Education Commons^™

Using The Linguistic Experiences Of Youth And Their Families As Curriculum: The Language Box Project, Molly A. Perara-Lunde Ms.

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

This qualitative curricular case study investigated the implementation of a project called the Language Box in a seventh grade Humanities classroom in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I worked with the classroom teacher to design the Language Box project, which focused on the language use practices of the students and their families. We designed the project with the goal of addressing issues of home language loss, bilingualism, and English language acquisition. The students in the classroom were almost exclusively Hispanic, many came from low income families and some were undocumented. Each student acted as a researcher, investigating the language use practices in …

Methods Of Teaching Latin: Theory, Practice, Application, Morgan A. Nicoulin

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this project, I present a way to effectively blend modern theories of language acquisition and the contemporary practice of teaching Latin. I intend to demonstrate that a curriculum is able to balance both traditional and innovative philosophies by adapting Second Language Acquisition Theory’s idealized way to learn a language to fit the realistic limitations of the classroom. I begin with a discussion of the history of language pedagogy, focusing on Latin’s influence on the study of language learning from antiquity to present. Next, I present the key topics in SLA and the practical implications of this research for today’s …

The Essence Of The Teaching/Learning Process: An Exploration Of The Perspectives And Lived Experiences Of University Spanish Language Teaching Assistants, Sarah Schulman

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

U.S. schools are emblematic of the increasingly linguistic and cultural diversity present in this country. Despite this well-documented shift, U.S. foreign language teacher education programs have yet to align learning outcomes with the cognitive and affective needs of linguistically and culturally diverse students. Providing educators with opportunities to learn about and prepare for the needs of these students is essential, but this alone will not address the essence of the underlying problem. If foreign language teacher education programs are to evolve, a deeper understanding of the teaching/learning process is critical.

In response to this need, this qualitative study explored how …

Influences On International Saudi Students’ Sojourner Acculturation In The U.S., Abdulah Shaban Alasiri

Masters Theses

Research on international students’ experiences in tertiary institutions abroad suggest they face difficulties related to culture, language, and socialization (e.g., Andrade, 2006; Hellsten, 2002). To encourage more successful socialization and English language development, the Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission established a cap on the enrollment of Saudi students in any institutions abroad since 2014. The effectiveness of these quotas in promoting socialization is not known, but anecdotal evidence and an exploratory study conducted by the author suggest other (perhaps more influential) factors affecting Saudi students’ opportunities for socialization (in this study defined more specifically as sojourner acculturation) and subsequent language development. …

Investigating Arabic Pragmatic Markers In Teacher Talk: A Multi-Layered Analytical Approach, Yaseen Ali Azi

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

Through this descriptive qualitative case study of three native speaking Arabic teachers in an L2 Arabic classroom in a private school setting in the U.S., this study presented a four-stage multi-layered analytical approach demonstrating functional, interactional and pedagogical analyses of the uses of Arabic PMs in teacher talk and also providing a detailed emic analysis of the phenomena by incorporating teachers’ perceptions of their uses of those elements in their classroom talks. Findings of the functional analysis clearly showed that Arabic PMs perform different micro functions at four macro levels (structural, interpersonal, referential and multi- functional). Moreover, …

Multicompetence, Multiple Intelligences And First-Year Composition Students, Patricia Rice'-Daniels

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine, gain, and ultimately share an understanding of certain cognitive differences, similarities, intelligence patterns, and preferences between competent monolingual (English) and multicompetent bilingual/multilingual first-year composition (FYC) college students. Within this project is an attempt to address the following questions: Do monolingual and bilingual/multilingual FYC students show different strengths and weaknesses in their cognitive abilities? Are there learning preferences and literacy differences or similarities between monolingual and bilingual/multilingual FYC students?

Primarily, two cognitive concepts were used in this examination to provide perspectives and quantitative data in response to the above questions. First, is Vivian …