PhD in Language, Literacy, and Culture

The dissertations and milestone papers listed below indicate the range of research interests and topics pursued by current and former LLC students:

• Susanna Benko: “Teaching to the Task: Preservice Teachers’ Instruction for Cognitively Demanding Writing Assignments”
• Melissa M. Brydon: “The Effect of Rich Instruction on the Vocabulary Acquisition of Preschool Dual Language Learners”
• James S. Chisholm: “Leveraging Adolescents’ Multimodal Literacies to Promote Dialogic Discussions of Literature in One Secondary English Classroom”
• Michelle Cianciosi-Rimbey: “An Investigation of a Cross-Content Academic Vocabulary Intervention in an Urban Middle School”
• Kristin Davin: “Group Dynamic Assessment in an Early Foreign Language Learning Program: Tracking Movement through the Zone of Proximal Development”
• April Mattix Foster: “The Orphan Among Us: An Examination of Orphans in Newbery Award Winning Literature”
• Maria Genest: “The Nature of Cooperating Teacher Feedback about Preservice Teachers’ Read Aloud Enactments”
• Hyeju Han: “Middle School Students’ Use of Cognitive and Sociocultural Resources During an Examination of a Contested Topic in a Digital Space”
• Jessica Haselkorn: “Investigation of Pre-Service Social Studies Teachers’ Beliefs about Global Education: Evidence from Personal Narratives of Learning and Teaching”
• Corey Humphrey: “I am from the hills of West Virginia”: A Case Study of Literacy Teaching and Learning in a Rurban West Virginia High School English Classroom”
• Adam Loretto: “How Sponsors Influence Students’ Writing Practices in an Eighth Grade English Language Arts Classroom”
• Erika Abarca Millán: “Equitable Access to Higher Education in Chile: An Analysis of Special-Access Students’ Reported Experiences at University”
• Chris Olshefski: “Functions of Religious Literacy in Literary Discussions of National Board-Certified English Teachers”
• Kathleen A. Ramos: “Teaching Persuasive Argument Essay Writing to Adolescent English Language Learners through the Reading to Learn Approach”
• Karen Rissling: “The Perceptions of High School Students from Refugee, Immigrant, and visiting Professional Families about Their School Experiences in Pittsburgh”
• Terrence Zhang: “How Feedback on Writing Quality and Feedback on Prior Revisions Shape Post-Secondary ESL Students’ Revisions on an Expository Writing Task”