Digital Commons Network^™

The Indian Mission Of The Institute Of Blessed Virgin Mary (Ibvm) Nuns: Convents, Curriculum, And Indian Women, Nilanjana Paul

History Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study focuses on the Indian mission of IBVM nuns, and the role played by them in the spread of female education in India. While acknowledging that missionaries were part of the imperial process, this study analyzes the work of Catholic nuns in India, their convents, and curriculum to show how their work advanced women’s educational opportunities in India. In the process the study examines how Catholic nuns resisted the dominating attitude of the Catholic Church in India. The last section of the article examines how Christian influence under missionaries not only prepared good mothers and wives but also trained …

Lincoln And Education, Rolando Avila, Anita Pankake

History Faculty Publications and Presentations

The current norm of compulsory formal schooling includes a system in which schools teach state mandated curriculum, parents are held legally responsible to assure their children attend school until they reach a certain age, and students are confined within set class meeting times and set locations during their schooling years. The two terms, education and schooling, have been increasingly used synonymously. Our assertion here is that education is a more inclusive term than schooling. More importantly, using Abraham Lincoln as a biographical model, we argue that a good education can be achieved in different ways.

How To Promote Education For Sustainable Development? Vision Of The Educational Situation And Its Contribution To Sustainable Development., Khalid Aada

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

During the last decade, the importance of leaving a rational paradigm, debtor of functionalist and utilitarian models, towards another more congruent with the preservation of natural resources, and therefore of life, has been widely discussed. In the same way, different voices have been raised, pointing out the urgency of inserting these precepts into the educational field, hoping to achieve the true cultural transformation that is needed to consolidate the change. Multiple International Entities promote sustainability in Education as an initiative that should be ambitious, complex and reforming character, given the global scope of the social, economic and environmental situation affecting …

Translating To Change The Nation: The Case Of José Pedro Varela, A Reformer In Late 19th Century Uruguay, Gabriel Gonzalez Nunez

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

The history of translation in Hispanic America can be segmented into specific historical periods that differ from those found in Europe, namely: encounter and conquest, the colonial period; pre-independence and emancipation; independence and republic; and an ongoing period that started in 1920 (Bastin, 2006). A great deal of work has been done regarding the first three of those periods. Later historical periods, while still receiving some scholarly attention, have not been the focus of as much research (cf. e.g., Montoya, 2014). This paper hopes to provide further insights on translation practices during the Independence and Republic Period by focusing on …

Lesson Plan, World History, 10th And 11th Grade, Brenda Hernández

Summer Institute June 2019

TEKS: WH15B, 16A, 18B (S) 1A, 2A, 2B, 2C, 15C, 18A, 19B,26A

Lesson objective(s): 1-The Learner will (TLW) interview family members as to how they came to the Rio Grande Valley (RGV). 2- TLW create a half poster of the interviews according to P-politics, E-economics, R-religion, Ssocial, I-intellectual, A=arts (PERSIA) 3-TLW be able to identify the components of P.E.R.S.I.A.

Differentiation strategies to meet diverse learner needs: Interview family members, Take pictures of family /close friends

Investigating Faculty Across The Disciplines Perceptions And Practices Of Reflective Writing In Community Engaged Courses: A Comparative Study, Marcela Hebbard

Theses and Dissertations

Recently, research in composition studies and Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) has focused on understanding better how student reflective practices assist on their transfer of writing knowledge across contexts (Yancey et al., 2014; Taczak & Robertson, 2017, Lindenman et al., 2018). However, not much research has been done that investigates faculty beliefs and practices about reflective writing, how they use it to measure student outcomes and achievement in community engaged courses and the implications this might have for the transfer of knowledge and practice of writing. This study draws primarily on activity theory to better understand whether there is a …

Redefining The Mfa: Artistic Pragmatism For The Twenty-First Century, Cristina Ann Correa

Theses and Dissertations

The twenty-first century economy demands a culturally-adaptable and technologically-innovative workforce. Despite the expansion of creative industry, at least half of academically-trained artists will work in fields unrelated to their studies. Statistics reflecting employment changes every three years parallel twenty-first century, pragmatic realities. Job seekers must consistently adapt and add to acquired skill sets to remain marketable.

Visual artists constantly engage in research and experimentation to move their practice beyond comfort zones. While many artistic processes can be learned through the internet, books, and observational study, the road to a career in academia must begin with a Master of Fine Art …

Using The Rhetoric Of Video Games To Teach The Praxis Of Critical Analysis, Jeffrey B. Doyle

Theses and Dissertations

Research has shown that video games can be successful at teaching concepts and skills to students at various grade levels. To explain how this might work, theoretical work is done to connect the concept of flow from psychology to procedural rhetoric. With the inclusion of Foucault’s theories of power, video games are shown to not be isolated experiences but connected to the power dynamics of society. In video games, these dynamics can be seen through the problematic portrayals of marginalized peoples as well as the hostile community that has developed online surrounding video games. To account for these issues, but …

Linguistics In Secondary Education: Teachers' Perceptions Of Linguistics In The Classroom, Ayla Aizza Galvan

Theses and Dissertations

Theoretical linguistics is an area of English study focusing on the abstract components of language: phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. By 11th and 12th grade, students in the United States have been tested on linguistic concepts, as per state examination standards. English Language Arts teachers can introduce theoretical linguistic investigation and terms to their students, but this is not happening. The paper reviews why theoretical linguistic analysis is not thoroughly implemented in classrooms, successful classroom linguistic investigation in other countries and some U.S., and how linguistic investigation can be part of classroom curriculum. The research incorporates survey data from …

Speech-Language Pathologist's Perspectives On The Efficacy Of Bilingual Education Programs In South Texas Public Schools For English As A Second Language Learners, Alexandra Rosas

Theses and Dissertations

Current research in regard to the assessment and treatment of ESLs is limited. Other problems found within the school setting, is that fact that SLPs have very limited resources and large caseloads. Hence, the fact that previous studies have found that SLPS working the school setting do not feel competent in serving ESL students.

The aim of this study is to investigate the efficacy of bilingual programs and explore the factors that impact English as a second language learners (ESLs), in public schools across the Rio Grande Valley. School based speech-language pathologists were surveyed for information concerning their perceptions and …

How Do We Teach All Students In Monolingual Classrooms? A Study Of Transfer And Translingualism, Norma Denae Dibrell

Theses and Dissertations

I take the work of Lorimer and Nowacek in “Transfer and Translingualism,” as a starting point to address these questions. In “Transfer and Translingualism” they argue that transfer and translingualism “both index movement among contexts, practices, or meaning” while “neither suggests a neutral carrying over of knowledge from one context or language to another” (260) and thus acknowledge prior knowledge and prior experience. Lorimer and Nowacek call for transfer researchers to look at language diversity “beyond recognition of difference to the matrices of power that regulate that difference” and to ask questions about how to measure transfer (261-262). Consequently, in …

Coding The Discourse And Translingual Strategies Of Collaborative Writing Of Secondary Education Students, Zane Lee Arredondo

Theses and Dissertations

Kenneth Bruffee used collaborative writing pedagogy to help reacculturate students’ discoursal identities to help them adhere to the expectations of the academic community. Although studies have shown that reacculturation may not exactly happen, Collaborative writing pedagogy still has maintained its presence within Composition studies since then and has been adapted into being implemented into digitally shared spaces. However, one aspect has been overlooked about physical shared spaces, the conversations themselves being studied. This study explores Kenneth Bruffee’s constructive conversations among secondary students within collaborative writing pedagogy. The collaborative sessions are recorded and viewed with a translingual lens applying Johnny Saldana’s …

Gender As A Determining Factor In The Family History And Development Of The Mcgee Family, Thomas Daniel Knight

History Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper examines how gender shaped the family of Nancy Hood McGee, who belonged to one of Georgia’s antebellum planter families, across four generations. The McGee family had joined the planter class late in the antebellum period, and after the American Civil War they continued to be prosperous farmers in the former cotton belt. The essay proposes that women in the McGee family played a determining role in the family’s economic success during this time period. As such, it relates to scholarship on women in the nineteenth-century American South as well as to the role of women within southern families. …

Beginning From The Border, Kip Austin Hinton

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Abstract

In this essay, Educational Borderlands: A Bilingual Journal (EBBJ) is introduced in relation to borderlands, in South Texas and beyond. The journal’s purpose is explained, beginning with its inception as part of the bilingual mission at a majority Mexican American university, then placed within educational, political, and linguistic contexts. Each of EBBJ’s threads is situated in relation to hybridity, intersectionality, bilingualism, translanguaging, transnationalism, and the border itself. The journal seeks to apply these to the study of curriculum, instruction, special education, dual language bilingual education, and research across various interdisciplinary fields.

Resumen

En este ensayo, Educational Borderlands: A Bilingual …

(Re)Constructing American Linguistic Identity: Disrupting The American Linguistic Standard In First Year Composition, Brittany N. Ramirez

Theses and Dissertations

The thesis is a theoretical and analytical perspective on the construction of American Linguistic Identity through a Nationalist lens. By re-theorizing the concept of the nation as a “text”, and nationalism as the “composition” of that nation, this work challenges the dominant historical American linguistic narrative. This narrative is informed by an American Linguistic memory that is based on an Anglo-Saxon linguistic hegemony throughout American history. American linguistic memory has perpetuated a tacit English-Only policy in higher education, primarily through first year college composition courses. The tacit English-Only policy has influenced educators’ perceptions of students in the composition classroom as …

Global-To-Local-To-Global: A Model For Tutoring Esl Students In The Writing Center, David Aguilar

Theses and Dissertations

Since its inception, the writing center has always focused on traditional students, and today that tradition is continued in such a way that the overwhelming amount of research dedicated to writing center theory and practice addresses the concerns of those students. However, universities with unique student populations, such as the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley with its majority of Hispanic students, require novel practices within their writing centers. Moreover, much of the linguistic, social, and cultural factors of the region are not well documented and therefore are not addressed by the mainstream theory and practices of other universities. With …

My True Father, David Rice

Theses and Dissertations

My True Father is novel about a Mexican American family in South Texas going through a divorce.

Adolescent Street Literacy: The Art Of The Hustle, Regina L. Welch

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This thesis is an ethnographic analysis of street youths, runaways and foster children. It focuses on the rhetorical and literacy practices that serve as a foundation for an underground community. Very little research, within the English field or from a literacy perspective, has been done on this demographic. This study includes data from interviews conducted with eight individuals who were “homeless” between the ages of 12 and 18 years old. Homeless is being defined as any duration spent absent of a stable living situation, including, but not limited to, foster homes, sleeping on the streets or in temporary settings, with …

E Pluribus Unum: The Pursuit Of Linguistic Equality Through Adequation And Denaturalization, Natalie A. Tupta

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The oppressive ideology of standard language in the US perpetuates linguistic discrimination in all facets of life, from the classroom to the housing market to politics. Many Americans justify the degradation of non-standard language users by identifying the imagined cognitive deficiencies of those who do not use standard language. In response to previous research providing evidence of linguistic injustices, this research confounds existent ideology and exposes the gravity of the injustices perpetuated by the US government and educational system. By comparing this linguistic social justice movement to the American Civil Rights Movement and by borrowing the philosophy of Martin Luther …

Learning To Speak: Poems, Celina A. Gomez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This project is a collection of poetry that weaves together past, present, and the hopes of a future that causes change. It is set in South Texas and discusses borders spanning from social class, language, and identity. The collection primarily focuses on the Chican@ voice and the shame that comes from the borderlands. I have drawn from the Rio Grande Valley as a source of inspiration while also using family experiences, my own reaction to shame, and the possibilities of an empowered voice.

Eavesdropping On The Past: An Oral History Exploration Of English And Spanish In Contact In Texas' Rio Grande Valley, 1904-1945, Aaron B. Cummings

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This thesis investigates the interaction of English and Spanish L1 communities in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas from 1904 to 1945 (an era of mass English L1 migration from the Northern United States and Canada to this historically Spanish-speaking region) via analysis of oral interviews that record both language communities’ memories of the era’s social structures. Collectively, the interviews tell the story of the region’s sociocultural and sociolinguistic environment with a view to exploring how members of each community reacted to the presence of the other language during the first years of significant English/Spanish language contact in previously …

Shifting Policies Of Educational Desegregation And Its Effects On The Resegregation Of The Aldine Independent School District, Tonya Elisette Juarez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This study examines the desegregation process for the Aldine Independent School District located in Houston, Texas. Beginning with an analysis of the development of public education in Texas, this study observes the educational conditions for blacks and Mexican Americans prior to the end of de jure segregation. Thereafter, it assesses the impact of the Brown v. Board of Education (1954) decision that required desegregation of American public schools. I argue that the shifting policies that occurred after Brown requiring mandatory integration resulted in white flight in the school district. With the end of mandatory integration, Aldine I.S.D. reverted back to …

The Soul Of Man Under Capitalism, Joe L. Cantu

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This paper examines the consciousness of three literary characters, divided by space and time, from mid nineteenth century Russia, mid twentieth century Italy, to late twentieth century American society. This paper exposes literature’s rendition of modern man’s varying consciousness as shaped by the changing social conditions around him. This paper recognizes these varying social conditions as different stages in capitalism’s development. Capitalism has a history; the literature this paper examines discloses its negative impact on the consciousness of its characters. In analyzing Notes from the Underground, Contempt, and American Psycho, three novels separated by geography and spanning a timeframe of …

La Joya Isd Fine Arts: Teaching Mexican Identity Through Music And Dance, Katrena H. Henry

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The La Joya Independent School District has made a serious effort to cultivate and promote mariachi, conjunto, and folklórico programs at the middle school and high school level. Students give numerous performances throughout the year and these programs have exposed thousands of people to the music and traditions of Mexico and the border region. What draws so many students to these particular programs in La Joya ISD? What sense of "Mexican identity" do these programs create for its participants? Through observing various performances, interviewing educators, students, and community members, I explore why these programs are considered essential by the school …

Walking Out: The Success Of The Edcouch-Elsa Student Walkout Of 1968 Through The Media, David Robles

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This study demonstrates how the success of the Edcouch-Elsa walkout of 1968 was brought upon not only by its organization, non-violent tactics, land mark victory in federal court, and support from several of Mexican American organizations. What also aided the student movement in Edcouch-Elsa was the media attention and how it influence the Rio Grande Valley community not only to question the tactics being used towards Mexican American students in the local educational institutions, but also created public discourse over the issues of race, equality, and students’ rights. Using various academic books of the subject, newspaper clippings of the time …

An Analysis Of Narrative Types And An Investigation Into The Privileging Of Narrative Types On Standardized Testing, Rachel Villarreal Garza

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Research on the narrative writing of males and females shows significant differences between the two, and scores for standardized writing tests consistently demonstrate females outperforming males. Based on this information, it is important to investigate whether there are links between narrative content and this gender gap. In this study, I selected fifty officially scored essays written in response to an eleventh grade English Language Arts Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills exam. Essays were coded for broad and specific narrative types according to categories adapted from research on the writing of males and females. I then determined whether certain narrative …

La Educación Cultural A Través De La Danza Folklórica Mexicana, Karla Y. Uvalle-Castro

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

El presente proyecto pretende abordar la educación cultural a través de la danza folklórica mexicana, incluyendo otros aspectos fundamentales como la historia, música, vestuarios, costumbres etc. Se muestra una programación curricular alineada a los Conocimientos y Destrezas Esenciales del Estado de Texas (TEKS). Dicho programa ofrece a los estudiantes la posibilidad de aprender y experimentar diversos ritmos, música, bailes, trajes típicos de varios estados de la República Mexicana, a través de danzas sencillas (de pareja o grupo), acercándolos al conocimiento de la cultura, entendiendo la danza, y utilizándola como modo de expresión, motivador y generador de enriquecimiento cultural.

Life Stories Of Four Conjunto Musicians: Adding To The Culturally Relevant Curriculum Of The Rio Grande Valley Schools, Andres Martinez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This study examines music and culture and their importance in the learning process. As early as 1838, Horace Mann and later John Dewey (1916), Tim Brophy (1992) and others were expounding the benefits of music as a necessary element of the school curriculum. Julio Cammarota (2008), Geneva Gay (2000), Alan Singer (1994), Banks and Banks (1989) and others have argued for the importance of culture in the curriculum to enhance learning. Both elements have a unique place in the school curriculum. A brief history of the genre is presented beginning with the early years (mid 1800s), the development years (early …

After “Borderlands” The Making Of An Academic Chola: Poems, Veronica Sandoval

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This poetry collection is by a Mexican American spoken word, performance poet, Lady Mariposa, from Sullivan City turned Chican@ feminist after coming to terms with her mestizaje through Gloria Anzaldúa’s Borderlands La Frontera: The New Mestiza. In Lady Mariposa’s journey as an “Academic Chola,” the term “chola” articulates her Chican@ identity and creates a new space in academia by using “chola” as a hybrid of identity and style in the formation of her poetics. Her poetry can also be called pocho, pocha, Tex-Mex and code switches. She is inspired by Chican@ literature and history, lowriders, cholo culture, cholas, jazz, hip …

Juntos, Pero No Revueltos: Actitudes Entre Monolingües Y Bilingües En El Aula, Miriam Cruz

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Por ser el sur de Texas, región de nuestra universidad de estudio, una comunidad principalmente bilingüe, y dada su ubicación geográfica fronteriza con México, existe en las aulas un número elevado de estudiantes bilingües. Por lo tanto, este trabajo de investigación se interesa en el estudio comparativo de las actitudes de los estudiantes monolingües frente a los bilingües en un curso de español para principiantes no hispanohablantes. En mi estudio distinguiré éste factor entre estudiantes bilingües, es decir, aquellos capaces de hablar o entender el español, en comparación con estudiantes monolingües que sólo hablan y entienden el inglés. Considero también …