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Russian For The Professions: Creating An M.A. Program In The Context Of Holistic Foreign Language Instruction, Angela Brintlinger, Andrei Cretu, Helen Myers, Emma Pratt, Larysa Stepanova Jun 2026

Russian For The Professions: Creating An M.A. Program In The Context Of Holistic Foreign Language Instruction, Angela Brintlinger, Andrei Cretu, Helen Myers, Emma Pratt, Larysa Stepanova

Russian Language Journal

This paper presents the design, implementation, and some preliminary outcomes of measures aiming at integrating career readiness into the Russian language program at Ohio State University through the creation of a “Russian for the Professions” (RFP) stand-alone M.A. degree. While the M.A. program is still relatively small, its courses serve a larger contingent of students who have achieved or aspire to higher language competency. The key component of the program comprises courses offering specialized language skills in business, cybersecurity, government and foreign affairs, information services, media, and translation. Career-focused curricular offerings are supplemented by programming offered in partnership with industry …


What Do Learners Do With A Foreign Language After Their Studies? A Survey Of Alumni Of A Russian Summer Immersion Program, Dmitrii Pastushenkov, Liya Zalaltdinova, Jason Merrill Jun 2026

What Do Learners Do With A Foreign Language After Their Studies? A Survey Of Alumni Of A Russian Summer Immersion Program, Dmitrii Pastushenkov, Liya Zalaltdinova, Jason Merrill

Russian Language Journal

Responding to concerns about the long-term value of foreign language education, this exploratory survey-based study examines how Russian language learners (N = 321) continued to use the language after completing a summer immersion program. The study investigates language use in personal and professional contexts and identifies resources alumni used, recommended, and needed to maintain proficiency. Although opportunities for conversational practice were limited, and interaction in Russian was one of the activities alumni needed but often viewed as unattainable, about 60% of participants continued using Russian at least occasionally. Among those employed full time, 24% used Russian frequently, primarily in …


Russian As A Lingua Franca In A Security Cooperation Context: Designing Career-Oriented Language Training Programs, Daniel Medford Jun 2026

Russian As A Lingua Franca In A Security Cooperation Context: Designing Career-Oriented Language Training Programs, Daniel Medford

Russian Language Journal

As Slavic language programs seek to align their curricula with workforce needs, the role of Russian and other Slavic languages in military and government service presents unique challenges and opportunities. This paper examines how linguistic training, particularly in Russian, can be better structured for students at American universities and colleges who wish to pursue government and security-related careers. Drawing on 30 interviews with native and non-native Russian speakers serving in the U.S. Army, this study explores the implications of using Russian as a lingua franca for U.S. military cooperation with former Soviet states. Given the political sensitivities surrounding the Russian …


Building An Alumni Network: Strategies And Benefits, Emily Johnson, Elena Carmichael Jun 2026

Building An Alumni Network: Strategies And Benefits, Emily Johnson, Elena Carmichael

Russian Language Journal

This article explains how to build an alumni network and describes the benefits of such initiatives. Echoing the 2024 “Report on English Majors’ Career Preparation and Outcomes” prepared by the ADE Ad Hoc Committee on English Majors’ Career Preparation and Outcomes, it argues that providing students with regular opportunities to hear from and interact with program alumni offers tangible benefits in terms of career preparation. By attending Zoom and in-person alumni career talks, students can learn about the diverse range of jobs where language and literature majors can achieve success. The chance to speak one-on-one with an alumnus/alumna with similar …


How Esl/Efl Textbooks Are Created: A Description Of The Publishing Processes For Elt Coursebooks, Timothy P. Arnold Jun 2026

How Esl/Efl Textbooks Are Created: A Description Of The Publishing Processes For Elt Coursebooks, Timothy P. Arnold

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to describe the current ELT textbook publishing processes and evaluate a descriptive model of the publishing processes. While criticisms of ELT textbooks abound (Akbari, 2008; Bell & Gower, 2011; Jordan & Gray, 2019; Tomlinson & Masuhara, 2008; Long, 2016; etc.), little previous research has focused on describing the ELT textbook publishing. This is despite most criticisms appearing to focus on aspects of ELT textbooks that come about during the publishing processes. The work of Littlejohn (1992), McGrath (2013), and Yildiz and Harwood (2023) are exceptions to this. To provide additional descriptive information on the …


Neural Processing Of Japanese And Korean Phonological Items In Romanized Versus Native Writing Systems, Kyle Thayne Chipman Jun 2026

Neural Processing Of Japanese And Korean Phonological Items In Romanized Versus Native Writing Systems, Kyle Thayne Chipman

Theses and Dissertations

Romanization is a common, yet sometimes controversial, tool used to make Korean and Japanese more accessible to beginning learners, but its effects on orthographic processing and phoneme discrimination ability are not well understood. The participants consisted of 34 university students (21 female, 13 male; mean age = 20.97) enrolled in 100- and 200-level Korean and Japanese courses at Brigham Young University. Using a quasi-experimental, counterbalanced design, participants completed phonological judgement tasks in three orthographies per language while accuracy, reaction time, and cortical activation were measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS); post-task surveys contextualized learner responses. Orthography significantly affected accuracy in …


Grit, Self-Assessment, And Second Language Proficiency: A Large-Scale Examination Using Data From The Language Ability Self-Evaluation Resource, Andrew T. Skoy Jun 2026

Grit, Self-Assessment, And Second Language Proficiency: A Large-Scale Examination Using Data From The Language Ability Self-Evaluation Resource, Andrew T. Skoy

Theses and Dissertations

Grit has been defined as being "perseverance and passion for long-term goals" (Duckworth et al., 2007). Research has tied grit to success in the discipline of second language acquisition (SLA), where researchers have adapted Duckworth's general grit self-assessment instrument to capture measurements of grit within second language learners (Teimouri et al., 2022). Such a scale appears on the Language Ability Self-Evaluation Resource (LASER), a standardized language proficiency test developed by researcher at Brigham Young University. With the aim of replicating the studies that were done to validate the design of the LASER, responses to the grit-measuring section of the test …


Receiving Isaac Again: Joy And Return To The Finite In Fear And Trembling, Jeffrey M. Matheson Jun 2026

Receiving Isaac Again: Joy And Return To The Finite In Fear And Trembling, Jeffrey M. Matheson

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis argues that joy is a constitutive but underexamined feature of faith in Søren Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling. While the text is often interpreted through sacrifice, silence, dread, paradox, and the teleological suspension of the ethical, these categories do not exhaust Johannes de Silentio’s account of Abraham. By foregrounding Abraham’s joy, this thesis shows that faith is not merely the willingness to surrender the finite, but the capacity to receive the finite again after it has been given up. Isaac is not only Abraham’s beloved son, but the child of promise, the visible form of God’s covenant, and the …


Beyond Single Images: A Comprehensive Benchmark For Album-Level Vision-Language Understanding, Shawn Huang Jun 2026

Beyond Single Images: A Comprehensive Benchmark For Album-Level Vision-Language Understanding, Shawn Huang

Theses and Dissertations

Automatic album organization has been studied extensively over the past decades due to significant progress in digital photography. Recent Vision-Language Models (VLMs) have shown strong performance on multi-image understanding, making them natural candidates for automating album organization workflows. While VLMs’ abilities in multi-image understanding have been widely studied, their performance on album organization remains underexplored. To bridge this gap, we introduce AlbumBench, the first comprehensive benchmark for automatic album organization. Specifically, we (1) define album organization tasks as photo selection for album-specific user objectives, photo rating according to how well user intents are fulfilled, and album-specific photo grouping given a …


Enhancing Emotional Support For Advanced Placement Students, Laine Mckay Nesbitt Jun 2026

Enhancing Emotional Support For Advanced Placement Students, Laine Mckay Nesbitt

Theses and Dissertations

Although they may struggle with their emotional well-being, academically accelerated students are underrepresented in the research literature. Teachers are in a position to influence students' emotional well-being. Minimal qualitative research with student voices has been conducted. This study highlights the perspectives of students who have participated in an academically accelerated program. Students were interviewed about what their teachers do to help or hinder their emotional well-being and what they wish that teachers could do to support their emotional well-being. A total of 14 high school students were interviewed using the critical incident technique (CIT). The participants emphasized the importance of …


Maternal Perspectives On Support Needs: Insights From The Fonofale Model, Sara Lani Ditto Jun 2026

Maternal Perspectives On Support Needs: Insights From The Fonofale Model, Sara Lani Ditto

Theses and Dissertations

This interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) explored the lived experiences of parents raising children with disabilities in American Samoa. Five participants across two focus groups shared their perspectives on navigating educational, healthcare, and community systems while supporting their children with disabilities. Using the fonofale model as a cultural framework, the study incorporated culturally responsive methodology including card sort activities to facilitate dialogue on potentially sensitive topics. Analysis followed the Nizza et al. (2021) IPA approach, progressing from exploratory notes to experiential statements, clustered themes, and finally overarching themes. Findings revealed four major themes: systemic burden on parents, structural and service gaps, …


Practical Implementation Of Ethnomathematics To Increase The Engagement, Math Self-Efficacy, And Hawaiian Cultural Identity Of HawaiʻI Algebra 2 Students, Kamalani George Mamatuki Kaluhiokalani Jun 2026

Practical Implementation Of Ethnomathematics To Increase The Engagement, Math Self-Efficacy, And Hawaiian Cultural Identity Of HawaiʻI Algebra 2 Students, Kamalani George Mamatuki Kaluhiokalani

Theses and Dissertations

The underrepresentation of Hawaiian cultural practices in mathematics education has contributed to a disconnect between students' cultural identities and their academic experiences, resulting in diminished engagement among Native Hawaiian learners. This design-based research examines the integration of ethnomathematics into high school mathematics curricula, with a focus on Hawaiian cultural practices as frameworks for teaching mathematical concepts. Participants include approximately 100 students in Hawaiʻi from a public school and a private school, as well as two mathematics teachers with varying degrees of experience in culturally responsive pedagogy and ethnomathematics. Employing a mixed-methods approach, the study collects data through classroom observations, teacher …


Influence Of Timed Repeated Readings On Grade 2 French Immersion Students' Reading Fluency And Comprehension, Kathryn Rosie Baldwin Jun 2026

Influence Of Timed Repeated Readings On Grade 2 French Immersion Students' Reading Fluency And Comprehension, Kathryn Rosie Baldwin

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effects of Timed Repeated Reading (TRR) on reading fluency, comprehension, and reading attitudes among second grade students in a French Dual Language Immersion (DLI) program in Utah. Forty-one students from two pre-existing classroom groups participated over 11 weeks, with one class receiving TRR and the other serving as a control. Fluency was measured in correct words per minute (CWPM), comprehension through cloze tests, and attitudes using a seven-item affective survey with a four-point visual scale. A mixed between-within subjects ANOVA analysed pre- and post-test data across four intervals. Results showed significant fluency gains over time for …


Beyond The Bell Curve: Understanding Native American Academic Placements, Sarah-Margaret Clark Jun 2026

Beyond The Bell Curve: Understanding Native American Academic Placements, Sarah-Margaret Clark

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined biases regarding the referrals that teachers make regarding student placement recommendations for Native American students. Special education teachers (n = 97) from around the United States completed a digital card sort task involving 24 fictitious student record cards. The student record cards contained subtle information about the ethnicity of the student, as indicated through the use of racial identification (Native American, Asian, or White) on the student records and the use of student names that may be associated with these three categories. Academic information was equal among each of these three groups. Each group contained identical male …


Effects Of A Peer Mentoring Program For Adolescent Newcomers On Feelings Of Peer Connectedness And School Belonging, Eden Elizabeth Moon Barnhill Jun 2026

Effects Of A Peer Mentoring Program For Adolescent Newcomers On Feelings Of Peer Connectedness And School Belonging, Eden Elizabeth Moon Barnhill

Theses and Dissertations

There is a significant lack of empirical evidence regarding the effectiveness of peer mentoring to support newcomer students, particularly for refugee populations. This study evaluated the effects of a peer mentor program for newcomer students on their feelings of peer connectedness and school belonging in a high school setting. Participants were made up of 15 newcomer student mentees across three high schools. Measures were administered pre- and post-intervention, and participants were also interviewed about their experience. Results indicated no quantitative findings of significance but did yield a small positive effect size for peer connectedness. According to qualitative data, many participants …


The Efficacy Of Open Educational Resources On Achievement Outcomes In Higher Education Institutions, Charles Trevor Alder Jun 2026

The Efficacy Of Open Educational Resources On Achievement Outcomes In Higher Education Institutions, Charles Trevor Alder

Theses and Dissertations

Achievement gaps remain a concern in higher education, reflected in differences in academic performance, retention, and persistence. These gaps often affect students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and underserved populations. Open educational resources (OER) have been suggested to reduce financial barriers and support student success. This study examined whether student-level and institutional-level factors predict academic performance in a business management course using OER. Average quiz scores were collected from students across 12 higher education institutions and analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling. Colleges were included in the analysis to determine whether outcomes differed based on the proportion of minority and Pell-eligible students. …


Socioeconomic And Cultural Factors In Shared Book Reading Interactions, Jessica Wood Folsom Jun 2026

Socioeconomic And Cultural Factors In Shared Book Reading Interactions, Jessica Wood Folsom

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined socioeconomic and language factors influencing the implementation of shared book reading behaviors following participation in caregiver-trained shared book reading workshops. While shared book reading is known to support language and literacy outcomes of children, less is known about how socioeconomic and language differences affect its implementation. Eighteen participants were recruited from a local preschool and completed a 34-question pre-survey prior to attending a 2-week shared book reading workshop, followed by a 27-question post-survey. Parents reported on literacy practices, confidence level, and shared book reading behaviors. Results indicated increased positive shared book reading behaviors and caregiver confidence following …


Collaborative Practices Of School-Based Professionals In Conducting Multilingual Assessments, Megan Buckley Jun 2026

Collaborative Practices Of School-Based Professionals In Conducting Multilingual Assessments, Megan Buckley

Theses and Dissertations

The current study evaluates the perceived best practices and current actual practices of school-based professionals in interprofessional collaboration and in conducting multilingual assessments. The participants consisted of 341 professionals from across the United States in the following groups: speech language pathologists (SLPs), assistants, special education teachers, general education teachers, specialists, school psychologists, and administration. Participants responded to an online Qualtrics survey with a total of 74 possible items regarding demographics, caseload, multilingual assessment practices and beliefs, and interprofessional collaboration practices and beliefs. Results were analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics. Results indicate that participants recognize the need for interprofessional collaboration …


Speech Motor Variability In Typical Speakers With Blocked, Predictable, And Unpredictable Stimulus Order, Jocelyn L. Turley Jun 2026

Speech Motor Variability In Typical Speakers With Blocked, Predictable, And Unpredictable Stimulus Order, Jocelyn L. Turley

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effect on spatiotemporal variability of speech in reading threesyllable, five-syllable, and eight-syllable phrases in blocked, predictable, or unpredictable order. This was done to address the need in the field for a greater understanding of the interactions of stimulus length and stimulus presentation order. The experiment was completed with 35 typically speaking young adult participants. Participants read variable stimuli in the different presentation orders to measure the spatiotemporal variability in different conditions with electromagnetic articulography and audio recording software tracking their speech. The statistical analysis main condition effect revealed a significant impact on all phrase lengths between …


Effects Of A Complexity-Based Approach For Treatment Of Be Verbs In Children With Developmental Language Disorder: A Single-Case Design, Megan Shawnee Rowe Jun 2026

Effects Of A Complexity-Based Approach For Treatment Of Be Verbs In Children With Developmental Language Disorder: A Single-Case Design, Megan Shawnee Rowe

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine whether a complexity-based treatment approach improves the production of BE verb structures in a child with developmental language disorder (DLD). One school-age child with morphosyntactic deficits participated in a single-case AB experimental design. Treatment targeted a complex structure (auxiliary BE questions), and performance was measured using experimental probes, a narrative language sample, and the Test of Early Grammatical Impairment (TEGI). Results indicate a functional relationship between treatment and increased accuracy of the treated structure, with a medium effect size (τ = .695, p = .019). In addition, the participant demonstrated generalization to …


Prosodic Characteristics Of People With Moderate Broca's Aphasia: Measures Of Pitch And Intensity, Morgan Smith Lambert Jun 2026

Prosodic Characteristics Of People With Moderate Broca's Aphasia: Measures Of Pitch And Intensity, Morgan Smith Lambert

Theses and Dissertations

Aphasia is an acquired neurogenic language disorder commonly treated by speech language pathologists (SLPs). People with aphasia (PWA) experience various language deficits which impact their ability to effectively communicate with their environment. One of these deficits which impacts individuals with non-fluent aphasia is dysprosody. The purpose of this study is to acoustically evaluate the pitch and intensity of individuals with moderate Broca's aphasia along with age and gender matched control participants across a variety of task types in order to help SLPs better understand how to effectively assess and treat prosody in PWA. This study is an extension of Pickard …


Lack Of Effects Of Autistic Traits On Adjunct Control Processing, Alyssa Crezee Jun 2026

Lack Of Effects Of Autistic Traits On Adjunct Control Processing, Alyssa Crezee

Theses and Dissertations

Autism has effects on social, communication, and information processing factors (American Psychological Association, 2022; Happé & Frith, 2006). Sentence processing is a type of information processing that synthesizes both discourse and local information (e.g., syntactic and morphological). This thesis explores potential effects of autistic traits on sentence processing in the context of adjunct control structures. In a two-part study, adult English L1 participants (n=118) were administered a self-paced-reading (SPR) task with comprehension and acceptability questions for task 1. Task 2 consisted of an online survey containing three standardized autism questionnaires: the Autism Quotient (AQ; Baron-Cohen et al, 2001), the Broad …


Examining The Effects Of A Complexity-Based Treatment For One Child With Down Syndrome Using Single-Case Design, Markelle Luddington Jun 2026

Examining The Effects Of A Complexity-Based Treatment For One Child With Down Syndrome Using Single-Case Design, Markelle Luddington

Theses and Dissertations

Common language difficulties observed in English-speaking children with Down syndrome (DS) and developmental language disorder (DLD) include challenges with marking tense and agreement on verbs, particularly with BE verbs. In addition, difficulties with syntactic movement may further exacerbate these challenges, often resulting in increased omission errors. A complexity-based approach to treatment target selection has been suggested as one method to address these needs. Therefore, this single-case design study examined the effects of a complexity-based treatment approach for one participant with Down syndrome. Specifically, this study investigated the effects of targeting a more complex treated structure, auxiliary BE questions, and the …


Wounded Domestic Ecologies: Ecofeminist Readings Of Gendered Trauma In Purple Hibiscus, Erere Victory Iwhi Jun 2026

Wounded Domestic Ecologies: Ecofeminist Readings Of Gendered Trauma In Purple Hibiscus, Erere Victory Iwhi

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Purple Hibiscus through an ecofeminist and postcolonial ecocritical lens, developing the concept of "wounded domestic ecology" to analyze how gendered violence operates within domestic space. Drawing on trauma studies, particularly J. R. Kurtz and Rob Nixon's concept of slow violence, it argues that harm in the novel is accumulative, produced through repetition, surveillance, ritual, and spatial regulation. Eugene's household functions as an environment that disciplines bodies, governs language, and embeds fear into everyday life. In contrast, Aunt Ifeoma's home in Nsukka offers a counter-ecology structured by sound, shared labor, and dialogic authority, interrupting the …


Storytelling, Gender, And The Double-Empathy Problem, Annie Rogers Jun 2026

Storytelling, Gender, And The Double-Empathy Problem, Annie Rogers

Theses and Dissertations

Storytelling has been proposed as a meaningful way to facilitate empathy and connection, particularly across neurotypes. The present study examined whether a live storytelling event influenced perceptions of the autism community, empathy, and interpersonal connection, while also exploring differences on biological sex and levels of autistic traits. Participants completed pre- and post-event measures assessing relationship perceptions and connection, along with standardized measures of empathy and autistic traits. Results showed a significant increase in positive perceptions of the autism community and perceived closeness to storytellers after the event. Engagement, emotional impact, openness, and motivation to support the autism community were all …


The Evolution Of Collaborative Dialogue And Instructional Change Among Secondary Mathematics Teachers Engaged In Peer Observation, Shazia Akbar Jun 2026

The Evolution Of Collaborative Dialogue And Instructional Change Among Secondary Mathematics Teachers Engaged In Peer Observation, Shazia Akbar

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study examined how collaborative dialogue evolved across four cycles of a formative peer observation system involving one veteran and two first-year secondary mathematics teachers, exploring which aspects of that dialogue teachers attributed to changes in their instructional practice. Using the Math Talk for Equitable Participation (MTEP) framework across one academic year, data were drawn from verbatim transcripts of eight collaborative sessions and video-stimulated recall interviews. Four key findings emerged: evidence shifted from planning documents to video of student thinking, deepening pedagogical reasoning; novice teacher contributions grew from peripheral to central; relational trust fostered critical rather than merely affirming …


Dual Language Immersion In Utah Schools: Examining Experiences And Access To Improve Sustainability, Melissa Catherine Jensen Kimball Jun 2026

Dual Language Immersion In Utah Schools: Examining Experiences And Access To Improve Sustainability, Melissa Catherine Jensen Kimball

Theses and Dissertations

Dual language immersion (DLI) programs can impact students in many ways. Multiple researchers have studied the effects of these programs and have found numerous benefits. However, there is little published information on the actual experiences of individuals in schools with a DLI program, including those who are involved in the program and those who were a part of DLI school communities but not directly involved in the program. A. Hawks, J. Rowley, D. Stovall, and their respective thesis and dissertation committees created a survey to better understand the current perspectives of administrators, parents, teachers, and other school staff on these …


Effects Of Divided Attention On Linguistic Tasks And Speech In Healthy Young Adults, Allison Coca Jun 2026

Effects Of Divided Attention On Linguistic Tasks And Speech In Healthy Young Adults, Allison Coca

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of divided attention on concurrent speech and linguistic tasks by investigating performance on three linguistic computer tasks (phonological, syntactic, and semantic) and speech kinematics. Thirty-seven healthy young adults (19 male, 18 female) ages 19-30 were recorded performing a sentence repetition task using electromagnetic articulography. Each participant completed the sentence repetition once in isolation and once concurrently with each of the three linguistic computer tasks. Participants also completed computer tasks in isolation. Significant dual-task effects were observed on total number of correct responses in the phonological and syntactic linguistic tasks. No …


Multilingual Assessment Practices In School-Based Speech Language Pathologists, Carolyn Alana Ferguson Jun 2026

Multilingual Assessment Practices In School-Based Speech Language Pathologists, Carolyn Alana Ferguson

Theses and Dissertations

Multilingual assessment is an area of growing relevance and importance in the field of speech language pathology. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the current assessment practices among school-based SLPs in relation to their language background status (e.g. monolingual, bilingual, multilingual) and their perceptions on issues related to multilingualism. A survey instrument was created, which asked SLPs to respond to questions on various topics, including demographics, caseload information, assessment practices, statements on multilingual perceptions, and clinical scenarios. There were 267 participants included in the study from across the country with varying ages and years of experience in the …


Here-, There-, And Every Where-: Exploring The Role Of Pronominal Adverbs In Legal Language, David Chandler May 2026

Here-, There-, And Every Where-: Exploring The Role Of Pronominal Adverbs In Legal Language, David Chandler

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Legal language is distinctive and sometimes difficult to understand. One type of word that appears to be part of so-called ‘legalese’ is the pronominal adverb (PA). The purpose of this thesis is to examine the prevalence of PAs in legal registers compared to more general registers of contemporary American English to determine the extent to which these words are distinctly legal. The study will also explore why different types of PAs may be (in)frequent in specific legal registers to better understand their use. The frequency of PAs was extracted from corpora that are designed to represent six registers of English …