Led by Dr. Susan Miller-Cochran: How to prepare for publishing and presenting at conferences
Due to unforeseen circumstances, unfortunately this workshop has been cancelled. Please email dshon@arizona.edu with questions.
Learning about equity in assessment design and use
Panelists: Dr. Catherine Barrette (SLAT Alumna, Wayne State University), Dr. Tahnee Bucher (SLAT Alumna, Michigan Language Assessment/University of Michigan), Dr. Lauren Harvey (SLAT Alumna, University of Arizona)
Moderator: Wei Xu, 3rd-year SLAT PhD Candidate
Panelist Bios
Dr. Cathy Barrette, a 1996 SLAT graduate, has served as Director of Assessment at Wayne State University since 2014, supporting program assessment in over 340 programs. From 1996 to 2014, she served as an Associate Professor of Spanish, Spanish Basic Course Coordinator, and Graduate Director of the M.A. in Language Learning program at Wayne State University.
Dr. Tahnee Bucher (Ph.D. SLAT, University of Arizona; M.A. TESOL, West Virginia University) specializes in classroom language assessment and language proficiency testing. With extensive experience in the field, she has held diverse roles, including ESL/EFL instructor, teacher trainer, and assessment coordinator. Currently, she is an Assessment Developer at Michigan Language Assessment, where she supports the development and improvement of test products.
Dr. Lauren Harvey is the Acting Director of Second Language Writing in the University of Arizona Writing Program. She earned her Ph.D. in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching at the University of Arizona in 2021. In relation to assessment, she works with faculty across campus to understand and combat the inequities that multilingual writers often face in written assessments.
Register for this event at: https://arizona.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYtfumgqDktEtzYBcLe1jBOE6BP_L4F5KOG
Effects of mood and emotion on language
SLAT’s next colloquium is coming up! Dr. Vicky T. Lai (The University of Arizona) will be giving a talk titled “Effects of mood and emotion on language”. Dr. Lai’s talk is scheduled for Thursday, March 16th, 4:30 – 5:30 pm (Arizona time) via Zoom.
Dr. Lai is faculty in the Psychology Department and Cognitive Science Department and affiliated with SLAT at The University of Arizona. She directs the Cognitive Neuroscience of Language Laboratory (https://neurolang.lab.arizona.edu/), where lab members use behavioral, electrophysiological, and imaging measure to study figurative language, emotion and language, and language and thought. Dr. Lai is an elected fellow in the Psychonomic Society. In 2022 she received two National Science Foundation grants: “Learning science concepts through metaphor comprehension, production, and conversation” and “Effects of context on emotional word processing in healthy younger and older adults”.
To read the abstract of Dr. Lai’s colloquium, please see the attached flyer.
Please register in advance of the colloquium by filling out this form: https://arizona.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYrfuGpqjkvG9wAoeMnuFsGv66YrqabDzyx After registering, you’ll receive a confirmation email with the Zoom link for the colloquium.
For those who are interested in associated articles to Dr. Lai’s colloquium topic, please look at these (it’s not required to read the articles to attend the colloquium):
Lai, V. T., Hagoort, P., & Van Berkum, J. (2022). Negative affect increases reanalysis on conflicts between discourse context and world knowledge. Frontiers in Communication, 7: 910482. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2022.910482
Donahoo, S. A., Pfeifer, V. A., & Lai, V. T. (2022). Cursed Concepts: New insights on combinatorial processing from ERP correlates of swearing in context. Brain & Language, 226, 105079. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2022.105079
Pfeifer, V.A., Armstrong, E. L., & Lai, V. T. (2022). Do all facial emojis communicate emotion? The impact of facial emojis on perceived sender emotion and text processing. Computers in Human Behavior, 126, 107016. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2021.107016
We look forward to seeing you on March 16th at 4:30 pm! Please contact GIDP-SLAT@arizona.edu with any questions.
An information session to get behind-the-scenes advice on how to find a job in the U.S. (for international students) and abroad (for everyone)
Panelists: Dr. Claudia Kunschak (Ritsumeikan University, Japan), Dr. Bruna Sommer-Farias (SLAT Alumna, Michigan State University), Dr. Stefano Maranzana (SLAT Alum, Southern Methodist University, Dallas), Dr. Jeroen Gevers (SLAT Alum, UCLA)
Moderator: Mourad Abdennebi, 2nd-year SLAT PhD Student
Panelist Bios
Dr. Claudia Kunschak is a Professor in the College of International Relations at Ritsumeikan University in Japan. She received her Ph.D. in Education from the University of Arizona and her M.A. in Translation & Interpreting from the University of Vienna. Her research interests are Intercultural Communication, Language Pedagogy, and Comparative Education.
Dr. Bruna Sommer-Farias is an Assistant Professor in the Master of Arts in Foreign Language Teaching at Michigan State University. She completed her PhD in SLAT at the University of Arizona in 2020, and currently teaches in-service teachers on topics such as multiliteracies, genre and corpus-based pedagogies, multilingualism, and intercultural competence.
Dr. Stefano Maranzana is an Italian and French lecturer at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He holds a Ph.D. in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching from the University of Arizona, and researches the use of animated cartoons with same-language captions and virtual reality for second language acquisition.
Register for this event at: https://arizona.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUpceitrTooH9XFc3aCFpaSI34jS6NLhyHH
Dr. Ofelia Zepeda, University of Arizona Regents Professor of Linguistics, American Indian Studies, and SLAT was recently named a 2023 USA Fellows by United States Artists.
The Chicago-based organization's mission is to "illuminate the value of artists to American society and address their economic challenges." The fellowship is intended to recognize the "most compelling artists" in the country. In addition to writing, fellows pursue architecture and design, crafting, dance, film, media, music, traditional arts, and theater. Nominations are anonymous, and applications are reviewed by discipline-specific panelists.
Dr. Zepeda is a Regents Professor and Director of the University's American Indian Language Development Institute. You can read more about Dr. Zepeda's background and her fellowship award here.
Closing out the QR process for SLAT first-year students
First year students will go through the results of this year's Qualifying Review, and have the opportunity to ask questions and get information to prepare for years 2 - 5 in SLAT. There will also be a presentation by the IRB staff about how to begin an IRB proposal.
Presenters: Dr. Suzanne Panferov Reese (SLAT Chair), Dr. Jill Castek (SLAT Grad Advisor), Debbie Shon Buhler (SLAT PC), and IRB staff
Instructor Positioning and Agency in English Medium Instruction Classrooms
Dissertation Proposal Title: Instructor Positioning and Agency in English Medium Instruction Classrooms
Dissertation Committee Members: Dr. Hayriye Kayi-Aydar (Chair), Dr. Wenhao Diao, Dr. Christine Tardy
Focus on achieving academic goals with fellow students
Two of SLAT's 5th-year major students, Rachel Floyd and Sophie Park, are continuing to host weekly SLAT Work Sessions during Spring 2023. Any SLAT major or minor student can attend these work sessions, and focus on achieving academic goals while working with and getting to know other students in the program.
The sessions will be on Zoom every Monday afternoon and Tuesday afternoon, from 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm. The first session will take place on Monday, January 23rd, and the sessions will continue until May 2nd (except for the week of spring break). The recurring Zoom link for the sessions is: https://arizona.zoom.us/j/83281995888 No advance registration necessary – just show up on whichever days work best for you and work on your academic goals!
Please reach out to Rachel (rfloyd@arizona.edu) or Sophie (seojinp@arizona.edu) with any questions.
