Digital Commons Network^™

Increasing Student Achievement Through Supporting English Language Learners, Michelle George

Dissertations

The purpose of this advocacy document is to demonstrate the need for a policy to implement a two-way immersion program in Spanish and English. The intent of this policy is to provide opportunities for students to be successful in a global society, acquire a second language, and develop a strong global awareness. This advocacy document includes an analysis of the educational, economic, social, political, moral, and ethical need for the policy change. The primary needs addressed through research are the ability to implement strong instructional practices of language development for English as a Second Language (ESL) student and to develop …

Creating A Framework For Success For High School African American Males: A Policy Advocacy Document, Ilandus Hampton Sr.

Dissertations

The policy advocacy document is an alternative to the traditional doctoral dissertation. This approach arose from the educational administration preparation reform agenda which calls for more thoughtful approaches to educational policy development, a concern that educational leadership express itself in a moral context, and a desire to develop reflective practices in administration. (Browder, 1995). This document attempts to ensure public schools, high schools in particular, are providing African American males with the skills and knowledge necessary to be academically successful so that they are given the opportunity and support necessary to achieve economic and social advancements throughout life. The policy …

Teaching English As A Foreign Language: A Multicultural Perspective, Nouf Ali Alotaibi

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This portfolio is a compilation of the author’s beliefs and practices of what constitutes effective second language teaching. It is based on the author’s teaching philosophy and the work has been done during two years of study at the Master of Second Language Teaching (MSLT) program. The teaching philosophy centers on how to implement communication inside the language classroom, develop literacy, integrate culture teaching into language instruction, and how to use technology to facilitate language learning and teaching. The teaching philosophy is followed by three artifacts, which review the literature addressing different topics on language, literacy, and culture. The language …

The Negotiation And Development Of Writing Teacher Identities In Elementary Education, Shartriya M. Collier, Suzanne Scheld, Ian Barnard, Jackie Stallcup

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

Identity development in writing is a unique process. While many studies have explored the process of developing a professional identity among future teachers, few studies have investigated how teacher candidates develop a writing teacher’s identity. This study explores the development and negotiation of writing teacher identity among 21 pre-service multiple-subject teacher candidates at a large public institution in California. More specifically, the study examines the students’ journeys as they transformed from students of writing in a university methods course to student teachers of writing in a local school district. Our findings indicate that the use of a sociocultural-based approach to …

Evaluating English-Learner Inclusion As An Effective Educational Strategy For English-Learner Students, Grace Dreyer

Senior Honors Theses

The United States of America has experienced unprecedented growth in the percentage of English Learners students enrolling in schools across the country. While federal guidelines and policies have been implemented within the past fifty years to hold school systems accountable for effectively education LEP students, there is no mandated model for educating English Language Learners. The massive number of students speaking foreign languages is a relatively recent issue, and government policy allows schools to operate with considerable flexibility; consequently, a variety of self-contained and English-inclusion strategies have emerged. Reducing costs and a number of other factors have led more school …

Nonstandard Languages: The Outcasts Of The Language Revitalization Movement, Whitney Snowden

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis compares the failures of the creolization movement with the success of the language revitalization movement and seeks to determine which elements are missing from the former to make it as successful as the latter. Education policy, identity, and language ideology are all examined as contributors to the future success of creole inclusivity in education and society, as well as the potential benefits such a movement would include. Specifically examined are Siegel’s research on creole education and Armstrong’s work on language ideology.

"Sometimes The Perspective Changes": Reflections On A Photography Workshop With Multicultural Students In Italy, Robin L. Danzak

Communication Disorders Faculty Publications

This article describes and evaluates an 8-week photography workshop, FotoLab, conducted in Italy at an afterschool-tutoring program for students acquiring Italian as an additional language. Seventeen students, age 8-17 and originating from 9 countries, participated. Co-facilitated by three international educator-researchers, FotoLab's purpose was to promote self-expression, collaboration, and visual literacy. Through a qualitative inquiry of the FotoLab curriculum, photographs and videos, field notes, and student questionnaires, this article reflects on themes of multiculturalism and multilingualism, collaboration, and visual literacy within a sociocultural animation framework. While expressions of cultural and linguistic identity emerged, findings emphasize the challenges and benefits of teamwork …

Qualitative Phenomenological Study Exploring Instructional Practices That Contribute To Academic Success For Public Elementary School English Language Learners, Mechelle Champion

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to explore effective instructional strategies of mainstream classroom teachers working with English Language Learners (ELLs). Many teachers feel unprepared to adequately educate English Language Learners. School systems have attempted to rectify this situation by providing teachers with professional development that provides instructional strategies which may or may not be effective. This study answered the questions: What teaching strategies do teachers and administrators perceive to have the most positive impact on learning for ELLs?; How does the culture of the classroom and school impact ELLs’ academic success?; and What are building level administrators’ …

The Role Of Self-Awareness In Developing Global Competence: A Qualitative Multi-Case Study, Stacy D. Shipman

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

The current era of globalization and unprecedented global migration is creating the need for schools to educate students for global competence (GC). Multiple researchers (Boix Mansilla & Jackson, 2011; Hunter, 2004; Hunter et al., 2006; Morales & Ogden, 2013) suggest that self-awareness is the core dimension of GC, but about which very little is known. This paper considers the demonstrations of self-awareness in the development of GC. Using Kim's (2008) Intercultural Personhood Theory and the specific components of personal and social communication processes, self-awareness was investigated in East African immigrants. Findings suggest that the construct of self-awareness dimensionalizes differently for …

School Leadership Along The Trajectory From Monolingual To Multilingual, Laura Ascenzi-Moreno, Sarah Hesson, Kate Menken

Publications and Research

This article explores the critical role of school leaders in language policy change, and specifically in shifting their language education policies and practices from monolingual to multilingual. We examine the process of language policy change in three schools that were involved in a project aimed at increasing the knowledge base of school leaders about bilingualism and language learning, and which required that participating schools use bilingualism as a resource in instruction and cultivate a school-wide ecology of multilingualism. The project encouraged translanguaging pedagogical strategies that engage the entire linguistic repertoire of emergent bilinguals flexibly. Our findings demonstrate that the school …

Wmu International News Fall 2015, Haenicke Institute

WMU International News

• Internationalizing the arts
• Friends from Kurdistan find musical home at Western
• 5 Music lessons from South Vietnam
• Note taken on this WMU trombonist on an international stage
• Flutist composer coins new genre, Universal Americanism
• Music WMU professor takes worldly approach in researching the healing power of music
• Dominican Republic art calloborative brings interactive exhibit to WMU
• Cross-cultural graphic designer and artist conjoins east and west technology and creativity
• Coupling art and architecture opens doors to China for WMU professor
• Book Arts in Venice study abroad program
• Engineering alumnus masters theater in India
• Dancer becomes vehicle for social change in Panama

Transnational English Language Teaching: Opportunities For Teacher Learning And Development, Sarina Chugani Molina

School of Leadership and Education Sciences: Faculty Scholarship

As a teacher educator, I have long been interested in looking for ways in which to provide educational opportunities for students, particularly for those who are unable to receive education due to a variety of social and contextual factors. As a faculty member of a University dedicated to the values of equity and social justice, I looked for ways in which to embed these important principles into our TESOL teacher education program. In the fall of 2012, I had the opportunity to meet the founder of Kito International, a nonprofit organization in Nairobi, Kenya. At the time, our School of …

Culturally Responsive Contexts: Establishing Relationships For Inclusion, Mere Berryman, Therese Ford, Ann Nevin, Suzanne Soohoo

Education Faculty Articles and Research

As our education systems become more culturally, ethnically and linguistically diverse, rather than benefiting and learning from each other, we still expect all students to be represented within the same curriculum, pedagogy and testing regimen or we form separate enclaves resulting in marginalizaton. When diverse students have physical and/or learning disabilities, marginalization is further exacerbated and problematized. In this paper, the authors theorise within an alternative framework that we have termed relational and culturally responsive inclusion. Based on key understandings from our own research, much of it derived from Kaupapa Māori and Freirean philosophies, we encourage a framework where establishing …

Preparing Linguistically Responsive Teachers: Why Service-Learning Is Such A Good Idea, Sandra Rodriguez-Arroyo

Scholarship of Metropolitan Mission

Research data will be presented on a service-learning experience through which teacher candidates (TCs) worked with ELLs from a local middle school.  Even though TCs expressed concerns on their ability to communicate with the ELLs and their families, they engaged with them and confronted their own perceived barriers.  TCs learned to overcome the communication barrier to implement quality academic experiences and in the process developed caring relationships with ELLs.

Integrated Reading And Writing: A Case Of Korean English Language Learners, Hyonsuk Cho, Janina Brutt-Griffler

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This study reports Korean English language learners’ perceived needs concerning their learning of reading and writing and how the integrated reading and writing instruction impacts their reading comprehension and summary-writing abilities. The study also delineates teacher’s challenges faced during the instruction. A total of 93 students in a middle school in Korea participated in a needs survey, and 69 students at three proficiency levels received the integrated instruction. The study found that students desired extra help on their writing to gain balanced English competence; also they wanted to learn reading and writing together. After the intervention, students at intermediate and …

Parent Engagement At A Cristo Rey High School: Building Home-School Partnerships In A Multicultural Immigrant Community, Thomas M. Crea, Andrew D. Reynolds, Elizabeth Degnan

Journal of Catholic Education

Catholic social teaching affirms the primary role of parents in their children’s education, as well as the importance of a home-school partnership. The purposes of this article are to review the results of a mixed methods study of parent engagement at Cristo Rey Boston High School, and how the results of this study led to specific efforts to include parents more closely in the life of the school. Results suggest that parents in multicultural communities perceive their engagement to be an important part of their children’s education. Yet, this engagement may take different forms that may go unrecognized by school …

“Does Jesus Want Us To Be Poor?” Student Perspectives Of The Religious Program At A Cristo Rey Network School, Ursula S. Aldana

Journal of Catholic Education

The structure of Catholic schools improves achievement by providing multiple opportunities for face-to-face interaction, the development of meaningful relationships between students, teachers, and other members of the school community, and a shared set of beliefs among all school members (Bryk, Lee, & Holland, 1993). Despite a substantiating body of research for this assertion, few empirical studies exist on how the religious program might impact the intrapersonal and interpersonal development of students. The Cristo Rey Network (CRN) of schools was developed in response to the material realities of students and families living in Chicago (Kearney, 2006). The leaders of the network, …

Language Policy And Bilingual Education For Immigrant Students At Public Schools In Japan, Naomi Asakura

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis discusses the current Japanese language (nihongo) education for immigrant students at public schools in Japan and provides recommendations through the study of language policy and the comparison of bilingual education in the United States. The current situation of a decreasing birth rate and increasing aging population in Japan has led to the acceptance of more foreign workers. Due to this change, language education in Japan has increasing development. The focus of chapter 1 is on the theories of language policy. This paper particularly focuses on the ideas of Wright (2004), Neustupný (2006), Spolsky (2004), and Cooper (1989), and …

Beating The Odds: Teaching Italian Online In The Community College Environment, Giulia Guarnieri

Publications and Research

This study analyzes data collected from Italian language online classes during the course of four consecutive semesters at Bronx Community College in order to measure the impact that distance learning has on students’ retention and success rates in elementary courses. The results reveal that reconfiguring the online meetings to a lower percentage and implementing social pedagogies reduce course abandonment and favor the creation of strong learning communities. Furthermore, the data relative to the grade distribution shows no substantial difference between online courses and face-to-face instruction.

Perspectives On The College Readiness And Outcome Achievement Of Former Intensive English Language Program (Ielp) Students, Meghan Oswalt

Dissertations and Theses

Program evaluation (PE) is important for ESL programs but also difficult. As the scope of PE has grown, student voices have increasingly been included. Alumni provide unique perspectives, but Portland State University's (PSU) Intensive English Language Program (IELP) currently has no exit survey. Furthermore, little research uses alumni data, so this constructivist, mixed-methods study used data triangulation to compare the perceptions of former IELP students with those of three other stakeholder groups -- the topic: IELP student preparedness for PSU. Both online surveys and interviews were conducted, and participants included 63 former and 33 current IELP students, 27 IELP faculty …

Bridges For Academic Success: Opening Spaces For Culturally Responsive Practice In An Urban Pre-School, Denise Jones, Susan Browne

College of Education Departmental Research

It has become widely understood that formal early childhood education can be an important factor in school success. Equally significant is the role of culture as a determinant in negotiating school. Thereby, the inclusion of student culture remains an important aspect in conversations on school success. This discourse is capable of promoting learning using the lives of students by building on what they already know, while offering opportunities for academic achievement. This study investigated how professional development workshops on culturally responsive practice for urban pre-school teachers encouraged the examination of current classroom practices and offered a process for transformation.

No.4, September 2015: Incorporating Scaffolded Dialogic Reading Practice In Teacher Training: An Opportunity To Improve Instruction For Young Dual Language Learners In Transitional Kindergarten, Carola Matera Ph.D.

Education and Policy Briefs

Findings from a joint collaborative between the Center for Equity for English Learners (CEEL) at Loyola Marymount University and the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to provide professional development and coaching to Transitional Kindergarten (TK) teachers on the Scaffolded Dialogic Reading (SDR) are presented in this policy brief. SDR is a method to enhance language skills through dialogue and research-based scaffolds between teachers and small groups of children mediated through repeated readings of storybooks. The purpose of this brief is to: 1) state the opportunity to ensure Dual Language Learner (DLL) support within California’s TK policy; 2) provide a …

Community Colleges And First-Generation Students: Academic Discourse In The Writing Classroom, Jan Osborn

English Faculty Books and Book Chapters

Community Colleges and First-Generation Students examines how first-generation students from diverse ethnic and linguistic backgrounds are initiated into what is known as academic discourse, particularly at the community college. Osborn systematically looks at specific classroom discourses through detailed evidence provided by the diversities represented by the students, and how the students negotiated their identities in terms of the ideological directionality in play.

The download link above only contains chapter 2 of Dr. Osborn's book, "Identities: A Context of Multiplicity".

Publication Description & Guidelines For Submission

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

No abstract provided.

Notes On Contributors

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Vygotsky And Education: Connecting Theory And Practice In Linguistically Diverse Classrooms, Bobbie Kabuto

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

No abstract provided.

Introduction To Book Review: Bi-Multilingual Language Knowledge As An Element Of Funds Of Knowledge, Patricia Velasco

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

No abstract provided.

Two Activities For Multlingual Students: Learning In Monolingual Classrooms, David Schwarzer, Christian Acosta

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

The purpose of this article is to re-conceptualize the role of the monolingual teacher in mainstream K-12 classrooms in the United States who work with students who are mostly multilingual and transnational. The proposed role for monolingual teachers is to incorporate at least some of the resources available in students’ native languages, even if they do not have a working knowledge of those languages. To illustrate how this can be achieved the authors showcase two practical activities that can be used in mainstream classrooms to spark discussions about multilingualism and multilingual literacy. The activities are designed to promote the maintenance …

New York State Education Department Policies, Mandates And Initiatives On The Education Of English Language Learners, Angela Carrasquillo, Diane Rodríguez, Laura Kaplan

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

This article is a summary of a longer report, completed under the direction of the Research Institute for the Study of Language in Urban Society and the doctoral program in Urban Education at the Graduate Center in the City University of New York (CUNY) with funding provided by the New York State Initiative on Emergent Bilinguals (NYSIEB). It describes educational laws, policies, mandates, and initiatives regarding the education of English language learners, which took shape and reverberated in the New York State Education Department. This historical descriptive research focused on the historical period from 1965 to the year 2013. The …

The Psychological Impact Of English Language Immersion On Elementary Age English Language Learners, Elena B. Parra, Carol A. Evans, Todd Fletcher, Mary C. Combs

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

To date, most studies about English language learners (ELLs) in Structured English Immersion (SEI) classrooms in the state of Arizona have focused on ELLs’ lack of English acquisition in one year, a time frame expected by Arizona policymakers, as well as their lagging academic progress. While these studies almost uniformly have surfaced educational and policy concerns about the effectiveness of SEI, the debate about this approach has been marked by a lack of attention to research addressing the non-academic ramifications of enforcing this model on children who speak or understand little or no English. One relatively unexamined consequence of the …