Academic Career:
In May, 2008, I earned a Master of Arts (MA) degree in Applied Linguistics from the University of Massachusetts in Boston after completing my coursework and publishing my MA thesis. Currently, I am researching graduate programs that will allow me to integrate me interest and knowledge of linguistics with my interest in exploring the educational and socially-transformative potential of technology.
I graduated the program summa cum laude (4.0/4.0 GPA) and received the Applied Linguistics Departmental Book Prize, awared each year to a single "oustanding" graduating student from within the program.
To open a PDF version of my thesis in a new window, click the link below:
Here is the abstract (pp. iv-v):
In this thesis, I develop the position that
the Parallel Architecture (PA) framework (Jackendoff, e.g., 2002,
2007a)—an independently-generative tripartite (i.e., phonological,
syntactic, semantic) model of language acquisition and processing—can
be successfully integrated with the first language (L1) literacy
development and second language acquisition (SLA) frameworks of Gee
(2007, 2005) and Johnson (2004) respectively. After detailing features
of the PA framework that make it uniquely desirable as a
psycholinguistic model for sociolinguistic inquiry, I consider
well-documented issues in first language and second language
development through a unified critical framework, ultimately proposing
new directions for future research. The goals of this thesis can be
formulated in terms of the two questions I have sought to answer: (1)
How is the Parallel Architecture compatible with contemporary
sociolinguistic theories of first language acquisition and literacy
development? (2) In what ways might the PA model of language contribute
to sociolinguistic investigations of SLA?
I also completed my undergraduate degree (BA) at UMass Boston with a dual major in English and Social Psychology.
My aim is to continue my research in second language acqusition, general language development, particularly in the context of technology and technology-based pedagogy.
- Awards and Grants
- —Applied Linguistics Departmental Book Prize (UMass Boston)—(Awarded to one "outstanding" graduate from within the program.)
- —Robert W. Spayne Research Grant (UMass Boston)—(A "competitive grant" awarded to thesis-writing graduate students.)
- —Alfred R. Ferguson Prize for Distinguished Work in American Literature—(Presented "to the junior or senior English major who has written the best paper on any subject in American literature."
- —Peter Brooks Butler Scholarship (Oxford Summer Programme)
- —The Marco Cosentino Italian Heritage Scholarship
- —Hofer Book Prize (Oxford Summer Program)
- —Departmental Distinction in English
- —University Honors English & Creative Writing
- —Watermark Literary Journal Poetry Prize
- —Academy of American Poets Harold Taylor Prize 2nd Place
- —Student Leadership Award
- —Academy of American Poets Harold Taylor Prize, 1st Place—Judged by former U.S. poet laureate Robert Pinsky