Digital Commons Network^™

Second Grade Ell's Emic Perspective Of An Afterschool Reading Program: An Interactional Ethnographic Study Of Reading Opportunities And Social Construction Of Second Grade Ell's Read Alouds, Susana S. Saldivar

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The purpose of this research was to uncover what counts as reading to second grade ELLs (English Language Learners) in a non-graded, afterschool reading program. I used an interactional ethnographic epistemological research approach. I video-and audio-taped twentyfour afterschool reading lessons, took fieldnotes, conducted semi-structured interviews, and collected artifacts. The thirteen participants were ELLs, from low socioeconomic backgrounds, and of Mexican-American descent. First, I identified children’s opportunities on an event map. Next, I analyzed moment-by-moment discourse analysis of read alouds from the beginning and end of the program. Finally, I made visible what counted as reading from participants’ discourse through domain …

A Third Grade Bilingual Teacher's Knowledge And Practices For Developing Reading Comprehension, Miriam Guerra

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The purpose of this study was to examine teacher knowledge and practices for teaching reading comprehension to English language learners and socio-economically disadvantaged students in a third grade bilingual class. This study uses a conceptual framework of pedagogical content knowledge to investigate how kinds of content knowledge and pedagogical practices interact to create the teacher’s special way of knowing how to teach comprehension to her students. This study uses a case study methodology to investigate what the teacher knows and how her knowledge is enacted in her teaching practices. This case study provided an in-depth perspective of teacher knowledge. Through …

Communicative Language Teaching: The Cornerstone Of Second Language Acquisition, Sierra Fischback

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

This portfolio is comprised of a compilation of papers written by the author while completing the Master of Second Language Teaching (MSLT) program at Utah State University. The focus of the portfolio is a teaching philosophy outlining the author’s beliefs on how to foster effective language teaching in the university foreign language classroom. Included as well are artifacts addressing coping with culture shock, effective forms of language learning, and reading in foreign language literature courses. These artifacts were chosen to reflect important areas of language teaching that have affected the author’s teaching philosophy. Finally, the author has incorporated an annotated …

The Effect Of The Parent Liaison On Latino Student High School Completion And Parent Involvement, Jeanne Thompson Walker

Dissertations

The graduation rate for Latinos in the United States has consistently lagged behind the high school completion rate of White and Asian students in the United States. Efforts to bring equity to schools and improve high school success among Latinos have been inconsistent even after the implementation of No Child Left Behind Legislation. The use of a Spanish speaking parent liaison is gaining momentum as an intervention strategy in elementary schools, often funded by Title 1 grants to schools with large populations of socio-economically disadvantaged students. The Parent Liaison position is also being utilized in some high schools to encourage …

Community University Project For Literacy (Cupl), Carol Chandler-Rourke

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The Community-University Project for Literacy (CUPL) provides an academic structure for undergraduates to work as tutors in community-based learning centers. Students who enroll in CUPL commit to tutoring four hours each week at a community learning program while attending a credit-bearing academic seminar at UMass/Boston offered each semester. That is the Language, Literacy and Community in the Fall semester and ESL Tutor Training Seminar in the Spring semester.

La Educación E Identidad De Niños Sordos Españoles: Un Estudio Comparando Con Los Estados Unidos. The Education And Identity Of Deaf Spanish Children: A Study In Comparison To The United States., Dana Michael

Spain: Language, Community, and Social Change

As a part of the community service component of the SIT: Spain: Language, Culture and Social Changes, I was afforded the opportunity to work at a local school assisting students in learning and practicing English. In my opinion, the most beneficial part of this community service project was working with a deaf girl and the exposure I received to Spanish Sign Language, the Spanish deaf community and their culture. With my background as a Deaf Studies major, I have been given a wealth of knowledge and experience with the American deaf community and I used this knowledge to compare to …

Wmu International News Spring 2012, Haenicke Institute For Global Education

WMU International News

In this issue:

• Globally engaged aviation program helps developing countries spread wings
• Homeland development key outcome for Afghan degree-seeker
• German-born American new CELCIS activities coordinator
• Growing global programs is key mission for WMU international administrator
• Georgian tennis ace scores on and off the court
• International activity converges in Global Business Center

Exploring Locally To Grow Globally: A Community Excursion-Based Elective For Intensive English Programs, Andrea L. Bernasconi

Capstone Collection

The community excursion-based elective course (CE) has been designed for the Intensive English Program (IEP) at the International Language Institute (ILI) in Northampton, Massachusetts. The class provides access and information to international adult learners who are interested in learning more about the local community and culture for academic, professional and personal purposes. CE students will be exposed to various businesses, organizations, institutions and services in the community while being fully supported by a qualified teacher.

The types of excursions identified in this Capstone project differ in several ways from the extra-curricular activities and cultural exchanges that are commonly offered by …

Immersed In The Language And Culture Of The World’S Backyard: A Study On Language Maintenance And Loss, Lucilei A. Brigido

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

In this paper, I, as an educator and a language learner, examine the stories of immigrants and their immersion into a second language and a new culture as they maintain and\or create identities, while considering the society in which they are immersed, the United States, which receives people from all corners of the world. The theoretical framework I draw from is life-based narrative research, as well as literature exploring the role of identities and membership in society. Life-based narratives give real faces to the stories, helping school holders and lay people to develop awareness in regard to the complexities and …

Teaching English Language Learners From China, Abigail Pavlik

Honors Theses and Capstones

This research paper attempts to provide American teachers with important background information for teaching English language learners from China. The research is presented primarily for ESL teachers, but much of it would also be useful for any teacher or professor working with students of this description. The paper proceeds by exploring similarities and differences between 1. Chinese and English, 2. Chinese and American culture, and 3. Chinese and American education or "classroom culture," considering all along the way the implications for teaching and working with these students.

Investigating Elementary Teachers' Instructional Planning And Teaching Experiences With Long-Term English Learners: A Qualitative Study, Melinda V. Lopez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

English Language Learners (ELLs) are currently the fastest growing student population in the United States (Duhon-Ross & Battle, 2001; Verdugo & Flores, 2007). Within this population, there exists a group of students who are frequently criticized for lacking academic fluency in English despite having been educated in the United States for a long period of time. They are known as Long-Term English Learners. Long- Term English Learners share some characteristics with other groups of students, but occupy a unique space with regards to language issues (Olsen, 2010). The phenomenon of Long- Term English Learners is not new, but continues to …

A Comparison Of A Gifted Education Program Among Eighth Grade Gifted Students At A Georgia Junior High School, Jerry Clark Harden

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships that may exist among mean scores on the math and reading portions of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) of eighth grade gifted students of different gender, race, and socioeconomic status. Significant changes have been made to Georgia's gifted identification procedures over the last few decades to lessen the underrepresentation of minorities and students of low socioeconomic status. However, issues still exist in the referral process, the identification process, and the performance of gifted students. Although the referral process and identification procedures have been and continue to be researched, …

Content-Based Instruction Website For Course Modules, Pelin Basci

World Languages and Literatures Faculty Publications and Presentations

This presentations focuses on content-based instruction for course modules - a Turkish sample.

The Impact Of Parental Involvement On Preschool Children’S Later Language Development In Low-Income Hispanic English Language Learners, Yanjie Long

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Previous research has revealed the importance of parental involvement in children’s language development (Raikes, et. al., 2006). However, few studies have focused in detail on the impact of parental involvement on the language development of English Language Learners (ELLs). The purpose of this study is to examine how early and concurrent parental involvement affects preschool children’s later language development in a sample of low-income Hispanic ELLs. More specifically, two aspects of parental involvement will be examined: (1) home support of language and cognitive stimulation; and (2) parent emotional supportiveness. The results indicate that early home language and cognitive stimulation and …

Arabic Women And English Language Learning: A Case Study, Ream Alkarni

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The main goal of this study was to interview Arabic women students at Spring International Language Center to record their perceptions, rationale, goals, stories, and opinions about learning English in a U.S. language school. This research was conducted to understand the purposes and goals of Arabic women who come to the United Stated to study the English language, and the importance of English language proficiency, both within and outside the United States.

The findings of this study are not only relevant to English language centers in the United States, but also those in other countries. The information and methods used …

World Languages: Learners Wanted

Dimensions

SCOLT Dimensions Volume 47

Consulting Cultural Informants: A Look At The Extent To Which Students Use Informants And Other Strategies To Learn From Their International Experiences, William Scott Leroy

Capstone Collection

This study explores the extent to which students from the United States consult with cultural informants while abroad when experiencing what Taylor (1994a, 1994b) refers to as “cultural disequilibrium”. The study also explores how this strategy compares to other learning strategies and which informants students most frequently consult.

Two research methods were used: a survey of 85 students who recently returned from an international program and interviews with nine students from the same sample. The survey sought to explore strategies students employ when facing cultural disequilibrium while the interviews aimed at uncovering why students preferred some learning strategies over others. …

There Is No Culturally Responsive Teaching Spoken Here: A Critical Race Perspective, Cleveland Hayes, Brenda Juarez

Democracy & Education

In this article, we are concerned with White racial domination as a process that occurs in teacher education and the ways it operates to hinder the preparation of teachers to effectively teach all students. Our purpose is to identify and highlight moments within processes of White racial domination when individuals and groups have and make choices to support rather than to challenge White supremacy. By highlighting and critically examining moments when White racial domination has been instantiated and recreated within our own experiences, we attempt to open up a venue for imagining and re-creating teacher education in ways that are …

Grammar Teaching Revisited: Efl Teachers Between Grammar Abstinence And Formal Grammar Teaching, Ahmad Nazari, Negah Allahyar

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Abstract: The study of English language teachers’ cognitions and its relationship to teachers’ classroom practices have recently been the focus of language teaching and teacher education (Borg, 2006 & 2010). However, rarely have the studies delved into teachers’ knowledge about grammar (reviewed by Borg, 2001) or investigated the relationships between teachers’ knowledge about grammar and teachers’ actions (Borg, 2003; Sanchez, 2010). Moreover, these studies have been mostly conducted by English native speaker researchers who do not necessarily have the same cultural or linguistic background of the participants in the studies (Andrew, 2001 cited in Sanchez, 2010, p. 45). Also, they …

English Language Learner Disproportionality In Special Education: Implications For The Scholar-Practitioner, Diana Linn, Lynn Hemmer

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

This study examined the representational patterns of English language learners (ELLs) receiving special education services in school districts in a southeastern Texas region over a 7-year period. Results indicated that although relative risk ratios have decreased over time, the region as a whole continued to show overrepresentation of ELLs in special education. Additionally, the percentage of districts demonstrating overrepresentation decreased by almost half over the 7 years. Finally, the relative risk ratios for some districts in the study indicated variability over time. Awareness of the representational patterns of ELLs at the
national, state, regional, district, and campus levels continues to …

Administrators' Sense Of Self-Efficacy In Supervision Of Teachers Of English As A Second Language, Audrey Figueroa Murphy, Bruce A. Torff

Curriculum & Instruction Faculty Publications

English language learners (ELLs) are the fastest growing segment of the U.S. school population, which means schools are hiring significant numbers of new ESL (English as a Second Language) teachers. This burgeoning pool of ESL teachers must be supervised by administrative staff, and the stakes are considerably higher now that teacher-evaluation policies frequently require teachers to make the grade or lose their jobs. But most administrators’ educational experiences are remote from ESL instruction; few administrators are former ESL teachers, and supervisory training routinely fails to encompass ESL pedagogy. Hence, it remains unclear whether the administrators who supervise ESL teachers feel …

English As A Second Language (Esl) Students' Perception Of Effective Instructors In The Leap Program At Marshall University, Tam Thi Thanh Vo

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This study explored the perception of English as Second Language (ESL) learners toward characteristics of effective ESL instructors. Specifically, this study examined the perception of thirty ESL learners in the Learning English for Academic Purposes (LEAP) Program at Marshall University and ten ESL graduate students studying Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) Program in Adult and Technical Education (ATE) Department at Marshall University concerning what they perceive to be good qualities and characteristics of ESL instructors. A quantitative research methodology was utilized. In 2010, during the second week of March, the survey was administered to both LEAP students and …

"Small Talk": Developing Fluency, Accuracy, And Complexity In Speaking, James Hunter

TESOL Faculty Scholarship

A major issue that continues to challenge language teachers is how to ensure that learners develop accuracy and complexity in their speaking, as well as fluency. Teachers know that too much corrective feedback (CF) can make learners reluctant to speak, while not enough may allow their errors to become entrenched. Furthermore, there is controversy over the effectiveness of recasts (the most common form of CF) in promoting acquisition. This article explores a methodology, ‘Small Talk’, which aims to resolve some of the tensions between the need to encourage truly communicative language use and the need to develop complexity and to …

Culturally Responsive Curriculum: Enrichment Projects For School Age-Children, MóNica Balbuena De La Sancha

Theses Digitization Project

This project addresses the need of a culturally responsive curriculum for children of Mexican descent. This culturally responsive curriculum was developed to expose children to Mexico's unique history, culture, traditions, and indigenous peoples.

Mapping Writing Development In Young Bilingual Learners, Ana M. Hernández, Ed.D., Magaly Lavadenz, Ph.D.

Practitioner Journal Articles

A growing interest in Two-Way Bilingual Immersion (TWBI) programs has led to increased attention to bilingualism, biliteracy, and biculturalism. This article describes the writing development in Spanish and English for 49 kindergarten students in a 50/50 Two-Way Bilingual Immersion program. Over the course of an academic year, the authors collected writing samples to analyze evidence of cross-linguistic resource sharing using a grounded theoretical approach to compare and contrast writing samples to determine patterns of cross-linguistic resource sharing in English and Spanish. The authors identified four patterns: phonological, syntactic, lexical, and metalinguistic awareness. Findings indicated that emergent writers applied similar strategies …

Randomized Trial Of A Broad Preventive Intervention For Mexican American Adolescents, Nancy A. Gonzales, L. E. Dumka, R. E. Millsap, A. Gottschall, D. B. Mcclain, J. J. Wong, M. German, A. M. Mauricio, Lorey A. Wheeler, F. D. Carpentier, S. Y. Kim

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Objective—This randomized trial of a family-focused preventive intervention for Mexican American (MA) adolescents evaluated intervention effects on adolescent substance use, internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and school discipline and grade records in 8th grade, one year after completion of the intervention. The study also examined hypothesized mediators and moderators of intervention effects. Method—Stratified by language of program delivery (English vs. Spanish), the trial included a sample of 516 MA adolescents (50.8% female; M =12.3 years, SD=.54) and at least one caregiver that were randomized to receive a low dosage control group workshop or the 9-week group intervention that included …

A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Language Policy In California, Steven Gomez

Theses Digitization Project

This thesis aims to investigate the issues surrounding California's Proposition 227, an important language policy passed in June of 1998 which drastically limited bilingual education. This proposition requires that all public school systems be in English only. Using a method known as Critical Discourse Analysis, this study exposes the underlying bias embedded in the discourse of newspaper articles from: the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register, and the Sacramento Bee. After analyzing articles from these newspapers various themes emerged which indicated that each newspaper adhered to either assimilationists' position which is conservative, or a pluralist position which is backed …

Preventing Long-Term English Learners: Results From A Project-Based Differentiated Eld Intervention Program, Magaly Lavadenz, Ph.D., Elvira G. Armas, Ed.D., Rosalinda Barajas

Practitioner Journal Articles

In this article the authors describe efforts taken by a small southern California school district to develop and implement an innovative, research-based English Language Development program to address a growing concern over long-term English Learners (LTELs) in their district. With support from the Weingart Foundation this afterschool program served 3^rd and 7^th grade LTELs between 2008–2011 to accelerate language and literacy acquisition and prevent prolonged EL status. Program evaluation results indicated that the intervention was associated with improved English language proficiency as measured by the California English Language Development Test. Results also showed a heightened awareness of effective …

Exploring The Educational Involvement Of Parents Of English Learners, Elizabeth M. Vera, M Susman Israel, Laura Coyle, J Cross, Laura Knight-Lynn, I Moallem, G Bartucci, N Goldberger

Center for Research Quality Publications

The purpose of the current investigation was to examine the relationships among a range of specific barriers and facilitators of parent involvement and a variety of types of school involvement within a diverse group of immigrant parents of English Learners (ELs) in four elementary school districts. In-home types of educational involvement such as monitoring homework and asking children about their school day were the most commonly reported behaviors, and utilizing community resources was found to be the least common type of parental involvement. Involvement type was predicted by parental demographic factors such as comfort with English language, educational background, and …

Writing With An English As A Second Language (Esl) Student, Sara Mulcahy

Undergraduate Review

This paper explores the pedagogies and practices of teaching writing to English-as-a-second-language (ESL) students. With growing numbers of ESL students entering colleges and universities, it is important to be aware of the challenges facing ESL students. Equally important is awareness of what methodologies and practices work best when assisting ESL students with their writing. This paper serves as a final report for a service learning project that consisted of one-on-one workshops with a Japanese ESL student. This final report draws on various secondary sources and primary research in order to explore the writing development of this particular ESL student. It …