Education Commons^™

Efl Teachers’ Understandings Of The Role Of Assessment In Second Language Learning, Evelyn Almeida

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

Given the important role of assessment in the process of Second Language Learning (SLL) and framed within Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), this study aims to analyze: (1) how EFL teachers’ understanding of the role of assessment in SLL can be improved, (2) how effective dynamic assessment is in their teaching practices, (3) how EFL teachers’ assessment practices reflect their understanding of the concept of assessment/dynamic assessment, and (4) what strategies can help them understand these concepts. These four points are studied within the context of English classes at a Language Institute in Quito, Ecuador. This project’s contribution brings …

Linguistic Discrimination Against Native Spanish Speakers In The New Mexico Bar Examination In The 1970s, Marie Chávez

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

In the 1970s, many people from Hispanic backgrounds, whether their first language was Spanish or English, who had graduated from law school took the New Mexico Bar Examination. A disproportionately large percentage of them (compared with their counterparts who did not come from Hispanic backgrounds) did not pass the Bar Examination. They therefore were denied admission to the bar. This dissertation examines how this came to be.

The study centers on the history of identity politics in New Mexico for Spanish-speaking people and their descendants. It examines the relationship between language and ideologies about race and ethnicity, as well as …

A Dialectical Relational Analysis Of Tesol Quarterly 2006 Special Issue On Race: Discourse, Race, And White Supremacist Ideology, Ginger A. Looney

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

Although the field of TESOL is not racially neutral this dialectical relational analysis examined (1) what discourses did the authors use to deploy race in the articles in the 2006 TESOL Quarterly Special Issue on Race (TQSIR)? and (2) how do these discourses work to either conform to, or resist white supremacist ideology? Analysis of the texts identified four key discourse: racialization, whiteness, emotional labor of racism, and sonic and optic negation of racism. These discourses were examined in the domains of scholarship, curriculum, teachers, and students. In 21 instances, these four discourses work to resist white supremacist ideology. …

A Case Study Of Two Taiwanese Students With Hearing Loss Navigating The English As A Foreign Language Requirement At Their University, Yu Chen

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

Many institutions of higher education (IHE) students in Taiwan now need to meet the English proficiency requirement to earn their higher education degrees. In this case study, I intended to a) provide the opportunity for IHE students with hearing loss in Taiwan to share their opinions, thoughts, and experiences of learning English as a foreign language in higher education institutes; and b) understand how English as a foreign language policies and educational practices contribute to create opportunities and barriers for IHE students with hearing loss. The research question I intended to examine was “what are the perceptions of the lived …

"We Might Well Have Viewed It As An Act Of War": The Normalization Of Exclusion In The Discourse Of American Educational Reform, Sandra Roth

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

The purpose of this study is to examine the dominant ideology/discourse of educational reform through a critical discourse analysis of federal education reform documents with the goal of defining the discourse that naturalizes the exclusion of students of color and working class students from educational opportunity. The focus of the research is modern educational reform (1983 – present), which began with A Nation at Risk, the Reagan-era report within which the fear and blame aspects of modern reform discourse are created. Also within A Nation at Risk can be seen the advent of standardized testing discourse as we know …

A Study Of The Effect Of Adjunctive Use Of Programed Instructional Materials On Student Achievement In Selected Language Arts Areas, Ronald A. Ruble

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

It was the purpose of this study to investigate the effects of conventional teaching with programed materials used as an instructional adjunct and conventional teaching alone upon individual and class achievement in three selected areas of the language arts curriculum: (a) spelling, (b) punctuation, and (c) capitalization.