Research Interests
My research focusses on languages, literacies and communication writ large as they relate to learner identities, educational experiences, and broader social processes (e.g., of inclusion or exclusion). While this research has primarily focused on adolescent immigrant and refugee learners in public K-12 institutions, as well as their families, and teachers, I also explore language access and equity in other community and institutional contexts, such as immigrant-serving organizations, and in medical education.
Overarching research foci:
- Multilingualism and learning in school and society
- Intersections of language and literacy, race, ethnicity, gender, and social class
- Qualitative research in applied linguistics: ethnographic methods, discourse analysis, sensory/embodied methods
Education
Education, Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Teaching English as a Second Language, M.Ed., University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Comparative Education, MA, University of Minnesota
Anthropology, French, BA, Grinnell College
Additional Campus Affiliations
Associate Professor, Education Policy, Organization and Leadership
Co-Director of Graduate Studies, Education Policy, Organization and Leadership
Associate Professor, Center for the Study of Global Gender Equity
Associate Professor, European Union Center
Associate Professor, Biomedical and Translational Sciences
Associate Professor, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Associate Professor, Center for Global Studies
Recent Publications
Dávila, L. T. (2025). Embodied reflexivity and researching the literacy practices of an adolescent multilingual refugee who is d/Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing. In A. K. Kibler, & F. J. Karam (Eds.), Innovative Qualitative Methodologies in Multilingual Literacy Development Research: Amplifying voices from immigrant, transnational, and refugee communities (pp. 184-205). (Research Methods in Applied Linguistics; Vol. 11). John Benjamins Publishing Company. https://doi.org/10.1075/rmal.11.10dav
Dávila, L. T., & Kolano, L. Q. (2025). Immigrant-serving leaders’ perspectives on bridging home and school in crisis situations. Equity in Education Society. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/27526461251319785
Davila, L. T., & Ogwal, S. A. (2024). An Affect-Centered Analysis of Congolese Immigrant Parent Perspectives on Past-Present-Future Learning in School and at Home. In Educating African Immigrant Youth Schooling and Civic Engagement in K–12 Schools
Sanders-Smith, S. C., & T. Dávila, L. (2024). ‘It has to be in a natural way’: a critical exploration of co-teaching relationships in trilingual preschool classrooms in Hong Kong. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 45(4), 1182-1196. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2021.1957902
T. Dávila, L. (2024). Immigrant Outreach and Language Access During First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Applied Linguistics, 45(3), 449-463. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amad035