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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
Adolescent Street Literacy: The Art Of The Hustle, Regina L. Welch
Adolescent Street Literacy: The Art Of The Hustle, Regina L. Welch
Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA
This thesis is an ethnographic analysis of street youths, runaways and foster children. It focuses on the rhetorical and literacy practices that serve as a foundation for an underground community. Very little research, within the English field or from a literacy perspective, has been done on this demographic. This study includes data from interviews conducted with eight individuals who were “homeless” between the ages of 12 and 18 years old. Homeless is being defined as any duration spent absent of a stable living situation, including, but not limited to, foster homes, sleeping on the streets or in temporary settings, with …
E Pluribus Unum: The Pursuit Of Linguistic Equality Through Adequation And Denaturalization, Natalie A. Tupta
E Pluribus Unum: The Pursuit Of Linguistic Equality Through Adequation And Denaturalization, Natalie A. Tupta
Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA
The oppressive ideology of standard language in the US perpetuates linguistic discrimination in all facets of life, from the classroom to the housing market to politics. Many Americans justify the degradation of non-standard language users by identifying the imagined cognitive deficiencies of those who do not use standard language. In response to previous research providing evidence of linguistic injustices, this research confounds existent ideology and exposes the gravity of the injustices perpetuated by the US government and educational system. By comparing this linguistic social justice movement to the American Civil Rights Movement and by borrowing the philosophy of Martin Luther …
The Soul Of Man Under Capitalism, Joe L. Cantu
The Soul Of Man Under Capitalism, Joe L. Cantu
Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA
This paper examines the consciousness of three literary characters, divided by space and time, from mid nineteenth century Russia, mid twentieth century Italy, to late twentieth century American society. This paper exposes literature’s rendition of modern man’s varying consciousness as shaped by the changing social conditions around him. This paper recognizes these varying social conditions as different stages in capitalism’s development. Capitalism has a history; the literature this paper examines discloses its negative impact on the consciousness of its characters. In analyzing Notes from the Underground, Contempt, and American Psycho, three novels separated by geography and spanning a timeframe of …
An Analysis Of Narrative Types And An Investigation Into The Privileging Of Narrative Types On Standardized Testing, Rachel Villarreal Garza
An Analysis Of Narrative Types And An Investigation Into The Privileging Of Narrative Types On Standardized Testing, Rachel Villarreal Garza
Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA
Research on the narrative writing of males and females shows significant differences between the two, and scores for standardized writing tests consistently demonstrate females outperforming males. Based on this information, it is important to investigate whether there are links between narrative content and this gender gap. In this study, I selected fifty officially scored essays written in response to an eleventh grade English Language Arts Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills exam. Essays were coded for broad and specific narrative types according to categories adapted from research on the writing of males and females. I then determined whether certain narrative …
Maintaining An Immigrant Heritage Language Other Than Spanish Or English In The Bilingual Culture Of The Rio Grande Valley Of South Texas, Sonia A. Shepherd
Maintaining An Immigrant Heritage Language Other Than Spanish Or English In The Bilingual Culture Of The Rio Grande Valley Of South Texas, Sonia A. Shepherd
Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA
A 2005 study in the bilingual Spanish/English Rio Grande Valley of South Texas investigates the language strategies used by immigrant families from China, Greece, Hungary, Japan, the Philippines, Russia, Taiwan, and the Ukraine to preserve their heritage languages and pass them on to their children. Personal interviews determine that all the parents are well-educated and from an above average socio-economic level. This investigation categorizes the various strategies used by the parents. All the immigrant parents emphasize that the main reason they want to preserve the heritage language with their children is to insure that the children can continue to communicate …
The Importance Of Continuity In First Language Education For Learning A Second Language, Stephen M. Shepherd
The Importance Of Continuity In First Language Education For Learning A Second Language, Stephen M. Shepherd
Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA
Scores from the Texas Reading Proficiency Tests in English (RPTE) for ninety-four Newcomer ESL students were analyzed to understand the differences between students who had attended school continuously and those who had discontinuity in their first language (LI) education in their home country. This research was performed in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, a few miles from the border with Mexico. The hypothesis is that students who have gaps in their L1 education will not learn to read as quickly in English as those who had none since the former are lacking cognitive skills which the latter already …
Attitudes Of Mexican Nationals Toward The Use Of Code Switching In The Rio Grande Valley, Jennifer M. Vojtko
Attitudes Of Mexican Nationals Toward The Use Of Code Switching In The Rio Grande Valley, Jennifer M. Vojtko
Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA
The purpose of this study is to establish the beliefs and attitudes of Mexican Nationals living in the Rio Grande Valley toward the use of code switching, or the use of two or more languages during a speech act. Because of the high influence of the Spanish language in the Rio Grande Valley, code switching is more commonly referred to as Spanglish. Researchers have been studying code switching since the early fifties; however, limited research has been conducted on attitudes toward code switching. The goal of this study is to offer a comprehensive look at the attitudes demonstrated by Mexican …
Poems As Mnemonic Devices To Aid Grammar Recall, Carolin A. Metzger
Poems As Mnemonic Devices To Aid Grammar Recall, Carolin A. Metzger
Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA
This study was implemented to explore the extent to which students' performance on grammar editing exams might be affected by exposure to poems used as mnemonic devices intended to aid recall of grammar rules. The poems were used as mnemonic tools to assist subjects memory of specific grammar points. The place of grammar in writing instruction, the use of mnemonics, and the use of rhyme and rhythm are reviewed. The subjects for this study came from developmental level classes at the university level and from advanced level English as Second Language classes. The results emphasize the need for teacher-student interaction …
A Content Validity Analysis Of The University Of Texas-Pan American English 1320 Grammar And Usage Exam, Cynthia Eilene Elder
A Content Validity Analysis Of The University Of Texas-Pan American English 1320 Grammar And Usage Exam, Cynthia Eilene Elder
Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA
This study examines the degree of content validity of the grammar and usage exam administered to The University of Texas-Pan American's developmental writing classes (English 1320). Final exam essays from the freshman composition course (English 1301) were divided into groups according to their scores and examined for the occurrence of adjective agreement, apostrophe, pronoun usage, punctuation of clause, sentence structure, subject-verb agreement, and tense usage errors, which are tested on the exam. An Analysis of Variance was then calculated for each error type; none of the error types proved statistically significant at the.05 level. The students within each group did …