Digital Commons Network^™

Self-Access Centers: Maximizing Learners' Access To Center Resources, Benjamin L. Mcmurry

Theses and Dissertations

The Self-Access Study Center (SASC) at Brigham Young University's English Language Center (ELC) is a self-access lab where students can work independently to improve their language skills. Although some students have discovered how to use the SASC effectively, the majority of them appear to be unaware of the resources available in the center. Their trips to the SASC end up becoming more like a cyber cafe situation, where friends send email and chat online. If the SASC is used merely as a computer lab, then students are not using the resources available to fine-tune their English skills. The current project …

The Development Of A Certified Nursing Assistant English For Specific Purposes Curriculum: Teaching Materials And Methods, Nancy Waireana Tarawhiti

Theses and Dissertations

After careful review of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and English for Medical Purposes (EMP) literature, I assisted in the development of a curriculum for an ESP Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) Preparation course. The course participants were non-native English speaking employees of Utah Valley Regional Medical Center (UVRMC), currently working in the department of housekeeping, wanting to further their employment opportunities. The ESP CNA Preparation course was 12 weeks duration, three days per week, 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm.

My contribution to the curriculum was the development of teaching materials and methods and I used two guiding questions to assist …

The Effect Of A Study Abroad On Acquiring Pragmatics, Johanna Katherine Brown

Theses and Dissertations

Pragmatics in Arabic needs to be studied for two main reasons: first, the large cultural difference between American and Middle Eastern society; and second, the recent surge in demand for Arabic speakers in the US. Especially in regard to refusals, what is acceptable in America is rarely acceptable in Arabic speaking countries. There are very few occasions when refusal of an offering of food or other hospitalities is acceptable. Arab culture requires one to provide family members with anything they need, including money. If that is not possible it is required to find the means for what they need. American …

An Examination Of The Role Of Writing In Mathematics Instruction, Amy Jeppsen

Theses and Dissertations

This study uses qualitative methods to investigate the use of writing in a content course for elementary education majors in which writing was considered an important part of mathematical learning. The study differs from previous studies by investigating the role of writing in the everyday instructional activities, rather than investigating writing as a separate mathematical activity. An analysis of the instruction and class discussions that took place in this class reveals that components of writing that were addressed implicitly and explicitly in classroom instruction were developed simultaneously with conceptual understanding, suggesting a much stronger and more integral relationship between writing …

Such A Deal Of Wonder: Structures Of Feeling And Performances Of The Winter's Tale From 1981 To 2002, Elizabeth Marie Burt

Theses and Dissertations

Structures of feeling represent the interaction between personal lived experience and fixed social values and meanings, which are found in interpretations of works of art. Studying various interpretations of any play in performance can provide a point of access into a culture because the choices made in the production can be compared to each other and to the written text and then reveal how the theatrical company views particular issues within their own time period. This study looks at productions of The Winter's Tale between 1981 and 2002 at the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Using numerous versions …

The Effects Of Divided Attention On Speech Motor, Verbal Fluency And Manual Motor Task Performance, Erin Hamblin

Theses and Dissertations

Research in dual task performance varies widely in its methodology and results. The present study employed three different types of activity to provide insights into the interference that occurs in dual task performance. Twenty young adults completed a speech task (repeating a sentence), a verbal fluency task (listing words beginning with the same letter), and right- and left-handed motor tasks (placing pegs and washers in a peg board) in isolation and in concurrent conditions. Speech kinematic data revealed that during concurrent performance of manual tasks, lip displacement and peak velocity decreased, while sound pressure level and spatiotemporal variability increased. The …

Computer-Aided Self-Access Pronunciation Materials Designed To Teach Stress In American English, Ann-Marie Krueger Bott

Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, increasing attention has been placed on providing pronunciation instruction that meets the communicative needs of nonnative speakers (NNSs) of English. Empirical research and pronunciation materials writers suggest that teaching suprasegmentals before segmentals to intermediate and advanced NNSs could be more beneficial in a shorter period of time. However, the majority of the materials available that emphasize suprasegmentals are textbook-based, relying principally on classroom settings and teacher feedback. The purpose of Pronunciation Progress: Stress in American English is to provide NNSs with pronunciation materials for self-access and student-directed learning environments. These materials are designed as a series of …

500 Essential English Words For Esl Missionaries, Carrie A. Thompson

Theses and Dissertations

In order to help ESL missionaries teach the gospel from their hearts using their own words, I have developed a 500-word list of core gospel vocabulary in English. To enhance the 500-word list, I included a lexicon with simple definitions, some grammatical information, and examples of the words in context. The resulting product complies with the standards for master's projects established by the Department of Linguistics and English Language. Published literature shows that the development of specialized corpora can be beneficial for students learning another language. Additionally, specialized corpora act as a catalyst for in-depth vocabulary analysis and the development …

Teacher Training Via Digital Apprenticeship To Master Teachers Of Arabic: Exposure, Reflection, And Replication As Instruments For Change In Novice Instructor Teaching Style, Jeremy L. Palmer

Theses and Dissertations

The Modern Language Association (MLA) recently reported that from 1998 to 2002 there was a 92% increase in Arabic programs throughout the United States. With the increase in media coverage of current events in the Middle East, more and more students are desiring to learn about the region's languages and cultures. More teachers of Arabic are needed to meet this growing demand for Arabic instruction. This thesis investigates whether deliberate intervention via explicit and implicit exposure to the instructional behavior, skills, and strategies of master teachers of Arabic, combined with replication thereof, as well as critical personal reflection, positively alters …

The Rhetoric Of Newspaper Rivalry In The Face Of Image Restoration And Transformation, Andrea Ludlow Christensen

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is a study of the rhetoric of newspaper rivalry, particularly under the pressures of image restoration and transformation. I use methods of critical discourse analysis to look at newspaper articles in Utah's two dominant newspapers, the Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret Morning News. I compare a sample of news articles from each paper in 2002 to a sample in 2003, when the Tribune was working to restore its image after a scandal involving two of its reporters, and the News was working to transform its image as it transitioned from an afternoon newspaper to a morning newspaper. …

Using A Diglot Reader To Teach Kanji: The Effects Of Audio And Romaji On The Acquisition Of Kanji Vocabulary, Kazumasa Aoyama

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a computer-based Japanese/English diglot reader on the breadth and depth of the acquisition of kanji-words. On a diglot reader, L2 text is embedded in L1 text, thus allowing L2 learners to receive enough context to understand the L2 text and learn vocabulary in it. This study was also conducted to determine the effects of two methods of presenting pronunciation of kanji-words, audio recording and romaji, on the acquisition of the meaning and pronunciation of kanji-words as well as the overall effect of learning of pronunciation on the learning and …

Beliefs About The Education Of Children: A Comparison Of Hispanic Immigrant And Anglo-American Parents, Elodie Gisele Martine Bertola

Theses and Dissertations

In light of the fact that the number of Hispanic children enrolled in American schools is dramatically increasing and that these children are at higher risk of academic difficulty than any other group, the present study investigates the educational and child-rearing beliefs held by Hispanic parents. Understanding these beliefs is pivotal in any attempt to improve Latinos' educational attainment since current research recognizes that parental educational beliefs influence home-literacy practices, which in turn influence subsequent academic achievement. The research questions focus on two types of potential differences in terms of educational and child-rearing beliefs: (1)intercultural (Anglo-Americans vs. Hispanics), (2) intracultural …

Harvest Of Faith In Abundancia, Kathy K. Clayton

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

End Matter, Religious Educator

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

Auditory And Visual Correlates Of The Processing Of Gapping Structures In Adults, Tara Hansen

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to compare event-related potential (ERP) effects of speech processing and effects in sentence reading elicited by sentences containing gapping structures, or a "missing" verb. N400 and P600 waveforms were collected in 20 adults between 18 and 30 years of age. Two experiments were conducted with each participant. In the two experiments ERP recordings were collected as sentences, some containing gapping structures, were presented to the subjects. In one experiment sentences were presented through headphones in sentences spoken at normal rate and with normal intonation. In the second experiment sentences with the same gapping structures …

Outcomes Of An Ethiopian Microfinance Program And Management Actions To Improve Services, Shannon Doocy, Dan Norell, Shimeles Teffera, Gilbert Burnham

Journal of Microfinance / ESR Review

Management decision making in MFIs is becoming increasingly tied to collecting information about social performance. This paper examines the impact of participation in an Ethiopian microfinance program on indicators of socioeconomic status including wealth, income, and home or land ownership.A survey assessing these outcomes was conducted in May 2003 in two predominantly rural sites in Southern Ethiopia and included 819 households. The article discusses management decisions made as the result of survey findings about socioeconomic status and food security to increase retention rates and to facilitate client savings. Additionally, the management was prompted to increase the number of female clients …

Should The Journal Of East Asian Libraries Be A Peer-Reviewed Journal? A Report Of The Investigation And Decision, Gail King

Journal of East Asian Libraries

No abstract provided.

Progress On Nl-Soar, And Introducing Xnl-Soar, Deryle W. Lonsdale, Jamison Cooper-Leavitt, Warren C. Casbeer

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Design, Development And Evaluation Of Chinese Radical And Character Tutorial By Hypermedia, Su-Ling Hsueh

Theses and Dissertations

This project report describes the instructional design, development and evaluation of the Chinese Radical and Character Tutorial (CRCT) project. The web-based CRCT project integrated hypermedia resources (audio, video, graphics, animation and hyperlinks) to teach undergraduate and graduate students basic Chinese radical and character recognition and writing. One-to-one test, expert review and small-group test were utilized in the formative evaluation. Statistical significance was found in the small-group test, which suggests that supplemental hypermedia material can effectively facilitate student learning of Chinese reading and writing outside of the classroom. Moreover, the qualitative data indicated that students enjoyed using CRCT's drills, feedback features …

Developing An Electronic Film Review For October Sky, Farrah Dawn Keeler

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this Electronic Film Review (EFR) Project was to take the feature film October Sky and apply the EFR approach to an ESL setting. By the use of a special EFRaid player, high-intermediate to low-advanced ESL/EFL students access vocabulary and cultural material in short segmented clips in order to improve their listening and overall comprehension of the film. This material was developed and tested by the materials developer of this project.

The Joseph Smith Translation And Italicized Words In The King James Version, Thomas A. Wayment, Tyson J. Yost

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

Elijah's Promise: An Oriental View, Masakazu Watabe

BYU Studies

No abstract provided.

The African World And The Japanese Spirit: Cultural Dynamics In The Writings Of Wole Soyinka Dn Watsuji Tetsurô, David Gordon

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

Why Is Abba In The New Testament?, Paul Y. Hoskisson

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

Editors' Introduction, Religious Educator

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

Front Matter, Religious Educator

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

End Matter, Religious Educator

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

Teaching Through Exegesis: Helping Students Ask Questions Of The Text, Eric D. Huntsman

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

Vol. 06 No. 1 Religious Educator, Religious Educator

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

Translating Huck: Difficulties In Adapting "The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn" To Film, Bryce Moore Cundick

Theses and Dissertations

Filmmakers have had four main difficulties adapting The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to film: point of view, structure, audience and the novel's ending. By studying the different approaches of various directors to each obstacle, certain facts emerge about both the films and the novel. While literary scholars have studied Huck from practically every angle, none have sufficiently viewed the book through the lens of adaptation, despite the fact that it has been adapted to film and television over twenty times. The few critics who have studied the adaptations have done so using dated methodologies that boil down to little more …