Digital Commons Network^™

¡Sí Se Puede!: Understanding The Experiences Of Latina Students During Their Doctoral Journey At A Hispanic-Serving Institution, Flor Del Rocio Acevedo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The existing body of literature on Latinas has mostly been focused on the undergraduate student experience (Hernandez, 2002; Hurtado et al., 1996; Kena et al., 2016; Tinto & Goodsell, 1994; Torres, 2004). Additionally, despite the increasing participation of women in graduate education since the 1980s (Walker et al., 2008), Latinas have been and continue to be underrepresented in doctoral programs and the professorate (Myers, 2016). In spite of recent increases in enrollment, Latinas attained just 8.8 percent of the doctoral degrees awarded from 2018-2019 (National Center for Education Statistics, 2020). As Latinas are projected to account for a third of …

Listening To Voices Of Latinx Immigrants In Rural America, Jacqueline Smith

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to capture and gain an understanding of Latinx immigrants’ lived experiences during their transitions from their native countries to rural Arkansas. Using purposeful criterion-based sampling, the population of interest was five Latinx immigrant students and families who migrated from their native countries to the state of Arkansas. The analytic strategy included a single-case model of each family’s transcription, two-case model, cluster analysis to identify likeness, document portrait, and subtheme development. The structural descriptions that formed the essence of the experience resulted in three themes: education, migration, and emotional experiences. The three overall …

The Effects Of Watching Text-Relevant Video Segments On Reading Comprehension Of Culturally Unfamiliar Texts With Adult English Language Learners Supported By The Schematic Information-Processing (Sip) Model Of Reading Comprehension, Amirreza Karami

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed-methods sequential explanatory study was to investigate the effects of watching text-relevant video segments on reading comprehension of a culturally unfamiliar text when technical words are present or absent. Therefore, 44 adult English Language Learners (ELLs) with higher-intermediate to advanced English language proficiency levels from the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (UASD) School of Languages located in the Dominican Republic were chosen and randomly assigned to two different groups: control vs. experimental.

First, the researcher compared two different types of reading instruction—traditional text-based vs. video-based reading instruction supported by the Schematic Information-Processing (SIP) model of reading …

Collateral Damage: How Expanding Public Charge Policy Influences Adult Esl Enrollment, Allison M. Eckert

Master's Theses

This study used statistical analysis of enrollment records for ESL programs at community colleges throughout California from 2015-2019 to determine whether adult immigrants’ participation in public ESL programs was reduced under President Donald Trump. Immigrant families’ lesser use of public education services and means-tested federal benefits has been widely documented in the wake of Trump’s expansion of the public charge rule, which counted immigrants’ use of a wider array of public benefits against their case for residency in the United States than had any previous iteration of the rule. Failing the public charge test can block an immigrant’s entry into …

The Lived Experiences Of Latinx Parents And Their Perception Of Bilingual Programs: A Phenomenological Reflection, Manuel O. Adrianzen

Dissertations

The aim of this study is two-fold. First, to better understand and capture the lived experiences of Latinx parents as they navigate the registration/enrollment process at the school and select a language program for their Pre-kindergarten child. Second, to understand what lived experiences influence their perception about bilingual education programs. Using Van Manen’s (2016) concept of human sciences and phenomenology, data was collected through the use of conversational interviews. The responses provided by the parents and school clerk revealed five themes, fear & anxiousness, hope for things to come & for a brighter future, use of social networks to understand …

The Impact Of A K-8 Stem Program On Grades And Student Choice Of Stem And Advanced Mathematics And Science Coursework In High School, Astrid Rodrigues

Dissertations

The demands of today’s workforce call for schools to prepare their students to have problem-solving skills and be critical thinkers and collaborative colleagues. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) learning has been known to cultivate, excite, and promote critical thinking and problem-solving skills in students from an early age.

This study explored the high school course selection of students who had participated in a compulsory Kindergarten to 8^th grade (K-8) STEM program, called Project Lead the Way (PLTW), while in middle school. Specifically, the study compared the number of STEM and advanced mathematics and science courses that students who …

A Study Of Students’ And Teachers’ Beliefs About Learning English As A Second Language In Hindi Medium Schools In India, Samir Toppo

Doctoral Dissertations

The present study is an exploration of beliefs about learning English held by English as a second Language (ESL) students and teachers from Jharkhand, India. The basic premise of the study is that the learners’ and the instructors’ beliefs about learning a language affect the learning approach, learning strategy use, personal motivation, the choice of instructional material and the instructional method. Thus, beliefs indirectly affect language learning. The assumption of this study is also that the participants in this study hold debilitative beliefs about English language learning. A mixed method research approach was used in this study. The quantitative data …

Cariño Pedagogy: A Framework Of Corazón, Ferial Pearson, Sandra Rodriguez-Arroyo, Gabriel Gutiérrez

Journal of Curriculum, Teaching, Learning and Leadership in Education

Change in the world of education has never been new or unexpected. However, the pandemic that swept the world at the beginning of 2020 caused our world to spin off its axis and force its practitioners into quickly re-evaluating their praxis, their priorities, and their professional responsibilities. Through this reflection, three BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) colleagues in the Teacher Education Department at a midwestern state university examine twelve months of teaching during the pandemic and the strategies they turned to, to stay true to their pedagogical values to ensure their students were taken care of personally and …

Education As Advocacy: The Foundations Of Support For Immigrant Youth, Pamela D'Andrea Martínez

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

This is a review of the film series Supporting Immigrants in Schools. After a brief description of the background to the series and its design, the review summarize the key ideas presented in each of the films provided by the many voices featured in the series, such as those of students, teachers, and school and district staff.

Jmer Publication Description & Guidelines For Submission

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

No abstract provided.

Changing Worlds, Changing Classrooms: Satellite Children And Their Teachers In The Transnational Era, Ming-Hsuan Wu, Sonna L. Opstad

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

The challenges for immigrants in the US and Canada include the difficulties of making a living while raising their children. Due to the high cost of living and childcare in cities, along with the realities of low paying jobs and long working hours among many working-class immigrants, growing numbers of families send their infant children to their countries of origin to be raised by relatives for a few years. When the children reach school age, they are returned to their parents in the US. Prior research has focused on immigrant parents’ decision-making rationale and their reports of adjustments that children …

Visual Learning: A New Path For Jmer, Patricia Velasco

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

The JMER editors are proud and excited to be reviewing this media for the first-time. The series is titled Supporting immigrants in Schools was produced by The City College of New York and the New York State Education Department. These digital videos, created by Tatyana Kleyn, showcase the complex and rich lives of immigrants and the value of visual learning.

On The Road To Translanguaging In A Dual Language Classroom: Teaching Math And Science In Mandarin And English, Xiaodi Zhou

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

This article examines the evolving instructional practice of one Chinese dual language instructor in the US as she employs a translanguaging-inspired approach in her math and science Mandarin medium classes. Contrary to the school language allocation policy requiring 90% Mandarin in her Chinese classes, she encourages the utilization of English as well as Mandarin in her instruction. This offers comprehensible input to learners, also making possible greater student participation. Findings from observations and interviews reveal how a focus on meaning-making in instruction resulted in the gradual evolution of bilingual language use and effective communication of content by students and the …

Jmer Volume 11 Full Volume

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

No abstract provided.

Everybody Does It: The Pragmatics And Perceptions Of International Chinese Graduate Students And Their American Peers Regarding Gossip, Miriam Eisenstein Ebsworth, Timothy John Ebsworth, Chencen Cai

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

Integrating natural observation, interviews, and quantitative analysis, we used a mixed design to compare the socio-linguistic judgments of international Chinese students at a private University on the East Coast of the United States (US) with those of their native English-speaking peers regarding a critical incident involving gossip. Ninety-two participants evaluated alternative sociolinguistic strategies offered in addressing the incident on semantic differential scales. Judgments by each group regarding four alternative responses were surveyed and compared. Twenty participants, ten from each group, participated in semi-structured interviews. Themes were developed through a recursive process: interpretations were validated by a bilingual bicultural expert. Several …

“It Kind Of Shows The Terrible Morality Of This Scene": Using Graphic Novels To Encourage Feminist Readings Of Jewish Hebrew Texts With Religious Significance, Talia Hurwich

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

This study considers whether and in what ways graphic novel adaptations of traditional Jewish Hebrew texts can encourage adolescent Modern Orthodox girls to adopt autonomous critical responses when encountering narratives that present women in unequal roles vis a vis men. According to scholars, Jewish literacy should teach students to read traditional Hebrew texts reverently while forming autonomous interpretations and opinions. Instead, Jewish educators teach normative readings posed by approved rabbinic authorities. This is particularly the case when teaching issues relating to gender among Modern Orthodox Jews, a conservative Jewish denomination, strives to synthesize tradition with the values of modern, secular …

Imagining Multimodal And Translanguaging Possibilities For Authentic Cultural Writing Experiences, Lucía Cárdenas Curiel, Christina M. Ponzio

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

This article proposes ways to authentically amplify writer’s workshop for emergent bilinguals. Through the study of one bilingual teacher’s mediation in teaching, we examined the affordances that translanguaging and transmodal practices have for emergent bilingual students’ writing processes. In this case study, we focused on a writing sequence associated with the well-known Latin American holiday of the Day of the Dead, in which 3rd grade emergent bilinguals wrote “calaveras,” or literary poems, as part of an interdisciplinary language arts and social studies lesson. Our work is framed by sociocultural theories of mediation, literacy, and language. Under a multiliteracies pedagogy, we …

Notes On Contributors To This Volume

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

No abstract provided.

“I Finally Marginalized Myself From The Mainstream”: An Autoethnography Study Of Chinese International Student’S Development Of Intercultural Communicative Competence, Yuqi Lin, Hongzhi Zhang

The Qualitative Report

In the higher education market, the cross-border flow of international students has become increasingly apparent. For Australia, China has been a major student source and most of these students have been enrolled in the higher education sector. Such a phenomenon has rendered the innovation of higher education management necessary, and its socio-cultural influence has attracted attention from the Australian government. This study suggests that international students’ intercultural communicative competence (ICC) deficits could influence their self-perceptions thus compromising their ability to communicate with peers. Using a qualitative research approach, the study explores the extent to which China’s College English influences Chinese …

Full Issue

Journal of Response to Writing

No abstract provided.

English-For-Teaching In Higher Education: Discourse Functions And Language Exemplars, Eun-Young Julia Kim

MITESOL Journal: An Online Publication of MITESOL

Increasingly more colleges and universities in non-English speaking countries are requiring instructors to teach in English. Although existing research addresses various issues related to using English as a medium of instruction in higher education, few studies have specifically addressed how to provide language scaffolding to college instructors who are asked to teach their subjects in English for the first time. The study builds on Freeman et al.’s (2015) discourse functions for English-for-teaching and presents a refined functional framework to suit college-level classes. It provides authentic language samples to help instructors prepare to teach in English based on the analysis of …

Perceptions Of Science And Engineering Majors' L2 Academic Writing, Erica L. Meyer Lewko

Archived Theses and Dissertations

Writing in different disciplines can be challenging for students whose second language is English. While this issue has received some attention in the literature, it has not been addressed in a Middle Eastern context. This study, carried out at an English-medium university in Egypt, was undertaken to examine the perceptions of undergraduate students majoring in science and engineering disciplines and their professors of the quality of the students’ writing. In the first part of the study, 35 undergraduates completed an online questionnaire containing both Likert scale and open-ended items about writing for classes in their major. Six student participants were …

'They Are Going To Forget About Us': Translanguaging And Student Agency In A Gentrifying Neighborhood, Luis E. Poza, Aaron Stites

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

Guided Online Coaching For Teachers Of Emergent Bilinguals In A Tesol Practicum Course During Covid-19, Dawn Thieman

Dissertations

Guided online coaching for teachers of emergent bilinguals (EBLs) is a job-embedded professional development model established from the educational policies and practices described in the No Child Left Behind Act and Every Student Succeeds Act. Having effective teachers who ensure an equitable, creative, and linguistically and culturally relevant education for all EBLs is of paramount importance in the ever-changing demography of schools in the United States. The guided online coaching for teachers of EBLs offers a collaborative, facilitative, dialogic, and reflective coaching process for positively influencing teacher transformation, thus providing a creative language teaching pedagogy for EBLs. The purpose of …

Teachers’ Beliefs And Practices Regarding Assessment In English As A Foreign Language Classrooms In Vietnam, Xuan Van Ha, Nam Giang Tran, Ngoc Hai Tran

The Qualitative Report

Task-based language teaching (TBLT) has generated worldwide popularity as a curriculum innovation, and extensive research has investigated various aspects of the approach. However, little is known about the implementation of classroom assessment in TBLT curricula. This study investigated high school English as a foreign language teachers’ beliefs and practices regarding assessment in a curriculum innovation context in Vietnam. Data comprised in-depth interviews with six teachers, as well as testing documents. The findings revealed a strong impact of the high-stakes exams on teachers’ testing beliefs in that they focused explicitly on linguistic items in the assessed content and forms of assessment. …

African American English-Speaking Children's Judgments Of Grammaticality: Effects Of Clinical Status And Grammatical Structures, Lori Elizabeth Vaughn

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

African American English (AAE)-speaking children’s ability to judge the grammaticality of sentences was evaluated by their clinical status and grammatical structure. The study originated from a need to understand more about the tense and agreement systems of AAE speakers with specific language impairment (SLI) relative to their typically developing (TD) AAE-speaking peers. Tense and agreement forms are typically excluded from the assessment and treatment of children who speak AAE in fear of misinterpreting a dialect difference as a language disorder. As a result, limited information exists about the tense and agreement systems of AAE-speaking children.

The data were archival and …

An Ethnographic Interpretation Of Latino Perspectives On Family Engagement In Education, Mary Beth Pollema

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

In this period of intense demographic change and educational reform that strongly emphasizes the imperative of family engagement, yet implicates minority culture parents as not being involved, it behooves the field of education to take a closer look at the rigidity that schools utilize in their normalized perceptions and practices of parental involvement. Effective involvement can consist of a number of different activities, but only a few are acknowledged in educational discourse. Therefore, it is important to hear the perspectives of families of other cultures in order to bring to light new understanding that will assist schools in building stronger …

An Ethnographic Interpretation Of Latino Perspectives On Family Engagement In Education, Mary Pollema

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Theses and Other Student Research

In this period of intense demographic change and educational reform that strongly emphasizes the imperative of family engagement, yet implicates minority culture parents as not being involved, it behooves the field of education to take a closer look at the rigidity that schools utilize in their normalized perceptions and practices of parental involvement. Effective involvement can consist of a number of different activities, but only a few are acknowledged in educational discourse. Therefore, it is important to hear the perspectives of families of other cultures in order to bring to light new understanding that will assist schools in building stronger …

Teachers’ Perspectives On How One-To-One Devices Influence Their English Language Learners’ Academic Experience, Christine Jimenez-Johnson

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

As the number of English Language Learners (ELLs) continues to grow in classrooms across school districts, educators continue to seek innovative instructional methods to increase ELLs’ learning outcomes. Technological applications and devices are changing the way society communicates and collaborates, and school districts are incorporating different technologies to enhance teaching and learning. More so, technological devices are increasingly being used to enhance the learning experiences of ELLs and are changing the way teachers are teaching English language instruction.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore teachers’ perspectives on how one-to-one devices influence ELLs’ academic experiences. The population included …

Proposing A Framework For Science Teachers’ Competencies Regarding Translanguaging In Multicultural Settings, Noushin Nouri, Alma D. Rodríguez, Maryam Saberi

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

The increasing cultural and linguistic diversity in today’s classrooms calls for science teachers to facilitate science learning for all students. Drawing from a sociocultural framework that values diverse students’ cultures and languages, a translanguaging pedagogy has been identified as one way to help linguistically diverse students develop science concepts. A meta-synthesis of studies exploring translanguaging pedagogy in science classrooms was conducted to create a framework for the competencies needed by science teachers to incorporate a translanguaging pedagogy in their instruction. The resulting framework consists of six competencies: (1) The teacher should know pedagogical methods on how to teach bilingual students, …