Education Commons^™

Improvisational Teaching For Emergent Bilinguals, Denchai Prabjandee

Journal of Educational Research and Innovation

The present collaborative ethnographic case study was design to explore teaching practices for English Language Learners (ELLs) in the United States, hereafter called "emergent bilinguals" (García, 2009). Through the theoretical lens of ethnographic vulnerability (Behar, 1996), I conducted 40-hour observations, four interviews, and artifact collections. By using an impressionist tale writing style throughout this article (Maanen, 2011), this paper presents the journey of an elementary school teacher who tries to employ classroom practices, teaching strategies, and assessments to educate emergent bilinguals. Drawing on ethnographic data, I propose an effective teaching approach called improvisational teaching. This teaching approach may be beneficial …

The Effects Of Technology On Ell Students Writing Fluency, Aristea Goundouvas

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

This action research project explored whether the iPad application ‘Book Creator’ could impact the written fluency of English Language Learners (ELL). It also monitored the impact the application would have on non-ELL students. It was conducted in a public Montessori elementary school with students aged six to eight years old at the beginning of the school year. Out of twenty students, ten were ELL. Data tools included writing rubrics, personal evaluation rubrics and tallies of written output. While results showed some nominal improvement in writing output, it is difficult to assess if the results reflected students settling into the new …

Bridging The Literacy Gap: A Critique Of Computer-Based Instruction, Savannah Lee Trudeau

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

As we move forward in an emerging digital society, a greater emphasis is being placed on technology-based instruction. As a result, computer-based literacy instruction has become more prevalent in schools and afterschool programs with the goal of strengthening students’ literacy skills. Throughout Monterey County, a large portion of the student population are English Language Learners (ELLs). The focus of this Capstone project is a discussion and critique of a specific computer-based literacy program, Read Naturally. The developers of this program expect students to already have a basic knowledge of the English language and as a result, the difficult assessments and …

Teaching The American Dream: The Unintended Consequences For Latinx Students Conducting Participatory Action Research, Jennifer Lucko

Education | Faculty Conference Presentations

In this paper, I draw on my ethnographic fieldwork with Latinx English language learners in Northern California to consider how schools inadvertently contribute to internalized racism by teaching the ideal of an American meritocracy while obscuring issues of social justice affecting students and their families. In what follows I will briefly cover four main points. First, I explain the conceptual framework guiding my analysis of the relationship between school policies and practices and internalized racism. Second, I outline my fieldwork site and the research methods used during my study. Third, I describe how educational policies and practices at the Latinx …

Levinas, Leviticus, & Language: A Case Study Exploring Acsi Maritime Teacher Challenges Of Practice Due To Increasing Esl Enrollment, Susanne Huizing

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this case study was to explain the perceived challenges of practice due to increasing enrollment of English Language Learners (ELLs) for ACSI teachers in the Canadian Maritimes. The theory guiding this study was ethics as first philosophy by Levinas (1981). Levinas’ theory aided in examining the ethical, relational, and linguistic challenges teachers experienced teaching ELLs. The central research question guiding this study was: what are the perceived challenges of practice K-12 ACSI Maritime school teachers face due to increasing ELL enrollment? Data was collected through pre-interview journals, semi-structured face-to-face interviews, and observations. Data analysis included transcriptions, documents, …

The Language Of Learning In Family And Consumer Sciences: English Language Learners In Career Technical Education, Kali S. Lenhoff

Empowering Research for Educators

Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) content and English as a Second Language (ESL) strategies can be organically incorporated to create a successful education for an English Language Learner (ELL). The first objective of this research project is to discover how prepared Family and Consumer Sciences teachers feel to work with English Language Learners in the classroom. The second objective is to identify practical and effective methods and strategies that are useful for Family and Consumer Sciences teachers instructing English Language Learners. The rationale for this project is that by identifying the challenges faced by English Language Learners in education, teachers …

Ell Teachers’ Attitudes Of Google Earth For Inquiry-Based Instruction On Ell Students’ Language Development In A Rural New England State, Mark Congdon Jr., Ian Mette, Andrea Mercado, Laura Lindenfeld, Emily Tupper

Diversity, Social Justice, and the Educational Leader

This study investigated factors predicting the intentions of English Language Learner (ELL) teachers to use Google Earth for language development instruction. The researchers used quantitative research methods using an electronic survey (n=40), with a 28% return rate. Results indicated that attitude was a significant predictor of ELL teachers’ intentions to use Google Earth during instruction in a rural New England state. Additional findings indicate that when comparing teachers who intended or were using Google Earth during instruction to those who did not, there were significant differences between groups. However, 95% of ELL teachers within this rural state received no training …

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 …

Dreams Beyond Labels: Case Studies Of Four English Language Learners Who Are Beating The Odds, Julie Israelson

Journal of Educational Research and Innovation

Too often, English Language Learners are failing out or dropping out of school. However, there are ELLs that are enrolled in honors classes and on a college-bound path. This paper looks at four English Language Learners in Colorado who were beating the odds and experiencing high levels of academic achievement in school. Through in-depth case studies, these students identified the factors that were most influential in their educational routes. Parents, teachers, peers, and individual determination were described as significant factors.

Emerging Pathways: A Teacher/Researcher's Reflexive Journey Implementing Literacy-Based Science Interventions With Adolescent English Language Learners, Jeffrey Mihlon

Dissertations

This study explored the impact of instructional interventions with four Middle School English Language Learners in Science. The initial focus was to determine the impact of explicit academic vocabulary instruction, including cognates, and small-group guided discussions in order to facilitate the acquisition of cognates, academic vocabulary, and comprehension of scientific concepts. To accomplish this, various methods were implemented to gather data: observational and reflective field notes, a cognate-circling task, along with group and individual interviews. Upon the initial data analysis, an emerging question surfaced which added an additional dimension to the research, and shed light on the complexity of the …

English Language Learners In The Mathematics Classroom, Julia Mccormick

Senior Honors Projects

Mathematics is often considered a universal language. Most of us have heard this statement from a math teacher at some point throughout our academic careers. However, for students moving to the United States from another country with minimal fluency in English, this is clearly not the case. They may walk into math class, a subject area in which they may have excelled in their native country, and see the words “polynomial”, “coefficient”, and “differentiate” on the board. Regardless of their experiences in their native language, there are disconnects and cultural differences between languages and skills emphasized that prevents mathematics from …

The Effect Of Technology On Student Achievement With English Language Learners In An Early Childhood Classroom Setting, Tiffany Vasquez-Dewein

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

The purpose of this action research project was to determine if there was a correlation between the use of iPads to improve student achievement and traditional methods of teaching with four and five-year-old English language learners (ELLs). Two control groups of four ELLs were taught in math three times a week. Control group A was taught using iPad applications to support math teaching in alongside traditional teachings in math. Control group B were taught with age appropriate early childhood materials such as counting cards and manipulatives to support the traditional teachings in math. Data was collected at the end of …

A Mixed-Methods Study Of English Language Learners' Academic Achievements In A Spanish Language Immersion School, Ibtihal Salman

Dissertations

English Language Learners (ELLs) represent the fastest growing population in the public-school community in the United States (U.S.), where their academic achievements lag behind their native English-speaking peers. English Language Learners’ academic achievement gap has raised a challenging issue for U.S. educators. A convergent parallel mixed-methods study was conducted to 1) compare English Language learners’ academic achievements (mathematics and English Language Arts [ELA] scores) to non-ELLs’ academic achievements (mathematics and ELA scores) in a one-way Spanish immersion school in the Midwestern United States; 2) examine the impact of using Spanish as an instructional tool on English Language Learners’ (ELLs) academic …

Ignatian Pedagogy Certificate Final Project, Mitchell A. Hendrickson

Ignatian Pedagogy Educational Resources

No abstract provided.

The Howl - Spring 2017, Gwendolyn Derosa, Eun Jin Jung, Na Kyung Kim, Youngjoo Kwon, Aileen Lee, Kihoon Kim, Yu-Ling Tsao

The Howl

The Howl is a magazine that is planned, researched, written, photographed and designed by Otterbein University's ESL and international students. The magazine serves to give them a safe space in which to use their voice to share their cultures, experiences and lives. If you are interested in submitting to The Howl, please email your writing or photography to gderosa@otterbein.edu.

English Language Learners Transitioning From High School To College: A Case Study On The Upward Bound Program For Ells At Rowan University, Margarita Olivencia

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine and document the role the Upward Bound program played in Upward Bound alumni's transition from high school to Rowan University applying Maeroff's (1999) four-sense model of effective educational programs. This study gave ELL Upward Bound alumni students a voice using a qualitative study with semi-structured interviews. A total of 10 former Upward Bound alumni were interviewed, all of who were current Rowan students. Key findings of the study indicate that the Upward Bound program contributed to their academic, social development, and motivation to seek institutions of higher learning and played a significant …

Drama In Dialogic Read Alouds: Promoting Access And Opportunity For Emergent Bilinguals, James V. Hoffman, Doris Villarreal, Sam Dejulio, Laura Taylor, Jaran Shin

Journal of Pedagogy, Pluralism, and Practice

In this report, we explore the potential for drama pedagogy in the classroom to support the engagement and growth of emergent bilingual students in language and literacy. We are focused on the use of drama to promote dialogic interactions during teacher read alouds. This study was conducted as a collaborative, action research investigation involving classroom teachers and university-based researchers. Our goals focused on three areas. First, we were interested in the impact of the drama intervention on comprehension. Second, we were interested in the responses of students to drama in read alouds with attention to differences in responses related to …

Emergent Bilinguals' Engagement In An Online Mathematics Course Utilizing An Intelligent Tutoring System, Julian Viera Jr

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Students in today's digital world draw from multiple sources of information, hypertext, videos, educational software, social media, and video games to create a multimodal learning environment (Luke, 2005). In 1994, Griffiths, et al. (1994) found that the impact of information technology on oppressed cultures hampered their education when the technology was not available in their native language and culture. Students from countries that did not have the resources to develop software in their native language felt that their language and culture did not relate to the modern world. When these students arrived in the United States and found technology in …

Relationship Between Teacher Instructional Preparedness And English Learner Language Arts Performance, Dorothy Diane Steele

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

English language learners (ELLs) are the fastest-growing population in California schools, with a high percentage of students not meeting the standard of the English language arts performance on the California Standardized Test (CST). This project study investigated the problem in a California school district where it was unknown whether the intervention strategies provided to teachers gave them the curricular skills needed to address the instructional needs of ELLs. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine whether teachers' self-reported instructional preparedness to teach ELLs was related to ELLs language arts performance. The study was grounded in Marzano's model of …

Influence Of Technology On English Language Learners' Vocabulary, Reading, And Comprehension, Catherine Elizabeth Crum

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Researchers have shown that vocabulary development is a challenge for English Language Learners (ELLs) as they are less prepared to use contextual and linguistic clues to decode unfamiliar vocabulary. Beginning in the upper elementary grades, reading in content areas becomes lengthier and more complex. Technology-supported vocabulary instruction to teach social studies to ELLs is a relatively new concept in the 5th grade classroom. The purpose of this comparative study was to assess the vocabulary and reading comprehension outcomes of ELLs in the content area of 5th grade social studies when taught using technology-supported versus traditional textbook instruction. Mayer's cognitive theory …

Unprepared: Are Educator Preparation Programs Effectively Training Pre-Service Teachers To Teach English Learners?, Lorie Johnson

All students deserve high-quality, strategic instruction, yet pre-service teachers are not always taught best practices for instructing English Learners (ELs), students for whom English is not their native language. Almost 10 percent of the students in American public schools are classified as ELs, yet research indicates most educator preparation programs across the country have not yet integrated best practices for teaching ELs into their pre-service programs in meaningful ways. It is important for educator preparation programs to provide pre-service teachers with opportunities to understand the unique needs of ELs and to learn effective teaching strategies to meet those needs. This …