University of Wisconsin–Madison

Students’ Research in 2025-26

The SLA doctoral students at UW-Madison are conducting research, publishing, and actively engaging in various scholarly activities. In 2025-26, they presented their research and expertise at different conferences, symposiums, and workshops within and outside the university community. They contributed to major national and international conferences, including the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL), ACTFL Annual Convention, American Educational Research Association (AERA), and the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC), among others.

In preparation for conferences and publication, the SLA students hosted informal share-outs where they presented their research to their peers.

In addition, SLA students have received campus- and nationwide awards and grants in recognition of their scholarly work.

A group of students sitting at a desk at a research share-out
A research share-out session

Awards & Grants

Aruzhan Dauletkhan

  • Summer Research Partnerships Award, University of Wisconsin–Madison — 2025

Gengqi Xiao

  • Conference Presentation Support Grant, National Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations — 2025

Martiniano Etchart

  • Dissertation Write-up Award, Department of Spanish & Portuguese, University of Wisconsin–Madison — 2026
  • Ray Harris-Northall Hispanic Linguistics Award, Department of Spanish & Portuguese, University of Wisconsin–Madison — 2025
  • Graduate Student (Wilga Rivers) Award, American Association for Applied Linguistics — 2025

Mathilde Garnier

  • Student Support Program Award, Graduate School, University of Wisconsin–Madison — 2026
  • Generative AI and Language Education Instructional Innovation Award, Language Institute, University of Wisconsin–Madison — 2025

Oluwatoyin Olanipekun

  • Student Support Program Award, Department of Second Language Acquisition, University of Wisconsin–Madison — 2026
  • Graduate Student Travel and Research Grant, Department of Second Language Acquisition, University of Wisconsin–Madison — 2025

Patricia Haberkorn

  • College of Letters & Science Lead Teaching Mentor, University of Wisconsin–Madison — 2025–2026
  • Advanced Achievement in Teaching Award, University of Wisconsin–Madison Graduate School — 2025–2026

Ruth Adeniyi

  • English 100 Outstanding Instructor Award, Department of English, University of Wisconsin–Madison — 2025

Sun Young Choo

  • Project Assistant Graduate Assistantship, Department of Second Language Acquisition, University of Wisconsin–Madison — 2025
  • Student Support Program Award, Department of Second Language Acquisition, University of Wisconsin–Madison — 2026

Thérèse Jasperson

  • Distinguished Service and Engaged Research Award in Relation to Diversity Efforts, American Association for Applied Linguistics — 2026
  • Anne Frank Visiting Researcher Award, Southeast Asian Archive, University of California, Irvine — 2025
  • Amy Ling Yellow Light Award for Creative Endeavor and Scholarship, Department of Asian American Studies, University of Wisconsin–Madison — 2025
  • SLA Summer Archival Research Award, Department of Second Language Acquisition, University of Wisconsin–Madison — 2025

 

Publications

Abunga, L.M., Adeniyi, R.O. (2025). Understanding the Transnational Lives and Literacies of Young Immigrant Children. By Jungmin Kwon, New York: Teachers College Press, 2022. 160 pp. ISBN: 978-0-80-776660-6. Anthropology and Education Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1111/aeq.70039

Moua-Jasperson, T. From the Valley’s Embrace to the Land of 10,000 Lakes: Hmong Texts in the Diaspora. Journal, Volume, 28, 1-36.

Olanipekun, Oluwatoyin (2025) Joseph Abiodun Balogun. Reimagining Nigeria’s Educational System: Improving Academic Performance Through High Stakes Standardized Testing. Abingdon: Routledge, 2024. 328 Pp. Illustrations. $43.99. Paper. ISBN: 9781032483160.” African Studies Review, 2025, 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1017/asr.2025.10102

Xiao, G. (2026). Translanguaging silence and humor: Registering, resisting, and reconstructing identities in an English-medium classroom in the United States. The Modern Language Journal, 110(1), 240–266. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.70024

Yu, J., & Xiao, G. (2026). Globalizing “race” in international student research. Educational Researcher. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X261434495

Xiao, G., & Yu, J. (2026). Politicized identity and language practices: Understanding Chinese international students’ language ideologies amid U.S.-China geopolitical tensions. Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-026-01623-3

Xiao, G., Wang, H., & Yu, J. (2026). Transnationalizing raciolinguistics: An intersectional analysis for understanding Chinese international students’ language ideologies across contexts. Journal of Sociolinguistics. https://doi.org/10.1111/josl.70016

Xiao, G. (2025). Rethinking translanguaging: (Trans)bordering, spatiality, and academic discourse socialization in a graduate TESOL classroom. Applied Linguistics, amaf062. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amaf062

Xiao, G. (2025). Becoming the system: A raciolinguistic genealogy of bilingual education in the post-Civil Rights era. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 28(9), 1166–1168. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2025.2530216

Wang, Z., Shen, B., Chen, Y., & Fang, F. (2025). Unpacking teachers’ beliefs about translanguaging in language learning: a qualitative meta-synthesis. International Journal of Multilingualism, 1-20. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/10.1080/14790718.2025.2463539

 

Conference Presentations

Abunga, L.M. (2025, April). Utilizing AI to enhance Swahili speaking proficiency among beginner-level students in the U.S.: A pilot study. Second Language Acquisition Student Symposium, UW-Madison. Madison, WI.

Abunga, L.M. (2026 April). Teachers’ Identity Negotiation in Multilingual CBC Classrooms in Rural Kenya. Sociolinguistics Symposium, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Abunga, L.M. (2026 March). Teachers’ perspectives on sociocultural contexts and Swahili learning in Gusii under Kenya’s CBC. American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL), Chicago, IL.

Abunga, L.M. (2026 March). Ubuntu Translanguaging in Rural Kenyan CBC Classrooms for Inclusive Swahili Learning. EPS Conference, UW–Madison.

Adeniyi, R.O., Randolph Jr., L.J.*, & Schwartz, T. (2025, April). Rethinking language program promotion: A critical discourse analysis of university website descriptions. AERA. Denver. CO.

Adeniyi, R.O., Randolph Jr., L.J.*, & Schwartz, T. (2025, March). Language education for whom and what purposes?: Critical discourse analysis of university language program promotions. AAAL Denver. CO.

Adeniyi, R.O. (2026, March). Who Yoruba Epp: Understanding Heritage Language Transmission and Acquisition among Yoruba-speaking Families in the US. American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) Conference. Denver. CO.

Adeniyi, R.O., Schwartz, T., Murphy, D.*, Odegard, L. (2025, October). From research to action: Toward more inclusive language program narratives. Symposium on Language Pedagogy in Higher Education (SOLPHE). Virtual.

Bozer, E. M. (2026). Teacher as language policymaker: An ecological investigation of local classroom language policymaking in a Turkish heritage language school. AAAL, Chicago, IL.

Bozer, E.M. (2025, March). Heritage and non-heritage parents’ language ideologies and parental engagement: Insights from a Turkish community school. AAAL Denver, CO.

Bozer, E.M.  (2025, April). Navigating ideologies and discourses: Parents’ enrollment choices in a Turkish community-based heritage language School. Second Language Acquisition Student Symposium, UW-Madison. Madison, WI.

Choo, S., & Lim, B. (2025). Comparing the Effectiveness of AI and Teacher Feedback on Korean Particle Errors in Writing and Learner Perceptions. Presented at the American Association of Teachers of Korean (AATK) 2025 Conference, Honolulu, HI.

Choo, S.Y. (2025, April). Comparing the effectiveness of AI and teacher feedback on Korean particle errors in writing. Second Language Acquisition Student Symposium, UW-Madison. Madison, WI.

Dauletkhan, A. (2026 March). An approximate replication of Jo et al. (2021) on scope interpretation in L3 English adults [Poster presentation]. American Association for Applied Linguistics Conference 2026, Chicago, IL, United States.

Cho, J.*, & Dauletkhan, A. (2026 September). Negation and quantifier scope in the L3 acquisition of English by L1-Kazakh L2-Russian, L1-Russian L2-Kazakh, and Kazakh-Russian simultaneous bilingual speakers. Third Language Acquisition and Multilingualism.

Durmaz, N. (April 2026). Reclaiming Silenced Voices: Heritage Language Education in a Monolingual Nation-State (Paper presentation). AERA, Los Angeles, CA.

Durmaz, N. (March 2026). Emotional Struggles and Everyday Acts of Resilience by Zazaki Heritage Language Teachers in Eastern Turkey (Paper presentation). AAAL, Chicago, IL.

Durmaz, N. (July, 2025). Navigating Challenges: The Experiences of Heritage Language Teachers in Turkey (Paper presentation). ISCHE 46, Lille, France.

Durmaz, N. (2025, April). Schooling experiences and shame: A case study of a linguistically and ethnically minoritized individual in Turkey. Second Language Acquisition Student Symposium, UW-Madison. Madison, WI.

Etchart, Martiniano (2026, March) “The socio-emotional impact of institutions: Global South teacher perspectives”. Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) International Convention & Expo 2026, TESOL International Association. Salt Lake City, UT, USA.

Etchart, Martiniano, Galindo, Estefanía, and Rao, Rajiv (2026, March) “Exploring speaker effects on the perception of L2 Spanish emotional prosody: An acoustic analysis”. American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) Annual Conference 2026, AAAL. Chicago, IL, USA.

Etchart, Martiniano (2025, November) “Incorporating well-being components into language teacher education”. American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Annual Convention 2025, ACTFL. New Orleans, LA, USA.

Andrew Miloshoff, Berit Skogen, Kayla Morey, Kirill Ospovat, and Martiniano Etchart (2025, September) “Exploring Graduate Study in Languages & Linguistics: Panel Discussion”, Language Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Madison, WI, USA.

Etchart, Martiniano (2025, June) “Revisiting and addressing language ideologies: The case of Spanish in the United States”. 16th Heritage Language Research Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Madison, WI, USA.

Etchart, Martiniano (2025, June) “It’s awful for me to use English, but it’s something I need to do”: An international student’s experiences of language anxiety”. Language Anxiety Network (LAN) One-day Seminar. Rio de Janeiro State University. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. [virtual]

Etchart, M. (2025). Thinking about well-being: A conversation among language teachers. Department of Spanish & Portuguese, UW-Madison Madison, WI.

Murphy, D.*, Driver, M., Etchart, M., & Goetze, J.* (2025, March) Campus-based initiatives to challenge monolingual and monodialectal ideologies in U.S. higher education. AAAL. Denver, CO.

Etchart, M. & Hernando, A. (2025, March). Behind the scenes of graduate study: realities and dilemmas of conducting research as graduate students — Special Session: Open Access Book Launch and Networking/Discussion Session, conveners Carlo Cinaglia & Matthew Coss. AAAL. Denver, CO.

Etchart, M. (2025, March). Do institutional roles shape emotional experiences? Exploring student and instructor appraisals of foreign language anxiety. AAAL. Denver, CO. — Winner of the AAAL 2025 Graduate Student Award Wilga Rivers.

Etchart, M. (2025). Social positioning as a source of foreign language anxiety: The case of international teaching assistants. 17th Graduate Portuguese and Hispanic Symposium (GRAPSHY), Georgetown University. Washington D.C.

Etchart, M. (2025). ¿Quién le pone el cascabel al gato? A conversation about emotions in the (language) classroom. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Departamento de Lenguas, Cátedra de Lingüística General, Universidad Católica Argentina (Buenos Aires, Argentina). (Virtual)

Gault, L. (2025, April). Making research matter: social science research-informed pedagogical applications for the Russian-Language Classroom (Roundtable) American Council Teachers of Russian (ACTR). (Virtual)

Gault, L. (2025, February). 101: Basics of prompt for language learning (workshop presenter). American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages (AATSEEL). (Virtual)

Murphy, D.*, Quinn, S., Glowacki, G., Almuratova, A., Evans-Romaine, K.*, & Gault, L. (2025, February). Russian advanced interactive listening series 2.0: Focus on Kazakh history and culture. American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages (AATSEEL). (Virtual)

Garnier, M. (2025, October). Using GenAI for Task Planning and Critical Reflection in L2 Intermediate French Writing. Department of French and Italian Research Seminar. The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI.

Garnier, M. (2025, October). Foreign language teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs. [Guest Lecture]. The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI.

Garnier, M. (2025, October). Using GenAI for Task Planning and Critical Reflection in L2 Intermediate French Writing. Connect and Share: Experimenting with AI in Language Teaching. Language Institute. The University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI.

Garnier, M. (2025, April).  All we need is confidence: Exploring L2 teachers’ self-efficacy in teaching and assessing L2 writing. Second Language Acquisition Student Symposium, UW-Madison. Madison, WI.

Garnier, M. (2025, February). Understanding emotional well-being in the teaching of writing. Center for Teaching and Research on Writing. UW-Madison. Madison, WI.

Haberkorn, P. Feeling the words: Developing vignettes on L2 instructors’ emotional experiences when teaching disabled college students. American Association of Applied Linguistics Conference, Chicago, IL, March 21-24, 2026.

Haberkorn, P. (2025, April). Into the unkown?! L2 instructors’ (emotional) experiences teaching students with disabilities. 7th Second-Language Learning and Disabilities Conference, Online Conference hosted by Boston University and Tufts University.

Jasperson, T.M. (2025, April). Preserving Identity Through Language. Second Language Acquisition Student Symposium, UW-Madison. Madison, WI.

Jasperson, T.M. (2025, March). Reading the discourses of oppression and resistance through the lens of relationality in Hmong and French narratives. AAAL. Denver, CO.

Jasperson, T.M., Olanipekun, O., & Shimshak, A. (2025, April). Extending literacy narratives: B-Sides in Kinship. CCCC. Baltimore, Maryland.

Kong, Z. (March, 2026). Reassembly of Plural and Human Features in Mandarin Chinese by L1 Korean Learners in a Korean-Dominant Context. Poster Presentation at American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) 2026, Chicago, IL.

Olanipekun, Oluwatoyin. (2026). “Exploring International Doctoral Students’ Voice Socialization and Construction in Academic Writing.” Sociolinguistics Symposium Between Languages, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Olanipekun, Oluwatoyin. (2025). “Extending Literacy Narratives: B-Sides in Kinship.” Panel presentation at the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) Annual Convention, Baltimore, Maryland

Olanipekun, O. (2025, April). Navigating academic identities and disabilities: Graduate students’ writing. Second Language Acquisition Student Symposium, UW-Madison. Madison, WI.

Olanipekun, O. (2025, February). Address terms as a site of identity negotiation: Insights from an African graduate student. Africa Through Language and Area Studies (ATLAS), University of Maryland. College Park, Maryland.

Petrova N. (2025, April). Understanding student engagement in language studies: Research-informed insights on proficiency and investment in learning Russian. American Council of Teachers of Russian 50th Anniversary International Virtual Conference.

Petrova N. (2025, April). Is scaffolding proficiency with AI possible? A case of exploring chatGPT’s potential in adapting l2 Russian reading materials. [5-minute share-out session]. American Council of Teachers of Russian 50th Anniversary International Virtual Conference,

Petrova N. (2025, April). Building bridges: Graduate student advocacy and the power of peer collaboration. Roundtable presentation. American Council of Teachers of Russian 50th Anniversary International. (Virtual)

Petrova N. (2025, March). Multiple dimensions of students’ investment in l2 learning: A case of the russian flagship program (poster) AAAL. Denver, CO.

Petrova N. & Rychkova, I. (2025, February). AI comes to the rescue: Designing vocabulary and writing assignments for intermediate Russian courses. AATSEEL. (Virtual)

Petrova N. (2025, February). Expanding proficiency: Addressing pragmatic gaps in advanced Russian instruction. AATSEEL. (Virtual)

Sawyer, R.E. (2026, March) “This giant disconnect”: HLL and SLL identity in Spanish world language classes. AAAL Annual Conference, Chicago, IL

Bhasin, A., Wilfrid, J., Cranley, E., Sawyer, R.E. (2026, April) Empowering Rural Educators of Multilingual Learners: Insights from a Five-Year Professional Learning Project. Part of symposium NPD Grant-Project Based Research: Constructing a New Vision for Effective MLL Teacher Education. AERA Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA

Sawyer, R.E. (2025, November) “Teacher Spanish”: Students and Teachers Understanding Language Borders. ACTFL Convention, New Orleans, LA

Xiao, G., & Randolph Jr, L. J*. (April 2026). (Tran)bordering as pedagogy in world language education. American Educational Research Association (AERA), Los Angeles, CA.

Xiao, G. (April 2026). Making and using “quiet student” identities in an English‐medium classroom: A translanguaging and flows perspective. American Educational Research Association (AERA), Los Angeles, CA.

Pitts, C., Xiao, G., Karumbaiah, S., Barron, K. D., Castro, M., & Maheshwary, P. (April 2026). Applying a translanguaging perspective to collaborative problem-solving. American Educational Research Association (AERA), Los Angeles, CA.

Xiao, G. (March 2026). Translanguaging silence and humor: Registering, resisting, and reconstructing identities in a graduate TESOL classroom. American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL), Chicago, IL.

Xiao, G. (2025, April). Translanguaging silence and humor: Registering, resisting, and reconstructing identities in a U.S. EMI classroom. Second Language Acquisition Student Symposium, UW-Madison. Madison, WI.

Xiao, G., & Wang, H. (2025, March). From majority to minority: Raciolinguistic socialization of Chinese students in U.S. higher education. Individual Paper presented at the AAAL. Denver, CO.

Wang, Z. (2026 April). Exploring the Role of Temporality in CFL Learner Task Engagement: A Comparison of Here-and-Now and There-and-Then Tasks. Yale-Princeton international conference on Chinese language instruction, New Haven, CT.

Wang, Z. (2026 March). Boredom across cultures: An appraisal-based comparative Q methodology study with Chinese and Thai EFL learners. AAAL, Chicago, IL.

Wang, Z. (2025 November). Q methodology sharing: A step by step tutorial and empirical examples. SISU Pub graduate association online sharing. Zoom.

Wang, Z. (2025 July). A latent profile analysis of enjoyment, anxiety, and boredom in Chinese EFL and LOTE learning: How do emotional profiles relate to student engagement?. HAAL, Hong Kong.

Wang, Z. (2025, March). Unfolding the complexity of foreign language enjoyment: A fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis versus multiple regression analysis. AAAL. Denver, CO.

*K. Evans-Romaine, J. Goetze, D. Murphy, and L.J. Randolph Jr., Jacee Cho, – SLA Steering Committee faculty co-presenters