UMass Boston

Research & Impact

Student Research

Full text for theses is available through the institutional repository.

Selected Applied Linguistics Theses (2000-2021)

2021
Meaning-Making Dynamics of Job Interview Performances  - by Jacquelyn K. Bertman (Advisor: Dr. Christian W. Chun)

2020
Computerized Dynamic Assessment of Grammar in Second Language Development - by Tina S. Randall (Advisor: Dr. Kimberly Urbanski)

Limited Viewpoints: The Implementation of Multimodal Constructs in an ELL Model Curriculum Unit - by Debora A. Smith (Advisor: Dr. Jaran Shin)

2019
Adult Educators at the Crossroads of Language Learning and Workforce Development: A Qualitative Study of Teacher Agency - by Liz Ging (Advisor: Dr. Kimberly Urbanski)

Language Learning and ADA: An Observation of d/Deaf Adults and Their Interpreters in ESL Classrooms - by Katherine M. Ward (Advisor: Dr. Avary Carhill-Poza)

2017 
Languaging at Work: The Language Socialization of Support Staff in the Healthcare Workforce - by Kristen E. Schlapp (Advisor: Dr. Panayota Gounari)

2016 
Performing Language and Identities: Adult Immigrant Students and the Creation of a Play  - by Kathleen R. McGovern (Advisor: Dr. Avary Carhill-Poza)

2015
Discourses and Capital in Court Trials: Representation of Witness Accounts and Identity - by Misty Crooks (Advisor: Dr. Avary Carhill-Poza)

2014
What's in a Game? Identity Negotiations and Pedagogical Implications of Gameplay Discourse - by Caleb Reed (Advisor: Dr. Avary Carhill-Poza)

Their Decision to Wear Al Hijab: The Stories of U.S. Northeastern Muslim Women - by Hadeel Salman (Advisor: Dr. Lilia Bartolome)

2012
Meanings and Typologies of Duboisian Double Consciousness within 20th Century United States Racial Dynamics - by Marc E. Black (Advisor: Dr. Lilia Bartolome)

2009
Effective teaching of culturally diverse students - by Orlando L. Carreón. (Advisor: Dr. Lilia Bartolome)

2008
The parallel architecture for first language literacy development and second language acquisition studies: Prospective theories and applications - by Darrell J. Penta. (Advisor: Dr. Charles Meyer)

2006
Categorical Desires: The sexual ideology of personal ads - by Michael Ryall. (Advisor Dr. Pepi Leistyna)

Discourse Analysis of Intelligent Design -  by David A. Tedone. (Advisor: Dr. Candace Mitchell)

Deixis and Dementia: Theatricality, speech act, and the Alzheimer’s subject - by Anne F. Fleche. (Advisor: Dr. Charles Meyer)

2004
Bringing Gender to the Table: Language, Gender and Power in seven lesbian families - by Sarah N. Wagner. (Advisor: Dr. Lilia Bartolome)

Dialect change in a southern hemisphere variety of English: The Anglo-Argentine case - by Julian Jefferies. (Advisor: Dr. Charles Meyer)

Colombia and the politics of representation - by Libardo Rueda. (Advisor Dr. Pepi Leistyna)

Linguistic and Pedagogical Implication of Learners’ L1 Influence in their SLA: A comparative study of L2 Learners of English with articled European and unarticled Asian Language backgrounds based on the analysis of their article errors  - by Hungyul Thomas Han - (Advisor: Dr. George W. Smith)

2000
First Language Instruction: A vehicle of educational excellence or a mechanism for separate and unequal education A case of South Africa, 1822-1936 - by Catherine Ann Folley (Advisor Dr. Pepi Leistyna)

Faculty Research 

Review associated faculty research.

Avary Carhill Poza, PhD

  • Carhill-Poza, A., & Kurata, N. (Eds.) (2021). Social Networks in Language Learning and Language Teaching. London, UK: Bloomsbury Publishing.
  • Carhill-Poza, A., & Williams, T. (2020). Learning “anytime, anywhere”?: The imperfect alignment of immigrant students’ experiences and school-based technologies in an urban U.S. high school. Comparative Education Research, 64(3), 428-450.
  • Carhill-Poza, A., & Chen, J. (2020). Adolescent English learners' language development in technology-enhanced classrooms. Language Learning & Technology, 24(3), 1-25.
  • Carhill-Poza, A. (2019). Defining flipped learning for English learners in an urban secondary school. Bilingual Research Journal, 42(1), 90-104.
  • Carhill-Poza, A. (2018). Silenced partners: The role of bilingual peers in secondary school contexts. Teachers College Record, 120(11), 1-28.
  • Carhill-Poza, A. (2017). Re-examining English language teaching and learning for adolescents through technology. System, 67, 111-120.
  • Carhill-Poza, A. (2016). “If you don’t find a friend in here, it’s gonna be hard for you”: Structuring bilingual peer support in urban high schools. Linguistics & Education, 37, 63-72.
  • Carhill-Poza, A. (2015). Opportunities and outcomes: The role of peers in developing the academic English proficiency of adolescent English learners. The Modern Language Journal., 99(4), 678--695.

Christian W. Chun, PhD

  • Chun, C. W. (2023). I ain’t your f*cking model minority! Indexical orders of ‘Asianness’, class, and heteronormative masculinity. Applied Linguistics Review.
  • Chun, C. W. (2022). (Ed.). Applied linguistics & politics. London: Bloomsbury. 
  • Chun, C. W. (2022). Encouraging critical and analytical skills in the classroom?: A rejoinder to "Between professionalism and political engagement in foreign language teaching practice" by Claire Kramsch. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice.
  • Chun, C. W. (2021). A world without capitalism? Alternative discourses, spaces, and imaginaries. London: Routledge.
  • Chun, C. W. (2021). Foreword. In J. Crawford & R. A. Filback (Eds.), TESOL guide for critical praxis in teaching, inquiry, and advocacy (xix-xx). IGI Global.
  • Chun, C. W. (2021). My tribute to Jan Blommaert. Diggit Magazine website: https://www.diggitmagazine.com/articles/my-tribute-jan-blommaert 
  • Chun, C. W. (2021). Introduction to applied linguistics and politics. In C. W. Chun (Ed.), Applied linguistics and politics. London: Bloomsbury.
  • Chun, C. W. (2021). Organic intellectuals or traditional intellectuals - critical discourse for whom? In C. W. Chun (Ed.), Applied linguistics and politics. London: Bloomsbury.
  • Chun, C. W. (2020). The return of the ‘Yellow Peril’: The fear of getting sick from the Other. Journal of Language, Culture and Society, 2(2), 315-322.
  • Chun, C. W. (2020). Representations of anorexia in an EAP classroom: Critically engaging with the body and its discourses. Classroom Discourse, 11(2), 164-180.
  • Chun, C. W. (2020). Methodological issues in critical discourse studies. In J. McKinley & H. Rose (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Research Methods in Applied Linguistics (pp. 199-210). London: Routledge.
  • Chun, C. W. (2019). Language, discourse, and class: What’s next for sociolinguistics? Journal of Sociolinguistics, 23(4), 332-345.
  • Chun, C. W. (2019). Writing as resistance in an age of demagoguery. Journal of Writing and Pedagogy, 11(3), 311-328.
  • Chun, C. W. (2019). EAP students co-constructing alternative narratives: Classroom discursive representations of Islam and democracy. TESOL Quarterly 53(1), 158-179.
  • Chun, C. W., & Morgan, B. (2019). Critical research in English language teaching. In Gao X. (Eds.), Second Handbook of English Language Teaching (pp. 1091-1110). Norwell, MA: Springer Publishers.
  • Chun, C. W. (2019). The intersections between critical pedagogy and public pedagogy: Hong Kong students and the Umbrella Movement. In M. E. López-Gopar (Ed.), International perspectives on critical pedagogies in ELT (pp. 79-98). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Chun, C. W. (2018). Critical pedagogy and language learning in the age of social media? Brazilian Journal of Applied Linguistics/Revista Brasileira de Linguística Aplicada, 18(2), 281-300.
  • Chun, C. W. (2018). Critical English for Academic Purposes. In G. Noblit (Ed.), Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education. New York: Oxford University Press. 
  • Chun, C. W. (2017). The discourses of capitalism: Everyday economists and the production of common sense. London: Routledge.
  • Chun, C. W. (2017). Neoliberalism, globalization and critical discourse studies. In J. Flowerdew & J. E. Richardson (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Critical Discourse Studies. London: Routledge.
  • Chun, C. W. (2017). Critical literacy writing in ESP: Perspectives and approaches. In J. Flowerdew & T. Costley (Eds.), Discipline-specific writing: Theory into practice. London: Routledge.
  • Chun, C. W. (2016). Addressing racialized multicultural discourses in an EAP textbook: Working toward a critical pedagogies approach. TESOL Quarterly, 50(1), 109-131.
  • Chun, C. W. (2016). Exploring neoliberal language, discourses and identities. In S. Preece (Ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Language and Identity. London: Routledge.
  • Chun, C. W. (2015) Power and meaning making in an EAP classroom: Engaging with the everyday. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.

Panagiota Gounari, PhD

Kimberly Urbanski, PhD

  • Urbanski, K. (accepted). Second language literacy pedagogy: A sociocultural theory perspective. Multilingual Matters.
  • Randall, T., Urbanski, K. (accepted) Development of a CDA program for grammar instruction and assessment in SLA. Language and Sociocultural Theory
  • (Buescher) Urbanski, K. (accepted). Theory and methodology: Concept-based instruction for second language literacy development. In R. A. van Compernolle (Ed.) Concept-based instruction: Principle and classroom applications. John Benjamins.
  • Stam, G., Urbanski, K., Lantolf, J. & Smotrova, T. (accepted). How concept-based language instruction works in teaching thinking for speaking in an L2. IRAL - International Review of Applied Linguistics.
  • Stam, G. & Urbanski, K. (Eds.) (2022) Gesture and multimodality in second language acquisition: A research guide. Routledge.
  • (Buescher) Urbanski, K. & Stam, G. (2022). Overview of Multimodality and Gesture in Second Language Acquisition. In G. Stam & K. (Buescher) Urbanski (Eds.) Gesture and Multimodality in Second Language Acquisition: A Research Guide. Routledge.
  • Stam, G. & (Buescher) Urbanski, K. (2022). Concluding Remarks. In G. Stam & K. (Buescher) Urbanski (Eds.) Gesture and Multimodality in Second Language Acquisition: A Research Guide. Routledge.
  • Buescher, K., & Strauss, S. (2018) Conceptual frameworks and L2 pedagogy: The case of French prepositions. In A. Tyler, L. Ortega, M. Uno, & H. I. Park (Eds.) Usage-inspired L2 instruction: Researched pedagogy. (pp 95-115). John Benjamins.
  • Stam, G. & Buescher, K. (2018). Gesture research. In A. Phakiti, P. De Costa, L. Plonsky and S. Starfield (Eds.), Palgrave Handbook of Applied Linguistics Research Methodology. (pp. 793- 809). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Buescher, K. (2018). A sociocultural approach to second language literacy pedagogy. In J. Lantolf, M. Poehner, and M. Swain (Eds.), Handbook of Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Development (pp. 378-387). London/New York: Routledge.
  • Buescher, K., & Strauss, S. (2018) Conceptual frameworks and L2 pedagogy: The case of French prepositions. In A. Tyler, L. Ortega, M. Uno, and H. I. Park (Eds.) Usage-inspired L2 instruction: Researched pedagogy. (pp 95-115). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Press.
  • Buescher, K., & Strauss, S. (2015). A cognitive linguistic analysis of French prepositions à, dans, and en and a sociocultural theoretical approach to teaching them. In K. Masuda, C. Arnett & A. Labarca (Eds.) Cognitive Linguistics and Sociocultural Theory: Applications to Foreign and Second Language Teaching (pp. 155-181). Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter Mouton.
  • Negueruela-Azarola, E., García, P. N., & Buescher, K. (2015). From interaction to intra-action: the internalization of talk, gesture, and concepts in the second language classroom. In N. Markee (Ed.) The Handbook of Classroom Interaction (pp. 233-249). Malden: Wiley-Blackwell.

Jennifer Sclafani, PhD

  • 2019. (with M. Marmorstein) The talkback genre: Practice and the cultural construal of online commenting in Israel. Discourse, Context & Media, 31, 100321. 
  • 2019. Can a woman sound presidential? Scientific American, Guest Blog. February 6, 2019. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/voices/can-a-woman-sound-presidential/
  • 2018. (with A. Nikolaou). Representations of Self and Other in narratives of return migration. In C. Ghezzi, P. Molinelli, & K. Beeching (eds.), Positioning Self and Other: Linguistic Traces. John Benjamins.
  • 2017. Talking Donald Trump: A Sociolinguistic Study of Style, Metadiscourse, and Political Identity. London: Routledge. 
  • 2017. Sociolinguistics in and for the media. In B. Childs, C. Mallinson, & G. Van Herk (eds.), Data Collection in Sociolinguistics: Methods and Applications, 2nd edition. Routledge.
  • 2017.  Performing politics: From the town hall to inauguration. In R. Wodak & B. Forchtner (eds.), Routledge Handbook of Language and Politics. London: Routledge. 398-411.
  • 2016. The idiolect of Donald Trump. Scientific American, Guest Blog. March 25, 2016. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/mind-guest-blog/the-idiolect-of-donald-trump/
  • 2015. Family as a framing resource for political identity construction: Introduction sequences in presidential primary debates. Language in Society 44(3): 369-399.