Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons^™

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 …

Mediation In The Mediterranean: Italy As A Crucible For Immigration And Intercultural Mediation, Nicole Patteuw Abetti

MA TESOL Collection

Europe is again in an intense state of migration influx. While some European countries have historical precedence for these types of population shifts, Italy has largely remained outside the modern phenomenon, since it did not experience the economic boom of post WW2 and the subsequent demand for migrant workers, nor did it experience the pull effect of language migrants after the decolonization of Africa. Italy therefore also missed the second surge of migration during the 70’s and 80’s when families of these immigrants began arriving in Europe. What Italy did experience throughout the 20^th century, and continues to experience …

Experiences Learning English: A Case Study Of Adult Immigrants In Portland, Maine, Usa, Pamela L. Kasabian

MA TESOL Collection

The paper examines the process of English language acquisition for adult immigrants living in Portland, Maine, USA. The focus is on the process of language acquisition and integration into a new linguistic culture through analysis of personally narrated experiences of adult immigrants living in Portland, Maine. It seeks to expose similarities within highly individualistic linguistic journeys that contribute to investment and engagement in learning. In reviewing the data generated by the interviews, I hope to find situations to more deeply explore that could influence a more reciprocal learning culture for the mutual benefit of the language learner and the community …

Black English And Culture Meet The Mainstream Classroom, Giselle Robitaille

MA TESOL Collection

Learning English can often be a critical factor in people’s lives, and the choice to disengage from learning out of sheer frustration can have devastating psychological and social effects for people who need to acquire English in order to be able to fulfill academic, personal and professional goals. While I was not able to find statistics on a global level, it is easy to believe that English language learners do disengage frequently. This is most obvious in the United States where the Standard English (SE) model of teaching black children has resulted in a high level of disengagement with learning …

Movement In Learning: Revitalizing The Classroom, Marcus Van

MA TESOL Collection

Movement is a vital part of our every day lives, and it is also important for a healthy brain. The following paper examines the shift from movement based learning to a more restrictive rote format, which often has adverse effects on learning. This work discusses the ways in which teachers are under pressure to “teach to the test” instead of creating student-centered classrooms. Some of the side effects of a test-centered approach are low self-esteem (from not meeting strict academic requirements) and behavioral problems in students.

Adding more movement to lessons can provide variation and relief from the rote-only system. …

Narrative Inquiry In The Language Classroom: An Incubator Of Identity And Growth Exploration, Olga Culver

MA TESOL Collection

The paper examines narrative inquiry within the precepts of socio-cultural and ecological theories. The work touches upon constructivist learning ideologies and examines social approaches to learning with an emphasis on biographical narratives. The author makes a case for self-discovery, holistic learning, and creating collaborative learning environments. The study also presents a methodology with practical applications for implementing a narrative praxis in a second language learning environment.

Planning Task-Oriented Field Trips For Beginning Esl Students, Nikki Sarita Ellman

MA TESOL Collection

Field trips into the surrounding community can be valuable learning tools for ESL students living in the target country. These trips expose students to different facets of American culture and give them the opportunity to communicate with native speakers. Preliminary activities, tasks to be done during the trips, and follow-up activities all help students get the most out of these excursions. Beginners in particular need these activities to orient them to what they are going to see, to focus their attention, and allow them to process their feelings about the experiences. This paper addresses the many factors that must be …

Ten Basic Grammar Hurdles For Mandarin Chinese Speakers: A Contrastive Guide For The Beginning Teacher Of Adult Mandarin Chinese Efl Students, Mark Anthony Steele

MA TESOL Collection

This handbook is written specifically for EFL teachers of Mandarin Chinese speaking students at the high elementary and intermediate levels of study. It is intended, through contrastive analysis, to provide the teacher with:

a) an understanding of why these students have particular difficulty with certain structures and sentence patterns in English;

b) a tool in predicting what ten of these patterns are; and c) strategies and activities for use in the classroom that will help the student overcome these ten hurdles in learning English.

The plan of this handbook rests on the belief that the more we as teachers understand …

Syllabus Guideline For The Congress Bundestag Language Training Program With Sample Lesson Plans For Structural, Sociolinguistic, And Cultural Specifics Plus Comments On The Academic Preparation Component Of The Program, Ursula Verena Holzer

MA TESOL Collection

This project is based on the Congress Bundestag Program of 1986, in particular the language training aspect. It first introduces the program with its goals and objectives and the syllabus that was worked with in August 1986. Based on this experience, a revised syllabus guideline is designed here which contains

A. Phonetics

B. Theme/Range of Vocabulary

Grammatical Features and

Cultural/Sociolinguistic Aspects

C. Feedback and Assessment

D. Competencies

E. Academic Skills Development.

Additionally, some structural, sociolinguistic and cultural specifics from the syllabus are examplified through lesson and activity plans. Finally, the paper gives a description of what was done in Academic …

Teaching Reading With Worlds In Color In A Home Schooling Environment, Grace Indoccio Matty

MA TESOL Collection

This paper purports that a home learning environment is a workable alternative to a formal school education. It examines the reading acquisition process of one child through the approach, Words in Color, in a home schooling environment. It's intent is to heighten awareness of the traditional system of education and to describe materials and techniques that can be used in helping a child to learn to read the English language.

Dialects In Discourse: Regional Speech Of United States English, Laura Wilson Bergan

MA TESOL Collection

This project provides materials that are to be used to improve the listening comprehension and communicating skills of intermediate and advanced students of ESL by exposing them to the sounds and rhythms of different dialects of United States English. The project consists of samples of genuine speech that are unrehearsed and unedited, as is the 'real English' that ESL students encounter in the United States. By listening to the tapes, students can grow accustomed to the natural flow of casual spoken English.

Two Paces East An Introspective View Of A Cross-Cultural Experience, Rebecca Ann Reagan

MA TESOL Collection

This is a cultural project, a personal journey through a five and a half year period of my life, a period when I lived in the East, primarily in Nepal and Japan. In this project I discuss the history and cultures of these two countries, particularly that of Nepal, including some of the customs and traditions, values and belief systems. I further discuss the influence that living in these cultures had on my life and my world view. To facilitate the organization of the paper, I have chosen to use a model proposed by Theodore Gochenour and Anne Janeway, "Seven …