Faculty Profiles

Dr. Sara Smith

Assistant Professor, ESOL and Foreign Language Education

Sara Smith, Ph.D.

Email: sarasmith3@usf.edu
Phone: (813) 974-3533
Office Location: USF Tampa campus, EDU 302-H

Sara A. Smith received her Doctorate in Applied Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition from the Department of Education at the University of Oxford, followed by postdoctoral research in the Brain.Experience.Education Lab at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In 2017, she joined the ßÙßÇÂþ»­ as an Assistant Professor in ESOL and Foreign Language Education and Faculty in the Technology in Education and Second Language Acquisition (TESLA) doctoral program.

The broad aim of her research program is to gain a better understanding of the diversity of language experience and how linguistic diversity relates to language, cognition, speech, and literacy and academic achievement. Her research interests include: differences related to the individual and the language environment; vocabulary, literacy/biliteracy, and achievement outcomes; and technology enhanced language learning, including digital environments and immersive virtual environments.

Dr. Smith is the creator of the application, an augmented reality (AR) application that uses technology and research-based best practices to support learning vocabulary in a new language. The MARVL project has received a Bull Ring Accelerator Grant from the USF Foundation, funding from the NSF I-Corps program, was a finalist for the 2020 Cade Prize, and was one of 13 women-led technology startups selected for the Tampa Bay Wave’s 2020 TechWomen Rising Accelerator. Dr. Smith was awarded a USF Excellence in Innovation Award in 2021, was featured in Florida Trend Magazine, and in the Radio Cade episode "." To learn more about MARVL, visit .

Dr. Smith is available for doctoral student advising.

Active Research Projects

Smith, S. A. (Principal Investigator), Osborn, T. (Co-I), Walker-Egea, C. (Co-I). (2022-2027, T365Z220078). Project Parasol: ESOL Paraprofessional to Teacher Pipeline. ($2,061,703). National Professional Development Program, Office of English Language Acquisition.

Smith, S.A. (Principal Investigator). (2021-2022; 2114933) Multimedia Augmented Reality Vocabulary Instruction. ($50,000). National Science Foundation Innovation Corps.

Carlo, M. (Principal Investigator), Smith, S.A. (Co-Principal Investigator), Williams, J. (Co-Investigator), Anthony, J. (Co-Investigator). (2020-2024; R305A200047). Effect of Bilingual vs. Monolingual Methods of Explicit English Vocabulary Instruction on 4th grade Spanish-Speaking English Learners (ELs). ($1,400,000). Institute of Education Sciences. 

Smith, S. A. (Principal Investigator). (2020-2021). Multimedia Augmented Reality Vocabulary Learning (MARVL). ($25,000). ßÙßÇÂþ»­ Foundation, Bull Ring Accelerator Grant.

Selected Publications

Choo, A.L., Smith, S., & Seitz, S. (accepted). The Relationship between Working Memory, Inhibitory Control and Disfluencies in Typically Fluent Bilinguals. Journal of Monolingual and Bilingual Speech.

Foster, M. E., Choo, A. L., Smith, S. (2023). . Frontiers in Psychology, 14. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1096145

Smith, S., Carlo, M., Park., S. & Kaplan, H. (2023). . CALICO Journal, 40(1), 91-112.

Fung, K., Smith, S., & Gandolfi, E. (2022). . The Journal of Language Teaching, 2(10), 17-28. doi: 10.54475/jlt.2022.013 

Foster, M. E., Smith, S., & Spenser, T. (2022). . Cognitive Development, 63. doi: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2022.101223. 

Choo, A.L., Smith, S., & Li, H. (2022). . Journal of Bilingual and Monolingual Speech, 4(1), 109-126. doi:10.1558/jmbs.20879

Smith, S. (2021). . System, 101. doi:10.1016/j.system.2021.102590

Smith, S., Choo, A. L., & Seitz, S. (2021). . Folia Phoniatrica et Logopaedica. doi:10.1159/000518138

Woodhead, E., Froelich, J., Spink, K., Smith, S., & Chin-Newman, C., (2021).. The Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice. doi:10.1080/19496591.2021.1902818

Smith, S., Choo, A. L., & Foster, M. E. (2021). . Child Psychiatry and Human Development. doi:10.1007/s10578-021-01160-3 

Smith, S., Leon Guerrero, S., Surrain, S., & Luk, G. (2021). . Journal of Child Language. doi:10.1017/S0305000920000768 

Seitz, S., & Smith, S. (2021). . Human Resource Management Review. doi:10.1016/j.hrmr.2021.100833 

Choo, A.L., Smith, S., & Li, H. (2020). BMC Psychology, 8(113). doi:10.1186/s40359-020-00481-7

Smith, S., Foster, M. E., Briggs Baffoe-Djan, J., Li, Z., & Sun, Y. (2020). . System. doi: 10.1016/j.system.2020.102377

Smith, S., Seitz, S., Koutnik, K. H., McKenna, M., & Garcia, J. N. (2020). Applied Psycholinguistics, 41(3), 701-725. doi: 10.1017/S0142716420000259 

Smith, S., & Li, Z. (2020). International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. doi: 10.1080/13670050.2020.1742653

Woodhead, E., Chin-Newman, C., Spink, K., Hoang, M., & Smith, S. (2020). Journal of American College Health. doi: 10.1080/07448481.2019.1706533

Choo, A. L., & Smith, S. (2019). Journal of Fluency Disorders. doi:10.1016/j.jfludis.2019.105741

Smith, S., & Briggs Baffoe-Djan, J. (2019). International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. doi: 10.1080/13670050.2019.1667949
 
Smith, S., Woodhead, E., & Chin-Newman, C. (2019). International Journal of Inclusive Education. doi: 10.1080/13603116.2019.1610087

Smith, S., Briggs, J., Pothier, H., & Garcia, J. (2019). Applied Linguistics, 40(3), 413–431. doi: 10.1093/applin/amx038

Kain, S. Chin-Newman, C., & Smith, S. (2019). Journal of Post-Secondary Education and Disability, 32(4), 411-425.

Briggs Baffoe-Djan, J., Smith, S. (2019). The Routledge Handbook of Research Methods in Applied Linguistics. J. McKinley & H. Rose (Eds.). Routledge: London.

Smith, S., Briggs, J., & Pothier, H. (2018). International Journal of Bilingualism, 22(6), 695-716. doi: 10.1177/1367006917690913

Briggs, J., & Smith, S. (2017). Iranian Journal of Language Teaching Research, 5(3), 27-44.

Langer, N., Peysakhovich, B., Zuk, J., Drottar, M., Sliva, D., Smith, S., Becker, B., Grant, P. E., & Gaab, N. (2017). Cerebral Cortex, 27(2), 1027-1036. doi:10.1093/cercor/bhv281

Raschle, N., Becker, B., Smith, S., Fehlbaum, L., Wang, Y., & Gaab, N. (2017). Cerebral Cortex, 27(1), 764-776. doi:10.1093/cercor/bhv267

Seitz, S., Smith, S. (2016). Journal of Business and Management, 22(1), 135-152.

Leon Guerrero, S., Smith, S., Luk, G. (2016). J. Schwieter (Ed.). John Benjamins: Philadelphia.

Smith, S. (2016). Reading between the lines: Exploring relationships between multi-word vocabulary, transparency and literacy. Advancing the Field of Language Assessment: Papers from TIRF Doctoral Dissertation Grantees 2009 – 2013. M. Christison and N. Saville (Eds.). Cambridge Language Assessment: Cambridge.

Smith, S., Murphy, V. A. (2015). Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 28(3), 347-369. doi: 10.1007/s11145-014-9527-y

Im, K., Raschle, N., Smith, S., Grant, P. E., Gaab, N. (2016). Cerebral Cortex, 26(3), 1138-1148. doi:10.1093/cercor/bhu305

Raschle, N., Smith, S., Zuk, J., Figuccio, M., Gaab, N. (2014). PLoS one, 9(12), doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0115549