All new graduate and professional students to the University of Arizona are encouraged to attend the Graduate College's orientation, taking place on August 19th! The specific location and start/end times will be posted here over the summer, along with registration details.

Dissertation Title: Investigating Multisensory Enrichment Effects on L2 Word Learning: Insights for Computational and Cognitive Models of Language

Dissertation Committee: Dr. Janet Nicol (Chair), Dr. Mahmoud Azaz, Dr. Vicky Lai, Dr. Miquel Simonet

Dissertation Abstract: Recent research has demonstrated that multisensory enrichment and visual support can facilitate second language (L2) learning. However, despite growing interest in this area, the effects of enrichment on second language learning remain mixed and not yet fully understood. In particular, it remains unclear which forms of enrichment are most beneficial, whether enrichment effects differ depending on the type of linguistic item being learned, and whether visual support can also facilitate the learning of difficult non-native sound contrasts.

This dissertation addresses these central questions through three empirical studies that investigate the role of multisensory and visual enrichment in L2 learning across lexical and phonological domains. Chapter 1 examines whether gesture-based and image-based encoding support vocabulary learning more effectively than a translation-only control condition, and whether emotional properties of lexical items, such as valence and arousal, are associated with recall and retrieval performance. Chapter 2 focuses on gesture-based learning and investigates whether gestures differentially support the learning of nouns and prepositions, two lexical categories that vary in concreteness and contextual dependence. Chapter 3 extends the investigation to speech sound learning by examining whether orthographic support facilitates the perceptual learning of difficult Arabic emphatic consonant contrasts by novice English-speaking learners under high variability phonetic training.

Together, the three studies are united by the broader goal of understanding how additional sensory or visual support helps learners build new linguistic representations in an L2 under difficult learning conditions. Across the dissertation, enrichment is examined as a tool for supporting both form–meaning mappings in vocabulary learning and form–category mappings in phonological learning. This dissertation contributes to theoretical discussions in psycholinguistics and second language acquisition, particularly in relation to embodied cognition, dual coding, revised hierarchical model and multisensory learning, while also offering practical implications for computational and cognitive models of language, language pedagogy and technology-enhanced instruction."

Dissertation Proposal Title: How Learners Live with Korean: Ecological Trajectories in Digitally Mediated Contexts

Dissertation Committee: Dr. M'Balia Thomas (Chair), Dr. Wenhao Diao, Dr. Deina Rabie

Please note that this will be a private proposal presentation. The proposal abstract will be added a few weeks before the presentation date. Contact GIDP-SLAT@arizona.edu with any questions.

Dissertation Proposal Title: Enhancing Students' Intercultural Competence Development Using Virtual Field Experiences and Digital Storytelling

Dissertation Committee Members: Dr. Borbala Gaspar (Chair), Dr. Jill Castek, Dr. Yousra Abourehab

Please note that this will be a private proposal presentation.

Abstract: This dissertation aims to investigate the impact of the use of Digital Storytelling (DST) and Virtual Field Experiences (VFEs) on the development of students' intercultural competence in a Russian language classroom. 

In the most commonly used Russian educational materials and instructional practices there are is a significant lack of representation of cultural diversity and exposure to cultures of Russian-speaking countries and regions outside of the central part of Russia. Therefore, there is a strong need to create and develop new learning resources that will support learners in broadening their cultural horizons and exploring the Russian-speaking world beyond Central Russia. VFEs are diverse immersive digital multimodal experiences that bring authenticity in the classroom, enhance the development of digital literacies, and help students gain cultural experiences by exploring, comparing, analyzing, reflecting and therefore, building their intercultural competence (Oguilve et al., 2022). While VFEs immerse the students in the authentic context, Digital Storytelling facilitates students’ reflection and interpretation of what they observed. By creating a digital story, learners activate higher-level thinking skills, explore and engage in critical analysis as well as level-up their creative potential through self-expression, research and active inquiry. They design messages that merge linguistic, visual, and auditory elements, negotiating cultural and linguistic identities in the process (Ohler, 2013).

To examine the pedagogical potential of these approaches and tools in practice, a classroom project was designed for the fourth semester (Intermediate Russian II) undergraduate course. The project implementation and data collection process are planned for the Spring 2026 semester. As a part of their final cultural project, the students will write regular reflective journal entries and discussion posts, provide video feedback, engage in the creation of a VFE and the final digital story that will serve as data collection points throughout the semester. The data will be then analyzed and systematized qualitatively to explore the effects of the use of DST and VFEs on students’ development of intercultural competence and their perceptions of Russian-speaking cultures.

Dissertation Title: Teaching in the U.S. Refugee Regime: A Critical Study of Policy Discourse, Teacher Agency, and Volunteer Narratives in ESL Refugee Programs

Dissertation Committee: Dr. Beatrice Dupuy, Dr. Hayriye Kayi-Aydar, Dr. M'Balia Thomas

The dissertation abstract will be posted here a few weeks before the defense date, along with the the Zoom link.

Dissertation Title: Genre Judgment Under Uncertainty: AI-Calibrated Metacognition in L2 Writing with ChatGPT Feedback

Dissertation Committee: Dr. Christine Tardy (Chair), Dr. Sandiway Fong, Dr. Janet Nicol, Dr. Jon Reinhardt, Dr. Raffaella Negretti (Special External Member, Chalmers University of Technology)

Please note this will be a hybrid defense, with the majority of people attending via Zoom. The Zoom link is https://arizona.zoom.us/my/rianissam. 

Dissertation Abstract: Large language models (LLMs) increasingly mediate L2 writing feedback, yet we know little about how LLM output reshapes learners’ decision-making. This qualitative multiple-case study examines how genre-based ChatGPT feedback and dialogue shape novice L2 writers’ metacognitive judgments (MJs)—their basis and calibration—and how those judgments affect students’ subsequent self-regulated learning (SRL). In a first-year composition course, nine international students completed three genre-based assignments and engaged in structured AI feedback cycles using Genre Guru, a custom GPT grounded in genre theory. Data included reflections, ChatGPT logs, and five post-semester interviews. Framework analysis traced MJs across Tardy et al.’s (2020) four genre-specific knowledge domains (formal, rhetorical, process, subject-matter) and mapped them to Zimmerman and Moylan’s (2009) SRL phases (forethought, performance, self-reflection). Four themes emerged: (1) skepticism shifted to measured trust; (2) students critically evaluated AI suggestions, preserving text ownership; (3) writers integrated the four domains and articulated genre awareness; and (4) affect and motivation drove SRL cycles. Findings suggest that LLM-mediated feedback can cultivate AI-calibrated metacognition (AIM): iteratively using AI output and dialogue as fallible evidence to recalibrate self-judgments and to translate them into self-regulated control while retaining authorship.

Dissertation Proposal Title: Internal Language Program Evaluation in University LOTE Departments: Scoping the Literature, Examining Practice and Building Capacity

Dissertation Committee: Dr. Beatrice Dupuy (Chair), Dr. Nick Ferdinandt, Dr. Chantelle Warner, Dr. Margaret Malone (Special External Member, Georgetown University)

This will be a private proposal presentation, but if you would like to attend, please contact Lorraine at lorrainetdh@arizona.edu. 

Dissertation Abstract: This three-article dissertation investigates internal language program evaluation (ILPE) in U.S. university Languages Other Than English (LOTE) departments, where evaluation is increasingly central to accountability, improvement, and advocacy but has remained unevenly implemented and empirically understudied in the post-pandemic period (Burton & Winke, 2025; Gruba, 2024; Malone & Montee, 2025; Montee & Di Silvio, 2025). Grounded in contemporary language program evaluation scholarship and utilization-focused evaluation approaches, the project conceptualizes ILPE as an organizationally embedded activity rather than a compliance exercise (Norris & Watanabe, 2007; Patton, 2008).

Article 1 conducts a systematic scoping review of peer-reviewed empirical ILPE research in U.S. university LOTE contexts to map existing research designs, evaluation targets, and major research gaps. Article 2 presents a multiple-case study of six purposefully selected departments to examine how ILPE is designed, enacted, and shaped by local incentives and contextual pressures. Article 3 provides a cross-case analysis explaining how evaluation capacity is built and sustained in these same cases. Through this coordinated multi-method design, the three studies establish an empirical foundation to guide future ILPE research and strengthen sustainable evaluation practice in university LOTE departments.