Modern Languages Commons^™

“Investment In Inertia”: Language Ideologies Of Instructors And Students Of Spanish As A Heritage Language, Michael E. Rolland

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

When the Spanish-language skills of heritage Spanish learners are disparaged in an academic environment, these learners are at high risk of abandoning further study of Spanish and shifting entirely to English. This dissertation uses mixed qualitative and quantitative research methods, including thematic and discourse analysis, to investigate the language ideologies of instructors and students of Spanish as a heritage language (SHL) and the effects of those ideologies on students’ experiences in SHL college courses. It builds on earlier research on language ideologies in the post-secondary heritage language context (e.g., Carreira, 2011; Loza, 2017; Valdés et al., 2003). I find that …

Perceptual Sensitivity To Stress In Native English Speakers Learning Spanish As A Second Language, Ramsés Ortín, Miquel Simonet

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

Second language (L2) learners of Spanish whose first language (L1) is English tend to find Spanish lexical stress patterns difficult to acquire. This study investigates whether such difficulty derives, at least in part, from an obstacle encountered during perceptual processing: reduced perceptual sensitivity to stress distinctions. Participants were adult L1 English L2 Spanish learners of various proficiency levels. The experiment was a categorical matching task with triads of auditory stimuli minimally contrasting in stress (target) or segmental composition (baseline), an ABX task. The results show that learners were more accurate in the baseline condition than in the target condition, suggesting …

La Liberté Face À L’Absurde : Comment Exister Dans Le Monde Moderne, Braiden Ellis

World Languages and Cultures Senior Capstones

French existentialist literature was born in response to the horrors of World War II. The two most prominent representatives of French existentialism were Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus. Both writers were once friends, but their differing approaches to existentialism drove them apart. Camus believed that people should appreciate the life they have, rather than focus on the meaninglessness of a world without God. Sartre believed that people should take agency for their own lives to achieve a state of higher consciousness called “pour-soi.” Sartre’s ideas of self-agency were sometimes problematic, however, in that they ascribed inferiority to selected groups and …

La Représentation Des Personnages Féminins De Colette Avant Et Après La Première Guerre Mondiale, Payton Thompson

World Languages and Cultures Senior Capstones

At the time that the French novelist Colette was writing, there was a clear hierarchy between the genders that limited the representation of women in literature. In examining the main female characters within two of Colette’s novels, Chéri (1920) and La fin de Chéri (1926), we see that the characters Léa and Edmée disrupt this hierarchy. Specifically, they disturb the patriarchal structures of the time through their representation of the feminist ideas of autonomy in the aspect of freedom of choice, sexual liberation, the inversion of gender roles, and the creation of an individual identity. Since these novels take place …

Dios, Søren Kierkegaard, Y Miguel De Unamuno: Desarollando El Propio Yo, Allyson Chumley

World Languages and Cultures Senior Capstones

The philosophies of Søren Kierkegaard and Miguel de Unamuno were born within turbulent times and the rise of naturalism. As a result, they both embraced subjectivity and individualism. While the two used indirect communication to explore similar ideas, they both had very different concepts of the self, religion, and the process of making yourself a self. While Kierkegaard viewed the process of self-actualization as a mostly linear path of conquering three stages or realms of existence, Unamuno viewed these same stages as mere aspects of human existence, viewing self-actualization as distinct for every individual but generally consisting of striving for …

Neocolonialismo Y Sus Agentes En También La Lluvia, Amber Youngblood

World Languages and Cultures Senior Capstones

The Spanish film También la lluvia (2010) directed by Icíar Bollaín is a commentary about the social factors that resulted in the Water Wars of Cochabamba, Bolivia. This essay contextualizes the circumstances that led up to the violent riots that plagued Cochabamba from November 1999 to April 2000. También la lluvia centers around a foreign film crew seeking to film a movie in Cochabamba, Bolivia for its beautiful landscape and cheap labor. In the months it takes to film the movie, portraying the colonial exploitation of Native Americans, the Water War is developing in the surrounding city. This essay examines …

Machismo, Masculinidad Tóxica Y Estereotipos Del Género: Simulaciones Y Utopías En Niebla (1914) Y Don’T Worry Darling (2022), Mattie Stewart

World Languages and Cultures Senior Capstones

This paper explores the use of simulations and utopias in works of literature and film to critique and interpret social problems affecting people in society. Specifically, it examines Miguel de Unamuno's novel Niebla (1914) and Olivia Wilde's film Don't Worry Darling (2022) as examples of how authors use simulated realities to criticize societal issues. Unamuno's novel highlights the protagonist's separation between reality and fantasy, while Wilde's film creates a simulated reality that reveals toxic masculinity and gender stereotypes in society. Both works inspire fear towards technology and highlight the difficulty in distinguishing reality from illusion. This paper ultimately argues that …

Inverting The Discourse Of Civilization And Barbarism In Mundo Del Fin Del Mundo And Un Viejo Que Leía Novelas De Amor By Luis Sepúlveda, Adrian Taylor Kane

World Languages Faculty Publications and Presentations

American critic Raymond Leslie Williams has convincingly argued that a desire to be modern is a central characteristic of the 20th century Latin American novel. Williams's argument also coincides with Octavio Paz's assertion that modernity has been a topic of interest to Latin American intellectuals since the 19th century. A glimpse of the terminology used by authors and critics to name various Latin American movements over the past 125 years—modernismo, posmodernismo, avant-garde, modern novel, and postmodern fiction—gives us a sense of the persistent desire of Latin American authors to engage in a dialogue on …

Lakota Language Revitalization And The Meaning Of Life, Gabriel Bruguier

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Presentations

Lakota Language Revitalization and the Meaning of Life

Thesis: Indigenous languages reveal information about that peoples’ conception of the meaning of life.

Notes/working document from a presentation given at the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy conference, 2023.

Unexpected Plant Bodies, Heather I. Sullivan

Modern Languages and Literatures Faculty Research

No abstract provided.

Reproductive Justice And Feminism: A Comparative Legal Analysis Of The Policies And Healthcare Systems In The United States And Colombia, Samantha Cooke

Modern Languages, Philosophy and Classics Theses

This thesis seeks to offer a comparative legal analysis of the state of the laws regarding abortion and reproductive autonomy in the United States of America and Colombia. This thesis will first address a brief history of feminism and its origins in the United States and Colombia. It will also analyze the policies held by each respective nation; starting with old legislation and moving to current policies regarding abortion. It will also include a comparison between both the U.S. and Colombia; offering suggestions for the future with regards to potential policy changes. The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate …

Twitter As Limited Digital Rhetorical Forum – The Reproductive Rights Discourse Online, Jacob L. Longini

Comparative Woman

Rhetorical discourse has long been characterized by patriarchal systems, and this reality has persisted in online spaces. How might today’s scholar dissect and better understand the nature of online communities, specifically those that engage in women’s rights discourses? I argue that using Thomas Farrell’s notion of “rhetorical forum”, James P. Zappen’s outline for digital rhetorical theory, and Sonja K. Foss and Cindy L. Griffin’s feminist understanding of rhetorical practice, one can account for the current state of such discourses on Twitter. The patriarchal flaws that Foss and Griffin identify in traditional rhetoric can shed light on the negative aspects of …

Span 46302 Spanish In Contact In The United States, Francisco Salgado-Robles

Open Educational Resources

According to the latest US Census Bureau report, the US Hispanic population reached a record mark of 62.6 million (18.9% of the total population) in 2021, making people of Hispanic origin the nation’s largest racial or ethnic minority. This course provides a descriptive and critical overview of the linguistic practices of the different Spanish-speaking communities in the United States and specifically those spoken in New York City (e.g., Mexican, Puerto Rican, Dominican, Colombian, Salvadoran, Honduran, Guatemalan, Cuban communities, among others). The main objective of the course is to develop critical and linguistic awareness about the relationship between language, individual, and …

Identity Negotiations Of A Mexican Transnational In The Rio Grande Valley: Crossing The Border Daily, Xiaodi Zhou, David Martinez-Prieto

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications

This narrative case study examines the cultural affiliations of one transnational US-born Mexican American college student, and her various intersecting veins of identity. The aim was to capture the bordered existence in the many criteria of her being. Her linguistic identity, pop culture identity, spiritual identity, as well as her general cultural affiliations are examined as intersecting rays of influence. Utilizing Anzaldúa’s (2012) bordered identity as theoretical grounding for her partitioned selves, along with Bakhtin’s (1986) notion of cultural and linguistic dialogue, we analyzed the complexities in this one bicultural, bilingual young woman venturing into adulthood. This study sheds light …

Chapter 1 “A Veces Encuentro Más Palabras En Español”: Taking A Stance Towards Translanguaging As A Socially Just Pedagogy For Bilingual Teacher Preparation, Sandra I. Musanti

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications

Informed by recent explorations on translanguaging practices in higher education and teacher education, this self-case study explores how a bilingual teacher educator, teaching bilingual teacher preparation courses in Spanish at a Hispanic-serving institution on the US-Mexico border embraces a translanguaging stance to leverage teacher candidates’ bilingualism while preparing them to produce and use academic and professional forms of Spanish discourse for teaching. Findings illustrate how a bilingual teacher educator purposefully embeds translanguaging moves to leverage bilingual teacher candidates’ bilingualism to develop a linguistically inclusive bilingual teacher candidates’ repertoire of practice. In addition, the study shows how candidates’ evolving understanding of …

Instructional Framework For Integrating Cross-Cultural Content Using Culturally Responsive And Linguistically Affirming Pedagogies, J. Joy Esquierdo, Maritza De La Trinidad

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications

This chapter describes an instructional framework for culturally relevant and affirming teaching and curricula that addresses effective ways to interconnect cross-cultural content to expand cultural and content literacy in K-12. The Culturally and Linguistically Affirming Pedagogies for Local Context (CLAP-LC) Framework was developed to create culturally and linguistically affirming content, promote equitable education, and nurture student engagement. The framework centers on the intersection of cultural knowledge and lived experiences of students, families, and communities in content and curriculum to promote student achievement, especially students from minoritized and marginalized groups.

Unchoreographed Dance: Trust And Venture Into Vulnerability—Building A Plural, Organic, And Recursive Collective, Miryam Espinosa-Dulanto, Eunice Lerma, Karin A. Lewis, Vejoya Viren

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications

In this autoethnography, we—four Hispanic Serving Institution colleagues at the USA–Mexican frontera—share our process of building a collective where a plural, organic, vulnerable, and recursive space was created. In this space, through readings, conversations, feedings, discussions, and memories, un/anticipated stories emerge…in our unchoreographed writings, we whirl, twirl, collide, and craft our collective space, which was at once chaotic, cathartic, and sustaining.

The Backchannel: A Re/Turn To Digital Communities, Andrew Hollinger, Manny Piña

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

This article provides a novel theorization of what community-building means—and how it might happen—in digitally mediated teaching and learning environments. We argue for the value in understanding community through a distributed (read: non-human), non-institutionalized lens. We begin by re/turning the definition/s of the backchannel; we then theorize about the instructional and professional values of the backchannel using autoethnographic narratives drawn from our time as doctoral students in a fully online, synchronous graduate program. Finally, we conclude by drawing attention to implications and problems and potentials of our theorization of the backchannel.

Reporting At The Border: Translation In Periodicals At The Texas-Tamaulipas Border During The 19th Century, Gabriel Gonzalez Nunez

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

This paper addresses the historical relationship between journalism and translation. It approaches translation history by considering journalistic translation as found in newspapers published in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (the southernmost, easternmost stretch of the Mexico-US border) during the 19th century. Specifically, the paper will ask whether translation was a tool employed in journalistic activity in the region and, if so, what the role was of translation in such activity. It will review the presence of translation in available border periodicals from the 1840s to the end of the century. This review will show that regarding certain aspects, historical news …

Negotiating The Messiness Of Teaching Linguistic Justice Online: Reflections Of Multilingual Writing Instructors During Covid, Forster Kudjo Agama, Marcela Hebbard, Bernadette M. López-Fitzsimmons

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

This qualitative phenomenological study explores how multilingual writing instructors define linguistic justice and how they incorporate linguistic justice in their online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. The global health crisis officially declared in March 2020, pushed educators around the world to become online instructors overnight. This rapid move to an online environment magnified technology, language, race, and socioeconomic inequalities. In higher education, online environments are prone to linguistic inequalities and linguistic racism. For decades, scholars in the field of composition have argued that in order to dismantle elitist monolingual ideologies, writing instructors, multilingual and monolingual alike, should investigate their own …

Exploring Implicit Linguistic Bias: A Self-Reflection Guide, Alyssa G. Cavazos

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

The purpose of this document is to explore and reflect on implicit linguistic biases to create linguistically inclusive spaces for teaching and learning, especially within the context of writing instruction.

Threshold For Learning: The Case For Prioritizing The In-Between Spaces In Education, Xiaodi Zhou

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications

In this paper, the author analyses learning as a function of the threshold between parties and ideas. Using Bakhtinian dialogic theory, literacy learning in particular is envisioned as a dialogue of the threshold. This instructional threshold is viewed both in pedagogical and biological terms. The physiological process of learning is described, making a biological case for instructional scaffolding and the gradual release of responsibility in the classroom. The dialogue of different disciplines serves as integration of several thresholds and further strengthening of learning. Curriculum integration is then promoted as a means to lasting learning.

La Voz 2023, Loyola Marymount University, Modern Languages & Literatures Department

La Voz Student Journal

LA VOZ is published by the Modern Languages & Literatures Department, Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, CA.

Mystic Writers: Religion From A Perspective Of Gender In The Poetry Of St. Teresa Of Avila And St. John Of The Cross, Megan Swope

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Religion and the way in which people approach it is a complicated topic. There are a multitude of ways in which humans experience religion in their lives. Christian mysticism is a type of thought within the Christian religion, and it is evident in the works of two Spanish writers – Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross. These two saints are good examples to study because, as writers and mystics, they worked closely together in the Spanish Catholic Church and had similar religious beliefs. Much of their writings tie into the same Biblical ideas, while their poetry demonstrates a …

Empowering L2 Learners: The Role Of Relational Empathy In L2 Learning, Gabriela Olivares-Cuhat, Giovanni Zimotti

Faculty Publications

In this article, we explore the relevance of the concept of relational empathy to L2 learning. To this end, we first provide a short overview of the notion of empathy in second language acquisition (SLA). Then, we present ideas that gave rise to the introduction of relational empathy in the field of intercultural communication, along with potential benefits of taking this perspective in SLA. Next, we describe the post-method framework for L2 teaching as a strategy that is both well-suited for the fostering of relational empathy and is facilitated by the exercise of this approach. Following this lead, we explain …

Review: Expanding Writing Center Research With Discourse Analysis, Sara Swaim, Randall W. Monty

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

Corpus-assisted discourse studies (CADS) is a growing field of study that provides for holistic understandings of written texts, spoken discourse, rhetorical strategies, and the people who use them. Organized as a discussion of the topics, methods, and their potential applications for writing center research, this essay reviews three edited collections, Corpus Approaches to Discourse: A Critical Review by Charlotte Taylor and Anne Marchi (Routledge, 2018); The Routledge Handbook of Corpus Approaches to Discourse Analysis by Eric Friginal and Jack A. Hardy (Routledge, 2020); and Research Methods for Digital Discourse Analysis by Camilla Vásquez (Bloomsbury, 2022). Each introduces a range of …

Voces Y Relatos De La Violencia En Jóvenes Universitarias: Coahuila–Texas, Iris Rubi Monroy Velasco, Miryam Espinosa-Dulanto, Karla Patricia Valdés-García, Leilani Flores Valdés

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications

La violencia es una problemática social que compromete la salud pública en el mundo. Podemos encontrar violencia en todos los ámbitos, desde la violencia íntima, en el espacio doméstico con la familia, hasta en espacios de trabajo, estudio o diversión, causada por conocidos o desconocidos y generada por una diversidad de razones. Este capítulo tiene por objetivo entrever los tipos de violencia que experimentan estudiantes universitarias en la frontera Noroeste de México del estado de Coahuila y en la frontera sur de los Estados Unidos en el estado de Texas.

Diversity, Dignity, Equity, And Inclusion In The Age Of Division, Discord, And Disunion: Stereotyping, Sexist, Hegemony In Education, Abha Gupta

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

The article addresses diversity issues related to language, gender, and culture. Topics include fundamental areas of research essential to the discussion on language diversity in the context of education with respect to equity, poverty, stereotype threat, Pygmalion Effect, non-sexist language, and Matthews Effect. The discussion on diversity and equity creates a space to think about issues of access, opportunity, voice, and equal participation within society and educational settings. Diversity among humans requires thoughtful considerations, accommodations, and differentiations in educational treatment, yet providing equal opportunities for growth and learning for all.

Advancing A Transnational, Transdisciplinary And Translingual Professional Development Framework For Teaching Assistants In Writing And Spanish Programs: An Update, Alyssa G. Cavazos, Marcela Hebbard, José Esteban Hernández, Crystal Rodriguez, Geoffrey Schwarz

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

In 2018, we published a translingual and transdisciplinary collaborative piece that sought to respond to the call for writing and language programs to develop professional development opportunities central to multilingual writers’ needs as language learners and writers and their sophisticated and diverse language and writing abilities (Guerra, 2008; Horner et al., 2011; Kells, 2007; Tardy, 2017). We described the design, implementation, and implications of a multilingual pedagogy professional development series for teaching assistants in a transnational and multilingual context (Cavazos, et al., 2018). In this chapter, we provide an update on what has transpired since the series ended. We arrange …

A Cross Dialectal Comparison Of First Person Singular Subject Pronoun Expression In Southern Arizona And Southeast Texas, Ryan M. Bessett

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

This study provides a cross-dialectic comparison of first person singular subject pronoun expression in the Spanish varieties of two US-Mexico borderland communities, Southern Arizona and Southeast Texas. Using data collected from sociolinguistic interviews of 32 Spanish/English bilingual speakers, this analysis further explores the impact that trans-frontier practices have on the realization of subject pronouns in border communities and demonstrates the similarities in the variable grammar of the Spanish spoken in the US Southwest. The results show that both Arizona and Texas express first person singular pronouns at a similar rate (19.3% and 18.7%, respectively). Additionally, the linguistic factors that condition …