In this three-paper dissertation project, I explore how 'English' becomes a recognizable object within the context of adult ESOL education. Building on scholarship on named languages (Garcia, 2019; Makoni & Pennycook, 2006), the historical construction of languages (Bonfiglio, 2010; Irvine & Gal, 2000), and raciolinguistic ideologies…

The founding and inception of Coral Way's bilingual program marked the beginning of Miami's multilingual era, as well as the start of modern bilingual education in the U.S. As multilingual and multicultural Miami has evolved, bilingual programming has not remained a priority in the school district. This dissertation study examines how language…

Quechua language education and research has long been relegated to rural areas and elementary schools of the Andes. Nonetheless, current language policy in the southern Peruvian region of Cusco has opened new opportunities for Quechua, a minoritized Indigenous language, to be taught in cities and towns and in high schools. In this sociolinguistic…

The purpose of this study is to expand the traditional developmental conceptualization of spelling development into the social realm through microethnography. The overarching research question driving this study is: What are the social processes in literacy learning focusing on spelling development among peers in a first grade classroom? The…

This dissertation explores language as a resource for the formation and expression of ethnic identity among the members of an Asian American college sorority. As a community of practice organized around ethnicity, the sorority provides an excellent site to examine the mutually constitutive relationship of language and ethnic identity. Two features…

This qualitative ethnographic Linguistic Landscape (LL) study collected and analyzed ten individual "walking tour" interviews with residents of Memphis, Tennessee, exploring the personal thoughts and feelings about linguistic changes in the communities triggered by the LL. The researcher focused the participants' attention on…

This thesis contributes to the growing field of ethnophysiography, a new subfield of cognitive anthropology that aims to determine the universals and variation in the categorization of landscape objects across cultures. More specifically, this work looks at the case of the Seri people of Sonora, Mexico to investigate the way they categorize…

Grounded in literature on the miseducation of students whose native varieties of English differ most noticeably from the standard academic variety (Delpit 2006; Labov 1972a; Rickford 1999; Smitherman 1999; Wolfram, Adger, and Christian 1999; Wolfram and Schilling-Estes 2006), this dissertation examines the links between the sociolinguistic…

This work explores the use of multimodal communication in a community of expert "World of Warcraft"® players and its impact on politeness, identity, and relationships. Players in the community regularly communicated using three linguistic modes quasi-simultaneously: text chat, voice chat, and face-to-face interaction. Using the…

In recent times, recess has become threatened by the press for more academic instruction time and by fears of violent behavior. A dramatic indicator of this trend is seen in the increasing number of schools and school districts which have done away with or significantly reduced recess time (BBC news, 2007; Coughlan, 2007; Jarrett, 2002; Pressler,…

In our current era of increased globalization, constraints on language variation in postcolonial English varieties are multifaceted. Local and global language ideologies collide and multiple sources of influence converge in present-day patterns of linguistic variation in emerging English varieties. While research into the structure and…

There has been increasing attention on the educational power of video games in recent years (Gee, 2003, 2005; Prensky 2001, 2006; Thorne, 2008; Purushotma, 2005). This study aims to investigate World of Warcraft as a venue for second language socialization, specifically in the area of pragmatics. In order to explore the potential for second…

This dissertation, as a qualitative sociolinguistic analysis, focuses on the use of narrative in identity transformation and sustainment. In particular, it examines the language of those involved in the fashioning of "ex-gay" sexual identity. Such identity work is conducted largely within religious ministries. Particular to evangelical…

This study presents a broad overview of diasporic biliteracy developments in immigrant women after examining observation data in one Taiwanese community. Methodologies include a mixture of narrative inquiry with some ethnographic methods. Fifteen Asian women in diaspora, two Burmese, one Cambodian, one Filipino, four Indonesians, three Thai and…

The emphasis on socio-cultural theories of learning has required the understanding of multi-dimensional, dynamic and social nature of acquiring the scientific knowledge and practices. Recent policy documents suggest a focus on formative and dynamic assessment practices that will help understand and improve the complex nature of scientific learning…