Vannessa Quintana Sarria, a Ph.D. candidate in Applied Linguistics, defended her dissertation project Teaching English As Multilingual Teacher: The Affordances of Linguistic and Cultural Diversity in the English Classroom on September 27, 2022. Her ethnographic study will explore the professional experiences of six multilingual English teachers at the secondary level foregrounding the ways teachers, identities, linguistic backgrounds, and professional trajectories shape their pedagogical practices. Her committee members are Dr. Avary Carhill-Poza (Chair), Dr. Christine Leider, Dr. Rosalyn Negrón, Dr. Manka Varghese.

Vannessa reflects on her dissertation proposal hearing: “I feel like it has come full circle! I have the joy of seeing an idea grow into it became a research proposal. It was challenging and rewarding to go through the steps that shaped this proposal. I was very fortunate of having a great committee that supported and mentored me in multiple ways.”

Congratulations Vannessa on this amazing project and successful defense!

Caption: Festive moment of Vannessa’s successful defense.