Dr. Marcella Caprario is an Assistant Professor in the MA TESOL program in the College of Education at Wenzhou-Kean University. She earned a Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics from Northern Arizona University and conducted her dissertation fieldwork in Malaysia on a Fulbright study/research grant (U.S. Department of State). Her interdisciplinary research sits at the crossroads of language education, applied linguistics, and intercultural communication, with specific focal areas of Global Englishes, pragmatics, and language attitudes. Dr. Caprario has extensive teaching experience at the tertiary level, including courses in applied linguistics, teacher education, academic writing, and English language. Before joining WKU, she held academic positions in Hong Kong, Mainland China, Malaysia, and the United States. She has also taught at the high school and adult education levels.

Ph.D. Applied Linguistics, Northern Arizona University

M.A. TESOL, SIT Graduate Institute of World Learning      

• Global Englishes (GE)
• Pragmatics of English as a lingua franca (ELF)
• Intercultural communicative competence
• GE-informed language teaching and teacher education
• Language attitudes and linguistic justice
• Corpus linguistics / corpus pragmatics in language education and materials development

Higher Education:

Instructor, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 2025 

Instructor,  Northern Arizona University, 2020-2024

Instructor, Shanghai Normal University Tianhua College--Northern Arizona University, 2021; 2023

Lecturer and Academic Coordinator, New York University Shanghai, 2015-2020

Instructor, Pace University, 2012-2014 

K12:

EAP Instructor, Sino-American Joint Program, Saint Louis Priory School -- Changchun Second Experimental High School, 2011-2012

Adult Education:

English Language Instructor, Rennert International,2010-2011

Related Experience:

Postdoctoral Fellow, The Education University of Hong Kong, 2024

Academic and Program Manager, TEFL Programs, CIEE: Council on International Educational Exchange, 2014-2015

Caprario, M. (2026). From theory to practice: The impact of ELF communication strategy instruction in an EMI context. Applied Linguistics. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amag070

Caprario, M., & Zhao, Y. (2026). Impacting preservice teachers’ views on global Englishes pedagogy. RELC Journal. Advance Online Publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/00336882261470182

Caprario, M., Lin, L. H. F., Li, V. W. K., & Wong, K. T. N. (2026). Reimagining writing instruction with GenAI: Insights into postgraduate EAP students' GenAI prompting practices. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 82, 101695. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2026.101695

Sah, P., & Caprario, M. (2026). Neoliberal subjectivity and reduced wellbeing: The hidden cost of English-medium instruction programs. Language and Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2026.2679733

Caprario, M., Lin, L. H. F., Li., V. W. K., & Wong, K. T. N. (forthcoming). The effectiveness of GenAI vs. human feedback on pragmatic features in PhD students’ L2 English academic writing. In N. Taguchi (Ed.), Generative AI for pragmatics analysis and pragmatics teaching. Cambridge University Press.

Caprario, M. (forthcoming, 2027). ELF pragmatics. In N. Taguchi (Ed.), Routledge Handbook of SLA and Pragmatics. Routledge.

Caprario, M., & Walkinshaw, I. (forthcoming, 2027). Guest editors, RELC Journal Special Issue: Teaching and Assessing Pragmatic Competence in Global English Contexts.

Crawford, W., & Caprario, M. (2026). English as a lingua franca: Practice and Research. Wiley.

Caprario, M. (2025). ELF communication strategies: A pedagogical intervention pilot study. TESOL Quarterly. 59(1), 359–377. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.3309

Taguchi, N., & Caprario, M. (2025). English as a lingua franca and communication strategies. In K. Boulton (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of World Englishes. Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119518297.eowe00094 

Taguchi, N., & Caprario, M. (2023). L2 pragmatics research and the problem of L1 norms. In C. A. Chapelle, N. Taguchi, & D. Kadar (Eds.), The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics (Pragmatics). Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781405198431.wbeal20047 

Caprario, M. (2022). Multifunctionality of epistemic stance markers: Variation across disciplines and speaker roles in classroom discourse. Contrastive Pragmatics, 4(2), 213–242. https://doi.org/10.1163/26660393-bja10066

Caprario, M., Taguchi, N., & Reppen, R. (2022). Corpus-informed instruction of the pragmatic marker ‘I mean’. The Language Learning Journal, 50(4), 460–474. https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2022.2088439

Caprario, M. (2020). Developing pragmatic competence in English academic discussions: An EAP classroom investigation. Lodz Papers in Pragmatics, 16(1), 123–152. https://doi.org/10.1515/lpp-2020-0006

Caprario, M., Lin, L. H. F., Lin, Y., & Liu, Y. (2026, May). GenAI feedback for EAP writing: Pedagogical insights from a comparative study of PhD students. Paper presented at AsiaTEFL, Xi’an, China.

Burri, M., Arciaga, K., Neff, J., Caprario, M., & Lin, P. (2026, May). Is there a relationship between Japanese undergraduate majors and their perceptions of ethical GenAI use? Paper presented at AsiaTEFL, Xi’an, China.

Caprario, M. (2026, March). Communication as connection: Interdisciplinary approaches to inclusive integration of international and domestic students. Paper presented at AAAL, Chicago, IL, USA.

Caprario, M. (2026, March). AI or human feedback? Comparing impacts on PhD students’ writing. Paper presented at AAAL, Chicago, IL, USA.

Caprario, M. (2026, March). Internationalizing teacher education and supporting intercultural competence through virtual collaboration. Paper presented at TESOL, Chicago, IL, USA.

Caprario, M. (2026, February). Empowering learners through global Englishes: Adapting pedagogy to enhance real-world communication skills. Workshop presented at the 22^nd Annual CamTESOL, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Caprario, M. (2026, January). Global empowerment: Impacting preservice teachers’ views on global Englishes pedagogy. Paper presented at The 45th Thailand TESOL International Conference, Bangkok, Thailand.

Caprario, M. (2025, July). Global Englishes-informed pre-service teacher education in the metaverse: Effects of a COIL pedagogical intervention. Paper presented at the 23rd AsiaTEFL International Conference, Hong Kong SAR, China.

Caprario, M., Li., V. W. K., Wong, K. T. N., & Linda, H. F. L. (2025, May). Integrating prompt writing into the curriculum: Insights into postgraduate EAP students' genAI prompting practices. Paper presented at Association of Hong Kong Language Centers (AHKLC) Symposium, Hong Kong SAR, China.

Caprario, M. (2025, March). ELF Communication Strategies: A Pedagogical Intervention Pilot Study. Paper presented at the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL), in the colloquium (organizers: Jim McKinley & Heath Rose), Innovating research and practice at the nexus of Global Englishes and TESOL, Denver, CO, USA.

Caprario, M. (2025, February). Towards Assessing ELF Communicative Competence. Paper presented at CamTESOL, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Caprario, M. (2024, November). An ELF-informed pedagogical intervention. Paper presented at the 22nd AsiaTEFL International Conference, Chiang Rai, Thailand.

Caprario, M. (2024, August). ELF-informed instruction for Malaysian university students. Paper presented at AILA 2024 World Congress, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Caprario, M. (2024, June). Corpus-based ELF-informed instruction for intercultural competence. Paper presented at Engagement in the Digital Age: International Conference on Language Teaching and Learning, Hong Kong SAR, China.

Caprario, M. (2024, April). ELF communication strategies as pedagogical targets. Paper presented at the Virtual TESOL International Convention and Expo, in the colloquium (organizer: Meghan Moran), Incorporating Global Englishes into the L2 Classroom, virtual. https://www.tesol.org/virtual/

Wenzhou-Kean University Start-Up Research Grant, 2025–2028. PI. Expanding Internationalization through the Metaverse: Enhancing Intercultural Competence and Digital Literacy in TESOL. RMB 80,000.

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Faculty of Humanities Faculty Reserve for Learning and Teaching Projects. GenAI for Supporting postgraduate students’ academic writing. HKD$149,742.

RGC (Research Grants Committee, Hong Kong) Junior Research Fellow Scheme. Promoting the use of English as a lingua franca through sustainable teacher development in under resourced regions. HKD$840,000 (granted; declined)

Fulbright U.S. Student Research Award. Intercultural Communication in English as a Lingua Franca: A Communication Strategies Instructional Intervention. Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Doctoral Dissertation Grant. The International Research Foundation (TIRF). USD$2750.

Dissertation Writing Support Grant. National Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations / Modern Language Journal (NFMLTA/MLJ) USD$2500.

Presidential Fellowship. Northern Arizona University Graduate College. USD$36,000

Member, Professional Development Subcommittee of the Online Education and Outreach Committee (OEOC), AAAL, 2026-ongoing

Member-at-large, Intercultural Communication Interest Section, TESOL International Organization, 2026-ongoing

Member, ELIPro Research Community, Global Englishes strand, 2024-ongoing

Assistant Editor, Journal of Education, Language, and Ideology (JELI), 2024–2026

Editorial Assistant, Journal of Applied Pragmatics, 2023–2024

Regular invited manuscript reviewer (e.g., Applied Linguistics, International Journal of Applied Linguistics, Journal of Pragmatics, etc.)

Regular conference proposal reviewer (AAAL and TESOL)