Modern Languages Commons^™

Immigrant Student Identities: How Bakhtin And Hermans'' Theories Conceptualize Their Fluidity, Xiaodi Zhou

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications

This essay discusses how Bakhtin's conception of double-voicedness and cultural identities, along with Hermans's theories of I-positionality and subjectivities, helps frame researchers' characterization of immigrant students' complex and fluid identities. This age of globalization has increased the number and dimensions of positions anyone can assume. Immigrant identities, particularly students, can especially be conceptualized as dynamic and in flux, fluctuating between at least two cultural positions. Sometimes their transnational identities can be conceived as hybridized and dialogic between these cultural norms.

A Contrastive Analysis Of Dar ‘Give’ In English And Brazilian Portuguese: Semantic-Syntactic Relationships And Implications For L2 Instruction, Katherine Christoffersen

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

In recent years, research on multiword lexical units has influenced second language acquisition research, but little work has been done on light verbs, especially comparing the use of light verbs in English and Brazilian Portuguese. This paper presents a comparative analysis of the syntactic and semantic aspects of dar and ‘give’ through the semantic continuum, event type, denominal verbs and incorporation. This study finds that distinct and varied semantic uses of light verbs present a unique challenge to second language learners in terms of both their understanding and their production. Furthermore, this study analyzes the semantic-syntactic interrelationships and suggests implications …

Moving Beyond Apartheid Schooling And “Adequate Education”, Elena M. Venegas

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications

Though the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and/or national origin, contemporary society within the United States is all but free from discrimination. The Supreme Court Brown v. Board of Education (1954) ruling and other landmark legislation passed during the Civil Rights Movement pushed our country toward a path of tolerance and the end of discrimination. Yet, despite these tremendous gains, discrimination still occurs not only at a societal level, but also in terms of schooling (Bakari, 2003; Ferguson, 2003; Harris & Schroeder, 2013; Mackinney & Rios-Aguilar, 2012.) Through critical …

On Attitudes Toward Spanish Varieties: A Bilingual Perspective, Julio F. C. Ciller, Carmen F. Florez

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

This study explores the attitudes of 25 English-Spanish bilingual speakers from Tucson (Arizona) towards their own variety and compares them with their attitudes toward monolingual varieties of Mexican (from Hermosillo) and Peninsular Spanish (from Murcia and Madrid). Our analysis points to a clear influence of the standard language ideology (MILROY, 2001) on shaping these attitudes, escalated by a tendency among bilinguals in diglossic societies to feel insecure about their own variety as a minority language, or towards a feeling of linguistic self-hatred.

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Este estudo explora as atitudes de 25 falantes bilíngues de espanhol e inglês de Tucson (Arizona) com …

Audio Description Washes Brighter? A Study In Brand Names And Advertising, Jose M. Davila-Montes, Pilar Orero

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

Dealing with objects in audio description, and particularly with those objects that have a clear designer imprint or branding, is a complex matter when a brand name is part of the scene in a film. Deciding whether to describe or not, and how, becomes more than a technical matter that depends on text–image synchronization: it is a complex decision-making process comparable to other forms of audiovisual translation that needs to be approached as a paradigmatic example of intersemiotic translation. Dávila-Montes and Orero address the audio description of branded objects in movies, and their intersemiotic translation from images to spoken words, …

On Translation Policy, Gabriel Gonzalez Nunez

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

The term translation policy has become problematic for the field of Translation Studies because it has meant so many things to so many authors that it threatens to lose some of its efficacy (see Meylaerts 2011a, 163–166). In light of this, the concept of translation policy should be developed so that it will be broad enough to account for diverse phenomena in different places with multiple agents, while retaining specific parameters that make the concept methodologically useful. This article will consider insights from Translation Studies and from other fields, especially from the field of Language Policy, in order to …

Translation Policy In A Linguistically Diverse World, Gabriel Gonzalez Nunez

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

In Europe, policy approaches toward old minority languages (i.e., ‘regional’ minority languages) and new minority languages (i.e., ‘immigrant’ languages) are different. This is seen in language policy throughout much of the continent. And yet this distinction between speakers who belong to old minorities and those who belong to new minorities can be questioned, or at least the existence of distinct policy approaches for both groups when dealing with their languages. This paper will argue that if the ultimate goal of social policies – such as language and translations policies – is to bring about a more inclusive state, it may …

Exploring Parent-Teacher Partnerships As Border Pedagogy: Supporting Emergent Bilingual Student Learning, Sandra Mercuri

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications

Developed by a bilingual teacher educator in the U.S. working with in-service teachers serving predominantly bilingual students from U.S. and Mexico, this study is uniquely positioned to use innovative research in bilingual teacher education for empowering teachers to develop culturally and linguistically responsive border pedagogies. Specifically, this study explores parent-teacher partnerships as border pedagogy that supports emergent bilingual student teaching and learning. Aimed at disrupting traditional modes of research and practice grounded in monolingualism, this qualitative critical study uses the concept of border pedagogy as a theoretical framework to explore how 16 bilingual in-service teachers enrolled in a master’s program …

An Arab American Boy Fights For His Voice: Finding Identity Within Literature, Xiaodi Zhou

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications

The literacy experiences of Arab American youths are often overlooked in the US, and this paper examines the reading responses of one Arab 5 th grader as he struggles for agency in a classroom of majority culture fellow students. This study follows the book talk of a class dealing with a text about immigration. Though he often struggles to contribute his perspective, as an actual immigrant himself, he is sometimes ignored and frustrated. This paper looks at this issue through Fairclough (2001) and van Dijk’s (1985, 2001) critical discourse lens, examining the intersectionality of racial, gender, and power issues in …

Dominant Discourses And Language Socialization In The Literacy Practices Of A Spanish-Speaking Church, Katherine Christoffersen

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

Over the years, research has investigated language in communities, schools and homes, community programs and to a lesser degree research investigates language use in religious communities. In particular, there is a lack of research on religious language and literacy practices in Hispanic communities, especially those in the United States, although incipient work has revealed the importance of religious literacy among women Mexican immigrants (Farr, 2000) and for the socialization of children into a Mexican identity (Baquedano-López, 1997). Given the hostile local sociopolitical environment of Spanish in the state of Arizona in the Southwestern United States, the church is one of …

Second Reaction: Consumed By Mystery In The Mammoth Cave (Review), Elena M. Venegas

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications

Jennifer Bradbury’s River Runs Deep is a pre–Civil War mystery that envelopes the reader in the story of Elias Harrigan, a twelve-year-old boy who is ill with consumption (tuberculosis). Unfortunately for Elias, he lives in an era that predates modern medicine. In a last-ditch effort to save his life, Elias is sent to Kentucky to be treated by Dr. John Croghan. Though Dr. Croghan employs several unusual treatments, he primarily believes that the Mammoth Cave, in which his practice is housed, will prove beneficial for his patients. Elias is the youngest of Dr. Croghan’s patients and soon becomes restless and …

Carving Characters In The Mind. A Theoretical Approach To The Reception Of Characters In Audio Described Films, Nazaret Fresno

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

From early childhood on we are exposed to characters in books, cartoons, films, theatre plays, and video games. Through these media we enter fascinating fictional worlds that seduce our imagination with every page or scene. As the events unfold, we become captivated by the story and its protagonists, whose deeper feelings are outlined in a succession of words and/ or images that the audience needs to endow with meaning. In their search for comprehension, readers and spectators “picture” the situations described in their minds by creating multimodal representations (mental models) about the events taking place, the place and time in …

Mitigation Of Disagreement In Peer Review Among L2 Learners And Native Speakers In A College Writing Class (Mitigación Del Impacto De Las Opiniones De Desacuerdo En El Proceso De Revisión Por Pares Entre Estudiantes De Una Segunda Lengua Y Hablantes Nativos En Una Clase De Escritura A Nivel Universitario), Katherine Christoffersen

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

Peer review is now a commonplace practice in process-oriented writing instruction. A crucial aspect of peer review is assessing another classmate’s work, which encompasses the act of disagreement. Given its prevalence in the classroom, it is necessary to analyze how L2 learners mitigate disagreement in the context of peer review with other L2 learners and native speakers. The present paper presents a qualitative analysis of action research from an introductory English writing class at the university level including native speakers of English and international students from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. The conversation-based peer review sessions were analyzed for various …

Second Reaction: Ability Over Stigma, Elena M. Venegas

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications

Upon first glance, Emmanuel’s Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah seems to be a book about a young African bicyclist. A closer examination of the cover, however, reveals that the main character, Emmanuel, is miraculously using only one leg to ride his bicycle in this biographical tale.

Translating For Minorities In Wales: A Look At Translation Policies, Gabriel Gonzalez Nunez

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

In many parts of the world, state languages come in contact with a number of regional languages and with many immigrant languages. In such complex, multilingual societies, language policies play an important role. And such language policies must, of necessity, include translation policies, either to integrate or exclude speakers of regional and/or immigrant languages. In the studies that have been made by political philosophers about language policy or by translation scholars about translation itself, translation policy remains somewhat of a blind spot. This paper attempts to address this under-researched area. Specifically, this paper will address translation policy in Wales. In …

Promoting Exploratory Talk With Emergent Bilinguals, Yvonne S. Freeman, Alma D. Rodríguez

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications

The authors explain their approach to teaching literatura infantil (children’s literature) in Spanish to bilingual teachers pursuing their master’s degree in bilingual education at a university in South Texas. In this Self-Study of Teacher Education Practice (S-STEP) research, the authors investigated how teachers can transform their practice and come to value their students’ abilities to interpret literature. They engaged the teachers in projects using quality children’s literature. The projects were carried out by graduate inservice teachers teaching Spanish/English bilingual students studying at different grade levels. Some teachers taught along the Texas/Mexico border and others taught in a large metropolitan school …

The Quinceañera Event: Pre-Service Teachers Implementing A Culturally Relevant Math Activity In A Hispanic Community, Olga M. Ramirez, Cherie Mccollough, Zulmaris Diaz

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications

Preparing pre-service teachers (PSTs) to work with culturally relevant mathematics and family math learning events (FMLEs) in mutual settings are important goals. This paper promotes these important teacher preparation goals as implemented in an after school program by a university math content faculty along with other FMLE support faculty. To illustrate, this paper focuses on a culturally relevant mathematics activity based on the popular social event known as the Quinceañera (the 15th birthday party for a young lady) presented at FMLEs by PSTs and which explores the customs of the Hispanic culture coupled with linkages to mathematical connections.

Attitudinal Perspectives: A Factor To Implementation Of A Dual Language Program, Michael Whitacre

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications

The central focus of this study was to determine the overall perceptions of school administrators, and the district bilingual coordinator on transferring theory to classroom practice, implementation, as viewed by those involved in the implementation process of the Gómez and Gómez Model of Dual Language Education. Responses were solicited from administrative personnel involved in the implementation of the Gómez and Gómez Model of Dual Language. Results revealed overall administrative attitudes were positive to the theoretical ideology and mixed as related to the actual implementation of the dual language program. The greatest areas of concern were; what to do when students …

Desiring Dual Language Bilingual Education: One Community’S Perspectives On Past And Future Directions For Bilingual Learners, Amy A. Weimer, Daniela Kuri, J. Joy Esquierdo, Francisco Guajardo, Luis A. Correa

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications

Perceptions and beliefs about past, present, and future bilingual educational programs were gathered from key members of a bilingual community, including teachers, parents, and educational administrators. Participants’ responses were analyzed and three overarching themes emerged. Current perceptions of bilingual education programs are strongly influenced by: (a) sociohistorical and political factors, (b) the effectiveness of instructional techniques; and (c) beliefs about bilingualism in general. Implications of these results are described with a focus on how they can inform policies and practices for bilingual learners.

Audio Describing Characters : What Features Do Audiences Remember?, Nazaret Fresno, Judit Castellà Mate, Anna Matamala, Olga Soler Vilageliu

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

The audio description of characters in films encompasses from brief descriptions to long and detailed ones. Guidelines and standards suggest how to approach the audio description of characters, and some practitioners, such as Bernd Benecke, have even developed models for character audio description. However, it remains to be determined how the audience receives audio descriptions and how various strategies (inclusion of more or less features, inclusion of these features in one or more silent gaps) affect the end user reception. This paper will present part of the results of a reception study aimed at exploring whether the amount of information …

Youth Digital Cultural Consumption And Education, Monica Pini, Sandra I. Musanti, Teresa Cerratto Pargma

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications

Media and technological devices function as socializing agents during children’s leisure and entertainment time. Drawing from the theory of cultural consumption, a socio educational approach to students’ digital practices, and media literacy, this qualitative study seeks to explore and describe students’ cultural consumption profile. The authors explore the representations and meanings of digital practices of public school students of a predominately working class neighborhood situated in the periphery of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Findings highlight different aspects of youth cultural consumption profile. Two themes were identified: a) children use computers for a multiplicity of different activities enacting multitasking practices; and b) …

Del Aula Al Tribunal: Guía Para La Interpretación En El Sistema De Justicia De Los Estados Unidos [Elena M. De Jongh. From The Classroom To The Courtroom: A Guide To Interpreting In The U.S. Justice System], Gabriel Gonzalez Nunez

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

Comenzaré con una observación sencilla: este libro no es teórico. El título ya lo revela. Ahora, algo que tal vez no resulte tan evidente: tampoco trata sobre la transición de estudiante en una clase de traducción a intérprete en un tribunal. El título, entonces, es un tanto engañoso. El subtítulo, por otro lado, describe de manera acertada, a partir de una mezcla de temas y remas (véase Genette 1997, 88), lo que los lectores tienen en sus manos: una guía para la interpretación en el sistema judicial de los Estados Unidos, la cual lleva –con simpleza– a los intérpretes …

Less Is More. Effects Of The Amount Of Information And Its Presentation In The Recall And Reception Of Audio Described Characters, Nazaret Fresno, Judit Castellà Mate, Olga Soler Vilageliu

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

Audio description is a discipline within Translation Studies aimed at making audio visual products and events accessible to blind and visually impaired audiences. Works of art, TV programs, films and stage arts are audio described in order to guarantee that anyone, regardless of his/her visual capacity, can enjoy them. In the case of films, it consists of a verbal description of visual details such as settings and characters (what they look like, what they do and how they do it) provided to the audience in those parts of the movie where no relevant sounds or dialogues are heard.

The nature …

Work Placements In Doctoral Research Training In The Humanities: Eight Cases From Translation Studies, Anthony Pym, Gabriel Gonzalez Nunez, Marta Miquel-Iriarte, Sara Ramos Pinto, Carlos Teixeira, Wine Tesse

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

Research cooperation between academic and nonacademic institutions tends not to concern the humanities, where mutual financial rewards are mostly not in evidence. The study of eight nonacademic placements of doctoral researchers working on interlingual translation nevertheless indicates some degree of success. It is found that the placements lead to ongoing cooperation when the following conditions are met: 1) the nature of the placement is understood and relations of trust are established; 2) mutual benefits are envisaged; and 3) there are prior arrangements for receiving visiting researchers. A placement can be successful even when one of the last two factors is …

"When A Translator Joins The Revolution: A Paratextual Analysis Of Manuel García De Sena’S La Independencia", Gabriel Gonzalez Nunez

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

During the complex period of Latin American independence, new states began to emerge and new ideas were implemented. Some of these ideas were made available in part due to the efforts of translators in the United States. Among them was Manuel García de Sena, a Venezuelan translator who published translations of North American texts. His translations enjoyed a prompt distribution. One of them became a vehicle that facilitated legal transplants from the United States to the new republics. While much has been lost to history regarding the details of the printing of this translation, its paratextual apparatus provides insights that …

Does Child Code-Switching Demonstrate Communicative Competence?: A Comparison Of Simultaneous And Sequential Bilinguals, Katherine Christoffersen

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

Over the past four decades, code-switching (CS) has been established as a mark of high linguistic competence among adult simultaneous (2L1) bilinguals, those who acquired two ‘first’ languages before age three. The status of CS among second language (L2) learners, who learned one language after age three, is much less clear; children represent an especially understudied population in this line of inquiry. This study aims to address this research gap and presents a comparison of child 2L1 bilinguals and child L2 learners in kindergarten, first and second grade of a Spanish immersion program. Twelve hours of recorded spontaneous classroom speech …

Composing A New Community Infused With Bilingual, Biliterate, And Bicultural Realities, Amy A. Weimer, J. Joy Esquierdo, Francisco Guajardo

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Discourse Of First-Year Writers At Border Sites: Discerning The Transcultural, Bilinguistic Strategies Of English Language Learners In College, Beatrice Méndez-Newman

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

According to U.S. Department of Education statistics, 9.8% of students enrolled in American elementary and secondary public schools are officially classified as English Language Learners (ELL) (U.S. Department of Education, 2012). In border states and states with high numbers of immigrant populations, such as Texas, Florida, New York, California, New Mexico, and Arizona, the ELL percentage is much higher. In Texas, for example, 17% of public school students are classified as ELL (Texas Education Agency, 2012). According to U.S. Department of Education statistics, 0% of college students in public higher education institutions are English Language Learners. In truth, this is …

Bilingual And Esl Pre-Service Teachers Learn About Effective Instruction For Ells Through Meaningful Collaboration, Alma D. Rodríguez

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications

This article presents the results of a study conducted to identify the perceptions of bilingual and ESL pre-service teachers regarding the integration of a collaborative service learning project in a key course of their teacher preparation program. Pre-, process, and final reflective essays were written by participants as they engaged in the development of an ESL unit to teach language through content to ELLs. The analysis of participants’ reflections revealed that preservice teachers connect the learning they acquire in their teacher education program with their life experiences, which contributes to their identity formation as prospective teachers of ELLs. In addition, …

Review Essay: Multimodality In Local And Disciplinary Praxes, Randall W. Monty

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.