Charlene Polio is a Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Germanic, Slavic, Asian, & African Languages at Michigan State University, where she teaches in TESOL and the Second Language Studies programs. Her research focuses on second language writing from the perspective of language development. She is the author Understanding, Evaluating, and Conducting Second Language Writing Research (Routledge, with Debra Friedman). She is the co-editor of TESOL Quarterly, and one of her current projects includes editing the Handbook of Second Language Writing (Routledge, with Rosa Manchón), which provides a comprehensive overview of writing as a site for second language learning.