Rate My Professor Sonya Hamel

Hamel's MA thesis, completed in 2008, is titled 'Language and Identity: New Zealand Immigrants Constructing New Identities in Multilingual Context.' This work explores how New Zealand immigrants use language to construct new identities within multilingual environments. Extending this research, she authored the 2009 article ''If I'm like Them, They Will Accept Me More': How New Zealand Immigrants Negotiate and Perform Gendered Social Identities,' published in The Journal of New Zealand Studies. The article details how long-term adult immigrants adjust their gender identities in key social domains including intimate relationships, parent-child interactions, and friendship networks. These areas serve as critical grounds for negotiating and performing adapted identities to foster acceptance in New Zealand society. Hamel's contributions bridge academic research in linguistics with practical ESOL pedagogy at the University of Otago Language Centre and Foundation Studies Ltd., supporting international students and pathway programs.