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Nishita Grace Isaac

Domains of Practice

I bring about eight years of research experience across South Asia and the United States, working primarily with K–5 learners and the teachers who support them. My work has increasingly broadened to include educators more broadly, including questions around professional learning, instructional practice, and the use of educational tools. The domains below reflect the areas where my research and practice have intersected most consistently.

  • Language Assessment and Evaluation
  • Curriculum development and writing
  • Literacy Acquisition and Development
  • Multilingual Education
  • AI in Education & Evaluation

Conference and Publications

Publications

Ashraf, H., Isaac, N.G. & Ortega, L. Building dual language bilingual education without a roadmap. Language and Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2026.2683521.

Paper presentation

Isaac, N. G. (2026, March). Sacred tongues and secular spaces: Religion as a contested site in tribal teachers’ language ideologies. Paper presented at the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) Annual Conference, Chicago, IL.

Isaac, N. G. (2025, March). Territorial tongues: The nexus of language, land, and learning in rural India. Paper presented at the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) Annual Conference, Denver, CO.

Ashraf, H., & Isaac, N. G. (2025, March). Heart of heritage: Teachers’ beliefs about biliteracy goals in an Urdu dual language bilingual education program. Paper presented in the colloquium Dual language bilingual education in non-dominant partner languages: Expanding the research base at the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) Annual Conference, Denver, CO.

Ashraf, H., Ortega, L., & Isaac, N. G. (2024, October). Equity in dual language immersion for LCTLs: Bridging gaps through collaboration. Paper presented at the International Conference on Immersion and Dual Language Education, Salt Lake City, UT.

Isaac, N. G. (2024, March). Theorizing from and with praxis: Implementation of mother tongue-based multilingual education in Indian tribal schools. Paper presented at the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) Annual Conference, Houston, TX.

Ashraf, H., & Isaac, N. G. (2024, March). Advancing LCTLs in DLI education: Lessons from an Urdu DLI program in the United States. Paper presented at the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) Annual Conference, Houston, TX.

Isaac, N. G. (2023, July). Enabling tribal agency and voices: Creating bilingual books for marginalized communities through collaborative methodologies. Paper presented in the symposium Fostering participatory action research methods in applied linguistics at the International Association of Applied Linguistics (AILA) World Congress, Lyon, France (presented online).

Isaac, N. G. (2023, March). Developing multilingual books to support mother tongue multilingual education for Indian tribal children. Poster presented at the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) Annual Conference, Portland, OR.

Isaac, N. G. (2022, December). Enabling tribal agency and voices: Creating bilingual books for marginalized communities through collaborative methodologies. Paper presented at the INPART Summer School, Department of African Studies and Linguistics, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.

Isaac, N. G. (2022, May). “It’s not good for us”: Teachers responding to online education during COVID-19 in rural and tribal India. Poster presented in the HaBilNet2 Colloquium Supporting well-being as it relates to growing up and living in a language contact setting, Harmonious Bilingualism Network (HaBilNet), Frankfurt, Germany.

Isaac, N. G. (2022, March). Going virtual during COVID-19 in rural vernacular-medium schools in India: A study of teacher resilience. Paper presented at the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) Annual Conference, Pittsburgh, PA.

Isaac, N. G. (2020, March). A tribal child’s schoolscape: From politics to pedagogy. Paper presented at the Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics (GURT 2020), presented virtually.