Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons^™

The Immigrants In The Central Coast Of California Need Motivation To Attend Classes And Learn English As Their Second Language, Martin Rodriguez-Juarez

Master's Projects and Capstones

This field project shows that the immigrant community that works in the fields from the Central Coast of California need the motivation to attend adult school to learn English as their second language. A six-week courses is included.

An Esl Instructor's Guidebook For Reducing Test Anxiety At The Community College Level Through Exploring Alternatives In Assessment, Allison D. Grant

Master's Projects and Capstones

The purpose of this project is to decrease test anxiety within ESL community college students by providing their instructors with a guidebook for implementing alternatives in assessment. Chapter one dives right into the problem of ESL students experiencing test anxiety. At the community college level, there are added pressures from family needs, work, legal issues, adjusting to a new culture, and more. Teachers could offset this external anxiety by eliminating test anxiety in their classrooms.

Chapter two outlines much of the relevant literature dealing with the topics of test anxiety, foreign language anxiety, ESL testing practices, ESL at the community …

Molding Minds For Peace: A Curriculum For Early Childhood Educators To Teach Peacebuilding Concepts And Skills, Marissa D. Gray

Master's Projects and Capstones

The United States is amidst a period of substantial growth in diversity. This diversification along with feelings of anti-immigrant sentiment has also led to an increase in tension and violence. Molding Minds for Peace: A Curriculum for Early Childhood Educators To Teach Peacebuilding Concepts is a project designed to teach early childhood students the skills that they need to peacefully navigate conflict and difference. After exploring literature about early childhood education/development, multicultural education, and peace education, this project provides early childhood educators with six complete lesson plans that are fully ready for implementation. These lessons have been developed in such …

Humanistic Approach Vs. Technological Approach: Accelerate Language Learning By Having Fun In The Sun, Alex M. Lopez

Master's Projects and Capstones

Technology continues to spread throughout the world, and it seems that this trend will continue for some time. Many students have been left behind because the focus has been largely on viewing computer screens and communicating without the use of a voice, through text messages and chatting.

This project is based on the humanistic approach, and it is designed to promote activities that involve group work, taking the students outside of the classroom, and building a familial support system within the classroom by promoting class chemistry.

The project outlines activities that involve more communication and collaborative activities because these enable …

Code Switching In Teaching English To Speakers Of Other Languages, George H. Keller

Master's Projects and Capstones

One of the most controversial issues in foreign language teaching and learning over many years has been the role of the students’ L1 in L2 target language education. While a monolingual approach prohibited the use of the target language in L2 classroom, researchers have reexamined the issues related to the use of students’ L1 through code switching in the L2 classroom since the 1990s. The results of these studies have shown that the L1, if used properly and judiciously, may serve important functions for the learning process and social environment of the classroom. The purpose of this study was a …

An Interactive Environmental Approach To Teaching English As A Second Language, Jennifer L. Young

Master's Projects and Capstones

This field project offers lessons related to ecoliteracy and environmental understanding for intermediate to advanced English Language Learners. It contains an ESL Ecoliteracy Student Handbook and an ESL Ecoliteracy Teacher Guide. There are two comprehensive units focused on understanding and acknowledging ecosystems in urban areas and foraging. The lessons formed in these units stem from Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences and the pedagogical theories of place based and experiential learning. Each unit has an outdoor activity build into the language learning framework, and the lessons are focused on building communicative, reading, vocabulary and grammar skills within an authentic learning …

Improving Communicative Competence Of Korean College Students Based On The Flipped Classroom Model: A Handbook For Teachers, Jihye Lim

Master's Projects and Capstones

Korean college students tend to focus on obtaining competitive grades in different types of exams such as TOEFL, TOEIC, and IELTS. Despite their high test-scores, many Korean students are not proficient in communicating with others in English. Given the challenges many Korean students at the college-level experience with communication in English, there is an opportunity to provide Korean EFL instructors with a new classroom model for language teaching. The purpose of this project is to provide Korean EFL teachers with model lesson plans and instructional design resources based on the flipped classroom model. The improvement of students’ English level depends …

Challenging Filipino Colonial Mentality With Philippine Art, Francesca V. Mateo

Master's Theses

For 350 years, the Philippines was colonized by Spain and the United States. The Philippines became a sovereign nation in 1946 yet, fifty years later, colonial teachings continue to oppress Filipinos due to their colonial mentality (CM.) CM is an internalized oppression among Filipinos in which they experience an automatic preference for anything Western—European or U.S. American—and rejection of anything Filipino. Although Filipinos show signs of a CM, there are Filipinos who are challenging CM by engaging in Philippine art. Philippine art is defined as Filipino-made visual art, literature, music, and dance intended to promote Philippine culture. This …

Vocabulary Development In The Science Classroom: Using Hypermedia Authoring To Support English Learners, Robert Pritchard, Susan O'Hara

TAPESTRY

This study investigated the impact of authoring hypermedia projects on the academic vocabulary development of middle school, ESL students. Vocabulary definitions, inprocess verbalizations, observations and semi-structured interviews were the primary means of collecting data and assessing vocabulary growth. The results of this study indicate that hypermedia authoring had a positive impact on students' understanding of grade level, science concepts as well as on student engagement in and attitudes toward vocabulary building activities. Thus, the procedures implemented in this study provide a potential model for teachers to follow as they attempt to facilitate their students' vocabulary and concept development.

A Study Of Optimism Among Latinos In A Successful Urban School, Kathleen A.J. Mohr

TAPESTRY

This quantitative study investigated the levels of optimism and self-concepts of 76, fourth-sixth graders who attend an academically successful, English immersion, private school serving a majority Latino and urban population. Two instruments measured the students' self-perceptions with expected and unexpected results. Although academically successful and functioning as the majority, these Latinos were not particularly optimistic. Gender, language proficiency, and grade level were all factors related to the significant findings. The related discussion challenges educators to explore the various aspects contributing to positive self-concepts and to better understand how to develop and sustain optimism among students often considered academically at-risk.

Effect Of Vocabulary Test Preparation On Low-Income Black Middle School Students’ Reading Scores, Ingrid Mitchell, Nicolae Nistor, Beate Baltes, Michelle Brown

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

Black middle school students in the United States continue to perform poorly on standardized reading achievement tests in comparison to other racial and ethnic groups. The purpose of this research study was to examine the effectiveness of a vocabulary-focused test preparation program for Black middle school students. The theoretical framework consisted of Thorndike’s concept of test-wiseness, a test-taking capacity. Teachers at the research site were trained on Larry Bell’s 12 Powerful Words strategy that aims to make students test-wise, that is, to familiarize them with key vocabulary terms related to tests. An intact-group comparison was conducted, involving a total of …

Editor's Note, Tapestry Staff

TAPESTRY

Notes from the editor

Learning To Know, Do And Be: Curriculum For Self-Reflection And Intercultural Consciousness For The Sena Volunteacher Program, Claire H. Hero

Capstone Collection

Teach abroad programs have gained popularity across the world, as they are often an attractive option for people to live internationally while earning money. Many programs’ practices contribute to local teachers’ loss of employment, perpetuating stereotypes or ethnocentric views, or invite tourists into classrooms to “teach” English to communities they have no substantial interest in. As the industry grows, it is important to develop programs that promote responsible practices to encourage favorable impacts on the communities as well as visiting teachers. This proposed curriculum has been designed to enhance the experience for participants of the SENA Volunteacher Program for the …

Book Review: Spotlight On China: Chinese Education In The Globalized World, Jingzhou Liu

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

No abstract provided.

Teacher Strategies To Improve Education Outcomes For Indigenous Students, Theresa Papp

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

Abstract

The article presents the teaching strategies that supported education success for Indigenous students of New Zealand from a case study research approach. Interviews were conducted with teacher participants that revealed four dominant strategies that were perceived to improve Māori education outcomes and were confirmed by national testing results. These strategies were: Building and repairing relationships through a relationship-based pedagogy; student focused school and classrooms; teachers that provided feedforward and feedback to students; administrative leadership, and the regular incorporation of Māori culture in the school and the classroom. Over a six-year timeframe, implementation of these strategies more than doubled Māori …

Parental Support For Newcomer Children’S Education In A Smaller Centre, Xuemei Li, Antoinette Doyle, Maureen Lymburner, Needal Yasin Ghadi

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

This study explored the issues around parental support for newcomer children’s transition to school in a smaller urban centre in Atlantic Canada where newcomer support is relatively limited. Data were drawn from semi-structured interviews with 11 newcomer parents, five children, and one settlement worker. The findings revealed newcomer parents’ difficulties in understanding the school system, limited engagement with the school community, isolation from other parents, and barriers to understanding and connecting with other parents. Among these newcomers, refugee parents are particularly challenged. We conclude that newcomer children’s parental involvement need to be viewed multi-dimensionally, and that the creation of a …

Implementing Vocational Training At Escuela Quiteña De Estudios Bíblicos, Joshua K. Marcum

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

This DMin project addressed the problem of the absence of a viable training model to equip graduates of EQEB (Escuela Quiteña de Estudios Biblicos) for self-sustaining ministry. Based upon a theology of vocation, the project implemented and evaluated the inclusion of a technical-skills component to EQEB’s current seminary training. The project followed the integration of sixteen EQEB students in the vocational program implemented during the 2015-2016 school year. Qualitative research data gathered from five group interviews with these students, my own field notes, and a faculty interview provided the substance upon which I based the project´s findings. Over a seven-month …

Reframing Poverty For Christian Students, James Hensley

Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry

This paper presents a project in which I led a group of students at a suburban Christian school in experiences that challenged them to be more engaged with those in their community who are experiencing an economic disadvantage. At the outset, the two presenting problems were: (1) a lack of experience with those who are at an economic disadvantage; and (2) a prevalence of troubling attitudes about poverty, namely, ambivalence toward helping people who live in poverty. A lack of concern for the poor is contrary to the teachings of Jesus. In response to this problem, two teachers and I …

Education From Location, Yvonne Kordus

Senior Honors Theses

In order to have systems of education that will work to promote peoples and societies in regions all across the globe, educators must consider multiple aspects of the culture of each location. Educators should then tailor an education system to meet the desires, strengthen the advantages, and eliminate the challenges in each particular location. Factors of each culture that educators should take into account include resources available, participation in education, major difficulties in social arenas of society, advantages or disadvantages of the physical environment, health conditions, human interactions within the culture, desire to change or maintain societal or cultural norms, …

Introduction, Antonio Medina-Rivera, Lee F. Wilberschied Ph.D.

Cultural Encounters, Conflicts, and Resolutions

No abstract provided.