Digital Commons Network^™

Scientific Islanders: Pacific Peoples, American Scientists, And The Desire To Understand The World, 1800-1860, Roberto Jesus Diaz

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Between 1800 and 1860, Pacific Islanders sought answers to questions about the mechanics and origins of the universe, just as Americans did. But the systems of thought created by Natives addressing these matters generally would not have been considered "scientific" by Americans. Pacific Islanders and Americans, nevertheless, created extensive scientific traditions to systematically perceive, understand, and explain the nature of existence. These systems were rooted in religion, social dynamics, and other cultural norms, and manifested themselves in writing, artwork, explorations, and technologies that benefited their societies. Thus, this Thesis argues that the practice of scientific methods was not simply a …

Psychologically Satisfying: Exploring Client Experiences With Dynamics Of Shared Decision-Making In Care From Prescribing Psychologists, Ashley Graboski-Bauer

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the field of prescribing psychology as it is practiced by providers and experienced by clients in New Mexico. Prescribing psychology is an emerging field of hybrid mental healthcare in which psychologists with special post-doctoral training can obtain prescriptive authority in certain jurisdictions. The study sought to take a client-centered approach to investigating the type and quality of care provided to clients by prescribing psychologists (RxPs). This study included a provider survey of knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding health literacy and shared decision-making, and a client survey of satisfaction and experiences with care …

Unveiling Veiled Voices: Understanding The Experiences Of Muslim Women Who Wear The Hijab In Public Spaces, Mohammed Sakip Iddrisu

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In view of the invisibility of Arab(ic)-Islamic rhetorics and the dominance of scholarship on Christian rhetorical traditions in rhetorical studies alongside an increased visibility of public rhetorics about Islamic women in American politics, this research explores the experiences and performances of veiled Muslim women in public spaces. While much of rhetorical scholarship on public spheres focuses on public talk or the circulation of public texts, in this study, I, together with six veiled Muslim women in El Paso, Texas, explore how veiled Muslim women navigate the hijab's visibility as a marker of difference with strangers-simultaneously performing and provoking performative public …

Implications Of Dual Language Scoring Of The Preschool Language Scale-Fifth Edition Spanish For Bilingual Preschool-Aged Children, Callie Mae Mathis

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Purpose: Spanish versions of standardized tests used in language evaluations are not well studied. The purpose of this study is to further examine the appropriateness of the Preschool Language Scale, Fifth Edition Spanish (PLS-5S) in a U.S./Mexico border community by comparing the Dual language scores versus the Spanish only scores and comparing the normative sample of the PLS-5S to the population of El Paso, TX.

Method: Twenty-three bilingual preschool aged children in the El Paso area completed the Spanish Edition of the PLS-5S. The parents and teachers of the participants completed two language proficiency questionnaires (Bilingual Input Output Survey; BIOS …

Grammatical Error Types Using A Picture Description Task In English And Spanish With Young Children, Lisa Valles

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Purpose: The current study was part of a larger project examining diagnostic accuracy of various assessment tools for bilingual children living in a border community. The purpose of this project was to examine language sample measures in young children using a picture description task (Eisenberg & Guo, 2013) by answering the following questions:

1. What were the frequent types of errors exhibited by young children in English and Spanish?

2. Were there distinct types of grammatical errors across languages in bilingual children?

Methods: Participants were recruited from a large city on the US/Mexico border. There were 47 participants in the …

Reanimation (Afterlife Rebellion Book 1), Nicole A. White

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Reanimation (Afterlife Rebellion Book 1) is the first book in a young adult science fiction and fantasy duology about a group of ghosts and a teenage necromancer who must come to terms with a corrupted afterlife. The overarching goal was to craft an accessible fantasy, with its characters being unfamiliar with genre conventions so that readers who were as well could have an entry point into the category, and familiar readers could enjoy new interpretations of the canon. Traditional character archetypes and stereotypes that have been proven to impede representation in the genre and deter new readership are subverted or …

Narcocultura As Cultural Capital For Latinx Youth Identity Work: An Online Ethnography, Emiliano Villarreal

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Why would young Latinxs want to be, talk, look, and act like narcos? This work analyzes the ways in which narcocultura has become an important source of cultural capital for many Latinxs. Narcocultura is the assemblage of music, video, television, and other forms of cultural production that feature figures of transnational narcotrafficking as central protagonists of their narratives. Based on a yearlong online ethnography, I examine the ways in which Latinx Facebook users appropriate and recontextualize narcocultura in their identity work through the lenses of LatCrit theory, critical discourse analysis, and personal lived experiences, which provided the departing point for …

The Effects Of Bilingualism, Modality, And Concreteness In Foreign Language Vocabulary Learning, Naoko Tsuboi

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The present study investigated claims in previous research that bilinguals may have an advantage over monolinguals in learning vocabulary in an unfamiliar language, but only if learning through the more proficient language. The present study examined whether bilingual adults learn new language vocabulary more efficiently than monolingual adults and whether language dominance or proficiency impacts associative memory performance. English monolinguals (n = 48), English-Spanish bilinguals (n = 48), and Spanish-English bilinguals (n = 48) learned Japanese words paired with English translations and completed cued-recall and associative-recognition tests. In contrast to previous research, there was no bilingual advantage in learning new …

The Language Content Of Computer-Mediated Versus Face-To-Face Motivational-Type Interviews, Karla Deyanira Llanes

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is an extensively used technique to facilitate behavior change by increasing a person's own motivation and commitment toward change. Recently, several innovative and effective ways to conduct motivational interviews have emerged. However, one potential option has not been investigated: the utility of conducting a motivational interview via computer. The current study begins to address this gap in knowledge by comparing the language content of computer-mediated motivational-type interviews and face-to-face motivational-type interviews. The motivational-type interviews were conducted with young adults who reported ambivalence about their level of recreational marijuana use. Specifically, non-marijuana users, occasional marijuana users, and frequent …

From Mistakes, We Learn: Variations In Teacher Dis/Position Toward Errors In Mathematics Classrooms, Mariana Alvidrez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Mistakes are commonly perceived by students and teachers as an evidence of a lack of knowledge and ability (Brown, & Quinn, 2006). Recently, U.S. and Mexico mathematics education reforms has been calling to promote a positive status of errors in mathematics teaching and learning.

The purpose of this mixed-methods study is to examine secondary mathematics teachers' dis/positions toward mistakes in two contexts: their own mistakes and their students' mistakes. The study employs the frame of teacher dispositional functions (Beyers, 2011) which includes cognitive, affective, and conative characteristics. The frame provides a better understanding of teachers' dis/positions toward errors based on …

The Influence (Or Lack Thereof) Of Stereotypes On Spontaneous Trait Inferences, Jessica Renee Bray

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Research has shown that people spontaneously make trait inferences from observing others perform behaviors. The present research presents two experiments that examined the influence of stereotypes on spontaneous trait inferences. Experiment 1 utilized the recognition probe paradigm, a traditional method of assessing spontaneous trait inferences. Experiment 2 controlled for potential biases (e.g. priming effects and linguistic properties) by modifying the recognition probe paradigm. Results showed support for spontaneous trait inferences only with the traditional recognition probe paradigm. Stereotypes only influenced the accuracy of spontaneous trait inferences with the traditional recognition probe paradigm. The current results suggest that the traditional recognition …

Adaptive Microphone Array Systems With Neural Network Applications, Jazmine Marisol Covarrubias

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

A microphone array integrated with a neural network framework is proposed to enhance and optimize speech signals derived from environments prone to noise and room reflections that cause reverberation. Microphone arrays provide a way to capture spatial acoustic information for extracting voice input from ambient noise. In this study, we utilize and analyze established signal processing methods combined with different neural network architectures to achieve denoised and dereverberated speech signal results that are comparable with their clean, anechoic versions. The first stage of the proposed system involves using datasets containing anechoic speech recordings of speech utterances and convolving them with …

Soot & Shadow, Christa Crawford

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Soot & Shadow is a creative nonfiction-based collection of poetry that focuses on the themes of freedom and loss. The manuscript delves into the lives of immigrant women, specifically those affected by the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire and those who came to America as the brides of American servicemen following WWII. Based on eyewitness testimony, the poetry attempts to capture the essence of the events, the devastating tragedy, love, loss, and the freedom these women sought as they discovered Truth through adversity. The poetry itself explores various poetic genres while attempting to push against the confines of the page. …

Innovation In Higher Education: Three Sites In Haiti, Lucas Endicott

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Recent decades have brought seismic changes to global higher education. Educational leaders labor to sharpen administration, funding, teaching and learning practices in response to an increasingly globalized and technological world. The possibilities that this changing landscape may provide are perhaps most exciting for those currently economically disadvantaged and historically underserved by higher education. The advent of a knowledge economy and the need to train hundreds and thousands of new students paired with technological developments may help correct inequalities in access and excellence in education. This study asks the question: What, however, is the lived reality on the ground? Are university …

Using Spanish In English-Language Spaces: Identifying Bilingual Composition Students' Translanguaging Practices, Maria Isela Maier

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This Dissertation is a qualitative study that uses ethnographic research methods to examine the translanguaging practices of bilingual students in first-year composition at a university along the U.S.-Mexico border. Specifically, I observe how and why bilingual students employ translanguaging practices, as they are encouraged or invited by their instructors, in contexts where English Standard Language policies exist. The results of this qualitative project demonstrate bilingual students' use of translation as part of their translanguaging practices, as well as a tool that uncovers students' writing processes which also demonstrates their language negotiation. Furthermore, the students' translanguaging practices reveal the rhetorical use …

The Female Nature: Representations Of Motherhood And Nature In Dystopian Films, Veronica Andrea Martinez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study will explore female representation and conceptualization of nature in dystopian narratives by examining dystopian films. The study is guided by film theory and ecofeminism to investigate themes of domination of both nature and women. The main goal is to examine the structure, themes, dialogue, and visuals in the films to explore the underlying essence of dystopian narratives and examine roles of reproduction and motherhood of female characters. The study contributes to previous studies on female and nature representation in media.

An Investigation Of The Loci Of Bilingual Switch Costs During Reading Comprehension, Joseph Anthony Negron

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In the present study, we examined whether the comprehension of language switches can be accounted for exclusively by activation dynamics within the lexicon, or whether there is evidence that cognitive general control processes outside of the lexicon are also engaged. In Experiment 1 we compared the fixation durations made on words embedded in either language pure or language switched sentences. The critical words were either cognates or non-cognate controls and served as the switch point in the language switched versions of the sentences. An overall switch cost was observed, which did not interact with cognate status or direction of the …

The Role That Language Proficiency Variables Play On Grammaticality, Morphosyntax, And Semanitc Skills In Bilingual Children, Stephanie Escobar

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Purpose: A number of experiential factors contribute to bilingual development. Factors such as opportunities to hear and use language, age of first exposure, context of learning, social value of a language, education and others have been discussed in other studies. (Bedore et al 2016; Bedore et al 2012). Language questionnaires and self-reports have been used to quantify language variables and current usage of a language. The current study was part of a larger project examining diagnostic accuracy of various assessment tools for Spanish English bilingual children living in a US/Mexico border city (Curtis, Summers, Stubbemann, & Smith, 2017). The purpose …

Language Ideologies And Identities Of Emergent Bilinguals In A Dual Language And A Transitional Bilingual Education Context: A Comparative Study, Lidia Herrera-Rocha

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this comparative study is to gain insight into the language ideologies and identities of emergent bilinguals as constructed in a dual language (DL) program and a transitional bilingual program (TBE) in a U.S. - Mexico border city. This study documented the ways teachers and school leaders appropriated, negotiated, and resisted macro-level policies in their everyday interactions and the impact this had on students' views about themselves and about language. This study intends to add to existing literature on emergent bilinguals and bilingual education by centering the voices of the students and using the theoretical lenses of (1) …

The Healer, Crystal Hurd

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This fictional work explores the friendship between a girl with healing powers and a boy disfigured in a farm accident.

"Because I'M A Citizen:" The Experiences Of Transfronterizo College Students In Higher Education Along The U.S.-Mexico Border., Juan Jose Mendoza

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Transfronterizo college students are students who reside in México while attending college or university in the United States. This study will be expanding the transnational literature in two ways. First, this study addresses how citizenships status impacts transnational college students. In particular, the study explores how citizenship status affects the everyday lived experiences of transfronterizo college students along the U.S.-México border. The focus of my research is to investigate how citizenship status affects transfronterizo college students’ decisions to enroll in college in the U.S. while living along the U.S.-México border. The current study draws on data collected from November 2016 …

La Muralla Stories, Irma Leticia Nikicicz

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

La Muralla Stories is a short story collection depicting Tex-Mex characters within the geographical and social context of the U.S.-Mexico border.

While The Sun Breaks Up In The Sky, Jesus Joseph Pena

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

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The Representation And Shaping Of The Hispanic Identity And The Assignment Of Power In Three Types Of Hsi-Related Discourse: Hea Amendments, Utep President Diana Natalicio Convocation Speeches, Academic Articles, Julie Ann Rivera

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This Dissertation examines the impact of Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) related written discourse on the representation and shaping of the Hispanic identity and the assignment of power. Performing a critical discourse analysis of three types of written HSI-related discourse: amendments to the Higher Education Act (HEA), academic articles, and UTEP President Diana Natalicio convocation speeches, I look below the surface of the discourse to draw out implications for Hispanic students and HSIs. My analysis merges Norman Fairclough's method of Critical Discourse Analysis, known for its focus on the relationship between language and society, with Lloyd Bitzer's The Rhetorical Situation, which will …

Art As A Mediating Tool: Children And Learning In A Music And Arts-Based After School Program, Claudia Saldana

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study explores the experiences of primarily Latina/o children with learning music in a Music and Arts-Based Program (MABP) the context of a low-income neighborhood on the U.S- Mexico border. This year-long ethnographic study was conducted in an after-school art program in the Rio Grande Elementary School, in a low-income neighborhood located within one-mile of the U.S.-Mexico border. The purpose of the study is to understand how music and art can be used as a mediating tool for children to construct social and cognitive learning within a culturally diverse community, thus, enhancing the social environment in which they interact. The …

Advising As Literacy: A Cultural Capital Approach To Academic Advising In An Hispanic Serving Institution, Heather Smith

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This Dissertation examines academic advising through the lenses of cultural capital and sociocultural literacy. I reframe advising as a literacy practice that facilitates opportunities for students to access and acquire the navigational and cultural capital required to navigate the complex structures of higher education. I describe an advising as literacy model that was designed specifically for and has been implemented at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), a large, four-year, Research I Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) situated on the US-Mexico border, whose student demographic reflects the bi-national region from which UTEP draws the majority of its students.

The advising …

Attitudes And Barriers Affecting Hearing Aid Use In Hispanics Living In The U.S. Borderland Region, Loren Renee Sotelo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Hearing loss can affect a person's overall quality of life, and has been linked to depression and dementia in older adults (Brewster, Ciarleglio, Brown, Chen, Kim, Roose, Golub & Rutherford, 2018; Ciorba, Bianchini, Pelucchi, & Pastore, 2012). In the largest study to date of hearing loss among Hispanic adults residing in the U.S., researchers found that nearly 1 in 7 has hearing loss, which is close to the overall national average (National Institutes of Health, 2015). Currently, hearing aids are the primary/most effective treatment for an age-related hearing loss; Unfortunately, the adult uptake rates are low (Chien & Lin, 2012; …

Analysis And Modeling Of Lane Changing Behavior, Matthew Mark Vechione

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Lane changing is one of the most basic activities when driving on freeways or arterials. A lane changing maneuver may be classified, depending on the driver's motivation, as mandatory or discretionary. A mandatory lane change occurs when a driver is trying to move his/her vehicle from its existing lane to the target lane in anticipation of the next turn or to avoid a lane closure downstream. On the contrary, a discretionary lane change occurs when a driver desires a faster speed or wants a greater following distance (i.e., at the driver's own discretion). Researchers have always assumed that drivers have …

Tourists Of The Past: Topographies Of Memory In W. G. Sebald's Austerlitz, Ana Menéndez's Loving Che, And Teju Cole's Open City, Benjamin Lee Williams

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Examining, comparatively, the exemplary fictional texts of W. G. Sebald, Ana Menéndez, and Teju Cole enriches the study of exilic experience concerning cultural memory as their destabilization, while geographically and ethnically divergent, represents the constellations of mobility and potential for memory. As absences resonate and profoundly disrupt their works, there is a turn to histories to cope with traumas. By turning to the past, each writer confronts destabilization and uprootedness and, in doing so, plays a game with History. Readers play too as we search through the fictionalized lacunae to consider the extent to which we are complicit in the …

Newcomer English Language Learners In High School Choral Music Education: An Ethnographic Case Study, Lisa Ann Serna

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This five month long ethnographic case study seeks to add to the limited literature on Newcomers enrolled in choir (Carlow, 2006), by understanding the role a focused choral music education plays in their ability to listen, speak, read, and write in the English language. The study also seeks to contribute to the literature connecting language learning and choral music education. The purpose of the study was to understand Newcomer English language learners' (NELs) experiences of practice and performance in high school choir, as it relates to language learning and social belonging. Cultural Historical Activity Theory framed my study which allowed …