The present research employs the qualitative grounded theory method to develop an analytical and inductively derived theory that examines the current parental practices and techniques that successful, ethnically diverse families use to achieve positive outcomes with their children. It included a stratified sample of 20 families. These families are…

Research suggests that the language in which we speak, listen, and read may affect how we understand and interact with our environment. Part of this interaction includes understanding affective communication. Recently, more research has explored the area of bilingualism and emotion. The way in which language interacts with thought and emotion…

The purpose of this post-qualitative study was to examine the rhizomatic functioning of youth's engagements with literacy in a 7th grade English Language Arts classroom. I argued normed expectations of students' engagement with literacy in schools imposes hegemonic control over students' literacy learning, thus devaluing students' in-the-moment,…

Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) are a pervasive part of undergraduate education. When interacting with undergraduate students, GTAs must balance a tension of being a friend and an authority figure with students. One of the ways that balance is managed is through GTA self-disclosure. Self-disclosure is defined as, "the act of revealing…

This dissertation explores how participants express and interpret verbal cues of interaction involvement in dyadic conversations via text-based Instant Messaging (IM). Moreover, it seeks to discover differences in the way American participants and Chinese participants use verbal cues when they are highly, or lowly involved. Based on previous…

This mixed methods study examined the various aspects of multimodal use of non-verbal communication in virtual worlds during dyadic negotiations. Quantitative analysis uncovered a treatment effect whereby people with more rhetorical certainty used more neutral non-verbal communication; whereas people that were rhetorically less certain used more…

This teacher research studied second graders' small-group, peer-led discussions about three genres of literature--realistic fiction, biography picture books, and science information books--across one school year (during three units in the fall, winter, and spring). It set out to explore how this peer talk, in general, mediated children's responses…

This study examined mother-child book reading of immigrant, low-income Latino families in family literacy programs. A total of 92 Latino children (4 to 5 years old) and their mothers were observed reading a book together. The affective quality of mother-child behaviors and the type of maternal talk occurred during book reading were coded. During…