Biography
Dr. Di Liu is Associate Professor of Instruction in the Department of Teaching and Learning. He is Principal Investigator of a four-year, $1.88 million project funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (2026–2029), which develops AI-powered multi-agent classroom simulations to prepare preservice elementary mathematics teachers. He is also Principal Investigator on a National Science Foundation ACCESS computing allocation for benchmarking large language model student-agent architectures.
His research bridges applied linguistics and artificial intelligence in education, addressing the complex and dynamic nature of second language development and the design and evaluation of AI systems for teacher preparation. He has published in the International Journal of Bilingualism, International Journal of Applied Linguistics, Language Awareness, and the Journal of Second Language Pronunciation, as well as in the proceedings of the Association for Computational Linguistics. He is an author of Phonetics in Language Teaching (Cambridge University Press) and serves on the editorial board of Humanities and Social Sciences Communications.
Dr. Liu received his doctorate from Boston University and holds an MS in Information Science and Technology. His work earned the College AACTE's 2025 Best Practice Award for Innovative Use of Technology, and he serves on AACTE's Programmatic Advisory Committee on Innovation and Technology. He coordinates the Accomplished Teaching MSEd program and EDUC 0815 Language in Society.
Research Interests
- Artificial Intelligence in Education AI Simulation for Teacher Preparation Second Language Development Second Language Pronunciation and Prosody Learning Technologies
Courses Taught
Number | Name | Level |
|---|---|---|
EDUC 0815 | Language in Society | Undergraduate |
TESL 4442 | Strategies for Teaching English as an Additional Language | Undergraduate |
TESL 4443 | Teaching English World-Wide | Undergraduate |
TESL 5612 | Applied Language Study II: Grammar, Morphology and Classroom Discourse | Graduate |
TESL 5614 | Current Approaches to Teaching English Language Learners | Graduate |
TESL 5615 | Teaching English in a Global Context | Graduate |
TESL 5618 | Second Language Development | Graduate |
Selected Publications
Recent
Liu, D., McGregor, A., Zielinski, B., Reed, M., & Meyers, C. (2025). ESL teachers’ metalanguage as evidence of their metalinguistic knowledge of the English intonation system. Language Awareness, 34(2), 324-344. Informa UK Limited. doi: 10.1080/09658416.2024.2370886.
Liu, D., Ji, H., & Kliger, D. (2023). Stealth Assessment in Game-Based and Task-Based Language Teaching. In Advances in Educational Technologies and Instructional Design (pp. 289-313). IGI Global. doi: 10.4018/979-8-3693-0568-3.ch013.
Liu, D., Jones, T., & Reed, M. (2023). Phonetics in Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/9781108992015.
Liu, D. (2022). Preparing Second Language Educators to Teach Pronunciation with Technology. In Array, Technological Resources for Second Language Pronunciation Learning and Teaching Research-Based Approaches. Lexington Books. Retrieved from https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781666902297/Technological-Resources-for-Second-Language-Pronunciation-Learning-and-Teaching-Research-based-Approaches.
Liu, D. (2021). Prosody transfer failure despite cross-language similarities. Journal of Second Language Pronunciation, 7(1), 38-61. John Benjamins Publishing Company. doi: 10.1075/jslp.18047.liu.