This article presents a case study of an adult Ukrainian orphan, Anna, who acquired English as a second and accessed U.S. higher education despite the fact that adopted children or aged out orphans face a unique constellation of educational and psychological challenges in language learning. This article presents Anna’s story in her own voice and advocates for the specialized needs of the underserved, often voiceless thousands of older orphans in war-stricken Ukraine. This article suggests that access to institutional agents and social capital played a key role in Anna’s success. Of interest to researchers, the article postulates common, current language learning theory perhaps may not fully explain the distinct processes of language acquisition by institutionalized, language-delayed children. The article also offers tangible lessons for educators of victims of trauma, and would thus be of interest to practitioners as well as researchers in the areas of language acquisition and educational psychology.

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Objectives: Given that pregnancy health information seeking is common and considered impactful on health outcomes, the potential lack of fair and clear information within media may be an impediment towards women developing their own agency and working towards the transformation and betterment of their own outcomes. Setting: The USA has the worst maternal mortality rate of any developed country. Women’s opinions are shaped and informed by public media and discourse; therefore, a critical look at how public media texts support women’s agency is of significance. Method: Reducing maternal mortality requires more than just effective health interventions. This paper uses critical discourse analysis to examine two samples of widely viewed public discourse around the issue of US maternal mortality and reveals the murky and polarised dialogue contained in each. Results: The two samples may be representative of a larger lack of clarity in US discourse about maternal mortality, a body of discourse which – to the detriment of women’s maternal morbidity and mortality outcomes – subtly but powerfully either declines to admit mistakes or uses polarising, overly simplified language. Conclusion: Recognising the polarised dialogue surrounding maternal mortality and working towards a more reasoned discussion of the issue at hand may promote women’s advocacy and provide potentially better outcomes.

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While technology offers educators many affordances to provide students with rich educational experiences, literature and empirical experience indicates that students’ unstructured cell phone usage may have adverse impacts on student achievement and create a contagious climate of distraction. This research project seeks to understand students’ unstructured cell phone usage, faculty response, and foster improved student–faculty communication to determine concrete interventions to off-task smartphone usage. For the purposes of this study, we surveyed and interviewed faculty and undergraduate students at two small private universities in the United States. Findings suggest that students and faculty recognize the limitations of punitive cell phone policies and desire intervention. Giving students’ movement alternatives and offering faculty more training in using smartphones as educational tools may be acceptable solutions.