A new publication based on my research with Monique Mills (U of Houston) is out! Perceptions of Black Children’s Narrative Language: A Mixed-Methods Study reports on our mixed-methods study, which addressed two aims. First, we examine the impact of language variation on the ratings of children’s narrative language. Second, we identify participants’ ideologies related to narrative language and language variation. The article is part of a special issue of Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, Serving African American English Speakers in Schools Through Interprofessional Education & Practice. You can listen to guest editor Monique Mills talk about the issue and the development of strategies for speakers of African American English.
schooling
EHE K12 blended learning during COVID-19 website
The EHE K12 blended learning during COVID-19 website is live! This website is the product of the College’s K12 Reopening Task Force, on which I served this past summer. The website presents resources and strategies for educators to use in their schools and classrooms to support students and families in a virtual and/or blended learning environment. I was part of the group that focused on English language learners, along with Ebony Caldwell and Rebecca Parker. Check out our page, which includes a welcome video and great resources from OSU and beyond.
FSMLE Open House November 17
AAA Raising Our Voices 2020
The American Anthropological Association is holding a virtual conference this year, Raising Our Voices 2020. With Monique Mills (U of Houston), I have a virtual poster, ‘People aren’t going to tell stories in the same way’: A mixed-methods study of adult perceptions of Black children’s narrative language. This poster reports on a mixed-methods study of adults’ perceptions of Black children’s narrative language conducted by a linguistic anthropologist and a speech and hearing sciences researcher.
ASHA 2019 poster
Dr. Monique Mills (University of Houston, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders), Bethany Frick (Speech and Hearing Sciences), my advisee Somin Kim and I had a poster at the 2019 American Speech and Hearing Association Convention. We presenting an update on our project ‘Assessing Students’ Narrative Language: Emic and Etic Perceptions”. Funded by a Cross-College Seed Grant, the study examines how teachers and parents evaluate the language of school-age Black students informally and formally, with our ultimate goal being to improve academic assessment of this group.
OH TESOL 2019 Conference

CA Perspectives on English Language Learning, Teaching, Testing
The edited volume Conversation Analytic Perspectives on English Language Learning, Teaching and Testing in Global Contexts is out! With Peter Sayer and Taiane Malabarba, I have a chapter in it, ‘Teaching English in marginalized contexts: Constructing relevance in an EFL classroom in Rural Southern Mexico’. Check out the publisher’s blog post about the volume.
AAA 2018 panel honors Elinor Ochs
This year at the annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association I had the pleasure and privilege of participating in a panel in honor of my doctoral advisor, Elinor Ochs. The panel, ‘Experiencing Language: The Contributions of Elinor Ochs to Anthropology’, examined five areas in anthropology that have been inspired by Elinor’s’ work: ethnography of language acquisition across cultures (Amy Paugh), language socialization in educational contexts (Kathy Howard and me), language in ethnic and racial social contexts (Patricia Baquedano-López), autism and communication studies (Laura Sterponi and Wendy Klein), and family and ethics (Tamar Kremer-Sadlik). Bill Hanks and Judith Irvine were the chairs, and Elinor was the discussant.
Ohio TESOL 2018 poster presentation
Jackie Ridley and Somin Kim will present a poster on the Expanding Repertoires of Practice project at the Ohio TESOL 2018 Conference. The theme this year is Breaking Through Language Barriers: Success Across Content. Our goal is to communicate to practitioners and researchers the power and potential of science education that is hands-on, multimodal, and driven by children’s curiosity, particularly in superdiverse preschool classrooms like those we have studied in Central Ohio.
Session at ASTE with Mandy McCormick Smith
With my co-author Mandy McCormick Smith, I will present the experiential session ‘Preparing early childhood educators to make science learning meaningful for dual language learners in preschool contexts’ at the 2017 Meeting of the Association for Science Teacher Education. Our session focuses on preparing early childhood educators to make science learning meaningful for preschool children who speak many languages. Participants will interact with preschool science concepts through the pre-k learning cycle for science with emphasis on incorporating linguistically responsive approaches through thematic learning.