Language and Literacy Education Commons^™

Indonesian Students' Perceptions Of Written Feedback In Second Language Writing, Rahmah Fithriani

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

Grounded in sociocultural theory, written feedback activities in second language (L2) writing provide the social interactions that help learners develop their psychical functions within the zone of proximal development (ZPD) as they co-construct knowledge with teachers and peers through guided learning (De Guerrero & Villamil, 2000). Written feedback can also help student writers improve their writing proficiency, including organization of their texts and awareness of the mechanics of the language necessary for successful communication of the intended message (Chandler, 2003; Ferris, 2006; Jahin, 2012; Kamimura, 2006).

Regarding the eminence of feedback in L2 writing, a large body of research has …

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Intersections: Critical Issues in Education

No abstract provided.

Volume 1, Issue 1 Full Issue

Intersections: Critical Issues in Education

No abstract provided.

Preliminary Data Of The Smartsignplay Prototype: A Sign Language App For Families With Children Who Are D/Deaf Or Hard Of Hearing, Caroline A. Guardino, Brianna Balch, Sarah Rearick

DHI Digital Projects Showcase

SmartSignPlay is an app aimed to assist children who are d/DHH and their families learn functional signs to support early communication development. The app is interactive and can be played on smartphones and tablets. The process of developing the app and preliminary results of the pilot study will be presented.

The Globalized Classroom: Integrating Technology To Improve Communicative And Cultural Proficiency, Nicholas Frank

International ResearchScape Journal

The purpose of this project was to explore how the integration of technology affects students’ communicative and cultural proficiency in a second language when connecting two world language classrooms from across the globe. Through a series of weekly emails between partner schools, students practiced their interpretive reading and presentational writing skills while gaining knowledge of their partners’ cultures and colloquial language in a meaningful and individualized manner. The participants were U.S. high school students learning Spanish and Spanish high school students learning English. This created an authentic and organic environment for language acquisition, showing improvement in both communicative and cultural …

Highlights From Pirls 2016: Australia's Perspective, Sue Thomson, Kylie Hillman, Marina Schmid, Sima Rodrigues, Jessica Fullarton

Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS)

The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) is an international study of reading literacy directed by the IEA (International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement). In Australia, PIRLS is implemented by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), which is Australia’s representative to the IEA. In Australia, PIRLS is part of the National Assessment Program. PIRLS has been conducted internationally at Year 4 on a five-year cycle since 2001, however, Australia participated for the first time in 2011. The main goal of PIRLS is to assist countries to monitor and evaluate their teaching of reading across time. Year …

Creating A Community Of Writers, Melissa Heaton

The Utah English Journal

An essential focus of English teachers is to help their students read, think, and eventually write like writers. However, these lofty goals are more challenging to reach when students write in isolation. Budding writers need to collaborate with peers who share common goals and purpose. When done correctly, a writing “community has the power to motivate its members to exceptional performance” (Bickford 4.2). Thus, elevating students to become the writers that their teachers hope they will become.

Book Review: Ghosts, Joshlin Sheridan

The Utah English Journal

Adults often use soothing catchphrases to reassure frightened children. The scared child is told, “there is no such thing as ghosts.” The mourning child is reminded that her “grandmother is in a better place,” and the sick child is reassured that she will “get better soon.” How would a child react, however, if she discovered that ghosts were real and living in her town? How would she feel realizing that some illnesses are incurable?

The Utah English Journal, Volume 45, 2017: Full Issue

The Utah English Journal

No abstract provided.

Asking The Tough Questions: Teaching Literature And Nonfiction Through Critical Literacy To Recapture Our Voices, Agency, And Mission, Elsie L. Olan, Wendy Farkas, Kia Jane Richmond

Conference Presentations

Exploding the Myth of Mental Illness

Disrupting Notions Of Stigma While Empowering Voices: Examining Language Identity, Mental Illness, And Disability Through Young Adult Literature, Elsie L. Olan, Wendy Farkas, Kia Jane Richmond

Conference Presentations

Presenter Two will share new research on young adult literature which features characters with mental illness. She will describe strategies for using texts such as Your Voice is All I Hear (2015), Thirteen Reasons Why (2007), and The Impossible Knife of Memory (2014) to analyze and critique representations of mental illness in young adult literature. Drawing on research by Koss & Teale (2009) and Richmond (2014), this presenter will help session attendees interrogate “the power of language choices” and “become empowered to confront the stigma associated with mental illness and confront bullying” (p. 24).

The Laser Loop: A Structured Process Approach Activity For Teaching Argumentative Writing, Larkin Weyand

The Utah English Journal

On August 7, 2016, ten-year-old Caleb Schwab rode the world’s tallest water slide, the Verrückt (German for “insane”) at the Schlitterbahn Water Park in Kansas City. During the 168-foot plummet, Caleb came free from his safety harness, was ejected into the safety netting, and died from what was originally classified as a “neck injury” but later identified as a decapitation. His family has mourned him in public, expressing their grief but also their intention to prevent similar tragedies. According to CBS news, the two adult women riding the raft with Caleb, mothers themselves, have threatened litigation, pending an investigation, to …

Book Review: Making Curriculum Pop: Developing Literacies In All Content Areas, Jessica Lynn Reschke

The Utah English Journal

One of my students is sitting at a worn-out desk and staring at the whiteboard with an occasional glance at the clock. She is looking at me, but it seems as if the words I am saying are going in one ear and out the other. I know she cannot wait for my class to be over. It is important that I cover the course material and meet certain teaching criteria, but how can I make learning more exciting for my students?

Book Review: Goodbye Days, Courtney Jones

The Utah English Journal

Carver Briggs is an aspiring writer attending a prestigious school of the arts for the young and gifted in Jeff Zentner’s Goodbye Days. Carver pours hours into his work and future career, but never imagines that just two sentences could change his life forever: “Where are you guys? Text me back.” These become the most influential words he ever writes, because they result in the deaths of his three best friends.

Interlude Ii: Imitation Poetry To Write Narratives, Gaylynn Parker

The Utah English Journal

Although I focus on poetry during National Poetry Month in April, I like to intersperse poetry throughout the year. Most of my students think they hate poetry until they have a positive experience writing poetry. Imitation poetry is easy, and with the right prompt, students can write beautiful poetry and feel successful.

From Awareness To Action: Teacher Attitude And Implementation Of Lgbt-Inclusive Curriculum In The English Language Arts Classroom, Michelle L. Page

Education Publications

This survey research describes English language arts teachers’ comfort levels in integrating literature with lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) themes or characters into their curricula and classroom practices. Significant relationships were found between teachers’ age, comfort, awareness of resources, and implementation levels. Although younger teachers had higher comfort levels with LGBT texts, they displayed lower resource awareness levels and static implementation rates. In addition, comfort, awareness, and implementation of LGBT curriculum materials were also correlated with teacher location and with strength of religious belief, with rural teachers and strongly religious teachers displaying lower comfort and implementation levels. Availability of …

Book Review: Disruptive Thinking: Why How We Read Matters, Elise Orgille

The Utah English Journal

The ability to read is one of the most valuable skills students gain throughout the course of their education. Teachers work hard to help their students decode words and comprehend meaning, but what is the purpose of comprehension if students do not value what they read? In their book Disruptive Thinking: Why How We Read Matters, Kylene Beers and Robert E. Probst bring reading to the next level, reminding teachers and students that reading is a gift.

“Why Does Someone Have To Die At The End Of The Play?": How The Texts We Teach Shape Students’ Perceptions, Amy Piotrowski

The Utah English Journal

A few years ago, a group of students in my 11th grade English class came to some interesting conclusions about American literature. We were finishing the school year by reading A Raisin in the Sun, and the students were enjoying reading the play even though the countdown to summer vacation was well underway. This class was a group of reluctant readers, not interested in doing much reading, especially now that we had completed the state standardized test. One afternoon, when we were halfway through the play, I came into the classroom to start the day’s discussion. Several students were huddled …

To Read Or Not To Read The “Classics”: Teaching Hamlet, Tara Pearce

The Utah English Journal

If you happened to walk by my classroom the day I told my students we were going to be reading a Shakespeare play, you would have witnessed a revolt. Perhaps the word “revolt” seems strong, but their reactions were also unexpectedly strong— swearing, storming out of class, slamming the door, a chair or two being knocked over in the process. They were furious, and frightened, about the prospect of reading Shakespeare. “We can’t understand Shakespeare,” “I don’t even read,” “Miss, Shakespeare is boring,” “This has nothing to do with us!” I heard phrases like these, peppered with profanity of course, …

Speak The Speech, Ditch The Desk: Teaching Shakespeare As Dramatic Text, Shawnda Moss

The Utah English Journal

Shakespeare is a staple in any English Language Arts classroom, but the value of the Shakespeare experience in your classroom has a lot to do with how you go about teaching the material. You have the power to make Shakespeare’s plays a strictly academic literature study or make them come alive as students actively explore and play with his themes, storylines, and characters. Shakespeare’s plays are dramatic works, so it is key to present them to your students as living, breathing, evolving texts. Studying his plays with a dramatic context allows students to relate physically, vocally, and emotionally with the …