Applied Linguistics Department

On April 29th, APLING doctoral student Nasiba successfully defended her dissertation project titled “Experiencing Race in Transnational Contexts: Racial Literacies of First-Year International Asian Students.” With a committee comprising Dr. Gounari Panayota (chair), Dr. Etienne Corinne, Dr. Hadi Banat, and Dr. Sclafani Jennifer, she embarked on an exploration that dives deep into the racial experiences of first-year international East Asian students.

Her research delves into how these students perceive race, racism, and racialized groups, both in their home countries and here in the United States. Utilizing critical ethnography, Nasiba aims to capture the nuanced perspectives of East Asian international students and the composition faculty who teach them.

For her study, Nasiba employs a variety of methodologies. From semi-structured interviews and journal entries to racial literacy autobiographies and class observations, she aims to paint a comprehensive picture of how students engage with concepts of race and their experiences in a predominantly anti-racist, health-promoting public institution.

Her findings are both revealing and thought-provoking. International students from East Asian backgrounds often use different lenses to define race, showcasing their intersectional perspectives. Moreover, despite facing racism, her participants are in denial about their experiences while simultaneously grappling with anti-Black sentiments. Additionally, Nasiba emphasizes the complex relationship between socio-economic class, the use of English names, and the adoption of Whiteness that impacts racial dynamics and integration. Nasiba’s work serves as a vital contribution to understanding how these experiences shape both students’ lives and broader pedagogical approaches in academic settings.

Congratulations, Dr. Norova!

First year PhD student Eric Wirth presented work in progress as part of the Graduate Student Round Table event, mentored byDr. Jaspal  Navell Singh. Entitled “We’re here! We’re queer, and we’re translanguaging!” His presentation sought to explore the further development of a paper, first written for the fall 2024 “Issues in Applied Linguistics” course led by Dr. Panagiota Gounari, into a piece of empirical qualitative research. 

Regarding the work Eric explains, “My initial position paper argues that while there is limited academic research specifically on queer translanguaging, it is a valid phenomenon that can be observed in real-world situations, particularly within multilingual queer communities. In my paper I use examples from popular media, such as the international Drag Race franchises, and online discussions to illustrate how queer individuals fluidly navigate between languages to express their identities and connect with a global queer community. The paper advocates for further research into queer translanguaging, suggesting avenues such as analyzing media transcripts and studying online communities to better understand this complex linguistic practice. As I develop this research question, I want to explore the indexicality of queer translanguaging. I also think there is room to explore the influence of English as a common linguistic element in queer communities across different countries and languages and talk about whether English is a unifying or colonizing force. Also, with respect to English, when present as an additional language of multilingual queer speakers of a language with grammatical gender, is a non-gendered language such as English favored for perceptions of grammatical gender neutrality?”

Congratulations Eric!

Photo includes mentor and fellow graduate student presenters left to right: Mukib Khan, Oklahoma State University; Dr. Jaspal Navell Singh; Eric Wirth; Fan Cao, Tsinghua University; Jacob Algrim, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa (Jacob earned his master’s degree in applied Linguistics from UMass Boston in 2020).

Wonguk, a third-year Ph.D. student in the Applied Linguistics Department, recently presented at AAAL 2025 in Denver, CO. In his individual paper, “The Policy-Practice Divide: Misalignment Between State-Level Language Policies and Classroom Practice in MA,” he shared findings from his pilot study, which explored how the statewide language policy, the LOOK Act, is interpreted and implemented in classrooms, often revealing a disconnect between policy and practice. Wonguk also participated in a one-hour colloquium with a presentation titled “Boston’s Multiple Chinatowns: The Linguistic Landscape of the Past, Present, and Future,” part of a broader project called “Voices of Boston: Language Diversity, Ideologies, and Politics in the Sociolinguistic Landscape.” Drawing on photographic data and interviews with residents, he examined how Boston’s traditional Chinatown has transformed from an ethnic town into a marketized, downtown-like area that now functions as a communal podium. He also spotlighted the City of Quincy as an emerging destination for Chinese migrants, discussing how linguistic barriers, questions of social belonging, and complex identities contribute to the growing superdiversity among Chinese”s” in the area.

Congratulations, Wonguk, on these 2 presentations!

We’re proud to highlight the recent presentation of one of our brilliant PhD candidates, Tina Randall, at the 2025 American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) Conference in Denver!

Her talk, titled “Tu situación es diferente a la mía”: Relational Accountability in Heritage Language Research, shared critical insights from her dissertation study, which seeks to advance both social and linguistic justice through equitable research practices with Spanish heritage language (SHL) speakers by raising consciousness about the right to HL education in areas of low concentrations of Spanish speakers. Centering around the concept of relational accountability (Wilson, 2008; Smith, 2013), she discussed ways in which researchers and participants (first generation Spanish-speaking immigrants to the United States and second generation SHL learners) position themselves as multilingual speakers and negotiate their identities in interaction. The study suggests ways in which researchers can better position themselves as partners in heritage language research and provides a better understanding of how interview practices with minoritized populations may be improved by applying relational accountability principles.

Congratulations Tina on this presentation and the meaningful contributions you are making!  

The 8th International Meeting of Sociodiscursive Interactionism (SDI) was held from 22 to 24 of January 20225 under the theme “From the social to the linguistic and back again: texts, language and development” at the School of Social Sciences and Humanities of the NOVA University de Lisboa.

Our doctoral student, Damian Diaz, was a presenter and shared about his research “Biletramento Espanhol-Português no ensino do gênero textual resumo acadêmico na universidade” under the theme “Principles and projects for articulating language components in teaching and training”.

In this stimulating presentation, Damian draws from his pedagogical experience in a Portuguese as an additional language classroom at a University in Uruguay to explore the nuances of biliteracy in multilingual classrooms and to propose a methodology that contributes to the development of biliteracy in the context of Spanish and Portuguese.  

Congratulations, Damian! Check the abstract below:

Abstract:

A comunicação visa apresentar uma análise de dados sobre processos de escrita e de leitura suscitados por uma tarefa de avaliação no marco de um curso de Português como Língua Adicional (LA) oferecido em uma universidade do Uruguai para estudantes cuja Língua Comunitária (LC) é o Espanhol. Tem-se como base teórica os desenvolvimentos do Interacionismo Sociodiscursivo (ISD) no que tange à conceituação das ações de linguagem e dos textos (Bronckart, 1999) e ao ensino organizado em torno de Sequências Didáticas de Gêneros (SDG) (Schneuwly e Dolz, 2004; Magalhães e Cristovão, 2018), bem como os conceitos de biletramento (Hornberger e Skilton-Sylvester, 2000) e multiletramento (Cazden et al., 1996). O curso foi implementado durante o segundo semestre de 2023 e foi organizado em torno de três SDG correspondendo a quatro situações sociais de uso da linguagem em contexto acadêmico: apresentação oral em um evento acadêmico, criação de um caderno de resumos, produção de uma coletânea de relatórios públicos e organização de um dossiê temático para uma revista científica. Essas situações foram aliadas ao trabalho sistemático com gêneros textuais orais da esfera acadêmica (apresentação pessoal, apresentação de pesquisa e discussão de resultados de pesquisa) e escritos (resumo, relatório de pesquisa e ensaio), instanciados em diversos textos orais e escritos de três disciplinas (sociologia, ciências ambientais, filosofia). O construto de linguagem ensinado é baseado, em seus fundamentos, na concepção de ação de linguagem e de texto do ISD (Bronckart, 1999; 2005), tendo presentes noções relativas à linguagem acadêmica (Snow; Ucelli, 2009; Schleppegrell, 2004), assim como às práticas de oralidade, escrita e leitura mais comuns no contexto universitário. Foram introduzidos de forma recursiva e transversal, ao longo das SDG, conceitos estruturantes da análise linguageira do ISD (contexto de produção, conteúdo temático, gênero, plano textual, coesão nominal e verbal, conexão, polifonia, e modalização), assim como práticas associadas à leitura e à escrita em contextos acadêmicos (contextualização, associação e crítica). O objetivo do estudo é obter resultados fundados para iniciar uma discussão a respeito da possibilidade da proposta didática apresentada para estimular um desenvolvimento biletrado pleno (Hornberger e Skilton-Sylvester, 2000), isto é, tanto um desenvolvimento das capacidades letradas dos estudantes na LA como um enriquecimento de seu repertório letrado global a partir do diálogo com seus conhecimentos e práticas de linguagem na LC, o espanhol, e no contexto acadêmico. O foco da análise é colocado no desenvolvimento das práticas de ler e de escrever. A exploração é feita por meio da análise qualitativa do conteúdo de relatos orais de escrita realizados por cinco estudantes. A recordação estimulada (Dörnyei, 2007) foi obtida a partir da solicitação aos participantes que gravassem em áudio e enviassem ao pesquisador, que é ao mesmo tempo o professor a cargo do curso, um breve relato de sua experiência, contado em sua língua comunitária (espanhol), após terem finalizado a primeira SDG do curso e levado a cabo a tarefa de avaliação escrita, que promovia a escrita de um resumo a partir da situação social de participar em um evento acadêmico. Os relatos permitem obter evidências qualitativas parciais da forma em que os estudantes

compreenderam a tarefa e do tipo de conhecimentos ou práticas que foram utilizados para levá-la a cabo. A pergunta de pesquisa é: que evidências do desenvolvimento integral do biletramento surgem da análise dos relatos de escrita dos estudantes? A análise dos conteúdos dessas verbalizações evidencia que tanto os saberes ensinados no curso quanto as características da tarefa promoveram complexas práticas de produção escrita que requerem o envolvimento dos estudantes com diferentes aspectos e conhecimentos. Práticas chave do contexto acadêmico como a escrita interligada à leitura e à necessidade de seleção de conteúdos são evidenciadas nos relatos dos estudantes, assim como a visualização das práticas de produção escrita à luz de suas relações com as práticas de produção de conhecimento no contexto acadêmico. Elementos constitutivos da textualização no contexto acadêmico como o planejamento textual, o gerenciamento da polifonia (citação), a conexão e a avaliação (Bronckart, 1999) emergiram nos relatos das práticas escritas dos estudantes. Tanto pela disparidade entre os conhecimentos dos estudantes em sua LC e a LA, quanto por seu conhecimento mais aprofundado de práticas letradas na LC, as tarefas de produção escrita promoveram um evidente gerenciamento das relações entre seus acervos letrados. A tarefa proposta, e seu enquadramento no curso, resultam em um evidente cenário propício para o desenvolvimento do biletramento dos estudantes, e um campo construtivo de suas capacidades e identidades como escritores, em uma perspectiva multilíngue.

The 2024 National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Annual Convention, themed “Heart, Hope, & Humanity,” was held from November 21 to 24 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. Among the presenters was UMass Boston APLING doctoral student Nasiba Norova, who contributed to a panel presentation titled “Activating Funds of Knowledge via Intercultural Interaction in Introductory Composition.”

The panel was led by Professor Hadi Banat from the UMass Boston English Department and Prof. Phuong Tran from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. This collaborative study is part of the ongoing projects conducted by the Transculturation Pedagogical Research Group (http://writeic.org), of which Nasiba is an active member.

Focusing on a curriculum for introductory composition courses, the panel emphasized a genre-based pedagogy combined with intercultural competence as an inclusive framework aimed at fostering social justice in education. Presenters shared compelling, data-driven insights into how diverse domestic and multilingual students enrolled in General and Multilingual ENGL 101 courses draw on their funds of knowledge. These strategies were particularly highlighted in the context of self-reflective writing and intercultural interactions, as students navigated new academic, social, and cultural experiences.

This innovative research, spotlighting the intersections of pedagogy, diversity, and social justice, was generously supported by the CLA Dean Research Grant. The panel’s contributions exemplify UMass Boston’s commitment to advancing equity and inclusion in education through research and teaching excellence.

This week, our Ph.D. director and CREATE co-founder, Dr. Carhill-Poza, was featured in Education Week, where she shared her expert insights on the potential of AI in supporting multilingual learners.

Drawing on over a decade of specialized research focused on multilingual learners in K–12 contexts, Dr. Carhill-Poza offers a profound  perspective on the role and possibilities of AI in the classroom.

Here’s an excerpt from the interview:
“It’s really about taking a step back and being open to processes that might support language learning and content learning in what you might consider unorthodox ways.”

Don’t miss this thought-provoking discussion on the future of AI in education. Read the full interview here: https://www.edweek.org/technology/want-to-try-ai-with-english-learners-heres-where-to-start/2024/12

We are thrilled to congratulate one of our doctoral students, Michael Jacob, on a remarkable accomplishment—the publication of his chapter in the book Youth Horror Television and the Question of Fear (2024). Publishing in an edited collection is a significant achievement, and we couldn’t be prouder of their success.

Congratulations and we look forward to seeing your continued contributions in the academic world!

 About the chapter:

Michael Jacob’s chapter entitled “Developing in the Dark: Confronting Fears through Supportive Storytelling in Nickelodeon’s Are you Afraid of the Dark?” explores how the collective-storytelling format within the Nickelodeon television show assists in forming group solidarity among peers. Using Vygotskyian socio-cultural theory, the chapter examines how group-narrative activity allows for storytellers and viewers alike to collectively process, understand, and ultimately transcend trauma in their own lives. 

As we continue to celebrate our department’s contributions to the 60th anniversary of the International Association of Applied Linguistics (AILA), we are excited to highlight the symposium titled “Critical Approaches to Language Teacher Education: Developing Critical Praxis” under the Language Teaching, Learning, and Acquisition track. This symposium showcases the innovative work of our dedicated APLING faculty and students at UMB, who are actively  contributing to the field.

Dr. Carhill-Poza and our recent doctoral graduate Jesse Rubio presented their project, “Multilingual Family Mentors in a Teacher Education Space,” while Dr. Carhill-Poza and doctoral candidate Vannessa Quintana Sarria shared their study titled “Embedded Coaching for Language Educators: A Praxis Approach.”

Furthermore, our dear faculty members Dr. Gounari and Dr. Sclafani enriched the symposium with their projects: “Not Just Language: Critical Praxis in Language Teacher Education” by Dr. Gounari, and “The Justice Language Action Project (JLAP): A Theory-to-Practice Approach” by Dr. Sclafani.

Congratulations and heartfelt thanks to all of our faculty and students for their hard work and for proudly representing our department on this international stage!

This summer, our department participated in the 60th anniversary of the International Association of Applied Linguistics (AILA). The main conference was held in vibrant Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and centered around the theme “Linguistic Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Sustainability.” We are proud to have our professors and doctoral students actively contribute to this global event, sharing their research, insights and engaging in discussions about the future of our field.  

Doctoral candidate Tina Randal and Professor Kimberly Urbanski presented their project, Inclusivity in the SFL Classroom: Community Affordances and SHL Learner Subjectivities, which was featured in the “Language Diversity, Inclusivity, and Sustainability” track of the event.

Furthermore, doctoral candidate Minh Nghia-Nguyen and Dr. Urbanski shared their study, The Dialectic between Pedagogy and Gesture: An Analysis of Teacher Gesture in a Multilingual Literacy Class, as part of the “Gesture, Multimodality, and Second Language Acquisition” track. Both presentations highlighted the department’s commitment to advancing research in our field.

Congratulations and thank you for representing our department!