Education Commons^™

Supporting English Language Learners Through Collaboration, Compassion, And Engagement, Lora Ann Stead

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This portfolio illustrates the student’s academic work completed while in the Master of Second Language Teaching program at Utah State University. The project is centered around the student’s philosophy on teaching English language learners (ELLs) as drawn from personal experience and second language acquisition research. The author seeks to provide awareness into best practices for teaching ELLs.

The portfolio is divided into three sections: 1) teaching perspectives, 2) research perspectives, and 3) annotated bibliographies. Within these sections, the author explores themes related to ELL teaching that highlight the importance of collaboration, compassion, and engagement. These topics include politely closing a …

Teaching A Second Language: Communication, Culture, And Collaboration, Diannylín Núñez De Paulino

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This portfolio presents the author’s perspectives on the effective use of language teaching techniques, practices, and tools. The first section demonstrates the author’s teaching philosophy, which includes her perceptions as a foreign language instructor and learner, teaching observations of various foreign language instructors, and self-reflections about teaching. The following section contains three research papers, which explore foreign language anxiety, effectiveness of co-teaching a foreign language class, and refusals across different cultures. The last section consists of three annotated bibliographies in which the author analyzes journal articles and book chapters about communicative language teaching, the role of culture in the Spanish …

Breaking Traditions: Teaching Efl In The Dominican Republic, Farlin Paulino

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This portfolio is a compilation of the author’s beliefs in regard to effectively teaching English as a Foreign Language and Spanish as a Second language. This work was completed for the Master of Second Language Teaching (MSLT) program at Utah State University. All the work compiled in this portfolio centers on the teaching philosophy statement, which contains what the author believes to be the most important aspects of teaching a second language. In the first section of the portfolio, the author presents the experiences that made him pursue the profession of teaching languages, his personal philosophy of teaching shaped by …

The Successful Foreign Language Classroom: Affect, Empathy, And Engagement, Emily Mower

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This portfolio is the culmination of the author’s work in the Master of Second Language Teaching program at Utah State University. Throughout this collection the author shares her personal views and experiences from teaching secondary and postsecondary beginning Spanish courses, supporting her claims with existing research. The portfolio consists of three sections: (1) teaching perspectives, (2) research perspectives, and (3) annotated bibliographies.

The objective of this work is to identify hindrances to the progress of foreign language teachers and learners, and best practices to stimulate their success. On the basis that language learning can promote cross-cultural understanding, these findings are …

Contexts And Perspectives For Foreign Language Learning And Teaching, Kimberly Paige Fallis

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This portfolio highlights what the author believes are important facets and implementations of second language teaching and second language learning. This portfolio is grounded in two elements: second language acquisition theory and the author’s first-hand observations as a student in the Master of Second Language Teaching (MSLT) program. The target languages focused in this portfolio are English and French.

This portfolio is divided into three main sections. The first section contains the author’s teaching philosophy statement with focuses on student and teacher roles, tasks in the classroom, and the author’s experiences teaching English. After the teaching philosophy statement, there are …

Language Proficiency And Cultural Intelligence In Distance English-Language Learning, Jared Marcum

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study is to explore the viability of an international distance English-language program in the development of language and cultural proficiency. Students participated in tests at the beginning and at the end of the course to determine how well they developed both language and cultural proficiencies. The measures included (a) the computer-administered Oral Proficiency Interview (OPIc) from theAmerican Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), (b) ACTFL-aligned assessments of reading, listening, grammar, and vocabulary skills, and (c) the Cultural Intelligence Scale (CQS). In addition, course activities surveys provided additional information about student perceptions of course activities. …

Investigating Linguistic, Literary, And Social Affordances Of L2 Collaborative Reading, Joshua Thoms, Frederick J. Poole

Languages, Philosophy, and Communication Studies Faculty Publications

This exploratory study analyzes learner–learner interactions within a virtual environment when collaboratively reading Spanish poetry in a Hispanic literature course at the college level via an ecological theoretical perspective (van Lier, 2004). The goals of the study are (a) to present empirical data that illustrate the theoretical construct of affordance in a virtual, collaborative reading environment, and (b) to investigate the pedagogical ramifications of using a digital annotation tool to involve learners in collaborative reading. Three distinct types of affordances emerged in the data: linguistic, literary, and social affordances. Our findings indicate that the number of literary and social affordances …

Effective Strategies For Foreign Language Teaching: A Focus On Russian, Marina Krutikova

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This portfolio presents the collection of writings that reflect the author’s beliefs about effective foreign language instruction. Throughout much of the portfolio, focus is made on teaching communicatively, providing instruction on the target language culture, and enhancing students’ motivation to learn foreign languages. The first section of the portfolio is centered around the author’s teaching philosophy that was informed by her experience as a teacher of Russian as a foreign language, observations of other language instructors, and studies in the Master of Second Language Teaching (MSLT) program. The following section consists of the language, literacy, and culture papers in which …

Effectively Teaching A Second Language: Principles And Practices, Alexander Gatica

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This portfolio is the amalgamation of the author’s research and experience during his time in the Master of Second Language Teaching program. The first section contains the Teaching Philosophy, which centers on applying effective teaching methods, increasing learner motivation, and incorporating technology into the classroom. The next section consists of three artifacts in which the author further investigates specific aspects of language teaching. The language paper focuses on the effect that identity has on motivation to learn a language. The literacy paper discusses how to increase vocabulary acquisition via a mobile-assisted language learning application called Duolingo. The culture paper addresses …

Participation In Dual Language Immersion Programs: Using Theory Of Planned Behavior To Predict Enrollment, Andrea Call

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Many theories have been developed to help explain and predict human behavior. Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) holds that behavior is based on behavioral intention, as well as attitudes, subjective (or social) norms, and perceived behavioral control. According to the TPB mode, perceived behavioral control moderates (or influences) the effect of behavioral intentions on behavior. Previous research has focused on the application of TPB to health behaviors, although some research has been done in educational situations. In addition, dual language immersion (DLI) programs are increasing in popularity, particularly in Utah. The Utah model begins in first grade, and follows …

Second Language Teaching In The Esl Classroom: The Role Of The Teacher, Ariel Serrell Finlinson

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This portfolio covers what the author believes to be important teaching practices for a teacher in the English as a Second Language classroom, with a specific emphasis on the role of the teacher. The first section of the portfolio contains the author’s teaching philosophy which describes the author’s beliefs of what constitutes good teaching. The beliefs include the importance of using meaning-bearing and comprehensible input in the classroom, the use of task-based activities to facilitate language learning, and understanding the role of the teacher in the classroom. Following are three artifacts that the author wrote during her time in the …

A Language Learning And Teaching Journey: Practicalities And Possibilities, Elizabeth Irene Abell

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Within this portfolio, the reader will find the work that the author has completed over the last two years in the Master of Second Language Teaching (MSLT) program at Utah State University and a demonstration of her professional growth as an instructor over this period of time. The first major part is the teaching philosophy, in which the author discusses: the experiences as a student that have shaped her as a teacher, the various teaching contexts in which she may work in the future, her personal philosophy of language teaching shaped by what she has learned in the MSLT program, …

Latina/O Adolescents' Funds Of Knowledge Related To Engineering, Amy Wilson-Lopez, Joel Alejandro Mejia, Indhira María Hasbún, G. Sue Kasun

Engineering Education Faculty Publications

Background: According to a growing body of research, many Latinas/os experience dissonance between their everyday cultural practices and the cultural practices prevalent in engineering. This dissonance contributes to many Latinas/os' sense that engineering is “not for me.”

Purpose: This study sought to explore the meaning in the relationship between engineering cultural practices and the funds of knowledge found in Latina/o adolescents' familial, community, and recreational settings.

Design/Method: This ethnographic study followed seven groups of Latina/o adolescents as they identified problems in their communities and solved them through engineering design processes. Using a modified form of constant comparative analysis, we analyzed …

Promoting Immigrant Parents’ Engagement In Early Intervention Through Culturally And Linguistically Responsive Service Delivery, Wendy B. Wieber, Lucia Quinonez Sumner

Journal of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention

This article focuses on the use of culture-based play, songs, and games in the early education of newcomers to the United States. Current studies examine culturally inclusive practices in PreK-12 schools in America, Canada, and Australia and suggest that parents participate more enthusiastically when their cultural orientation is honored. Although there is scant research regarding in-home early intervention for infants and toddlers who are deaf or hard of hearing for recent immigrants to the United States, the same principle may hold true for this group of immigrants. The type of parent involvement that an early interventionist in the U.S. hopes …

Teaching English As A Foreign Language: A Multicultural Perspective, Nouf Ali Alotaibi

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This portfolio is a compilation of the author’s beliefs and practices of what constitutes effective second language teaching. It is based on the author’s teaching philosophy and the work has been done during two years of study at the Master of Second Language Teaching (MSLT) program. The teaching philosophy centers on how to implement communication inside the language classroom, develop literacy, integrate culture teaching into language instruction, and how to use technology to facilitate language learning and teaching. The teaching philosophy is followed by three artifacts, which review the literature addressing different topics on language, literacy, and culture. The language …

Facilitating Development Of Foreign Language, Literacy, And Culture, Chad Saunders

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

In this portfolio, the author describes integral components of his teaching philosophy which include how the instructor can become a supportive facilitator, how he can promote use of the target language for communication, and how motivation can reinforce language instruction and learning. Specific topics of interest were investigated further in support of the teaching philosophy. The artifacts discuss Utah’s dual language immersion program: its development, future, and expected outcomes; the acquisition of multiliteracy skills for educational achievement; as well as the use of technology in promoting target language use and intercultural communicative competence. Finally, the author includes an annotated bibliography …

In Their Own Words: Chinese Students In American Universities, Nolan Weil, Jianzhong Luo

Languages, Philosophy, and Communication Studies Faculty Publications

Purposes

• To explore Chinese students’ perceptions of their ESL experiences in the Intensive English Language Institute at Utah State University as compared with their prior learning EFL experiences in China
• To get a glimpse of Chinese students’ perceived quality of life at a major state university in the Intermountain West

Playing With A Robot To Learn English Vocabulary, Yanghee Kim

Yanghee Kim

A robot-based English curriculum called The Missing Code has been developed to teach English vocabulary to young children whose home language is one other than English. Guided by theories in children’s learning and motivation, the curriculum was designed to be developmentally appropriate and engaging for children that were 3-5 years old, carefully balancing the familiar and the new. The development process was characterized by iterative cycles of initial design, user testing, and refinement. Through multiple observations of child-robot play in situ, it was noted that children easily learned how to interact with the robot and showed sustained interest and engagement …

Teaching Spanish To Second-Language And Heritage-Language Learners, Kathryn R. Wall

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The following portfolio is an assemblage of work submitted for the Master of Second Language Teaching (MSLT) program at Utah State University. Contained herein is the author’s personal teaching philosophy about teaching beginning level Spanish in college with second and heritage language learners in the classroom. Following the teaching philosophy are artifacts and reflections relating to specific topics of the teaching philosophy. These artifacts represent the author’s understanding of the role that language, culture, and literacy play in the Spanish second and heritage language classroom.

Spanish-Speaking Parents' Negotiation Of Language And Culture With Their Children's Schools, Ronda L. Bickmore

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Latinos are now the largest public school minority population in the U.S. Because of a shift in the states, cities, and counties where Latinos are choosing to live, many schools that did not previously serve substantial numbers of Latinos are doing so now. Additionally, many of the Latinos in these new settlement areas are recent immigrants who speak little or no English. This qualitative study examined how immigrant Latino parents who speak little or no English supported their children in the English-speaking school system of the U.S. It specifically examined how 12 Spanish-speaking parents negotiated language and culture with their …

Maintaining Spanish In An English-Speaking World, Audrey Constance Juhasz

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

As the Latino portion of the United States population continues to grow each year, more and more children in the United States leave their Spanish-speaking homes and enter English immersion schools. Throughout their lives, these children are likely to shift language preferences from their home language, to the language of the community. However, maintaining development in their first language would be a benefit to them in multiple ways. Identifying factors within bilingual homes that influence English and Spanish language development in preschool-aged children will help researchers and practitioners encourage families to cultivate the optimal learning environment.

This study endeavored to …

Teaching Languages Communicatively: The Journey Of Becoming An Effective Teacher, Indira Garrido

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This portfolio is a compilation of various papers written throughout my studies in the Master of Second Language Teaching (MSLT) program at Utah State University. These papers are the result of research and reflections on the most relevant and important topics I have learned during these two years of study. My journey through the MSLT program has been an experience of growth as I reflected on my own teaching practices and what research demonstrates as the most effective approaches for language teaching.

Rethinking Materials For The Reading Class, Nolan Weil

Languages, Philosophy, and Communication Studies Faculty Publications

With experienced teachers reading pedagogy revolves around activities that promote:
• Background knowledge
• Knowledge of text structure
• Vocabulary development
• Strategic reading
• Reading fluency
• Interactions around text
Inexperienced teachers can be mentored so that they learn to use texts to teach as experienced reading teachers teach. Publishers and materials writers can facilitate this by writing and publishing materials that have lots of stimulating text and instructional materials (e.g., pedagogical explanation, techniques, and recommendations) that empower teachers to teach.

The Effect Of The Visual Gender Of An Embodied Agent: A Cross-Cultural Comparison, Yanghee Kim, A Guiz, A Silveryarg, M Haake, T Chen, N Kim

Yanghee Kim

This study explored if the visual gender representations (androgynous, male, or female) of an embodied agent would influence students’ perceptions of their agent and their attitudes toward the agent as their conversational partner. The study also explored if students’ gender and cultural background would interact with the agent’s visual gender to influence their perceptions and attitudes. Participants were 208 early-teen students sampled from US and South Korea. The results revealed that student gender was a significant factor for influencing students' perceptions and attitudes and that the students showed positive attitudes toward an androgynous agent more than toward a gendered agent …

Communicative Language Teaching: The Cornerstone Of Second Language Acquisition, Sierra Fischback

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This portfolio is comprised of a compilation of papers written by the author while completing the Master of Second Language Teaching (MSLT) program at Utah State University. The focus of the portfolio is a teaching philosophy outlining the author’s beliefs on how to foster effective language teaching in the university foreign language classroom. Included as well are artifacts addressing coping with culture shock, effective forms of language learning, and reading in foreign language literature courses. These artifacts were chosen to reflect important areas of language teaching that have affected the author’s teaching philosophy. Finally, the author has incorporated an annotated …

A Sociocultural Approach To Esl For Adult Learners, Whitney Putnam

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The following portfolio is a collection of work submitted for the Master of Second Language Teaching (MSLT) program at Utah State University. Within this portfolio is the author's personal philosophy on effective language teaching written with a college-level ESL classroom in mind. Following the teaching philosophy are different artifacts and reflections, all related to the philosophy on teaching, but separate in topic. The three artifacts demonstrate the author's understanding of the role of language, culture, and literacy in a second language classroom. Also included in this portfolio is an annotated bibliography containing the scholarly works which support the writings here.

Teaching Communication In The Chinese As A Foreign Language Classroom, Xia Wu

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This portfolio is a collection of the author’s teaching beliefs and approaches regarding Chinese as foreign language teaching, which she developed during her time in the Master of Second Language Teaching program. The centerpiece of the portfolio is the author’s personal teaching philosophy. It is followed by three artifacts. The language artifact analyzes one of the complexities encountered by learners in the Chinese as a foreign language classroom: the three particles 的 (de), 地 (de), 得 (de). The culture artifact illustrates the difference between American and Chinese language teachers. The literacy artifact talks about using literature circles in the CFL …

The Role Of Pragmatic Competence In Second Language Acquisition, Leah J. Reigle

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This portfolio is the culmination of the author’s years spent observing and studying language in the pursuit of a Master’s degree in Second Language Teaching at Utah State University. Included here is the author’s personal teaching philosophy on effective language instruction, written with a college-level EFL classroom in mind. In addition, and relating to this teaching philosophy, are three additional artifacts addressing the significance of pragmatics in second language acquisition. These artifacts demonstrate the author’s understanding of the roles of culture, language, and literacy in a second language classroom. An annotated bibliography supporting the author’s perspective and philosophy on language …

Developing Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (Calp) In Diverse Classrooms, Kristen M. Lillywhite

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The process of second language acquisition was studied by examining the distinction between basic interpersonal conversation skills (BICS) and cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP). This distinction, originally proposed by linguist Jim Cummins, relates to current trends in the U.S public education system. A review of the literature was conducted and integrated with information obtained by interviewing local language arts teachers. The primary goal of the study was to learn how public school teachers conceptualize second language acquisition and literacy instruction. The thesis also addresses how the BICS/CALP distinction can be applied in real classroom settings. Teachers reported that low student …

The More They Read, The More They Can Read, Nolan Weil

Languages, Philosophy, and Communication Studies Faculty Publications

We learn to read by reading, but improvement requires consistency and takes time. Extensive reading is not the silver bullet. Multiple approaches are necessary to promote high levels of L2 reading proficiency, but extensive reading is a vital component.