Digital Commons Network^™

Why Russian? Language Choice And Enrollment In U.S. Universities, Emma Calderwood, Teresa R. Bell, Jennifer Bown, Grant H. Lundberg

Russian Language Journal

Russian language enrollments at U.S. universities have declined steadily since 2009 (MLA, 2023), yet little research has examined current student motivations for studying Russian, particularly after the 2022 escalation of the Russo–Ukrainian War. This study surveyed two groups: (a) students enrolled in any 101-level language course at University X and (b) students in Russian courses at six U.S. universities. Results show that motivations for studying Russian are primarily integrative—general interest in the language, desire to converse with Russian speakers, aspirations to travel to Russian-speaking countries, and previous Russian knowledge—rather than instrumental. Students who considered but did not choose Russian most …

Variability Of Individual Learner Trajectories In A Transformative Language Program, Victoria Hasko, Anastasiya Smith

Russian Language Journal

This qualitative multiple case study investigates how individual learner differences manifest and evolve within a transformative, proficiency-oriented undergraduate Russian language program. Drawing on complexity theory and transformative approaches to language education, the study explores how learners’ motivations, identities, and professional aspirations develop in a curriculum that integrates advanced language learning with long-term career planning. Three focal participants were followed longitudinally across their undergraduate trajectories, using a combination of standardized proficiency assessments and in-depth reflective interviews. Thematic analysis revealed four key themes shaping learner development: evolving orientations toward language learning, the curriculum as a transformative scaffold, emerging professional identities, and growing …

The Mediating Role Of Positive Psychology: Mindfulness And Learner Beliefs In The Russian Language Classroom, Kelly Knickmeier Cummings

Russian Language Journal

Language learning is an inherently emotional process, shaped by both positive and negative experiences that influence the individual difference of learner beliefs. This article explores the mediating role of positive psychology (PP) in second language acquisition (SLA), with a particular focus on mindfulness and its potential to reshape learner beliefs in the Russian language classroom. Drawing on theories such as Seligman’s PERMA model and Fredrickson’s broaden-and-build theory, as well as evidence-based interventions, the article argues that mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) provide practical tools for cultivating positive learner beliefs and inclusive, growth-oriented classroom environments. Examples of MBIs—including practices of noticing, savoring, exploring …

Analyse Der Globalen Zugänglichkeit Von Nonprofit-Daten: Vorläufige Ergebnisse Einer Länderübergreifenden Vergleichsstudie, Angie Holzer

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Dieser Artikel präsentiert vorläufige Ergebnisse einer globalen, länderübergreifenden Studie zur Untersuchung der Zugänglichkeit, Struktur und Transparenz von Nonprofit-Registersystemen in allen Ländern weltweit. Neben der Erhebung, ob in den einzelnen Ländern eine nationale Online-Datenbank für Nonprofit-Organisationen existiert, analysiert die Studie, wer diese Systeme betreibt – staatliche Stellen oder zivilgesellschaftliche Organisationen – und identifiziert Fälle, in denen mehrere Register parallel geführt werden. Die Analyse berücksichtigt zudem nationale Kontextindikatoren wie Bevölkerungsgröße, Menschenrechtsbewertungen, Internetzugang und Governance-Strukturen; diese Variablen werden in diesem vorläufigen Beitrag jedoch noch nicht vertieft ausgewertet.

Darüber hinaus variieren die Anforderungen an die Registrierung von Nonprofit-Organisationen zwischen den Ländern erheblich, wobei viele …

Exploring Themes In Leadership Transition At A Rural Nonprofit Community Theatre: An Accidental Research Project, Elise Lael Kieffer

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Leadership transitions in nonprofit organizations present both challenges and opportunities, particularly in rural community-based theatres where organizational identity is often deeply connected to individual leaders. This study employs narrative inquiry, guided by the lens of Feminist Pragmatism, to explore leadership change at Playhouse in the Park, a long-standing rural community theatre in Murray, Kentucky. Through interviews, reflections, and observations, the study identifies five emergent themes shaping directors’ experiences: expectations, programming content, personality, relational expectations, and the balance between cautiousness and freedom. Findings suggest that the tensions inherent in rural nonprofit leadership transitions—rather than serving as obstacles—function as necessary forces that …

The Nonlinguistic Factors That Predict Spanish Oral Proficiency, Merrie Kay Ames

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the predictive power of self-assessment and nonlinguistic factors in determining Spanish oral proficiency among university learners. Drawing on data from 2,475 undergraduate students enrolled in a third-year Spanish course at Brigham Young University, the research examines how self-assessed speaking ability and experiential background variables--including age of acquisition, mission service, dual immersion, and study abroad--influence Oral Proficiency Interview - Computer (OPIc) scores. A one-way ANOVA revealed a statistically significant but modest relationship between students' calibration (self-assessment minus actual ability) and their OPIc ratings, suggesting that learners can generally approximate their speaking proficiency within two sublevels. A multiple regression …

Perspectives On Cognitive Psychology In Ktu 1.40: Moral Implications And Prescribed Emotional Responses To Foster Unity, Richard Jarvis Iii

Studia Antiqua

This paper examines the Ugaritic ritual text KTU 1.40 through the framework of cognitive psychology to explore its moral implications and prescribed emotional responses. While earlier scholarship has debated whether this ritual carried moral weight, my analysis demonstrates that it prescribes the removal or amelioration of five moral emotions—disgust, fear, anger, empathy, and a sense of justice—to promote unity within the community of Ugarit. Building on Thomas Kazen’s approach and Gregorio del Olmo Lete’s translation, this study argues that the repeated structure and inclusive nature of KTU 1.40 reflect an intentional effort to bridge emotional divides among the many groups …

Understanding Asynchronous Learning For Moana Communities By Moana Educators In The Digital Vā, Theresa Pamela Onesemo-Holmes

Theses and Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a dramatic shift from face-to-face learning to an online learning modality for learners globally. Moana (Pacific) communities of all ages were affected by the change due to the existing digital divide that remains an issue today. Research on culturally responsive learning pedagogy for Moana communities prior to the pandemic focused on in-person experiences. Navigating the vā (the relational space between all things) to engage with Moana communities was difficult for teachers during pandemic lockdowns. Online learning in Moana communities is an emerging field of research and has typically focused on synchronous learning. Instead, in my research …

Language Attitudes And Maintenance Within Latino Families In Utah County, Megan Elise Magleby Townsend

Theses and Dissertations

While there has been research done on Latino individuals' and parents' language attitudes and maintenance practices, there is little known about children's language attitudes and their perceptions of their parents' views towards both Spanish and English. This thesis looks at what the current picture is in terms of Spanish maintenance in Utah County's immigrant families as well as those factors that affect the parents' language attitudes and maintenance efforts. This study also seeks to fill the gap in the literature concerning what children (ages 8-13) think of English, Spanish, their respective cultures, as well as their possible plans to pass …

An Analysis Of Ukrainians' Language Attitudes And Ideology: A Conflict-Catalyzed Language And Identity Shift, Kateryna Kravchenko

Theses and Dissertations

On February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation invaded Ukraine. According to Vladimir Putin's speech, the main goal of the war was to protect the Russian-speaking population of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine. Many Ukrainians indeed speak Russian on a daily basis, largely due to the long and complicated history between the two countries. Recently, there has been an increase in pro-Ukrainian ideologies (Kulyk 2016); however, as the full-scale invasion began, people started advocating for Ukrainian usage in all public domains, and many even vowed to never speak Russian again. Since then, there has been a profound change in language …

Enhancing Silicon Sampling In Large Language Models: Fine-Tuning Techniques Using Survey Data, Davis P. Forster

Theses and Dissertations

Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly used to simulate responses of human demographic groups, a task known as silicon sampling. This paper investigates whether supervised fine-tuning can improve algorithmic fidelity in such settings. We construct a dataset from the General Social Survey (GSS), converting demographic attributes into natural-language backstories and randomly selecting one attribute as a held-out target. Fine-tuning a LLaMA-3.1-70B model on this dataset yields significant improvements on two tasks: (1) imputing missing attributes at the individual level, and (2) reproducing response distributions for demographic slices, such as racial and age groups. Notably, these improvements are achieved with minimal …

Play-Based Assessment Of The Cardinal Principle, Allyssa Sonnefeld Leavitt

Theses and Dissertations

Gelman and Gallistel (1986) determined five counting principles that are essential for successful counting, including the cardinal principle where children understand that the last number counted represents the quantity of a set of objects. The traditional How many? task and the Give-n task are the most common tasks that have been used to assess whether children understand the cardinal principle. However, many researchers claim that these tasks either overestimate or underestimate children's understanding of the cardinal principle. Some researchers (Baroody & Pellegrino, 2023) suggest that embedding the traditional How many? task in a game may improve its validity. In this …

One Barrier To Rule Them All: Exploring The Impact Of The Language Barrier For Immigrants In Utah, Reagan Lyman

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In this paper, I examine the effect of English-language fluency on immigrant experiences and access to integration or inclusion, using Utah as a case study. I seek to answer the following research questions: does language or region of origin matter in integrating into a new country and learning a new language? Is this effect still relevant in a context like Utah where it is easier to find native-born residents who speak one’s first language? And how does English language ability and the language barrier impact the lives of Asian and Latina immigrants living in Utah? I draw upon 34 in-depth …

The Policy Project: Translating Menstrual Equity Resources, Ashley Jackman

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This creative project focuses on translating key materials from The Period Project, a campaign by the Utah nonprofit The Policy Project that tackles menstrual inequity by pushing for free period products in schools and public spaces. Their educational toolkits guide students and parents toward menstrual resources and outline compliance requirements for school administrators. However, a significant portion of Utah’s population speaks Spanish at home, and current toolkits are not readily available in Spanish. As a Spanish translation major, I saw this as an opportunity to use my skills in a real-world setting, as the translated toolkit will be immediately electronically …

Exploring The Potential Of Artificial Intelligence To Improve The Journal Peer Review Process, Eliza Fanny Bondah

Theses and Dissertations

Academic publishing depends on the peer review process to guarantee quality, scholarly rigor, and credibility, but the traditional peer review system receives mounting criticism because of its inefficient operations, biased judgments, and irregular standards. This study explores how artificial intelligence (AI) can improve journal peer review systems to solve a variety of issues, including reducing reviewer exhaustion, minimizing bias, improving consistency, and accelerating the review process. Current literature shows AI as a promising yet controversial solution, which may provide structured feedback with improved consistency and efficiency. Our study examined 52 human reviews together with 26 AI-generated reviews from EdTechnica--An Open …

Cracking The Shell: A Corpus-Based Analysis Of The Functions Of Shell Nouns In American Legal Contracts, Geoffrey T. Julian

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The forms and functions of shell nouns (SN), semantically abstract nouns that can package and characterize complex segments of discourse, have been documented in academic discourse and L2 English writing (e.g., Aktas & Cortes, 2008; Benitez-Castro & Thompson, 2015). The abstract nature of SNs lends itself to use where vague language might be favored to allow for a variety of contingencies (Benitez-Castro, 2015). Thus, SNs have also been found to be present in legal language where some of these functions are desirable (Ren et al., 2019). The present study examines the use of SNs in a corpus of 2,700 US …

The Phenomenology Of Auditory Verbal Hallucinations: A Literature Review, Daniel Wellock, David Erekson

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

AVHs are experienced by 75% of persons with schizophrenia, and they are characterized by verbal experiences that do not arise through an audible sensation. AVHs often cause debilitating comorbid symptoms and understanding them is important to ameliorate these outcomes. This paper is a literature review of studies surrounding the phenomenology of AVHs in schizophrenia. We gathered 26 papers through using the APAPsychnet and Web of Knowledge databases. We found that negative emotional valence was characteristic of AVHs in schizophrenia. Furthermore, AVHs appeared to have a distinct linguistic and tonal profile and affected behavior significantly. A command subtype, a hypervigilance subtype, …

When Scripts Diverge: Strengthening Low-Resource Neural Machine Translation Through Phonetic Cross-Lingual Transfer, Ammon Shurtz

Theses and Dissertations

Multilingual Neural Machine Translation (MNMT) models enhance translation quality for low-resource languages by exploiting cross-lingual similarities during training--a process known as knowledge transfer. This transfer is particularly effective between languages that share lexical or structural features, often enabled by a common orthography. However, languages with strong phonetic and lexical similarities but distinct writing systems experience limited benefits, as the absence of a shared orthography hinders knowledge transfer. To address this limitation, we propose an approach based on phonetic information that enhances token-level alignment across scripts by leveraging transliterations. We systematically evaluate several phonetic transcription techniques and strategies for incorporating phonetic …

An Analysis Of Large Language Model Hallucination And Creativity: Linear Representations And Causal Roles, Mckay Bowcut

Theses and Dissertations

Large language models (LLMs) show remarkable abilities in both factual and creative tasks, yet the problem of hallucination persists despite advances in training and post-training methods. Recent progress in model interpretability suggests that model behavior can be predicted and influenced by analyzing and manipulating internal activations. In this thesis, we address three questions: (1) Can we identify linear representations of hallucination and creativity in the model’s latent space? (2) Do these representations play a causal role in model behavior when manipulated? (3) Are creativity and hallucination causally intertwined? To answer these, we construct a novel dataset of factual, hallucinated, and …

Recommendations From Multi-Disciplinary Professionals For Survivor-Informed And Comprehensive Care For Human Trafficking Survivors, Christina Tsoi, Timothy B. Smith, Elizabeth Cutrer-Párraga, Devan Clayton, Joshua M. Marshall, Jamila Mastny

Faculty Publications

Background: Human trafficking affects millions of people worldwide with multiple adverse outcomes including psychopathology. Although research on human trafficking has become abundant in other academic disciplines (e.g., public health, criminology, social work), healthcare research specific to the mental health treatment of survivors remains limited. Objective: The purpose of this study was to gather recommendations from professionals about mental health treatment of trafficking survivors. Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 multidisciplinary professionals working with trafficking survivors. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis methodology. Results: An overarching theme derived from the data concerned the recommendation to implement trafficking survivor-informed care, …

Generative Ai In Chinese Esl Students’ Writing Processes: Stages, Methods, And Language Use, Runzhou Shan

Journal of Response to Writing

This paper explores how Chinese ESL students utilize Generative AI (Gen AI) in their writing processes, focusing on the stages of writing, specific methods of use, and language practices. The study was carried out in an English-medium instruction (EMI) environment at a Sino-American university in China. Data were collected through online surveys with 157 participants and follow-up interviews with nine students. Quantitative analysis of the survey data uncovered general patterns, while analysis of the interview data, using Polio & Freedman’s (2017) coding method to identify themes, provided detailed illustrations. Subsequent analysis indicates that students primarily engage with Gen AI in …

Fall 2025 Volume 11 Issue 2: Full Issue

Journal of Response to Writing

No abstract provided.

Task Prioritization In Concurrent Speaking And Visuomotor Tasks In Younger And Older Adults, Naomi Wynn

Theses and Dissertations

The present study examined the ability of younger and older adults to prioritize one task over another under divided attention conditions. The speech task involved the repetition of sentences that included specific vowel targets, and the non-speech task was a visuomotor pursuit rotor task which required tracking a moving target on a computer. The participants were twenty young adults between the ages of 18 and 30 and twenty older adults above the age of 60. They performed each task on its own and both tasks concurrently, prioritizing one or the other task. Audio recordings were analyzed with software to extract …

Speech Motor Learning In Divided And Undivided Attention Conditions, Garrett Barnes

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the effect of dual tasking on speech motor learning. Forty young adult participants (20 male, 20 female) practiced speaking nonsense words containing non-English consonant clusters. Half of the participants practiced the words while also completing a shape identification task. After practice, the two groups produced the words in a retention task both with and without the shape identification task. They returned the next day to produce the words again with and without the shape identification task. Acoustic analysis of the consonant cluster and word duration was used as an index of motor learning. Statistical analysis revealed that …

Creativity In Large Language Models, Robert Kenneth Morain

Theses and Dissertations

As artificial intelligence systems approach human-level performance across a wide variety of domains, creative domains remain a critical yet underexplored area of research. Unlike traditional AI tasks with well-defined objectives, creative tasks rely on inherently subjective measures, making them particularly challenging for machines that lack human experiential context. This dissertation establishes the fundamental importance of creativity in AI systems and presents methods for improving and evaluating the creative capabilities of LLMs on the pathway toward AGI. This work addresses and examines key limitations in current LLM creativity through model innovations, development frameworks, and comparative studies. The dissertation develops novel architectural …

“What Grade Do You Feel You Earned?” Integrating Student-Led Grading With A Labor-Based Grading Framework, Megan Von Bergen

Journal of Response to Writing

This brief article discusses the advantages of using a student grade proposal within a labor-based grading framework, focusing on how the grade proposal may reinforce the equity-related aims of labor-based grading and hone students' ability to self-assess. The article discusses the learning outcomes of the grade proposal and its process, then ends with a sample grade proposal.

Resisting Islamophobia: “Westophobia” In Social Media, Peter O'Brien, Jordan Nelson

Comparative Civilizations Review

Both the practice and study of Islamophobia repose on the concept of comparative civilizations. Purveyors of Islamophobia use what Roger Westcott calls a “denotative” understanding to posit an objective conflict (or “clash” à la Samual Huntington) between Western and Islamic civilizations. Scholars who analyze Islamophobia tend to take what Westcott calls a “connotative” approach that views civilizations as subjective, social constructs (à la Edward Said’s “Orient”).

Despite many advantages, the latter approach tends to dismiss the agency of Muslims to resist Islamophobia. This article counters that trend by exploring Islamist resistance to Islamophobia, to which we give the shorthand label, …

The Fragrance Muse: Musk As A Symbolic Tapestry In Classical Persian Poetry, Akbar Shirini, Shen Xudong, Zhao Dan

Comparative Civilizations Review

This paper explores the symbolic representation of musk in classical Persian poetry, uncovering its role as a multifaceted emblem of Iranian cultural identity and human experience. Drawing on a qualitative analysis of primary texts from the Ganjoor archive and secondary sources, the study traces musk’s historical significance across China, Iran, and Islamic world. In China, musk is prized for its rarity, medicinal properties, and metaphysical roles; in Iran, it intertwines with mythology, Zoroastrian cosmology, and trade; in Islamic contexts, it holds commercial and therapeutic value, cherished by figures like Mohammad. Within Persian poetry, musk transcends its material origins, symbolizing blackness …

Towards The Systematic Cross-Civilizational Comparison: How Civilizations Work Case 2: The Indic Civilization, Monika Monika

Comparative Civilizations Review

Building on Liah Greenfeld’s (2024) framework of Systematic Cross-Civilizational Comparison, as outlined in her Spring 2024 CCR essay, this paper examines the cultural realities of the Indic civilization. Civilizations differ at both the individual level, including cognitive aspects (the structure and content of thought), moral dimensions (values and principles guiding behavior), and emotional patterns (typical emotional responses); and the societal level, i.e., distinct institutions, institutional systems, and historical trajectories (Greenfeld 2024).

In each civilization, these modal dimensions stem from and are shaped by the first civilizational principles — the foundational ideas framing the reality unique to that civilization. In Indic …

Sociological Dichotomies Of Mława, Poland, Over Time: Misplaced Concreteness, Individual Triumph, Social Tragedy, Joseph Drew

Comparative Civilizations Review

For many years, I have been an active member of the International Society for the Comparative Study of Civilizations and Editor-in-Chief of its journal, the Comparative Civilizations Review. Since the 1960s, I have also been a university administrator and a professor, globe-trotting to learn about societies near and far, their rises and falls. Yet even though I lived and worked in Prague, as president of a university, not far from the Polish border, I had never set foot in that country, notwithstanding that my paternal grandfather came from there.