Dr. Ozge Yalciner

Assistant Professor

Dr. Ozge Yalciner joined the University of Kentucky as an Assistant Professor of Literacy in the fall of 2023 with her 18 years of experience as a researcher, teacher educator, ESL and EFL instructor both in the U.S. and Turkey’s higher educational settings.

Dr. Yalciner attained her PhD in December 2020 from the Language and Literacy program at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, specializing in Bilingual/ESL (English as a Second Language) Education. Originally from Turkey, she made the transition to the U.S. in 2010, embarking on a journey to enrich educational practices.

Her research is centered on heritage language speakers, with a particular focus on emergent bilingual children's language and culture. Dr. Yalciner's expertise extends to curriculum design, family involvement, heritage language acquisition, and bilingualism. She delves into the dynamic interplay between community spaces and the educational journey of bilingual children, emphasizing their utilization of home, family, and community knowledge to navigate their sociocultural environments.

Dr. Yalciner is deeply committed to collaborating with educators, students, and community members to reimagine and construct educational spaces tailored to elementary children, communities of color, and first-generation immigrant emergent bilingual students. Through her dedication and passion, she strives to foster inclusive and empowering educational opportunities for all.