Solange de Azambuja Lira
Professional Title: Professor
Areas of Academic Focus and Expertise:
Bilingual literacy; Latino narratives of health and illness: communication/linguistic barriers Brazilians face when seeking health care treatment
Area of Work and Concentration at Lesley: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, English Language Learning; literacy
Representative List of Recent Courses Taught:
First and Second Language Acquisition and Literacy
Language and Literacy: Development and Diversity
Sheltered Content Instruction
Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
Education: Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania; M.A., University of Delaware; B.A., Federal University of Rio de Janiero
Representative List of Recent Publications / Exhibitions:
- Ribeiro, B., C. Jouet-Pastre, M. Guimaraes and S. de A. Lira. (2008). Brazilian immigrant women: The concept of time and conflicting expectations in clinical settings In Jouet-Pastre and Braga (eds), Becoming Brazuca: Brazilian immigration to the US. Harvard University Press (DRCLAS Series).
- Discourse Strategies in Clinical Settings: Agency in a Narrative of a Brazilian Immigrant Woman
- Community of Scholars, Lesley University, 2009.
- Latino Narratives of Health and Illness: Voices from the Brazilian Community. Portuguese World Language Institute. Cambridge: Lesley University, 2009.
- Found in Interpretation: The Role of Brazilian Medical Interpreters in Mediated Medical Encounters. With Branca Telles Ribeiro. In Rethinking Inequalities- Latin American Studies Association 2009 International Conference. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Dr. Lira is the director of English Language Learning programs in the Graduate School of Education. Her areas of expertise include sociolinguistics, Creole linguistics, second language acquisition and literacy and Portuguese syntax. She is the author of articles, the book "The Subject in Brazilian Portuguese," and chapters in "The Other Before Me: A Bicultural Dialogue in Reflections of Multiculturalism," "Oral and Written Narratives and Cultural Identity: Interdisciplinary Approaches," and "Becoming Brazuca: Brazilian Immigration to the US." Dr. Lira is a native speaker of Portuguese and has been an educator for more than thirty years in Brazil and the US.
slira@lesley.edu