ and families’ experiences as assets for learning. Kelly’s experience spans K–12 classrooms, district leadership, and higher education. She has served as a district English Learner director, MA DESE RETELL instructor, adjunct professor at several Boston-area universities, and consultant for the English Learner Success Forum, Understood.org, and iCivics. She earned degrees from the University of Rhode Island, the University of Oregon, and Boston College.
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Associate Professor Kathryn Accurso
University of British Columbia, Vancouver
Dr. Kathryn Accurso is an Associate Professor of Teaching Multilingual Learners in the Department of Language and Literacy Education at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. A former English teacher from the midwestern U.S., her work focuses on multilingual learners’ engagement, growth, critical thinking, and well-being in schools. She uses antiracist approaches to disciplinary literacies, additional language (L2) writing, and SFL genre pedagogy to help teachers strengthen their understanding of how language works, and how it can work in the future as more and more diverse learners engage with, acquire, question, and reimagine knowledge and language across subjects. She co-edited In Pursuit of a Multilingual Equity Agenda: SFL Teacher Action Research with Dr. Meg Gebhard, and has published widely on SFL, genre pedagogy, and teacher education. She works closely with educators to develop classroom resources and professional learning projects, including initiatives using texts and language analysis to engage diverse learners.tion goes here