Assistant professor of learning sciences Eva Lam was recently awarded a National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship to continue her research on young immigrants' language learning. Her research study employs multiple methods to explore language and literacy learning that occurs in transnational digital contexts. Lam notes, "Specifically, it examines how adolescents of immigrant backgrounds and diverse national origins use the Internet to organize diasporic social relationships, access information and media sources, and develop linguistic skills and cognitive orientations that encompass multiple societal systems."
The study is designed to investigate both broad patterns of global communication, through surveys and focus group interviews, and specific processes of language and literacy acquisition through longitudinal case studies.
"The research has implications for understanding global contexts of learning and immigrant adaptation," explains Lam. "The NAE/Spencer fellowship will sponsor longitudinal documentation of how participation in transnational digital contexts affects the development of a sample of focal students in their use of language and literacy, ethnic identification, and global and cross-cultural awareness."
NAE/Spencer fellowships are awarded to scholars whose research has the potential to improve education. According to NAE/Spencer, the program "promotes scholarship in the United States and abroad on matters relevant to the improvement of education in all its forms." Fellows receive $55,000 over one or two academic years to support their research, and fewer than 20 fellowships were awarded in 2006.
Lam, who has been a member of the School of Education and Social Policy faculty since 2004, earned both her master's degree and doctorate from University of California - Berkeley. An applied linguist and educational researcher, she teaches classes in both learning sciences and Asian American studies. Her work has appeared in numerous journals, and her dissertation received the Outstanding Dissertation Award for 2004 at University of California - Berkeley.
Last Modified: 8/14/09