Also joining the department this year as a member of our Rhetoric, Writing, and Linguistics division is Rima Elabdali, an assistant professor specializing in applied and sociolinguistics. She comes to this position with an MA in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from Portland State University and an M.S. in Linguistics and Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics from Georgetown University.
Elabdali’s research illustrates the dynamics of inclusion and inclusion that multinational learners navigate in universities and other educational spaces. Her dissertation, Belonging, Conflict, and Race: A Critical Ethnography of Educational Policies and Practices in a Community Language School, explores how the educational policies and practices at an Arabic language community school in the US impact the schooling experiences and feelings of belonging of immigrants affected by transnational conflicts. Earlier work explores how multilingual learners negotiate collaborative language learning interactions with peers and tutors. Her articles have appeared in TESOL Quarterly, Journal of Second Language Writing, Computers & Composition, and the Modern Language Journal.
In addition to helping administer the department’s English as a Second Language program, Elabdali will teach courses in Sociolinguistics, American English, Teaching English as a Second/Foreign Language, Second Language Acquisition, and Pedagogical Grammar for ESL Teachers.