Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons^™

What Do Learners Do With A Foreign Language After Their Studies? A Survey Of Alumni Of A Russian Summer Immersion Program, Dmitrii Pastushenkov, Liya Zalaltdinova, Jason Merrill

Russian Language Journal

Responding to concerns about the long-term value of foreign language education, this exploratory survey-based study examines how Russian language learners (N = 321) continued to use the language after completing a summer immersion program. The study investigates language use in personal and professional contexts and identifies resources alumni used, recommended, and needed to maintain proficiency. Although opportunities for conversational practice were limited, and interaction in Russian was one of the activities alumni needed but often viewed as unattainable, about 60% of participants continued using Russian at least occasionally. Among those employed full time, 24% used Russian frequently, primarily in …

The Reclamation, Peter Njagi Mwangi, Charles E. Becknell Jr

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

This poem stages a classroom conversation about language, knowledge, and the study of Black history and thought. Through dialogue between a professor and a student, the conversation reflects on a central question within Africana Studies: why are indigenous African languages rarely included in how the field teaches, writes, and shares knowledge? While colonial languages such as English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese function as practical tools in the modern university, the poem raises the question of what may be missing when African languages remain largely absent. Drawing on ideas like Ubuntu and Sankofa, the poem imagines Africana Studies as a living …

Afakasi: An Ambiguous Space In A Monolithic Education System, Jacqueline F. Buckley

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

Throughout American history, examinations of ethnicity have mainly focused on a binary of Black and White (White, 2007, p. 339). Little study has been conducted on the nation's ethnic minorities, including Arabs, Jews, Asians, Micronesians, Melanesians, and Polynesians. The White race has effectively become the nation's default race (Khoshneviss, 2018, p. 19). Furthermore, research on the experiences of individuals of mixed ethnicity, particularly in education, remains limited. This study will uncover the mixed-ethnic Afakasi (half Samoan and half White) experience of myself as an educator who lived through and taught within the American K-12 system, experiencing the status quo curriculum …

Dismantling Future Writing Teachers’ English-Only Assumptions: Composing Videos To Learn The Value Of Linguistic And Cultural Inclusion, Ann N. Amicucci

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

This article presents the results of a study of 12 students’ video composing assignments and accompanying reflections in which students, all of whom were future writing teachers enrolled in an undergraduate TESOL course, examined how well public spaces acknowledged and included multilingual individuals. Students’ videos and reflections demonstrated that the assignment dismantled these future writing teachers’ assumptions that multilingual writers learn best in an English-only environment but perpetuated perceptions of languages as discrete rather than intertwined. Findings are discussed within the context of scholarship on writing teacher education and English-only policy and practice in the U.S.

Voces Rurales: Understanding The Latina Rural College Student Experience, April Mazón

The Rural Educator

This article integrates research with lived experiences to explore the educational and career transitions of Latina rural college students and the unique challenges they encounter in navigating higher education and the workforce. Drawing on the phenomenological study “Voces Rurales: Examining Latina Rural College Student Experiences in Navigating Transitions from College to Career or Post-Baccalaureate Studies,” which coupled semi-structured interviews and photo elicitation methodology, this article highlights the critical intersection of rurality, gender, and ethnicity in higher education. The study focused on Latina undergraduate students in a rural border county with two institutions of higher education: a community college and a …

Metacognition As Disciplinary Infrastructure In Ai-Mediated Learning, Tina R. Austin, Jason Gulya, Nick Potkalitsky

International Journal of Emerging and Disruptive Innovation in Education : VISIONARIUM

Metacognition is often presented as a response to generative AI’s disruption of teaching and learning, yet the term has become too generalized to guide practice. In AI-mediated environments, asking students merely to “reflect on your thinking” is insufficient. Because AI tools can redistribute cognitive labor, their educational value depends on how students use them and whether that use supports disciplinary forms of reasoning. This essay argues that metacognition must be understood as disciplinary infrastructure: students cannot effectively monitor their thinking without understanding the epistemological and ontological demands of the field in which they are working. Classrooms therefore become sites where …

English For Speakers Of Other Languages Program: Compliance Vs Realities Of Practice, Ana Sofia Rodriguez-Oronoz

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

This research study examined the misalignment between policy compliance and instructional practice within English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) programs in K–12 public education. Although federal and state mandates require equitable access and services for English language learners (ELLs), compliance with these requirements has not consistently resulted in effective classroom practice. The problem of practice focused on how educators interpreted and enacted ESOL policies and the extent to which these practices aligned with the intent of the Multicultural Education, Training, and Advocacy (META) Consent Decree and related accountability frameworks.

A qualitative research design was used to explore educators’ perceptions …

Namaste, Kem Chho, Jason Nguyen

be Still

No abstract provided.

Social Identity And Language Learning/Teaching Trajectories: Egyptian English Teachers’ Reflections On Being Taught By Native English- Speaking Instructors, Asmaa Mohamed Badawy

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores how teacher social identity is shaped by Egyptian English teachers’ past learning experiences, particularly in relation to native and non-native English-speaking teachers. It seeks to understand how these experiences influence teachers’ perceptions of themselves within English-speaking contexts and how they make sense of dominant language ideologies surrounding nativeness. The study is guided by the following research questions: how participants perceive their sense of social belonging within English-speaking contexts; how ‘native’ and ‘non-native’ English teachers understand and interpret nativeness; and how past educational and social experiences shape teachers’ sense of ownership and legitimacy. Situated within the framework of …

The Tagamo3 Accent: Linguistic Stylization, Enregisterment, And Social Meaning In Egyptian Digital Discourse, Jannah M. Abdelaziz

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the Tagamo3 Accent (TA), a socially recognizable speech style associated with elite urban Egyptian identity, through a qualitative multimodal discourse analysis of twelve Egyptian TikTok videos, including both naturally occurring lifestyle and influencer content as well as parody and commentary videos that explicitly imitate, discuss, or evaluate the accent. Drawing on theories of enregisterment (Agha, 2003), stylization (Coupland, 2007), and indexicality (Silverstein, 2003; Eckert, 2008), the study examines how TA is linguistically performed, socially recognized, and ideologically circulated within Egyptian digital spaces. The findings suggest that TA does not function as a structurally bounded dialect or geographically …

Emotional Intelligence Documentary - The Art Of Compassion: Learning From Spain, Poetry, And Medicine, Emily E. Morin

Cultivating Emotional Intelligence through the Humanities in Spain

The Art of Compassion: Learning from Spain, Poetry, and Medicine explores how art, literature, and cultural experiences can deepen compassion and inform more human-centered healthcare. Drawing on works encountered during a Medical Humanities study abroad program in Spain, the documentary examines compassion as a skill that can be cultivated through self-reflection, recognition of shared vulnerability, and appreciation of multiple perspectives. Through analysis of poetry by Lope de Vega, Jaime Sabines, and Yehuda Halevi, alongside artworks by Diego Velázquez, Francisco Goya, and Pablo Picasso, the film connects themes of empathy, suffering, identity, and healing to contemporary clinical practice. The documentary also …

"It Comes Back To My Identity, It's Who I Am": Sustaining Mid-Career Latine Bilingual Teachers, Soarlyn Lopez

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative case study explores the factors motivating mid-career (4–15 years) in New York City (NYC) to stay in the profession beyond the novice years (1–3 years), as well as the challenges they face. Utilizing self-determination theory and language ideologies as theoretical frameworks, this study captures the motivating factors and challenges of 15 mid-career bilingual teachers across NYC. Findings indicated that relationships with students and colleagues, professional growth, supportive administrators, and alignment between language ideologies and program structures served as motivating factors to remain in the profession by reinforcing teachers’ sense of relatedness, competence, and autonomy. Motivating factors that supported …

Stories Of Social Transformation And Resistance: A Narrative Inquiry Into The Culturally Sustaining Practices Of Teachers Of Color, Daniel E. Hernandez

Theses and Dissertations

In the United States, persistent inequities in schooling have intensified the need for asset-based  frameworks, such as culturally sustaining pedagogies (CSP), to support students from  communities that have been historically racialized and minoritized. At the same time, growing  political and social resistance to practices of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) has created  barriers for schools and teachers seeking to implement culturally responsive approaches to  teaching and learning. Using narrative inquiry, this dissertation explores the stories of three culturally  sustaining teachers of color to understand how they enact resistance and pursue social  transformation in their classrooms and schools. Through an examination …

Returning With The Elixir: Transformation In Two Young Adult Novels, April Vázquez

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

The narrative structure of the Hero’s Journey, first elaborated by Joseph Campbell in 1949, is employed in Pashmina by Nidhi Chanani and Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay. In these two works for young people, the protagonists travel to their parents’ native countries, encountering systems of oppression that fundamentally transform their perspectives and alter the trajectories of their lives. Each character follows the same narrative pattern: before the Hero’s Journey, they have led mostly unremarkable lives, have an encounter with the supernatural or the divine, confront systemic oppression in their parents’ native countries on a scale beyond what they …

Lesson Plan: Sr. Levadura (Mr. Yeast), Kali Elise Rye

World Languages and Cultures

This project addresses critical microbiology misconceptions concerning microbes and fermentation. Alongside Nuestra Ciencia’s lesson development team, this activity was researched and tested to demonstrate ideal fermentation conditions for yeast. In addition to the hands-on experiment, this project also required an interactive worksheet to be completed alongside the activity. With feedback from undergraduate students, researchers, and professors, the content was shaped to create an engaging, easily comprehensible activity that introduces microbiological concepts to students. As it has progressed, the Sr. Levadura (Mr. Yeast) activity has been implemented in two quarters of SCM 302 (Learn by Doing Lab) where over 400 elementary …

Empowering International Students For Positive Social Risk-Taking In U.S. Higher Education, Maha Azzazi

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

During the acculturation process to their new life in the United States, international students can face challenges in building meaningful connections with their campus community due to difficulties in social integration. There has been limited research on finding effective ways to help international students overcome these challenges, despite numerous studies exploring the factors contributing to international students' disengagement, such as cultural and linguistic barriers and financial difficulties. To address this gap, this phenomenological qualitative study examines the experiences of eight international students at a US university. Among the themes that emerge from preliminary results are familiar challenges faced by students, …

Black Language Matters: Capitalizing On Black English For Educational Success Through Linguistic And Cultural Competence Training, Fritz Lauriston

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

This dissertation explores the impact of culturally responsive professional development on K–12 educators’ perceptions and understanding of Black English, also known as African American Vernacular English (AAVE). The study responds to the longstanding marginalization of Black English in educational environments and its implications for academic equity, cultural identity, and student performance—particularly among African American learners. The central intervention, titled “Do You Understand Me? Linguistic and Cultural Competence Black English Professional Development,” was designed to increase teachers’ linguistic awareness, dismantle deficit perspectives, and promote inclusive instructional practices that validate students’ home language.

Using a mixed-method design, 59 certified educators participated in …

Enhancing The Metacognitive Thinking Of Middle-Grade Multilingual Learners: A Design-Based Research Study Leveraging Dialogic Teaching, Renee R. Burns

Dissertations

This study explores how dialogic teaching can enhance metacognition and self-efficacy among middle school multilingual learners (MLs) who face challenges with the academic language demands of literacy tasks. Using a design-based research (DBR) methodology, specifically formative experiment, the Metacognitive Dialogic Teaching Protocol (MDTP) was implemented over seven iterative cycles. The research questions were as follows: How do dialogic interactions impact metacognition in middle-grade MLs? How does Metacognitive Dialogic Teaching affect comprehension development in these students? And how does it influence their self-efficacy? The participants included six middle-grade MLs engaged in a Tier 2 literacy intervention who initially exhibited fake reading …

Camp Hope Professional Development, Jennifer J. Lesh, Antonella Regueiro

Faculty and Staff Publications & Presentations

Dr. Jennifer J. Lesh, Exceptional Student Education Coordinator and Associate Professor, and Dr. Antonella Regueiro, Director, Center for Leadership and Social Impact, along with seven (7) Lynn University students, presented special education best practices to Lynn Study Abroad collaborative partner, Camp Hope staff, on June 1, 2026 in Quito, Ecuador. Dr. Lesh and Dr. Regueiro were in Quito to lead an innovative Exceptional Student Education (ESE) study abroad internship and research practicum.

The program combined coursework, field experiences, and service-learning through a collaborative partnership with Camp Hope School, which serves students with disabilities.

Students participated in classroom observations, collaborative teaching, …

Exploring The Effect Of Babble Background Noise On Learning New Patterns In An Artificial Accent Of English In Monolingual And Bilingual Young Adults, Mariana Vasilita

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The current study examined how background noise affects the learning of novel phonetic and phonological patterns in speech. While prior research has shown that bilingual participants may learn new phonetic patterns more successfully than monolingual participants under quiet conditions, it remains unclear whether this advantage persists in more ecologically valid listening environments.

We investigated phonetic learning skills in monolingual English speakers (n = 13) and early bilingual speakers (n = 13). Participants were trained and tested on an artificial English accent presented in the presence of 12-talker babble noise (+10 dB SNR). A digit span task was also administered to …