Student research is the lifeblood of the Ethnography of Diversity in Higher Education (EDHE) at George Mason University. To give a taste of the breadth and range of the research currently underway by students involved with EDHE, every month we spotlight a student researcher and the work that they contribute toward exploring the limitless diversity of campus life at Mason.
Meet:
SHAMAMA MOOSVI
Classication: Sophomore
Major: Government (minor in English)
Research in her own words:
"My research centers on the faculty experience of teaching non-native speakers of English in the United States Academy. I, along with the help of the University Writing Center Director Terry Zawacki, Associate Directory Anna Habib, and ESL Specialist Eiman Hajabbasi, interviewed faculty about their experiences with and approaches with respondign to the writing of non-native speakers of English using a set of Human Subjects Review Board approved questions. The questions were aimed to provide us feedback on the the type of adivce faculty give to non-native speakers of English, what they characterize as 'strong' and 'weak' writing in the discipline, and the solutions that they use to help non-native speakers. Currently, we have interviewed eight faculty and after coding the transcribed interviews we are finding that faculty are saying that non-native speakers of English are successful and more comfortable in using their voice when 'alternative discourses' are used in the writing process, such as technology, instead of writing using 'standard English.' However, this observation was recently observed in our interviews so we do still need to further research that aspect."
How Research Interest Developed:
"My interest in the research came greatly from the fact that the I peer tutored in the writing center last spring. I am bilingual since I speak English and Urdu and early on in elementary school I did have to take a couple of ESL classes so I also have a personal connection to the research."
