Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons^™

Bai And Bilingual: Improving Academic Achievement Through Bilingual And Multicultural Education, Priscilla Hsu

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper aims to examine minority language policy and practice in China, particularly among the Bai minority in Yunnan Province. There are large discrepancies between what law stipulates and what occurs in practice. Based on a literature review and findings from my study, minority students in rural areas are at a comparative disadvantage with minority students in urban areas who have greater access to resources and better educational facilities. Offering bilingual and multicultural education is of greater importance to rural minority students in creating a culturally relative environment to improve academic achievement.

The Effects Of Teaching The Academic Language Of Language Arts To Secondary Long-Term English Learners, Mary Soto

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

While the majority of English language learners are found in elementary schools, an alarming number of these students are entering secondary schools. These secondary students are long-term English learners, students who have been in U.S. schools for seven years or longer. Long-term English learners struggle with academic success, and educators need to find ways to support them. In this qualitative study, the effects of teaching academic vocabulary and concepts to 10th grade Hispanic long-term English learners in a language arts class at a large, South Texas high school were explored. The researcher observed students as they were involved in five …

Testing The Tests: An Investigation Into The Effectiveness Of Alternative Assessment Methods For Bilingual Language-Impaired Children, Lena G. Caesar

The Hilltop Review

Alternative language assessment procedures are gaining in prominence as authentic alternatives to traditional measures, but scant data exist regarding the relative effectiveness of the data they provide. This paper first summarizes the criteria for effective language assessment of bilingual children as documented in the literature, and then comparatively evaluates the effectiveness of research studies employing the three most-cited alternative assessment approaches: descriptive, dynamic, and curriculum-based. Conclusions regarding the impact of appropriate assessment on issues of over- and under-representation of bilingual Hispanic students are also discussed.

New Americans: Child Care Decision-Making Of Refugee And Immigrant Parents Of English Language Learners, Helen Ward Jd, Erin E. Oldham Lachance Phd, Julie Atkins Ma

Children, Youth, & Families

The immigrant and refugee communities in the United States continue to increase. Denver, Colorado and Portland, Maine are two U.S. cities that reflect the changing demographics across the country. As these cities evolve and adjust to serve new populations, it becomes necessary to rethink deep-rooted culturally constructed patterns and traditions that do not take into account the beliefs and practices of these new cultures. One such tradition is child care. Because of the important link between preschool experiences and later school success, understanding refugee and immigrant families’ beliefs and decisions about child care is extremely important. From a policy perspective, …

Visiting 'Home': Contacts With The Homeland, Self-Reflexivity And Emergent Migrant Bilingual Identities, Alan Williams, Charlotte Setijadi

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

There has been increasing interest recently in the way that additional language learners' identities are affected and changed by their experiences in developing proficiency in another language. In the case of migrants, this is also affected by familiarity with their new country and language, and their transition into life in a new social and cultural environment. National and linguistic elements of identity are only part of people's multifaceted identities. However, these are of particular significance for language teachers and central to identity shifts involved in language acquisition and settlement in a new country. We present data from two adult EAL …

Behind Cultural Competence: The Role Of Causal Attribution In Multicultural Teacher Education, Yan Yang, Diane Montgomery

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

In an attempt to bridge the gap between achievement motivation and multicultural teacher education, this study explored the relationship between causal attribution of cultural awareness and cultural competence among preservice teachers. Participants were 793 preservice teachers from two large public universities who reported their causal attributions of cultural awareness and their cultural competence. Canonical correlation analysis results showed two significant relationships between causal attribution and cultural competence. Personal control over the causes of cultural awareness was found to be positively related to praxis, i.e., behavioral outcome; whereas attributions to internal and stable causes were positively associated with knowledge as major …

Perceptions Of Beauty Among Female Chinese Students In The United States And China, Carly R. Staley, Ginny Qin Zhan

The Kennesaw Journal of Undergraduate Research

This pilot study compared the perceptions of beauty among Chinese women who were exchange students in the United States with Chinese women who were students in their homeland. We interviewed 19 women in China and 19 women in the United States to determine differences in responses. In accordance with the sociocultural approach and the social comparison approach, we expected Chinese women in the United States to have a be more acculturate, more frequently conclude that American women were more beautiful than Chinese women, be more likely than those studying in China to report body dissatisfaction, be more likely to dislike …

Let's Talk About Race: Developing Anti-Bias Curricula In Elementary Schools, Harper Keenan

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This study investigates the theories and potential teaching practices for implementing an anti-bias curriculum in today's elementary schools. Drawing on the work of Louise Derman-Sparks (1989, 1997, and 2011), Frances Kendall (1996), Gary Howard (2006), Ann Pelo (2000 and 2008), six characteristics of effective anti-bias curricula are explored and analyzed as frameworks for developing curricula. In addition, the study chronicles the experience of one grade level team of four teachers working to transform the social studies curriculum they were given into one that is more intentionally anti-bias. Finally, it offers lessons learned and implications for future curriculum development.

Conversation Strategies: Preparing Learners For Real-World Interaction, Angela Richardson

Sandanona

Workshop/Demonstration

Conversation strategies play an important role in successful communication and socialization, yet they are not often explicitly taught in language classrooms. In this workshop/demonstration we will explore how to use conversation strategies as a means for building both confidence and fluency, while also preparing students for real-world interactions.

Tracking Identity: Academic Performance And Ethnic Identity Among Ecuadorian Immigrant Teenagers In Madrid, Jennifer Lucko

Education | Faculty Scholarship

This article examines Ecuadorian students' attempts to contest immigrant stereotypes and redefine their social identities in Madrid, Spain. I argue that academic tracking plays a pivotal role in the trajectory of students' emergent ethnic identity. To illustrate this process, I focus on students who abandon their academic and professional ambitions as they are tracked into low‐achieving classrooms, and in the process participate in social and cultural practices that reify dominant stereotypes of Latino immigrants.[academic tracking, identity, immigration, ethnicity, Spain]

Deterrents To Participation And Retention In English As A Second Language (Esl) Programs Among Adult Hispanic Immigrants, Jose Irias

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study explored Hispanic immigrants' perceived deterrents to participation in, and successful completion of, ESL programs in Las Vegas, Nevada. The study used a qualitative research design, as students, teachers, and administrators from two ESL program sites were interviewed in focus groups and individual interviews. Findings suggest that Hispanic immigrants face deterrents due to both their personal situations (personal deterrents) and to ESL program characteristics (institutional deterrents). Furthermore, some institutional deterrents may be easily reduced, which may in turn increase Hispanic ESL program participation.

Chemical Education Experiences From The English Language Learner Perspective, Annette Flores

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The Rio Grande Valley (RGV) is a region populated by Spanish-speaking immigrants and their descendants producing a large English Language Learner (ELL) student population. ELLs have historically had low literacy rates and achievement levels when compared to their counterparts. In order to address this achievement gap, previous research efforts and curriculum interventions have focused on language acquisition as being the determining factor in ELL education, with little attention given to academic content acquisition. More current research efforts have transitioned into English language acquisition through academic content instruction; this present research study specifically focuses on ELL experiences in chemistry. Participants were …

Teaching Social Justice Through The Lens Of Multicultural Education, Alana Cimillo

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

With public school populations growing in socio-economic and racial diversity, as projected by the Census Bureau, there is a clear need for an understanding of this diversity to occur at the early childhood level. In order to truly adopt multicultural education as an integral part of a student’s academic growth, teachers must consider the meaning of “cultural competence”. In the first years of a student’s education, fundamental values can be developed as the building blocks for future culturally responsive human beings. This presentation will review concrete evidence that supports the incorporation of multicultural education early childhood classrooms.

A Critical Look At Four Multicultural Reform Efforts In One Urban College Of Education, Mary Gove, Dinah Volk, Kristine Lynn Still, Grace Hui-Chen Huang, Sashelle Thomas-Alexander

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

The article describes multicultural reform projects at an urban college of education including analyses of student's descriptions of their experiences in urban schools, the results of a faculty diversity self-study group and issues arising from culturally responsive pedagogy in an early childhood teaching class. The author's assertion that diversity education is an essential part of teacher education is discussed, and the importance of continuous critical analysis of teacher education is emphasized.

Indigenous Studies In All Schools, Grace Sarra

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

Cherbourg State School is approximately 300 km northwest of Brisbane. It is situated in an Aboriginal community at Cherbourg with approximately 250 students. At the Cherbourg State School, the aim was to generate good academic outcomes for all students from kindergarten to Year 7 and to nurture a strong and positive sense of what it means to be Aboriginal in today’s society. In this paper, I will discuss modernism and postmodernism in indigenous studies and how this has impacted on the design and development of the Indigenous Studies Programme at the Cherbourg State School. The programme was designed to provide …

Summer Bridge Program At The University Of San Francisco For Conditionally Admitted Chinese Students, Adrienne M. Bergenfeld

Capstone Collection

While serving as a graduate intern at the University of San Francisco, I concluded that the conditional admit Chinese students were missing an essential element for academic success.

To insure a higher success rate for these students, I am proposing the creation of a Summer Bridge Program to bridge the gap between pedagogical learning and experiential learning. The program will focus on the acquisition of English as well as successful acculturation into the university. This “Bridge Program for International Students” will help students understand United States’ academic culture and the expectations of the university, introduce students to USF resources and …

Intercultural Competency Training For Semester At Sea, Leah Charbonneau

Capstone Collection

Semester At Sea, a comparative education study abroad program, is a unique experience that provides participants an opportunity to challenge their worldview. Semester At Sea cultivates opportunities beyond the classroom to explore issues of culture and identity. However, little training is provided to give participants the tools to navigate in intercultural contexts.

The proposed Semester At Sea (SAS) Intercultural Competency Training (ICT) program will offer a semester-long intensive training program with the purpose of providing participants with a foundation in intercultural competency and sensitivity. The purpose of the SAS ICT design is to incorporate experiential educational practices and classroom learning …

English As A Foreign Language Professional Development Practicum: Placing Skilled Teachers Where They Can Grow A Program Proposal For The Schools Of Cañadilla, S.A. Santiago, Chile, Ellen Marie Dizzia

Capstone Collection

Chile is currently making great investments in English as a foreign language (EFL) programming as a means for international communication and commerce. The following mobility program has been designed for family run Cañadilla, S.A. to connect qualified, concerned EFL professionals with semi-private primary and secondary schools in Santiago. An in depth needs assessment was performed in their eight schools under Cañadilla’s Coordinator of English programs to determine the most efficient way to begin improvement. Professional development has been named a cornerstone in this process. This program intends to draw learned, practiced EFL teachers to participate in a hands-on professional development …

Arabic Diglossia And Arabic As A Foregn Language: The Perception Of Students In World Learning Oman Center, Hilal Al-Mamari

Capstone Collection

The principle objective of this independent inquiry is to address the research question: what are the impacts of Arabic Diglossia, if any, on the experience of learners of Arabic as a foreign language? The study attempts to answer this question through the perception of a sample group of 23 learners studying Arabic as a foreign language in World Learning Oman Center in semester of Spring 2011.

Diglossia is defined by linguists as a sociolinguistic phenomenon in which a particular language has two varieties, one of which is considered High and more standard and used in exclusive domains, while the other …

Emerging Youth Leaders: A Redesign Of A Two-Way Youth Exchange Between The Us And Senegal, Aspen L. Felt

Capstone Collection

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs is increasingly focused on youth exchange programs to build bridges of understanding between peoples and address ongoing social, environmental, and political challenges in an increasingly globalized world. The Emerging Youth Leaders program is a unique Department of State exchange program that brought a group of thirty Senegalese and American students together for 6 weeks in Dakar and the San Francisco Bay Area in the summer of 2010 around the themes of democracy and governance in civil society. Over the course of the U.S. based portion of the program I …