Jacob earned his Master’s degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) from the University of Central Florida before joining the Ph.D. program in Applied Linguistics at Penn State. He has taught in a variety of contexts including undergraduate teacher training classes on Second Language Acquisition issues for preservice ESL/EFL instructors, English for Specific Purposes (ESP) programs in the hospitality industry, and Intensive English Program (IEP) courses. His research interests include employing a Vygotskian Sociocultural Theoretical (SCT) perspective in L2 language teaching-and-learning, language teacher education, ESP, Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), and L2 phonology. Regarding foreign language study, Jacob has studied six languages to varying degrees of proficiency, including Mandarin Chinese and German to the B2 CEFR level.