Sydni Lockeby Catalano

Sydni (江红) received her MA in Chinese Pedagogy from IU in 2023 and is currently working toward her PhD in the same major, minoring in Second Language Studies. Her research interests include heritage language learning, language ideologies, and the relationship between language and identity. As a nonnative speaker herself, Sydni aims to be an encouraging example to language learners and a motivating force through her teaching practices, which prioritize making space for learners (re)construction of their identities as speakers of additional languages. In addition to linguistic, language pedagogy and second language acquisition theory, Sydni’s teaching philosophy is also grounded in years of teaching language and performing arts, as well as her experiences as a language learner. In 2025, she was awarded the Rising Star Teaching Award (Chinese) at the Indiana Foreign Language Teachers Association Annual Conference and has served on the board of the Chinese Language Teachers Association Indiana Chapter since 2023. Sydni is passionate about teaching and learning alongside students, whether in the language classroom or in her new course offering in Spring 2026: E204 Issues in East Asian Society, Topic: Performance, Media and Identity in East Asia!