J. Michael Parker Award
History of the Award
LRA awards the J. Michael Parker Award to encourage research in adult literacy. The award is given to a doctoral student or early-career, untenured faculty for papers they present at the conference that address adult learning or education. The award is designed to encourage work in adult literacy with a variety of populations, including, but not limited to, learners in formal settings such as adult basic education and ESOL classes, family literacies with an emphasis on the adult, as well as those engaged in literacy practices embedded in diverse cultural settings. The award was established in 2001 in honor of J. Michael Parker, winner of LRA’s Student Outstanding Research Award. Recipients of the award receive a small cash award to be used for conference expenses and are recognized during a general session of the conference.
The award is presented to both papers with a single author and to co-authored papers. All of the author(s) of the paper must be doctoral students or early-career, untenured faculty at the time of the paper submission (Extended Deadline October 15th, prior to the Annual Meeting). For single authored papers, the recipient will receive $500 and a plaque commemorating the award. For co-authored papers, the recipients will each receive a plaque and will decide amongst themselves how to divide the $500 award.
Criteria for Consideration
To be true to the spirit of J. Michael Parker’s work, the award recognizes studies that examine ways adults further their own language and literacy development within or outside of formal learning contexts, including different social and cultural contexts for learning. The award is designed to encourage work in adult literacy with a variety of populations, including, but not limited to, learners in formal settings such as adult basic education and ESOL classes, family literacy with an emphasis on the adult, as well as those engaged in literacy practices embedded in diverse cultural settings.
In order to be considered for the J. Michael Parker Award, applicants must meet the following eligibility requirements:
All of the author(s) of the paper must be doctoral students or early-career, untenured faculty at the time of the paper submission (Extended Deadline of October 15, prior to the Annual Meeting).
The paper is based on a proposal accepted for presentation at the 2024 LRA Annual Meeting.
The author(s) of the paper are LRA members in good standing at the time of the paper submission.
Award Details
Recipients of the award receive a small cash award to be used for conference expenses, as well as a plaque commemorating the award. They are also recognized during a general session of the conference. The award is presented to papers with either a single author and multiple authors, wherein all authors must be doctoral student(s) or early-career, untenured faculty. For single authored papers, the recipient will receive $500 and a plaque commemorating the award. For co-authored papers, the recipients will each receive a plaque and will decide amongst themselves how to divide the $500 award.
Criteria for Consideration for the Award
The LRA member selected for receiving the J. Michael Parker Award should conduct research that is judged capable of making a significant contribution to theory and/or practice of adult literacy learning and instruction. This means that the paper will be judged by:
The overall quality of the research including consideration of purpose, theoretical framing, methodology, findings, and conclusions.
How the manuscript addresses theory and/or practice of adult literacy in community or postsecondary learning and instruction within or outside of formal learning contexts, including different social and cultural contexts for learning.
The contribution of the research to the field (e.g., the impact of the research on theory, knowledge, or practice in the field of literacy studies).
Only one award should be given each year (this is to ensure that there are sufficient funds to support participation at the LRA annual conference).
Applicants are required to submit a proposal of their research to the LRA 2024 Conference. If the proposal is accepted, a full research paper (see guidelines below) based on the accepted proposal, must be submitted electronically via email to the chair Alicia Rusoja (arrusoja@ucdavis.edu) EXTENDED DEADLINE by October 15, 2024 by 5pm PST.
EXTENDED DEADLINE! Required Materials Due October 15, 2024 by 5pm PST sent via email to arrusoja@ucdavis.edu:
A full research paper should be no longer than 25 pages (double-spaced and 12-point font), excluding references and appendices. The research paper should be blinded with no identifying information. It should be sent in a Microsoft Word or PDF format. A one-page cover letter should include the following information:
Status (doctoral student or untenured faculty) of each author Information about LRA presentation: Date/time/type of session Paragraph addressing how the paper meets the award criteria
If the paper is a small part of a larger study, describe the context and methodology of the larger study. Also, describe this research in relationship to being part of work conducted by an advisor/tenured faculty member.
Potential applicants are encouraged to contact the award chair (Alicia Rusoja, arrusoja@ucdavis.edu) to discuss how their research may fit with the intentions of the award and to make inquiries.
Review Process
Applicants will be notified of the results prior to the conference, and the plaque and honorarium will be presented to the winner during a plenary session at the conference.
Award Committee
Award Winners
(2022) Jin Kyeong Jung, “Asian Adult Immigrants’ Lived Experiences in Workplaces”
(2021) Veronica Oguilve, Wen Wen, Em Bowen, Yousra Abourehab, Amanda Bermudez, Elizabeth Gaxiola, and Jill Castek, “Community Literacies: Examining Dimensions of Making as Relationality”
(2020) Jim Sosnowski, “Marginalization through Circularization of Language Teaching: Creating and Exposing Deficits in an Adult Language and Literacy Program”
(2019) Lyudmyla Ivanyuk, “The Role of the Essay Genre and Contextual Influences in Shaping Adult English Learners’ Choices About Sociocultural Resources”
(2018) Emily Rose Schwab, “Writing Together: Reclaiming Dialogue Journals as a Mutually Humanizing Teaching Practice”
(2017) Rachel Gruen, “Authoring Self: GED Students Transforming their Identity in a Composition Makerspace”
(2016) Dr. Rossina Zamora Liu, “Tensions Between Vulnerability and Public Literacy Spaces: Writers at a Homeless Shelter Negotiate Personal Narratives for Community”
(2015) Xia Chao, Ph.D., “From Transmission to Transformation: Critical Pedagogy for Adult Immigrant ESL Literacy”
(2014) Diane Taveggia, Ph.D., “The Vocabulary Notebook as Vehicle for Independent Vocabulary Learning in Community College ELLs: Opening the Discussion to Theory As Well As Practice”
(2013) Dr. Kathleen Alley, “Playing in Trelis Weyr: Investigating Collaborative Authorship in a Dragons of Pern Text-Based Role Play-Game Forum”
(2012) Leah Katherine Saal, “I’m still a slave”: A Literacy Lesson from an Adult “Burgeoning” Reader”
(2011) Laurie A. Henry, “Literacy Content Knowledge Expertise among Adult Education Providers in Kentucky”
(2010) Silvia Cecilia Nogueron, “Negotiating the Codes of Power to Technology: Complexities in Immigrant Women’s Digital Literacy Socialization Trajectories”
(2009) Holly Hungerford-Kresser, “Navigating Early College: Literacy Experiences and Identity Negotiations of Latino Students”
(2008) Amy Trawick, “Adult Intermediate Readers’ Cultural Models of Reading”
(2008) Tisha Y. Lewis, “My Life is Shaped Around Digital Literacies: An African-American Woman’s Journey”
(2007) Kristin Perry, “More than Language Translation: Culture, Text and Genre Aspects of Literacy Brokering among Sudanese Refugees”
(2007) Amy Johnson, “Literacy as Answerable Response: A Life History Portrait of an African American Woman in a Rural Southern Community”
(2006) Robin Waterman, “The Value of Mexican mothers, The Power of Effective Adult Education: Fueling viable parent involvement through school-based ESL classes” For more information about past winners and adult literacy activities in LRA, visit our blog at: http://jmpadultliteracy.wordpress.com