This course will explore an expanded and critical view of language acquisition drawing on theories, models and research in a range of disciplines including psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, folklore, anthropology, psychology communication, and education. The process of acquiring language is deeply affected by the process of becoming a competent member of society. An expanded view of the ways which individuals become socialized into particular patterns of language use and the on-going development of oral and written language from early childhood to adult life will be considered.

Examines the process of reading through socio-linguistic, psycholinguistic, socio-historical and psychogenetic perspectives. Emphasis upon the nature of written language acquisition, development and comprehension; theories of how literacy is acquired; and the impact of becoming literate upon consciousness, language use, and the way people think and behave.

This graduate course explores research methods for examining learning experiences mediated with technology and occurring in collaborative digital environments. Capturing and analyzing the digital world requires new ways of using mixed method research approaches, as well as innovative digital tools for archiving, collaboratively coding, and visualizing data. This course will provide tangible experiences with designing, planning, and executing studies that intersect with digital texts, tools, and online environments. Together, we will examine ways to conduct research in the digital age across a range of research methodologies. Implications for designing research studies centered on technology, including research ethics, will be addressed.

Critical issues in multicultural education, focusing on culture, language, power, and identity, with application to the creation of more just and equitable educational systems.

Introduction to theory and methods of conducting research through extended participant observation in school or community settings; field work, ethnography, case study, qualitative methods.

The development and exchange of scholarly information, usually in a small group setting. The scope of work shall consist of research by course registrants, with the exchange of the results of such research through discussion, reports, and/or papers.

The exchange of scholarly information and/or research about topics of current concern in language, reading and culture, such as language socialization, international children's and adolescent literature, and media and semiotics. Research projects may or may not be required of course registrants.

This course focuses on global children's and adolescent literature, the sociopolitical and sociocultural issues around this literature, and the role of story in building intercultural understandings about the world.

This course offers students an opportunity to explore and critique literature written for young adult readers, the sociocultural issues that surround this literature and its readers, and related approaches to research and practice.

Readers cultivate a critical lens when they engage in dialogic pedagogies with children's and young adult literature. This lens develops through interactions within a community of readers who are exploring socially transformative perspectives and critical literacy practices. This course focuses on critical pedagogy for classrooms, drawing from research and theory related to dialogue, reader response, and collaborative thinking.