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Full-Text Articles in Education

The Use Of Visual Arts In World Language Instruction To Increase Student Motivation And Attitude, Marilena Bevilacqua Martello Dec 2017

The Use Of Visual Arts In World Language Instruction To Increase Student Motivation And Attitude, Marilena Bevilacqua Martello

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Because of the complexity and changeability that characterize languages, language learners face a number of various factors in their quest to acquire a new language. Nevertheless, it is the level of motivation and personal attitude toward language learning that will determine their rate of success (Dörnyei & Csizér, 1998). The purpose of this study was to find out (1) whether there was a relationship between the use of visual art in world language instruction and student motivation, and (2) whether student writing skills improved when visual art was used for Content Based Instruction. The study used a mixed method research …


Language Learning And Metacognition: An Intervention To Improve Language Classrooms, Rebecca Elise Knoph Aug 2017

Language Learning And Metacognition: An Intervention To Improve Language Classrooms, Rebecca Elise Knoph

MSU Graduate Theses

In the USA, the trend of increase in foreign language enrollments at the college level has suddenly begun to decline since 2009, despite the notion that learning multiple languages is becoming essential for effectively communicating with others from diverse native language backgrounds. This new decline may be due in part to inefficient and outdated foreign language courses. The current study examined the effect of how we assess our current knowledge and learning techniques (metacognition) on educational outcomes in hopes to improve the effectiveness of the university classrooms. College students were exposed to new metacognitive strategies that could benefit their language …


Improving Second Language Lexical Acquisition Through Personalization And Contextualization: A Look At Intrinsic Cognitive Load Reduction Strategies, Curtis Kleinman Jul 2017

Improving Second Language Lexical Acquisition Through Personalization And Contextualization: A Look At Intrinsic Cognitive Load Reduction Strategies, Curtis Kleinman

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

Cognitive load reduction strategies traditionally seek to reduce the amount of extraneous mental effort required of the learner. Researchers, through effective instructional design, seek to eliminate load-causing agents that are extraneous to the learning topic at hand. However, cognitive load theory research has now shifted to also include the exploration of strategies that seek to reduce the inherent complexities of the target topic itself. The current study seeks to apply two such intrinsic cognitive load reduction strategies—personalization and contextualization. Previous research suggests that cognitive load can be reduced by personalizing the learning environment, which serves to meet the interests of …


Investigating The Links Between Tblt, Oral Competence, And Student Retention In Fsl, Alexis Newman Jun 2017

Investigating The Links Between Tblt, Oral Competence, And Student Retention In Fsl, Alexis Newman

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Through a survey, interviews, and document analysis, this mixed-methods research study involving 751 Ontario university students and a French professor investigated the issue of decreasing enrollment in Ontario FSL programs after Grade 9, low numbers of functionally bilingual graduates, and the possibility of TBLT to improve students’ oral abilities, motivation, and consequently retention in FSL. Following the findings of Lapkin et al.’s (2009) literature review on Core French, the researcher found that a lack of oral practice in FSL classes has been a serious issue leading students to discontinue or feel unsuccessful in FSL programs. Students would enjoy experiencing an …


Improving The Reading Level Of Middle School English Learners In English Language Development Classes., Anastasiia V. Mixcoatl-Martinez May 2017

Improving The Reading Level Of Middle School English Learners In English Language Development Classes., Anastasiia V. Mixcoatl-Martinez

Master's Projects and Capstones

Presently, there are about 2,664,921 English Language Learners (ELLs) and Fluent English Proficient (FEP) speakers in California public schools who speak a language other than English at home (CalEdFacts, 2016). Some of these students have immigrated to the United States from other countries, while others were born and have been raised in the United States. According to the California Department of Education, the vast majority of ELLs (83.5%) in California come from low-income families and speak a language other than English at home. 73% of ELLs attend English Language Development (ELD) classes kindergarten through grade six, and 27% are in …


How Mindsets Matter: Second Grade, English Language Learners’ Reportings Of Their Experiences With A Growth Mindset Curriculum In Colombia, Amanda Brooks Apr 2017

How Mindsets Matter: Second Grade, English Language Learners’ Reportings Of Their Experiences With A Growth Mindset Curriculum In Colombia, Amanda Brooks

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative, classroom action research was conducted in a private bilingual school in Colombia with seventeen participants. The research questions were: 1) How do second-grade Colombian English language learners report changes to their Growth Mindset qualities following a six-week Growth Mindset intervention? and 2) How do second-grade Colombian English language learners perceive their language learning ability following a self-evaluation of Growth Mindset qualities? The research fills a gap in existing literature on three similar topics: Growth Mindset and academic achievement for adolescents and adults, conditional self-worth for children six and younger, and attribution theory and language learning for adolescents. One …


Motivation For Learning English At A Theological Seminary In Ukraine, Joshua Tokar Apr 2017

Motivation For Learning English At A Theological Seminary In Ukraine, Joshua Tokar

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to determine what factors motivate students to learn English at an evangelical seminary in Ukraine. After the fall of communism, English was mainly taught at newly formed evangelical seminaries in Ukraine to enable students to access theological resources in English that were not available in Russian or Ukrainian. A mixed-method approach involving a written attitudinal questionnaire and follow-up focus group interviews was employed to collect data. Participants in this study were second- year music ministry and first- to third-year theology students enrolled in English courses.The results of this study revealed that twenty-five years later seminary students …


The Contextual Motivational Conditions For L2 Pedagogy: A Case Study From The Arabian Gulf, Muhammad Athar Shah Jan 2017

The Contextual Motivational Conditions For L2 Pedagogy: A Case Study From The Arabian Gulf, Muhammad Athar Shah

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This article reports on a mixed-method research study into situated motivational conditions available for the English language (L2) pedagogy at a university in Saudi Arabia. The current study evaluated the L2 Learning Experience of the students by focusing on the key contextual factors that included teachers’ pedagogical practices, group dynamics in the classrooms, and English language course. Framed within the interpretive paradigm, the study utilised a structured questionnaire, followed by open-ended interviews with purposefully chosen language learners for data collection. The conceptual framework of the study was based on Dornyei’s (2005, 2009) L2 Motivational Self System one of the …


Relative Importance Of Anxiety And Motivational Variables In Predicting Language Achievement For College Learners Of Chinese, Qi Wang Jan 2017

Relative Importance Of Anxiety And Motivational Variables In Predicting Language Achievement For College Learners Of Chinese, Qi Wang

Doctoral Dissertations

The growing worldwide enthusiasm in learning Chinese calls for more research on learner characteristics in Chinese classrooms to better inform teaching practice. Language anxiety, which falls under the umbrella of learner’s affect, is considered an important affective aspect that negatively influences language learning and acquisition. As research on language anxiety mainly focused on the learning of Western languages, this study constitutes an initial attempt to investigate anxiety in the learning of Chinese through the testing of a structural model. The purpose of the study was to examine the relative importance of language anxiety in predicting Chinese achievement when motivation, integrativeness, …


Teaching In A Mixed Secondary Spanish Classroom: A Case Study Of Strategies And Successes Of Minnesota Teachers, Meredith Gunderson Jan 2017

Teaching In A Mixed Secondary Spanish Classroom: A Case Study Of Strategies And Successes Of Minnesota Teachers, Meredith Gunderson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The population of Spanish heritage language learners is increasing throughout the state of Minnesota. This change in demographics impacts schools in a variety of ways; one such consequence is the creation of classes for Spanish for Native Speakers in locations with high Latino populations. However, in most locations, such programs currently do not exist, resulting in Spanish heritage language learners enrolling in Spanish foreign language classes. These classrooms, called mixed classes due to the combination of second language learners and Spanish heritage language learners in the same classroom, pose a unique challenge to the foreign language instructors. This qualitative multiple …