Education Commons^™

Virtual Free-Writing Journal Portfolios In An Intensive English Program In Iraq, Charles Mckinney

MA TESOL Collection

Middle-Eastern English language learners (ELLs), specifically Iraqi students, are often not well equipped to succeed in university settings where English is the medium of instruction (EMI) for their intended graduate and undergraduate studies. Oftentimes, they are weaker in their academic literacy skills, when compared to listening and speaking, and need extra scaffolding and/or remedial instruction to develop their reading and writing dexterity for overall academic success. One way to support their writing development is to implement free-writing journal projects that will enable them to cultivate an original writer voice, to think quickly and critically in the L2, and to integrate …

Leveraging The Dynamics Of The Mixed Level Classroom: A Materials Collection, Emily Hampston

MA TESOL Collection

A number of studies have noted the rise in student demographic diversity and the heightened significance of the mixed-level classroom; however, a consensus on the appropriate methods and materials to address these developments remains to be reached. Educators are anticipated to address the needs of students with a variety of abilities, backgrounds, and interests in a singular class. Less proficient students face overstimulation whilst more proficient students face understimulation. How can the challenges of the mixed-level classroom be recast into strengths? The mixed-level classroom environment calls for student investment, real language, and familiar processes. Methods such as peer tutoring, cooperative …

Approaches To Narrative Instruction For Second Language Learners, Mathew Peters

MA TESOL Collection

Narratives have reemerged as a dominant form of rhetoric over the last fifty years. This dominant use of narrative discourse has only increased with the rise of social media. Walther Fisher (1987) proposed the narrative paradigm as a unifying theory of human communication. His major claim is that people are inherently storytellers and that people use a narrative rationality and a logic of good reasons to inform their beliefs, values, and actions. This paper utilizes his theories, along with recent findings in neuroscience, to establish an argument for greater inclusion of narratives into second language teaching. Narratives can have a …

Online Learning As An Alternative Form Of Education For Individuals Impacted By Conflict, Wynter Oshiberu

MA TESOL Collection

Through a small case study, this paper investigates one on-line learning organization devoted to providing ESL education to persons affected by conflict. Through interviews with administrators and tutors, and through survey data collected from participants, the paper will explore how administrators and tutors:

1) determine suitability of material when deciding what to teach in this virtual classroom format

2) foster reflection skills in this format

3) assess language acquisition

4) measure the benefits of technology in one on one instruction

Paper Airplanes consists of about five hundred to eight hundred students and around 800 hundred tutors (Wimer, 2018). It is …

Critical Complexity: A Challenge To Engage For Educators, Elizabeth Johnson

MA TESOL Collection

Education is a means of ensuring the survival of the human race. By passing on knowledge and awareness, humans attempt to craft adaptability of future generations. Adaptability allows humans to respond to unforeseen events that may challenge their survival.

Education is a process that works to achieve change and growth of the individual and the regeneration and transformation of society. The outcomes of interactions in educational systems are uncertain and emergent. Educational systems are open, adaptive, complex, dynamic and non-linear.

In the near past, reducing the complexity of natural and social phenomena has allowed the human race to simplify and …

American History Content-Based Instruction In China, Matthew K. Ingalls

MA TESOL Collection

This project demonstrates materials developed over a three-year period in Chinese international schools for the teaching of U.S. history to ESL learners. It includes an outline for a two-year curriculum with a regular weekly cycle, as well as a close look at strategies and tested activities intended to facilitate understanding of this complex topic and to encourage students to participate beyond passive reception. Specific cultural issues of teaching U.S. history in China are discussed, including issues of ideology and censorship.

“Teach To The Middle”: A Double Case Study Of Two Multilevel Efl Classes In The Middle East, Teresa Hernandez

MA TESOL Collection

The purpose of this paper is to develop a comprehensive understanding of multilevel classes. It examines the pedagogical challenges that teachers often face in this teaching context, but it also considers the implications for what multilevel classes indicate about access to education in the EFL teaching field. The author has opted to examine two distinct cases of multilevel classes in the Middle East that she taught from 2010-2011 and in 2012. The first was a remedial 7^th grade English class called 7F in an international school in Erbil, the capital city of the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The second …

How Esol Teachers Become Aware Of Communicative Peace, Josette Leblanc

MA TESOL Collection

This paper examines the implications that the relationship between teacher language awareness and communicative peace may have on educational programs for teachers of English for speakers of other languages (ESOL). The evaluation begins by analyzing proposals set out by the applied peace linguist Francisco Gomes de Matos, who suggests that ESOL teachers should teach communicative peace as an element of communicative competence, and also that education programs should provide training to support this approach. By juxtaposing current literature on structural and linguistic violence with Gomes de Matos’ classroom techniques, the hypothesis is made that teachers who would teach communicative peace …

Using Technology In The Efl Classroom In Saudi Arabia, Neil Oby Morris

MA TESOL Collection

This paper explores the ways that technology, specifically the use of laptop computers and cellular phones, may be incorporated in the EFL classroom to enhance learning and lower the affective filter of male Saudi Arabian university students.

Saudi Arabia presents the EFL teacher with many challenges that are unique to this gender-segregated Islamic kingdom. Meeting these challenges and turning them into learning opportunities that other EFL teachers may find useful within their teaching contexts is the purpose of this paper.

The appendix includes a writing rubric and a 40-day materials introduction calendar. The calendar illustrates the day-by-day introduction of material …

From Riyadh To Portland: The Study Abroad Experiences Of Five Saudi Arabian Female Students, Dana Kampman

MA TESOL Collection

The number of Saudi Arabian students enrolled in college and university programs in other countries is increasing. This paper reports on a qualitative research project conducted with five female Saudi college students enrolled in a summer program at Portland State University. It examines how notions of culture can explain the source of the challenges that the students faced and how they overcame these challenges. Implications for pre-departure orientation and on-site support are presented and discussed.

Over There A Preparation Course For Japanese High School Students Embarking On A Student Exchange Year Abroad, Jonathan Bolick

MA TESOL Collection

This paper explores the course design process for a study-abroad preparation course for Japanese high school students. The design process yielded valuable teacher insights: the importance of understanding one’s teaching beliefs, the vital need for student and teacher feedback, the benefits of strong classroom community, and the need for better understanding students’ cultural and learning contexts. Interviews with ten former exchange students revealed students’ lack of cultural knowledge of their own and target culture, especially the invisible culture, which had led to misunderstanding and conflict. Students’ inability to express their personal identity adequately in L2 had also led to an …

Awakening The Muse In The Land Of The Morning Calm: Guidelines For New And Future Teachers Bound For South Korea, Lauren Jennifer Gerken

MA TESOL Collection

How is it to teach English in South Korea? What are the students like? How are the schools? What kind of education system do they have? How proficient are Korean students when speaking English? What types of learning styles do they have? What are their strengths and weaknesses? How can a new teacher prepare her/himself best for an English teaching position at a school or university in South Korea? Where is the best place to teach? What methods and strategies work best in the South Korean EFL classroom? Based on my experience of teaching English for thirteen years in the …

Enhancing A Student Exchange With A Day-By-Day Activities Folder, Anne Cottagnoud

MA TESOL Collection

This paper reviews the use of a Folder to document series of activities designed to enhance and maximize learning during a student exchange. Swiss high school students visited their American partners and conducted activities before, during and after the exchange. The Folder was a teacher-prepared booklet that engaged students in the four phases of Kolb’s (1984) Experiential Learning Cycle: experience, observation and reflection, abstract thinking and generalizing, and testing learned concepts. It also encouraged the Swiss students to ask questions of American host families and American students in order to learn more about American culture. The Folder made use of …

Don’T Be Afraid To Communicate With Americans: Research About Low Self-Esteem Japanese Students In The United States. How Esl Teachers Can Build Students’ Self-Esteem In The Class., Mami Tanaka

MA TESOL Collection

This project is a research paper about low self-esteem Japanese students who have a hard time communicating with Americans in spite of the fact that their English ability is high enough. It is based on my private teaching experience with one of many Japanese students in Boston. This paper is composed of two sections. The first section shows that low self-esteem can be one of the main obstacles to foreign language acquisition for Japanese students. The second section is about what we can do as ESL teachers.

Inclusion Of Host Culture In International Schools: A Case Study Of The British School Of Cotonou, Alisha L. Jacobsen

MA TESOL Collection

This paper is a case study of The British School of Cotonou, an international school located in Benin, West Africa. The case study examines the common claim international schools make about providing international education. A closer look at the composition of the teaching and administrative staff, the curriculum, the teaching methodologies, and parent-teacher attitudes about the importance of learning about one’s host country shows the opposite. International education cannot be attained without including the host culture in the international school’s learning environment. Examples of the parent-teacher survey are included, as well as summaries of survey results.

Reading Your Way Into Culture: A Materials Development Project, Marie Nestingen

MA TESOL Collection

The focus of this paper is to help beginning Spanish foreign language students increase and improve their reading skills in the target language while learning about some of the Hispanic culture and customs in Guatemala. In this paper I will combine the two, explaining and giving examples of how students, novice language learners, can learn more about the target language culture while improving their reading skills in the target language.

Comings And Goings: Considerations And Reflections On The English Program In Korea (Epik), Kiama Robinson

MA TESOL Collection

This paper examines both practical considerations for sojourners who are planning to work overseas in South Korea’s English Program in Korea (EPIK) and reflections on the author’s experiences with this program. The first section of the paper presents pre-departure, arrival and descriptions of what the school and housing might consist of, followed by reflections on the author’s direct experiences through three paradigms: world view, intercultural adjustment, and culture shock. While the main focus of this paper is on native English speakers participating in EPIK, the practical considerations and discussion may also be generally helpful for hosting organization as well as …

Living To Learn In Italy, Margo L. Connell

MA TESOL Collection

Living to Learn in Italy is a personal account of the time I spent in Florence and Torino, Italy, and the challenges I faced in adapting to a new environment, as well as the personal issues that surfaced as I moved through major life transitions.

I have organized this paper chronologically in three sections, orientation, adaptation, and elaboration.

The first section, orientation, recounts experiences from my first months in Florence. This was the initial, exploratory phase of my 1ife in a foreign culture, and during which I was not as involved with the people, language and way of life as …

Attitude And Perception Differences When Speaking In A Second Language, Keith Douglas Smith

MA TESOL Collection

This paper addresses the issue of how people perceive themselves and others when speaking in a second language (L2). It explores the attitudinal aspects (e.g. sociological, psychological, and emotional) through the use of a questionnaire and in-depth interviews. Using the data collected, the paper compares and contrasts native and non-native English-speaking men and women. The results of the data have been illustrated in bar graphs to give the reader an idea of what findings were produced from the research. The research has been analyzed and tentative conclusions have been made. The conclusions, however, allow the reader to be able to …

With Assumptions In Mind, Claire Eleanor Creelman

MA TESOL Collection

This paper is an account of a three month teaching assignment in Guatemala in which I examined and tested my assumptions about teaching and learning in light of the techniques I used in the classroom, my lesson preparation and my selection of materials. This is done through the examination of a series of lesson plans which I used in classes of different levels and at different times in the program. I was able to demonstrate through these critiques when my actions supported those assumptions as well as the times when they conflicted or even ignored them. In addition, I was …

“El Puente” An Advanced Spanish Reader For Cultural Exposure, Angela Maria Garcia Mast

MA TESOL Collection

The present work is an advanced reader for adult learners of Spanish. Each of its 21 passages highlights a features of the Hispanic culture or a constrast between North American and Hispanic culture. The author's intent is to present to the reader the struggles, ambiguities and confusion that being between two cultures can bring to bear upon a person whose world view is based upon two separate and distinct realities.

Each passage introduces colloquial expressions as they are used by native speakers. Along with each is a culture capsule which attempts to further explain the point illustrated by the passage, …

Welcome To New York City Community Orientation Programs For International Students, Stacey Klein

MA TESOL Collection

This paper examines some of the needs of international students at New York area colleges and universities. Students' relationship with the New York community is introduced as a significant variable in their experience. A comprehensive community orientation program offered by Metro-International during the 1985-1986 academic year is presented and evaluated.

A Teacher Training Program Focusing On Communicative Methodology For Brazilian Teachers Of English As A Foreign Language, Alberto De Paula Santos

MA TESOL Collection

This project is the result of efforts to set up a teacher­ training program for the Centro Cultural Brasil-Estados Unidos de Curitiba in Brazil. It is especially designed for teachers who have been using teacher-centered classroom techniques and the traditionally structured approaches to teaching, and who are willing to change to a student-centered communicative approach to teaching English.

In chapter one, I give a general overview of the program Iset up and a short description of the Centro. I also state the reasons why I decided to set up this teacher-training program for the Centro.

In chapter two, I describe …

Guidelines For Prospective Esl Teachers In Saudi Arabia, Constance Boerner Joy

MA TESOL Collection

This paper is intended to be an orientation pamphlet for prospective EFL teachers in Saudi Arabia. It may be useful for teachers in other Middle Eastern countries as well, particularly in the Arab Gulf states. It contains a statement on factors affecting EFL teaching in the classroom, based on the author's five and a half years of experience in Riyadh. It touches on such topics as religion, family, politics, education, English-Arabic Language differences, teaching approaches and the teacher as a representative of his own culture. It also has suggestions for finding a job, including a list of schools and organizations …

Mini-Course In Demystifying American Spelling: An Historical And Comparative Perspective, Ingrid Prouty

MA TESOL Collection

This paper is intended as a practical guide to presenting selected areas o£ spelling problematic £or ESL students and native English speakers. The focus is on the history o£ the English language and comparison with other Indo-European languages as a means of clarifying English spelling "idiosyncrasies”.

The study begins with an explanation of the historical and comparative viewpoint and suggestions for its application. The chapters are presented in lesson format and followed by several activity possibilities. The appendices provide a compendium of background information and classroom materials relating to the individual chapters. The glossary and annotated bibliography are provided for …

The Cultural Entry Process In Japan And Mexico – Cultural Factors To Be Considered, David C. Riggs

MA TESOL Collection

This paper is intended to present a triangular cultural comparison of American, Japanese, and Mexican societies. It is written primarily for Americans who plan to live for extended periods of time in either Japan or Mexico, and is written from an American cultural point of view. Included are descriptions of my cross-cultural experiences in the three countries. The main body of the paper deals with the cross-cultural factors which I consider to be the most important to consider when attempting to successfully adapt oneself to living in either Japanese or Mexican society. It is hoped that in some way my …

Using A Case Study Method To Teach Culture In The Esl Classroom, William Peter Polaski

MA TESOL Collection

No abstract provided.

College Life: U.S.A. A Teaching Resource Packet To Prepare Foreign Students For The Social Side Of Attending A College In The United States., Mark Koncewicz

MA TESOL Collection

This project is a teaching resource packet for ESL/EFL teachers who are interested in showing their students what American college life is like. The project is based on twelve situations which were selected because they seem to be the most typical situations that a foreign student would probably interact in while studying and living at an American college. There are two parts to this project: a set of slides with 5-7 consists of units for each of the situations and a text which consists of units for each of the situations. Each of these units is composed of three sections: …