Education Commons^™

Spatial Distribution Of Chinese Language Education And Historical Development Of Chinese Language Pedagogy In Higher Education In The United States, Jing Zhao

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This capstone project includes two major components: an interactive digital map that displays the geographical distribution of Chinese language programs in colleges and universities in the United States, their program starting years, the types of such universities and colleges, and their names and states; and a multimedia essay on the evolution of Chinese language pedagogy in colleges and universities in the United States. Data has been collected on the program start year, school names, states where schools are located, school types, and whether the school had been funded by two federal sponsored language programs: the National Defense Education Act in …

Language Study For Teachers Of Reading Edc 427, Joanna Burkhardt

Library Impact Statements

No abstract provided.

The Semantics Of Article Acquisition, Emily G. Renie

Montview Journal of Research & Scholarship

Accurately using articles has consistently been a difficult task for English language learners as articles are often treated as solely grammatical forms rather than also recognizing as representatives of complex semantic properties. This paper aims to synthesize individual research on semantic factors which influence article acquisition and explore how they interact with each other. This paper especially focuses on how native and second language speakers of English acquire and understand the concepts of definiteness and specificity and explores these features within the framework of Chomsky’s theory of Universal Grammar. This paper examines the Fluctuating Hypothesis (FH) and its use as …

How Does Classroom Context Affect Head Start Teachers' Use Of Cognitively Challenging Talk?, Jordan Alexis Gregory

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

No abstract provided.

Why Study Language? Discussing Language And Its Influence On Gender Discrimination, Katelyn Eisenmann

Honors Projects

An applied research project, with the culminating piece being a panel discussion that focused on the ways in which language use and structure contribute to attitudes and perceptions of gender within our society, and the politics that surround concepts of gender.

Patterns In Color Perception, Madeline Henson, Taimur Iftikhar

Student Symposium

Synesthesia is a neurological condition that forces individuals to process a lot of different senses at once. These different senses can be stimulated by anything; for example, if one hears some sounds, they might also perceive those sounds as colors and vice versa. Another form of Synesthesia, termed Grapheme-Color Synesthesia, can occur when one looks at different characters in a language and they see different colors generated in their brain. The amount of colors a person sees by looking at different characters varies. Our goal for our project was to figure out how different languages stimulate different neurological senses for …

Tour The World Club, Joy Karges

Honors Expanded Learning Clubs

This Tour the World club gives students the opportunity to interact with the world, other cultures, and people groups. Through six or seven different countries and many hands-on activities, students will learn what it means to keep an open mind, they will develop a curiosity for the world, and they will be encouraged to prioritize learning and asking questions over giving judgments when faced with something new.

Orthographic And Phonological Processing In Beginning Readers, Emily Fisher

Senior Theses

In order to learn to “sound out” new words, children must have phonological awareness, the ability to reflect on and manipulate the sounds in words. However, in skilled readers, performance on phonological awareness tasks is influenced by orthographic awareness, the awareness of spelling patterns and constraints. Both orthographic and phonological awareness are essential to reading, however, until recently the role of orthographic knowledge in phonological awareness has not been thoroughly investigated in beginning readers. Therefore, this study examined the relationship between orthographic and phonological knowledge in beginning readers and established a proof of concept for the use of …

Serving The Needs Of International Students: A Qualitative Study, Mandi Goodsett, Michael Baumgartner

Michael Schwartz Library Publications

This study attempts to discover the barriers that international music students encounter when using the library and conducting research at North American academic institutions. To these ends we implemented multiple semi-structured interviews. Most studies that have been conducted about international students and information literacy employ a survey, but other qualitative means of study reveal important insights into the needs of this population. In-depth qualitative research that explores the experiences of international music students has the potential to cultivate better understanding of this phenomenon so that music librarians and faculty can more effectively serve this distinct population.

Academic Reading And Writing For Doctoral Studies Edp 600, Joanna Burkhardt

Library Impact Statements

No abstract provided.

Storytelling Study, Samantha Irene Pepe

Honors Theses and Capstones

Expressive prosody (i.e., a manner of communication that is characterized by lively rhythm and tempo) and inexpressive prosody (i.e., monotone speech) present different environments for listening to a story during a read-aloud session. This study aims to assess whether there are visual attention differences for preschoolers in these varied prosodic environments and how this affects comprehension.

The Role Of Dialect Words In Children’S Social Decisions, Madison Rose Myers-Burg

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recent research suggests that young children are capable of distinguishing between phonetically dissimilar spoken accents, yet have difficulty distinguishing between phonetically similar accents (Wagner, Clopper, & Pate, 2013). The present study aimed to determine whether the presence of dialect-specific vocabulary enhances young children’s ability to categorize speakers. Participants completed four training trials in which they were familiarized with photos of two children: one of whom used American English labels for test objects and one of whom used British English labels. After training trials, participants completed eight test trials in which they were asked to infer which target child would use …

Applied Linguistics For Tesl/Bdl Edc 526, Joanna Burkhardt

Library Impact Statements

No abstract provided.

Language Of Liberation? A Dialogue On Image Theatre Practice, Pavla Uppal, Wolfgang Vachon

Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed Journal

Image work is a central and integral modality of Theatre of the Oppressed. This article examines liberatory, oppressive, and (at times) neglected aspects of Image work. Starting with the desire to know what the Image is really about, the authors invite the reader into a conversation by asking: why do we use Images, who are the Images for, how are Images experienced, and are they doing what is intended? Recognizing the inherent contradictions of using words alone to engage with Images, the authors employ a combination of text and photographs to facilitate this conversation.

Effects Of An Elementary Immersion Program On Academic Achievement In Core Subject Areas, Marlee Schmidt

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This study sought to find out if students who became bilingual score

higher, lower, or the same on standardized tests as their monolingual peers across

multiple disciplines. An answer was obtained by comparing the Minnesota

Comprehensive Assessment scores of Spanish language immersion students to

scores of non-immersion students for the following subject areas: reading in

grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 10; math in grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 11; and science

in 5, 8, and high school. The scores used came from a graduating class of 2018

with approximately 342 students. Data was analyzed …

The Application Of The Specific Learning Disability Exclusionary Clause As Practiced By Virginia School Psychologists, Kaitlynn Carter

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

When special education eligibility is being determined under Specific Learning Disability, the exclusionary clause needs to be carefully considered. The current study was concerned with the exclusions of cultural factors, environmental or economic disadvantage, and limited English proficiency. The study used a semi-structured interview to explore when and how the exclusionary clause is considered by school psychologists in Virginia and what type of impact it has on eligibility decisions. Ten school psychologists were contacted via the email database of the Virginia Department of Education and completed a phone interview. Grounded theory was used to investigate the themes and ideas regarding …

Obstacles Non-Native English Speakers Experience In Aviation, Joseph Sturgis

Honors Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine if there are challenges associated with the comprehension of aviation content in the English language for international students in flight training. The researcher conducted a study by interviewing four international students enrolled in flight training at the Bowling Green State University Aviation Studies program utilizing a qualitative and quantitative survey questionnaire. Results revealed that there is a correlation between an international student’s Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) score and the challenges encountered with effective communication. The discussion and subsequent findings revealed connections between ILR scores and perceived student challenges. Additional connections between the …

Teaching Young Second Language Learners In Lote Contexts, Honglin Chen, Janica Nordstrom

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The study of languages has long been considered to have important social, cognitive and economic benefits for individuals and the nation. In Australia, however, despite its growing strength in linguistic resources and the various Government initiatives, there has been a disturbing decline in languages study by school-aged children in Australia. For example, in the 1940s and 50s, over 40 percent of students graduated with a language (Teese & Polesol, 2003) which had declined to only 12 percent in 2012. In primary schools, aggregated cross-sectoral data from government, private and catholic systems in Sydney and Wollongong indicate that 30-40 percent of …

Interculturalism In Higher Education In Ireland: An Analysis From A Strategy, Policy And Practice Perspective, Brid Ni Chonaill

Articles

Education is instrumental in preparing students to participate in increasingly diverse Irish, European and global societies, with higher education having a part to play in the process. Issues around migration and cultural diversity have gained less attention in the higher education sector in Ireland than at primary and post primary level with a few notable exceptions. Higher education is regarded as having a “critical role” to play in terms of “enriching Ireland’s cultural life, nurturing our understanding of our own national identity and that of other cultures and belief systems” [1]. Influenced by developments at European Union level, the approach …

Effective Characteristics Of Rural English Learner Programs, Sarah Huseby

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine specific characteristics of English learner programs in a rural areas in order to determine possible factors that promoted higher English language proficiency growth for English learners. The subjects in this study were English learner teachers and administrators from five micropolitan school districts in a rural Midwestern state. The school districts in this study were identified and recruited based on two specific criteria: a mircopolitan community and a student population of English language learners. The study utilized both survey and archival data. The survey was administered to all EL teachers and administrators …

The Globalized Classroom: Integrating Technology To Improve Communicative And Cultural Proficiency, Nicholas Frank

International ResearchScape Journal

The purpose of this project was to explore how the integration of technology affects students’ communicative and cultural proficiency in a second language when connecting two world language classrooms from across the globe. Through a series of weekly emails between partner schools, students practiced their interpretive reading and presentational writing skills while gaining knowledge of their partners’ cultures and colloquial language in a meaningful and individualized manner. The participants were U.S. high school students learning Spanish and Spanish high school students learning English. This created an authentic and organic environment for language acquisition, showing improvement in both communicative and cultural …

Comparison Between Mexican And American Parentese: A Qualitative Case Study, Elayna S. Dyke

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

This single case study examines possible cultural implications of the current definition of Parentese, also called caretaker speech, based on the personal accounts of a person who is bilingual in both English and Spanish. This case study was conducted in one interview in order to find possible differences in Parentese with the Spanish language in Mexican culture in contrast to Parentese in the English Language in American culture. The purpose of this study was to find if there were differences between parentese between these cultures, and in which ways they were different. According to the subject’s personal experiences within her …

Monolingual And Bilingual Children's Language-Based Social Preferences In A Predominantly Monolingual Environment, Rachel Marie Stevens

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Monolingual children consistently display Social preferences for individuals who speak their native language with a native accent compared to individuals who speak a foreign language or speak their native language with a foreign accent. Two explanations have been proposed for these language-based preferences. The first explanation is that language cues a child to in-group membership and children prefer to affiliate with individuals who are members of the same in-group. The second explanation is that children display preferences for their native language and accent because that is what they are most familiar with, and children prefer familiarity over the unknown. The …

Talking The Talk: The Effect Of Vocalics In An Interview, Marilena Phillips

Honors Projects in Communication

Our voices carry more than just content. People continuously make assumptions of one’s intelligence, credibility, personality, and other characteristics merely based on the way we talk. As the diversity of individuals in the workplace increases, so too do the differences in how those individuals talk. It is important that we understand how these different ways of speaking are being perceived in the workplace. More specifically, how are individuals being perceived prior to being hired via the interview process? This Honors Capstone project aims to understand the impact that vocal characteristics in an individual have on the interviewer’s perception of the …

Hebrew Typography: A Modern Progression Of Language Forms, Shayna Tova Blum

Faculty and Staff Publications

Influenced by studies in traditional Ashkenazi and Sephardi scripts. The typeface had been designed for the printing of the Koren Tanakh, a first edition printed Jewish Bible processed through an all-Jewish collaboration for the first time in centuries. Koren’s project was inspired by the revival of Hebrew initiated by Haskalah writers in the 18th century. Haskalah writers utilized the language and scripts of written and printed literary texts. Influenced by philosophical and political ideologies of the European Enlightenment, the Haskalah explored Jewish identity through language by defining the secular context through traditional Jewish symbolism and narratives. The Zionist movement of …

An Early Years Toolbox For Assessing Early Executive Function, Language, Self-Regulation, And Social Development: Validity, Reliability, And Preliminary Norms, Steven J. Howard, Edward Melhuish

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Several methods of assessing executive function (EF), self-regulation, language development, and social development in young children have been developed over previous decades. Yet new technologies make available methods of assessment not previously considered. In resolving conceptual and pragmatic limitations of existing tools, the Early Years Toolbox (EYT) offers substantial advantages for early assessment of language, EF, self-regulation, and social development. In the current study, results of our large-scale administration of this toolbox to 1,764 preschool and early primary school students indicated very good reliability, convergent validity with existing measures, and developmental sensitivity. Results were also suggestive of better capture of …

Sustaining O-Gah-Pah: An Analysis Of Quapaw Language Loss And Preservation, Robert Desoto

Honors Theses

The story of the Quapaw, or Downstream People, and their language is an integral part of both the American Indian experience and the larger, universal tapestry of multilingualism. Despite historical setbacks and contemporary challenges, preserving the virtually extinct Quapaw language adds to the diverse cultural narrative of the Americas and shares a nation’s unique story with the rest of humanity. Consulting linguists, historical records, tribal members, and experts on indigenous studies, this project aims to answer questions concerning the state of the Quapaw tongue: how it arrived at virtual extinction, what is being done to preserve it, and the challenges …

Meaning In Motion, Kara Hendrickson

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis essay and accompanying exhibition examine the capacity of interactive art to stage situations for participants to explore embodiment. In presenting the four-part interactive suite "Body Language" by Nathaniel Stern, the exhibition invites viewers to engage with digital projections that track and respond to movement by producing animated text and spoken utterances. Through the juxtaposition of motion performed by the viewer’s physical body with computer-generated words and speech, "Body Language" explores the complex ways in which the body and language depend upon each other to create and communicate meaning. This essay also proposes that the gallery uses its power …

Communication Intervention For Individuals With Down Syndrome: Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Nicole Neil, Emily A. Jones

Education Publications

A systematic review was conducted to identify effective intervention strategies for communication in individuals with Down syndrome. We updated and extended previous reviews by examining: (1) participant characteristics; (2) study characteristics; (3) characteristics of effective interventions (e.g., strategies and intensity); (4) whether interventions are tailored to the Down syndrome behavior phenotype; and (5) the effectiveness (i.e., percentage non-overlapping data and Cohen’s d) of interventions. Thirty-seven studies met inclusion criteria. The majority of studies used behaviour analytic strategies and produced moderate gains in communication targets. Few interventions were tailored to the needs of the Down syndrome behaviour phenotype. The results …

Language Partners: The Church, Multiple Languages And Esl, Marlene E. Schmidt

International Journal of Christianity and English Language Teaching

The lack of the diversity of languages in most churches, combined with the growing number of U.S. residents with a language other than English, points to a potential dilemma for local congregations about how to acknowledge and embrace the linguistic diversity already within the congregation. How should churches respond to speakers of other languages, especially those within their congregation? What should be the role and attitude of the church when dealing with this dilemma? This article examines the biblical and professional rationale for starting a language partnership ESL ministry as a solution. In addition, a discussion of the experience of …