Current speech-to-speech translation systems face challenges in effectively translating the nuances of prosody, which plays a pivotal role in conveying speaker intent and stance in dialog. This limitation restricts cross-lingual communication, especially in situations demanding deeper interpersonal understanding. To address this, this research…

Equity in education has become increasingly prioritized, due to the growing mainstream recognition of the inequitable practices that historically have and presently continue to exist in K-12 education. With the K-12 student population diversity continuously increasing in areas such as abilities, race/ethnicities, socioeconomic status, languages,…

The present dissertation examined the initial state of L3 phonology in native speakers of French and German who were Spanish-English bilinguals. The present work analyzed perception (Chapter 3), production (Chapter 4) and the perception production interface (Chapter 5). The results revealed that these bilinguals are influenced by both of their…

This study examines the relationship between two secondary End of Course (EOC) exams, the Biology EOC and the English I EOC exams, and their impact on Emergent Bilingual (EB) students in a small district in South Texas. This study is a mixed methods study which uses both quantitative and qualitative data to answer three research questions: (a)…

This study described the experiences of a group of seven sixth-grade teachers and the participation of their emergent bilingual students (EBs) during the implementation of an instructional protocol designed to provide students with opportunities to engage in mathematical reasoning through discourse. The Discursive Mathematics Protocol (DMP) is…

Increased global migration and a myriad of other social and political factors has made today's universities more diverse than ever. As a result, teachers in higher education regularly find multilingual learners from a variety of different linguistic and cultural backgrounds in their classrooms and must consider this diversity in their teaching.…

There has been a growing concern in special education due to the under and overrepresentation of Multilingual Learners (MLLs) qualifying for special education services (National Center for Learning Disabilities, 2020). Due to this inequity, culturally and linguistically responsive practices such as district bilingual assessment teams are being…

Children at the intersections of language learning, racialization, and dis/ability status experience systems of power in a very particular way. This manuscript amplifies the experiences of bilingual nonspeaking children and their families to upend the notion of educational and medical professionals as the primary experts in the learning process.…

Project based learning (PBL), a well-known pedagogical approach, is becoming more widely recognized for creating and sustaining student engagement and motivation in 21st-century learning while improving academic achievement. Teachers support this hands-on, collaborative approach and see it as beneficial for students of all learning modalities, but…

This three-paper dissertation uses social network analysis to examine the literacy development and small group discourse of multilingual students in Grades 4 and 5. The data come from a randomized-controlled trial testing the effectiveness of homogeneous and heterogeneous small groups for English learners. The first paper tests whether two types…

This dissertation explores the implementation of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and WIDA frameworks by elementary education teacher candidates during their internships in classrooms characterized by the presence of Multilingual Learners (MLLs). This embedded case study focuses on the Spring and Fall cohorts of 2023, particularly focusing on…

Latinx multilingual learners historically have struggled with meeting academic proficiencies within our educational system. Districts have implemented many strategies to support multilingual learners but have often fallen short of expectations, and therefore perpetuated academic struggles for Latinx multilingual learners. Considering that Latinx…

Chapter 2: Nonword repetition has been endorsed as a less biased method of assessment for children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, but there are currently no systematic reviews or meta-analyses on its use with bilingual children. The purpose of this study is to evaluate diagnostic accuracy of nonword repetition in the…

The objective of the present study is to analyze word-initial voice onset time (VOT) in the context of code-switching (CS). More specifically, this study combines research methods from sociolinguistics and phonetics to investigate how 32 heritage Spanish speakers (HSSs) of Mexican descent, living in Indiana, produce VOT for /p t k/ in word-initial…

In the face of shifting student demographics and persistent disparities in educational outcomes, school leaders are tasked with meeting the diverse needs of their student populations. Recent emphasis on equity initiatives has redefined the role of school leaders, necessitating a deeper understanding of culturally and linguistically sustaining…