Melisa Cahnmann-Taylor
MELISA CAHNMANN-TAYLOR, Professor of Language and Literacy Education at the University of Georgia, is the author of a book of poems, Imperfect Tense (2016) and five other books on the arts of language and education: Enlivening Instruction with Drama and Improv (2021), Teachers Act Up: Creating Multicultural Community Through Theatre (2010) & Arts-Based Research in Education, first and second editions (2008; 2018; third edition, In Press). The Creative Ethnographer's Notebook, a creative writing guide authored with Kristina Jacobsen, will be published by Routledge (2024). Her poems, translations, and essays have appeared in the Georgia Review, American Poetry Review, Poet Lore, Barrow Street, Plume, Tupelo, Rattle, Hawaii Pacific Review and elsewhere. She and Kuo Zhang are the exclusive translators for the Chinese poet, Nianxi Chen.
Phone: 706-583-8127
Address: 309Q Aderhold Hall
UGA
Athens, GA 30602
Phone: 706-583-8127
Address: 309Q Aderhold Hall
UGA
Athens, GA 30602
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gender, and sexuality, while resisting normalcy. The authors
utilize a queer theoretical approach in analysis of participant
observation in adult Spanish and Mandarin classes as well as
interviews with world language teachers. Analysis of interview
data reveals how educators and adult language learners
experience gender/sexuality norms in conventional classroom
and school contexts. Classroom observations and analysis of
classroom discourse identify moments when these norms
may be “troubled” or upheld in contexts using a progressive
new approach called Teaching Proficiency through Reading
and Storytelling (TPRS). Findings suggest that the improvisational
nature of TPRS raises complex questions about heteronormativity
in language learning and the creative work in
which educators and students can engage in dialogic
classrooms.
gender, and sexuality, while resisting normalcy. The authors
utilize a queer theoretical approach in analysis of participant
observation in adult Spanish and Mandarin classes as well as
interviews with world language teachers. Analysis of interview
data reveals how educators and adult language learners
experience gender/sexuality norms in conventional classroom
and school contexts. Classroom observations and analysis of
classroom discourse identify moments when these norms
may be “troubled” or upheld in contexts using a progressive
new approach called Teaching Proficiency through Reading
and Storytelling (TPRS). Findings suggest that the improvisational
nature of TPRS raises complex questions about heteronormativity
in language learning and the creative work in
which educators and students can engage in dialogic
classrooms.