Education Commons^™

An Investigation Into The Relationship Between Language Attitudes And Academic Performance In Northampton County, Virginia, Public Schools, Glenda L. Rose

English Theses & Dissertations

This language attitude study targets third grade, fifth grade, eighth grade and high school students in the Northampton County, Virginia, Public School System. Two hypotheses were proposed. First, students exhibiting negative attitudes toward their own dialect have a lower performance level in language arts classes than students expressing positive attitudes. Second, factors such as sex, race, grade level, and level of exposure to other dialects are reflected in language attitudes. In order to determine the validity of these hypotheses, school officials were asked to identify five students performing well and five students having difficulty in the language arts. Ten third …

Writing, Computers, And Rhetorical Situations: A Composition Odyssey, Kristine Louise Potter

Theses Digitization Project

This thesis, an autoethnography, explores my own, personal experiences using technology in various writing situations: my writing process, collaborative publishing, my M.A. internship, online tutoring, and my first experience teaching college English composition in a computer classroom.

Culture Teaching In Efl Through Computer/Critical Thinking, Jung-Im Woo

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this project is to develop computer-assisted language learning (CALL) lesson plans using the Internet and to offer an example for academic senior high school teachers in South Korea of exemplary treatment of cultural topics that promote critical thinking and incorporate crosscultural understanding based on cooperative learning.

Improving Interactional Competence In A Teaching-English-To-Speakers-Of-Other-Languages Training Program, Marguerite Faye Jackson

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

Error Analysis And Curriculum Development In An Efl Classroom In Taiwan, Meng Teh Wu

MA TESOL Collection

It is the premise of this paper that errors provide invaluable information for guiding teachers and learners in the process of language acquisition. They offer insights for the teacher in constructing curricula and help the students with their ingerlanguage development. Errors should not be regarded as negative indicators. They are significant guide posts in the learning process. When and how to correct errors and what errors to correct has been the focus of Error Analysis studies. In this respect this paper is no exception. Special emphasis has been laid, however, on how to translate theoretical concepts into the author’s classroom …

Esl Mentoring: An Empowering Tool, Maria Cristina Tur

MA TESOL Collection

The purpose of this IPP will be a qualitative case study of the mentoring program at Hostos Community College, City University of New York. I will learn the working of the mentoring program. I will examine the mentor’s role and strategies in helping her two protégés. I will reflect upon the relevance of a Mentoring Program as a tool in facilitating the acquisition of ESL. Finally, I will explain the advisor/advisee program at Intermediate School 184 in the South Bronx in whose pilot program I participated.

The Importance Of Community Building In The Efl Classroom, Svitlana Trofymenko

MA TESOL Collection

This paper argues that success in the EFL classroom depends less on techniques and materials, and more on the relationships between the class members and the educational climate. It asserts that, because the creation of a sense of community facilitates learning in different ways, the most important talk of a teacher is to foster a sense of community between students in the language classroom as well s to challenge them with linguistic tasks. A classroom community can increase student motivation and self-esteem. It can reduce extreme anxiety and maximize student-student interaction in the EFL classroom. It can also facilitate co-operation …

Building A Teacher Education Program For Efl Teachers: From Process To Product, Eliana Santana

MA TESOL Collection

This IPP contains a teacher education program for a school in the north of Brazil. It also shows the process I used in order to construct it. It shows the context for which the program was developed, the state-of-the-art in TESOL teacher preparation, as well as my own beliefs and assumptions about how learning teaching takes place. Then, it presents the needs analysis as well as the curriculum designed for the program.

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 …

The Evolution Of A Reflective Practitioner: One Teacher’S Story, Anne K. Reagan

MA TESOL Collection

Becoming a reflective practitioner requires and active, disciplined process as well as support from colleagues according to the experiences of one elementary school Spanish teacher. This paper provides an overview of the learning experiences in a MAT graduate program that shaped this teacher’s initial thoughts about reflective teaching. It also reviews several experts’ ideas on reflective thought and teaching. Finally, it narrates and analyzes her experience of creating a reflective teachers’ group using a text as the impetus for discussion. The conclusion offers ideas for future development of a reflective teachers’ group.

Written Feedback In The Classroom And Beyond, Karen Gould Peltola

MA TESOL Collection

This paper is an in-depth look at the experimentation with and use of written feedback with middle school foreign language students and their parents. It includes my own learning about giving written feedback, the process by which I have trained my students to give written feedback, and finally the extensions of written feedback beyond the classroom, to the parents. Examples of written feedback forms and formats are included, as well as completed examples.

Motivating Adolescents To Be Active Participants In The Language Learning Process, Kier Merill

MA TESOL Collection

Motivating adolescents to be active participants in their own language learning process is a challenge faced by all middle and high school language teachers. This paper provides and overview of tone teacher’s experiences in the struggle to motivate her own students. it also supplies some useful ideas on activities that work to motivate students both inside and outside the classroom. The appendices include step by step plans to help guide other teachers in carrying out some of the activities in their own classes.

“Pass The Remote…! Interactive Classroom Review For The 21st Century: Bringing Remote Response Pads Into Your Classroom, Lisa Michelle Lucas

MA TESOL Collection

This project describes a form of computer-assisted interactive classroom instruction, which is particularly useful in the ESL context. Not only does this project show how to integrate instruction with ever advancing technology, it also demonstrates how to integrate interactive class work with the diverse and relevant learning styles of each learner in the classroom. This project will show how easy it is to use this technology in conjunction with thematic units or projects-whatever the level of the ESL student. Enclosed are examples of instructional materials, created for the ESL High Beginner and examples of how they relate to the paper …

Rising Off The Plateau In Learning Arabic, Daniel Scott Linquist

MA TESOL Collection

Experiencing plateaus in second language learning is a common experience, especially for language student studying Arabic or one of the other languages considered more difficult. Some of the causes for the plateau experience in Arabic are its complex grammar, its vast amount of vocabulary, and the different roles of Modern Standard Arabic and the spoken dialects of Arabic.

Rising off the Plateau in Studying Arabic is a thesis project, which analyzes this second language learner’s attempt to make significant progress in studying Modern Standard Arabic. The project was based on a self-directed, semi-intensive Arabic language program, which prioritized the reading …

The Affect Of Writing On The Internet, Jane Hoelker

MA TESOL Collection

This paper is a description of the development, objectives, implementation and results of an advanced composition course conducted on the Internet with IWE (International Writing Exchange) of the Helsinki University of Technology. The purpose of the course was to motivate students of English who were discouraged during the difficult IMF era in Korea in 1998. During the 90's the majority of English Education majors at Pusan National University in Korea had studied and/or traveled overseas for extensive periods of time during their undergraduate career. But, in 1998 opportunities for overseas travel and study had been greatly curtailed due to IMF …

The Effect Of Educational Kinesiology On Second Language Acquisition, Tina Lynne Haverstick

MA TESOL Collection

This thesis is a summary of my experience working with the theory of Educational Kinesiology (Edu-K) in the foreign language classroom environment. It may serve as a guide for anyone who is interested in tapping into the full potential of students’ brains within a structured learning environment.

A case study is presented here examining the effects of educational kinesiology on two groups of kindergarten students I taught simultaneously in my EFL classroom in Taiwan.

I chose to assess their attitudes toward different classroom activities, including those geared toward improving listening, speaking, reading and writing, as well as the overall attitude …

Drama Methodology And Its Usage In Removing Barriers To English Language Acquisition In Japanese University Students, C Malcom Barry Duff

MA TESOL Collection

This paper examines how drama methodology can be used to remove barriers to English acquisition and to encourage English language production in Japanese university students. The effect of the affective filter and Monitor use in language production will be covered. The use of drama methodology will be analyzed and its usage in the classroom evaluated. The use of drama techniques to create lessons will be demonstrated.

Unleashing The Writer Within: A Workshop Based Writing Course Designed To Release Student Fears, Cultivate Creativity And Develop Editing Skills, Kimberly Sue Connelly

MA TESOL Collection

Establishing a community of learners in a language classroom produces a fertile environment in which to teach any and all language skills. Building community was the focus of the Writing Workshop that I designed and taught to large classes of high beginner to advanced immigrants, refugees, and international students in a college level ESL program. The activities I developed for the first weeks connect students to each other through creativity, music and art, authorize students to set their own goals, encourage them to examine their writing anxieties, and allow them to explore their identities as writers. By breaking down fears …

Using Innovative Language Learning Methods With Mombusho Textbooks, Janet Melinda Beane

MA TESOL Collection

This paper shows how chapters from two different textbooks at different levels might be taught using several different methods. The paper begins with a discussion of my reasons for choosing this topic and goes on to lay out what I feel a method needs to consider in order to be a good method. In the next section, I go on to introduce various innovative language teaching methods such as ALM, TPR and the Silent Way. For each method I include a short section of background information including the principles and techniques of each lesson. Then I contrast a typical lesson …

African Film: A Dynamic Medium For A High School French Class Cultural Curriculum, Denise Elizabeth Dunn Barstow-Girel

MA TESOL Collection

Culture can be an integral part of the French foreign language class when students learn French language and Francophone culture through a content-based approach using the medium of African films. Founded on the pedagogical value of a thematic study of issues aimed at raising linguistic, cultural, and global awareness in adolescent, fourth or fifth year high school French students, I developed this cultural curriculum focused on Francophone African culture. While learning the French language, students will gain knowledge of West African cultures including historical aspects, and the role of the French language in this region.

Tenant Partners For Community Education: A Family Literacy Project, Pamela J. Anderson

MA TESOL Collection

The purpose of this paper is to discuss, describe, and evaluate a family literacy program I developed as a pilot project for Southeast Asian immigrant families with elementary school-aged children living in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco.

I will give an overview of this project and review recent research on the different approaches to family literacy. Using a working definition of family literacy based upon current research and implementation in the field, the Indochinese Housing Family Literacy Project-a description of its structure and expected outcomes, lesson plans, and useful findings from current working programs-will be explored and described. Finally, …

Building Written Language: A Program For Second Language Literacy In English, Gerda Ann Packard Randolph

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this project is to provide an instructional program for students learning English as a second language that will meet their academic needs and facilitate full literacy.

Readers Theatre For Critical/Creative/Cooperative English Language Learning, Xiangqing Huang

Theses Digitization Project

This thesis was written in hope that it will serve as a stimulant to spur innovative ideas in EFL teaching and learning in Taiwan.

Parental Perceptions Of Their Child's Speech And Language Development, Jana M. Keasler

Honors Theses

This thesis discusses parental knowledge of their child's speech and language development. To assess this topic, a survey was administered to 104 parents of preschool children in Arkadelphia, AR. The survey asked general questions concerning speech and language development in children . Results revealed that parents, regardless of income level or education level, have minimal knowledge of speech and language development in their children. Parents with four or more children scored higher on the survey than parents with three fewer children. Implications for further studies are discussed.

Implementing A Context-Based Teaching Curriculum For French Learners At The Mtc, Stephanie Wallace Olsen

Theses and Dissertations

Two control groups and two experimental groups of missionaries and teachers participated in a study comparing a grammar-based method of teaching to a context-based method. The study lasted for two weeks during June 1997. Each classroom was recorded using a timing-based observation system that captured 13 missionary and teacher language behaviors. The behaviors were recorded in real time and later evaluated to determine in which classroom setting the most real communication occurred. A second purpose was to determine the effectiveness of teacher training with respect to teachers in the experimental group. Findings revealed that missionaries in the context-based classroom received …

Training Teachers Of Slavic Lctls: Student Profiles And Program Design, Mark Richard Lauersdorf

Linguistics Faculty Publications

This article focuses on the differences between Slavic LCTL and Russian "language teaching situations" in the specific areas of student constituency and basic program structure, and the importance of considering these differences in developing teacher training programs that include teachers of Slavic LCTLs. Emphasis is placed on how the realities of the typical Slavic LCTL program point to the need to train graduate student-teachers in the specific skills of course/program design and development in order to prepare them more adequately for their teaching tasks. The results of a Fall 1996 survey of second-year Polish and Czech students and instructors are …