ASU Profile: https://search.asu.edu/profile/1382489
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jinjing-zhao-phd-82622254/
Join SLAT in congratulating Mourad Abdennebi, a 4th-year SLAT PhD candidate, on being elected President of the Graduate and Professional Student Council (GPSC) for the 2025-2026 academic year! You can read Mourad's candidate statement here. We look forward to seeing what Mourad achieves in his new role!
Research poster session with GIDP students from all over campus
Join us for the annual GIDP Student Research Showcase, on Thursday, December 11th, 10:30 am – 12:00 pm in the Bear Down Gym. For those who have never attended one of these showcases, this is a great event that includes student research poster presentations from each of the 19 GIDP programs. A call for SLAT poster presenters will go out in the Fall 2025 semester.
Please come and support our students and our GIDPs, and stay for as little or long as you’d like. A registration link for the event will be posted here in Fall 2025.
SLAT is proud to share that 4 of our outstanding PhD students have received Collaborative Teaching Awards through the English Writing Program at the University of Arizona. Huge congratulations to Onur Ural Burns, Mukaddes Coban Postaci, Dilara Avci, and Alona Kladieva!
With deep sadness, we're sharing that the University of Arizona College of Education let us know about the passing of Dr. David B. Yaden Jr. on Thursday, March 20, 2025. A beloved colleague, dedicated educator, and pioneering scholar in the Department of TLS and in SLAT, Dr. Yaden’s legacy will live on in the generations of students, educators, and researchers he mentored and inspired. To read more about his huge impact on his students and colleagues, please read the tribute on the Department of TLS's website.
Beginning the week of April 28, an altar will be constructed in memory of Dr. David Yaden in the College of Education’s Worlds of Words Center. Current and former students, colleagues, family, and friends are invited to contribute items of remembrance—such as photographs, written messages, or meaningful objects—to honor his life and legacy. This collective space will serve as a tribute to Dr. Yaden’s enduring impact on our community and the many lives he touched.
For those who wish to share memories or condolences privately, his wife, Camille, welcomes messages.
SLAT is proud to announce that one of our minor candidates, Dee Hunter, has been selected as a Russell J. and Dorothy S. Bilinski Fellow for the 2025-2026 academic year! Bilinski Fellows are selected from a list of distinguished graduate students who have demonstrated high academic achievement, good moral character, and exceptional ability and potential in their field of study.
Dee is a doctoral student in the Department of Linguistics, and has been a doctoral minor in SLAT for the past two years. Please join us in congratulating Dee on their outstanding achievement!
SLAT is proud to announce that two of our doctoral candidates, Betsy Carter and Angus Leydic, have been selected as Russell J. and Dorothy S. Bilinski Fellows for the 2025-2026 academic year! Bilinski Fellows are selected from a list of distinguished graduate students who have demonstrated high academic achievement, good moral character, and exceptional ability and potential in their field of study.
Betsy's dissertation advisor is Dr. Peter Ecke (German Studies, SLAT) and Angus's dissertation advisor is Dr. Kris Knisely (French & Italian, SLAT).
Please join us in congratulating Betsy and Angus on their outstanding achievements!
Navigating Identities: Multilingual International Students' Experiences in L2 Writing Classrooms
Dissertation Proposal Title: Navigating Identities: Multilingual International Students’ Experiences in L2 Writing Classrooms
Dissertation Committee: Dr. Hayriye Kayi-Aydar (Chair), Dr. Christine Tardy, Dr. M'Balia Thomas, Dr. Deina Rabie
This will be a private proposal presentation. Thank you in advance for respecting the student's privacy.
Abstract: The experiences of multilingual international students (MISs) in higher education have been extensively explored; however, much of this research remains limited to their linguistic identities and language-related challenges (e.g., Tavares, 2021; Sung, 2024). This limited approach oversimplifies the challenges that MISs face. More recent research, however, points out the complexity associated with identities and experiences of MISs (e.g., Cui & De Costa, 2021; Noor, 2024).
This dissertation addresses these gaps by employing an intersectional identity framework (Crenshaw, 1989; Collins & Bilge, 2016) to examine how MISs negotiate their multiple identities within U.S. college-level second language (L2) writing classrooms. Although existing research highlights how intersecting identities influence language learning (e.g., Park, 2009; Cui & De Costa, 2021), its application to L2 writing remains limited. L2 writing classrooms– spaces uniquely shaped by the linguistic and cultural plurality of its learners– often reflect dominant linguistic and cultural norms (e.g., Starfield, 2002; Canagarajah, 2004; Seloni, 2014).
This qualitative study focuses on a foundation writing course at a large public research university and draws on classroom observations, interviews with students and instructors, student writing, and course materials. The research is guided by four questions: 1)How do identities of MISs affect their experiences in L2 writing courses? 2) How do identities of L2 writing instructors affect MISs’ experiences in L2 writing courses? and 3) In what ways do classrooms influence MISs' identity negotiations?, A multi-layered intersectional analytical framework (Lutz, 2015; Collins & Bilge, 2016; Misra et al., 2021) and tools from ethnographic discourse analysis (Roth-Gordon, 2020) guide the study and capture structural, interactional, and experiential dimensions of identity. By situating MISs within an intersectional identity framework and highlighting the instructor’s role in shaping classroom dynamics, this study contributes to understandings of identity in academic writing contexts that will guide pedagogical practices and policies.
Please join SLAT in congratulating Dr. Borbala (Borbi) Gaspar on her Spring 2025 Distinguished Teaching Award from the College of Humanities at the University of Arizona. Dr. Gaspar is a SLAT faculty member, a lecturer in the French & Italian Department, and an alumna of SLAT (2020). The COH Distinguished Teaching Award is intended to honor an individual who has demonstrated a passion for teaching and who has demonstrated a committed and sustained effort to ensure the quality of the students’ learning experience. COH recognizes teaching excellence at all levels but this award places particular emphasis on teaching at the undergraduate level.
Congratulations Dr. Gaspar!
A chance for SLAT students to meet with the candidate in an informal manner