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Prior research has supported the development of language through interaction (e.g. Swain, Brooks & Tocalli Beller, 2002; Swain, 2005). Following Sociocultural theory (SCT) notions (Vygotsky, 1978), metatalk (MT) is claimed to be a specific aspect of interaction that leads to language development (e.g. Swain & Lapkin, 2002; Swain, 2005). This study takes a step further to explore the relationship between MT and language development by inquiring specifically about vocabulary development. Learners of Spanish as a second language completed a dictogloss activity and their interactions were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed. The analysis of lexical language-related episodes (LLREs) was carried out by adopting Sociocultural theory as a theoretical framework in order to trace lexical development in interaction through MT. Conclusions indicate that (1) because MT is a cognitive and semiotic tool that enables lexical development by means of participation in socially-mediated activities it is comparable to other forms of speech in their mediation functions and potential; (2) learners’ MT included the analysis of meaning, spelling, pronunciation, and word function, and reflected SCT concepts such as agency, situatedness, and task versus activity that explain their reliance on the word depth knowledge construct; and (3) SCT principles (e.g. roles, regulation) provide a window into learners’ transformation and imminent development during MT. Inferencing strategies and interaction features contribute further details to the analysis of how MT unfolds. New categories describing MT in interaction emerged from the data and illustrate how learners object-regulate and position themselves in the task. These results provide a detailed account of how MT occurs in collaborative settings to mediate vocabulary knowledge. This research contributes to the study of L2 vocabulary learning through the application of SCT. / text

Limited research exists regarding the experiences and perspectives of parents of highly and profoundly gifted children. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the experiences and perspectives of parents of highly and profoundly gifted children in developmental and cultural contexts. Semi-structured interviews were followed by thematic analysis regarding parental efficacy and parents' perceived support in parenting and educational communities to provide rich insights and to illuminate the voices of parents. In seeking academic and/or social emotional support, parents join groups designed to connect parents with experts in the field of gifted education and parent advocates of gifted children. A purposive sample was selected from parents who are members of networks and organizations serving profoundly gifted students. A self-report survey was distributed to parents enrolled in networks and/or organizations serving gifted students and parents of gifted students (e.g., SENG, Davidson Institute). Participant interviews were transcribed and qualitatively analyzed using thematic analysis. A qualitative descriptive analysis identified areas in which parents of highly and profoundly gifted children express the need for support within developmental and cultural contexts. Implications from the study aim to bring attention to the lived experiences of these parents to inform educators, counselors, and communities of parents' need for a sense of support and belonging in parenting trajectories.

Creative Writing in English (CWE) has not been extensively researched in Brazil. There are few courses about CWE in Brazilian Languages and Literature universities, and even fewer available publications in this area as well (Myers, 2006; Morley, 2007; Blythe and Sweet, 2008; Healey, 2009; Oberholzer, 2014). According to Brazilian Educational Bases and Guideline Law, creativity should be comprehended as one of the main foundations of the Brazilian education, from the primary schooling to the tertiary level. For higher education, this law established the importance of stimulating cultural creation, creative thinking broadening, creative skills honing and cognitive capacities. Nevertheless, very few Brazilian institutions have provided their Languages and Literature undergraduate students with CWE disciplines and/or extracurricular courses focusing on the development of their students\' creative writing The University of São Paulo (USP) is one of these few institutions. For these reasons, a Fanfictional Creative Writing in English (FCW) course was designed and taught at USP by the end of 2016. This course had 5 participants who were all Languages and Literature undergraduate students from USP. The aims of the FCW course and this research were to identify the students\' concepts about creativity, fanfictions and creative writing courses. Along with these identifications, the other aims have been the investigation of the students broadening of these concepts and the development of their fanfictional creative writing. The methodology of this research involved the organization and teaching of the extracurricular Fanfictional Creative Writing in English course. In order to achieve the aims of this research, the extracurricular course was based on the Vygotskian sociocultural theory (Vygotsky, 2004; 2007). The data collected indicated that the Fanfictional Creative Writing in English students developed their creativity, self-expression, imagination (Vygotsky, 2004; 2007), conceptual thinking (Lantolf, 2015), self-regulation as well as agency (Wertsch, 1998). / A Escrita Criativa em Inglês (ECI) não tem sido extensivamente pesquisada no Brasil. Há poucos cursos sobre ECI em universidades brasileiras de Letras, e ainda menos publicações disponíveis nesta área (Myers, 2006; Morley, 2007; Blythe e Sweet, 2008; Healey, 2009; Oberholzer, 2014). De acordo com a Lei de Diretrizes e Bases Educacionais do Brasil (LDB), a criatividade deve ser compreendida como uma das habilidades fundamentais para se desenvolver a educação brasileira, do ensino fundamental ao superior. Referente ao ensino superior, a LDB estabeleceu a importância de estimular a criação cultural, a ampliação do pensamento criativo, o aprimoramento das habilidades criativas e as capacidades cognitivas. No entanto, pouquíssimas instituições brasileiras forneceram aos seus alunos de graduação disciplinas de ECI e/ou cursos extracurriculares com foco no desenvolvimento da escrita criativa de seus alunos. A Universidade de São Paulo (USP) é uma dessas poucas instituições. Por essas razões, um curso de Escrita Criativa Fanfictional em Inglês (ECFI) foi desenvolvido e ministrado na USP no final de 2016. Este curso teve 5 participantes, todos estudantes de graduação em Letras da USP. Os objetivos do curso de ECFI e, também, desta pesquisa foram identificar os conceitos desses alunos sobre criatividade, fanfictions e cursos de escrita criativa. Juntamente com essas identificações, os outros objetivos foram a investigação da ampliação desses conceitos pelos alunos de ECFI e o desenvolvimento de suas escritas criativas fanfictionais. A metodologia desta pesquisa envolveu a organização e o ensino da Escrita Criativa Fanfictional em inglês em um curso extracurricular na USP. Para alcançar os objetivos desta pesquisa, a organização deste curso foi baseada na teoria sociocultural vygotskiana (Vygotsky, 2004; 2007). Os dados coletados indicaram que os estudantes da ECFI desenvolveram a criatividade, a autoexpressão, a imaginação (Vygotsky, 2004; 2007), o pensamento conceitual (Lantolf, 2015), a autorregulação e a agência (Wertsch, 1998).

Abstract Making Meaning, Out of Meaning Making by Alda M. Blakeney This study examines the ways in which three elementary teachers appropriated and implemented a defined literacy curriculum in their classrooms. The overarching question guiding the study is, “What are the social and cultural patterns of meaning making in the literacy practices of three elementary teachers?” The study is framed by sociocultural perspectives of learning (Bourdieu, 1986; Gee, n.d; Vygotsky, 1978). Literacy practices involve the cultural, social, political, and historical ways of interacting and making sense of the world. Therefore, to study literacy practices of three elementary teachers means to study the social and cultural contexts in which they occur. Field notes, interviews, and teacher-produced artifacts were analyzed using emergent coding schemes (Spradley, 1979; LeCompte and Schensul, 1999). Findings from the study revealed that the literacy practices of these three teachers were standards driven, emphasizing a foundational approach to literacy development. Additionally, the teachers focused on transforming Spanish speakers into English readers. These findings suggest that the social and cultural patterns of meaning making between and among teachers and learners are not equally represented in the curriculum. Moreover, the teachers did not disrupt commonly held beliefs and practices about literacy, thereby maintaining the status quo. Implications for this study including equipping teachers, both pre-service and in-service with knowledge of critical theory and literacy, with a goal of increased engagement in literacy practices and a democratized production of knowledge.

For immigrant adult learners, learning English is not only for survival and functioning in the target language (TL) culture, but it is also a means of being able to successfully deal with the inequitable power structures in place in the larger society which deny them access to the culture's social, economic, and political resources (Norton, 2000). In the United States, the computer is a culturally valued resource and tool used by TL speakers, yet this valued resource is not easily accessible to immigrant adults due to their limited language ability, lack of experience with computers, and/or financial reasons; thus, putting them at an immediate socioeconomic disadvantage in this country. Nevertheless, researchers have argued that today's language learners must know how to read, write and communicate through electronic mediums due to the computer's prevalence in many aspects of modern life (Warschauer, 2005).The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of technology on adult immigrant learners as they learn how to use computers formally for the first time within an English as a Second Language curriculum. Specifically, the study seeks to discover which factors contribute to successful computer literacy acquisition, the impact of computer literacy acquisition to their identities, and which pedagogical practices are best suited for this population. The research project took place at a local community college and looked at 25 students, focusing in on five case-profile learners. Using Lave & Wenger's (1991) Situated Learning Theory and Norton's (1995) Theory of Investment, Social Identity and Power as a means of examining the above issues, the findings provide evidence that teachers need to consider learners' identities when designing and implementing a computer literacy curriculum. This research also calls attention to the necessity of implementing a computer literacy course within an ESL curriculum so that students can learn language and computer literacy in an ESL supportive environment attentive to their specific needs. Moreover, the study points to the need for instructors to be more aware of their own cultural and learning style biases and how they affect learner participation in this population of students.

This is an ethnographic study designed to form an in-depth description and understanding of multilingual learners’ mathematical experiences and meaning-making in a plurilingual educational setting. I assumed a sociocultural perspective that draws from Vygotsky’s theory of learning and development. A sociocultural perspective offers a promising epistemological conceptualization of children, their learning, and language development as mediated by social, cultural, and historical contexts. One grade 2/3 classroom with 18 students from Eritrea, Nepal, Somalia, Sudan, and Syria participated in the study. The data included observations, video recordings of students working on mathematics activities, copies of students’ work, and interviews with students. The results of the study revealed the teacher’s pedagogical practices as a significant influence on students’ mathematical meaning-making and learning experiences, which in turn influenced students’ individual identities as mathematics learners in the grade 2/3 classroom. There were also institutional and sociopolitical aspects that influenced the teacher’s practices, and in turn, influenced students’ mathematics experiences. Hence, the influences on students’ learning of mathematics take the form or shape of a reciprocal formation where one influence is connected to and influences the other. The findings of the analysis also show that it was the students’ interactions with one another that were at the heart of their meaning making. Students’ interactions were significant to their meaning making as they were constantly learning from one another. Little meaning making would have happened without these interactions. These interactions encouraged students to develop a collection of resources to share their thinking and ideas through verbal, visual, and written mathematical communications. Hence, utilizing language to make meaning and to negotiate their mathematical understanding. Ultimately, the descriptions of multilingual learners’ mathematics experiences and meaning making may inform research and practices to support other multilingual learners’ experiences in mathematics education. This study also contributes to what is still a very limited body of literature on multilingual students’ mathematical experiences and meaning in a Canadian educational setting.

Transnational caregivers are immigrants who reside and work in one country while simultaneously providing care to family members in their home country. Anthropologists have demonstrated in many cultural settings that despite geographic separation, transnational families attempt to maintain social relations, share resources, and provide care to one another. This thesis explores how Romanian migrants in Canada navigate care, a dynamic practice, within the context of sociocultural and political histories, cultural traditions, and a globalized world. It considers (1) how these migrants conceptualize aging and their migrant identity in relation to caregiving, (2) how migrants and their families maintain kin ties and care agreements, and (3) how migrants balance their personal circumstances with Romanian sociocultural expectations of care. I argue that Romania’s communist history plays a significant role in migrants’ reasons for leaving Romania, as well as in the availability of services related to elder well-being and health. Additionally, migrants and their families’ perceptions of institutional care versus family caregiving are influenced by their experiences living in Romania’s communist and post-communist eras. The stories in this thesis highlight the fact that moral values concerning care, conceptualizations of care, and actual care practices are not the same thing. This thesis shows that the Romanian migrants grew up with informal caregiving within the family home as the traditional and obligatory care practice, a value they maintain into adulthood. As such, many of them envisioned maintaining a similar routine as their parents aged – a plan that had to be readjusted after their migration. The result is a variety of care practices among my participants, with different intensities (time spent caregiving) and complexities (how many people are involved in care). The social pressures documented in this thesis are not just relevant to Romania, as many other places in Eastern Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia are experiencing similar crises in elder care due to the out-migration of the younger generation. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)