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Profile

College / Department

College of Arts and Sciences
Department of Writing Studies

Teaching areas

Academic writing, rhetoric, and EFL

Research areas

Applied linguistics, academic discourse, writer identity, and second-language acquisition

Education

B.A., English Literature, University of California at Berkeley, 1993
M.A., TESOL, City University of New York, 2006
Ph.D. Candidate, Applied Linguistics, University of Exeter

Professional experience

American University of Sharjah, UAE, 2010-present
American University in Cairo, EGYPT, 2008-2010
U.S. Department of State/Al Azhar University, EGYPT, 2008
New York City College of Technology, USA, 2006-2007
U.S. Department of State/University of Aden, YEMEN, 2007-2008

Memberships

•International Association of Applied Linguistics, 2014-present •Language and Education Network, University of Exeter, 2012-present •TESOL Arabia, 2010-present
Language and Education Network, 2012 - present
TESOL Arabia, 2010 - present
Vice President/Treasurer of TESOL Arabia Sharjah Chapter, UAE, 2014 - 2016

Contact

lsperrazza@aus.edu
+971 6 515 2656

Dr. Lelania Sperrazza

Senior Instructor 
PhD, TESOL Education/Applied Linguistics, University of Exeter, United Kingdom

Lelania Sperrazza is a senior writing instructor at the American University of Sharjah. She has a PhD from the University of Exeter in TESOL Education/Applied Linguistics. She has taught for the US Department of State in Yemen and Egypt as well as for the American University in Cairo. Before moving to the MENA region, she taught at New York College of Technology. Her research interests are writer identity, narrative identity construction, and second-language acquisition.

Publications

Sperrazza, L. (2016). EFL assessment and the construction of positioned writer identities in Gulf university students. In H. Abouabdelkader and A. Ahmed (Eds.) Assessing L2 Writing in the 21st Century Arab World: Revealing the Unknown. Hampshire, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Sperrazza, L. (2016). Narratives of struggle: Understanding stories on writer identity by Gulf university students. International Journal of Bilingual and Multilingual Teachers of English, 1 (4), 1-14.
Sperrazza, L. & Raddawi, R. (2016). Writing in the UAE: Transforming critical thought in the composition classroom. In H. Abouabdelkader and A. Ahmed (Eds.) Teaching EFL Writing in the 21st Century Arab World. Hampshire, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Sperrazza, L. (2015). Arabizi: From revolution to techno-lution. In J. Block and A. Haste (Eds.) Constructing Identity in an Age of Globalization. (pp. 93-100). Paris: Ex Modio Editions.
Sperrazza, L. (2014). Arabizi: From revolution to techno-lution. In E. Golson, L. Youssef, and A. Fields (Eds.), Toward, Around, and Away from Tahrir: Tracking Emerging Expressions of Egyptian Identity. (pp. 31-40). Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Prescott, P., Al Merabi, N., McArdle, J., Sperrazza, L., & Zytkoskee, M. (Eds.) (2013).Write on: Engaging with the written word. New York: McGraw Hill.
Sperrazza, L. (2012). A clash of cultural identities in the UAE: Transforming identity writing practices in Gulf university students. International Journal of Arts and Sciences, 5(7), 297-306.
Sperrazza, L. & Vincent, C. (2012). Designing stories of our lives: An exploration of interdisciplinary teaching practices. In C. Gunn (Ed.) Enhancing Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in the United Arab Emirates: Reflections from the Classroom. (pp. 9-21). Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Sperrazza, L. (2011). The kairotic liberation of an American educator: Transforming teaching practices in an Egyptian university through “conscientization” and kairos. International Journal of Arts and Sciences, 4(8), 399-408.
Sperrazza, L. (2011). I am not my tongue: The impact of Arabizi on Egyptian university students. American University of Cairo TESOL Journal, 1(1), 95-104.

Conference Presentations

Using autobiographical narratives as motivational tools for conflicted writer identities. Fifth Annual Asian Conference on Language Learning. Osaka, Japan. (2015, May 5).
Interdisciplinary classroom teaching practices and the stories they tell. Fifth Storytelling Conference. Lisbon, Portugal. (2014, April 21.)
Graduate student research: Understanding writer identity in Gulf university students. University of Exeter Academic Writing/TESOL Graduate Research Seminar, Dubai, UAE. (2014, February 15).
Exploring cultural identity in Gulf university writing students. International Journal of Arts & Sciences for Academic Disciplines. Rome, Italy. (2012, October 30).
Using notebooks to create autobiographical meaning in university writing courses. Seventh Annual Education and Development Conference. Bangkok, Thailand. (2012, March 6.)
Using dialogue journals to improve academic writing. Nile TESOL: Thirteenth Skills Conference. Cairo, Egypt. (2008, January 24.)
Kairos in the classroom: Using cultural clashes to enhance academic writing. International Journal of Arts and Sciences Mediterranean Conference for Academic Disciplines. Gozo, Malta. (2011, March 6.)
Teaching Business English in Cairo. Nile TESOL: Fourteenth Skills Conference. Cairo, Egypt. (2009, February 2.)
Exploring writer identity in Egyptian university students. Sixth Qatar TESOL International Conference: Developing Critical Thinking in the English Classroom. Doha, Qatar. 2011, April 9.)
I am not my tongue: The impact of Arabizi on Egyptian university students. Contemporary Identities International Conference. Paris, France. (2011, April 15.)
Lelania Sperrazza, I Am Not My Tongue: The Use of Arabizi in Egypt, Contemporary Identities International Conference. Paris, France., April, 2011
Lelania Sperrazza, Kairos in the Classroom: Using Cultural Clashes to Enhance Student Writing., International Journal of Arts and Sciences Mediterranean Conference for Academic Disciplines. Gozo, Malta, March, 2011
Lelania Sperrazza, The Growing Need for Business English in Cairo, Nile TESOL: Fourteenth Skills Conference. Cairo, Egypt., February, 2009
Lelania Sperrazza, Dialogue Journals and Effective Writing, Nile TESOL: Thirteenth Skills Conference. Cairo, Egypt., January, 2008

Awards and Honors

American University of Sharjah Collaborative Undergraduate Teaching Grant, 2011
New York City Teaching Fellow, 2003-2006
Indiana University of Pennsylvania Research Grant, 2011
English Language Fellow, Department of State, 2007-2009

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