Digital Commons Network^™

Reconsidering Dartmouth From A Social, Institutional Perspective, Peter Smagorinsky

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

No abstract provided.

Mitigating The Tensions Of Teacher Evaluation Through Pragmatism, Scott Sheedlo

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

The Five Dimensions of Teaching and Learning (5 D+) model for teacher evaluation is popular among Michigan school districts as the instrument to satisfy state law requiring districts to evaluate teachers. Veteran English Language Arts (ELA) teacher Scott Sheedlo gives a first-hand, narrative account of the questions and tensions implementation of the 5D+ model has caused for him as his district has adopted the model. Sheedlo notes this state mandate has resulted in the typical manifestations of teacher resistance, as the model is at odds with his own metrics for good teaching and includes unfamiliar, research-based practices such as formative …

Real Boys Don't Do Language And Literacy--Or Do They?, Christen M. Pearson

MITESOL Journal: An Online Publication of MITESOL

Over the past several decades, there has been a decline in boys’ achievement, along with documentation of increasing struggles in language (both first and second) and literacy acquisition (Carr & Pauwels, 2006). To address this problem, gender differences have been looked at through the lens of socially and culturally constructed identity (Kindlon & Thompson, 2000; Pollack, 1998); however, emerging neurolinguistic research supports biological determinism, with evidence of strong biological (sex) differences in brain structure and function that impact language and learning (Bonomo, 2010; Gurian, 1996; Sax, 2005). This paper first provides an overview of current brain-based research on sex differences, …

The Quest For Respect: Esl Faculty And Programs In U.S. Higher Education, Ildiko Porter-Szucs

MITESOL Journal: An Online Publication of MITESOL

Relying on data from two nationwide surveys, this study examines the status of ESL programs in primarily U.S. higher educational settings as perceived by professionals in such programs. The focus is on the perceived lack of recognition and on measures taken against it. Survey respondents make suggestions for increasing the field’s visibility and respect on campus through interdepartmental outreach, policy and curricular initiatives, marketing, publishing/presenting, and academic as well as non-academic initiatives involving students.

Empowering Teachers With The Tools Of Linguistics: A Review Of Razfar And Rumenapp's Applying Linguistics In The Classroom: A Sociocultural Approach, Lindsay Vecchio

MITESOL Journal: An Online Publication of MITESOL

Book Review

Applying Linguistics in the Classroom: A Sociocultural Approach, A. Razfar & J.C. Rumenapp. Routledge: New York (2014).

Acculturation, Stress And Birth Outcomes In Mexican And Mexican American Women, Paulette A. Chaponniere

Peer Reviewed Articles

Purpose: This study examined the relationships between stress, stress buffers, acculturation and birth outcomes of infants born to 81 Mexican and Mexican American women living in West Michigan.

Method: An interrupted times series design was used to collect data prior to labor and delivery. Neuman’s Systems Model was used as the theoretical framework as it illustrates how stress impacts health outcomes. Women were recruited from local health and community agencies. Interviews were conducted in English or Spanish as desired by the subject using standardized questionnaires.

Results: Acculturation was negatively correlated with age (r = -.378, p < 0.001) and social support (r = -.258, p = .02). Bicultural women had the highest mean birth weight, and very Mexican–oriented women had the longest gestation. The third trimester of pregnancy was significantly different from the second trimester for stress, coping and social support. The women least integrated in either culture, e.g. marginalized (ARSMA-II), had the most stress. Spiritual coping predicted weight (β = .278) while pregnancy distress (β = -.237) and sense of belonging (β = -.258) predicted length of gestation.

Conclusion: Pregnancy-related distress was …

The Historical And Social-Cultural Context Of Acculturation Of Moroccan-Dutch, Youssef Azghari, Erna Hooghiemstra, Fons J.R. Van De Vijver

Online Readings in Psychology and Culture

Moroccan laborers and their families started migrating to the Netherlands from the 1960s. We used research findings on migration and acculturation to examine the historical and social-cultural context of Moroccan-Dutch. Dutch administration at national, regional, and local level had no integration policy upon their arrival. Later, when many Moroccan-Dutch stayed longer in the Netherlands than anticipated, the Dutch administration favored a multicultural policy based on integration and maintenance of ethnic culture. This contrasted with the Moroccan policy: Moroccans abroad were told not to integrate in Dutch society but to invest in Morocco. Due to the weak outcomes and a negative …

Lanthorn, Vol. 52, No. 07, September 14, 2017, Grand Valley State University

Volume 52, July 10, 2017 - April 23, 2018

Lanthorn is Grand Valley State's student newspaper, published from 1968 to the present.

Lanthorn, Vol. 52, No. 04, August 31, 2017, Grand Valley State University

Volume 52, July 10, 2017 - April 23, 2018

Lanthorn is Grand Valley State's student newspaper, published from 1968 to the present.

‘I’M Not Racist; My High School Was Diverse!’ White Preservice Teachers Deploy Diversity In The Classroom, Karen Pezzetti

Open Access Publishing Support Funded Articles

This study employs ethnographic methods to explore the ways that white American preservice teachers in two different Social Contexts of Education classes conceptualise diversity and use this term to accomplish discursive goals. Data collected from observation notes, interviews and written assignments suggest that participants simultaneously seemed to ascribe positive value judgements to their own experiences in racially diverse environments yet ascribe negative value judgments to the potential diversity of their hypothetical future students. Participants voiced abstract commitments to diversity in order to position themselves as good, non-racist people; however, these positive endorsements of diversity did not extend to appreciation of …

Using Figurative Language In American English: Challenges And Successes Of Adult English Learners, Abbey L. Ventrone

Masters Theses

English language learners (ELLs) face many challenges when learning English. One of those challenges is the figurative language that is used in every day conversations. Often the lack of understanding or misunderstanding, can result in awkward conversations for English learners. This study aimed to identify what interpretations adult English learners at the advanced level give to American English figurative language and how do those interpretations differ or correspond to native speakers’ interpretations. This case study looks specifically at five adult learners from three different countries. The learners met once a week during the summer of 2016 to listen and interpret …

Marking Stress Explicitly In Written English Fosters Rhythm In The Reader’S Inner Voice, Jennifer Gross, Bo Winegard, Andrea Plotkowski

Open Access Publishing Support Funded Articles

Spoken English has a stress-alternating rhythm that is not marked in its orthography. In two experiments, the authors evaluated whether stylistic alterations to print that marked stress pulses fostered the rendering of rhythm (experiment 1) and stress (experiment 2) during silent reading. In experiment 1, silent readers rated the helpfulness of the stylistic alterations appearing in the last line of poems. In experiment 2, silent readers rated the helpfulness of the stylistic alterations appearing in heteronyms embedded in prose. As predicted by linguistic theories, when the stylistic alterations mapped onto the rhythmic pulses of the poems, and the lexically stressed …

Patterns Of A Sustainable Grand Valley State University, Cullin Flynn

Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

“The Cracked Pots Of Humanity”: Post-World War Ii American Literary Perspectives On Psychiatric Treatment/Containment Of Mental Disorders, Jennifer Chichester

Masters Theses

This thesis examines the ways in which characters in Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House and The Bird’s Nest, Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces grapple with the concept of “madness” on individual and societal levels. Each of these Post-World War II novels question whether “madness” is a social construct. Is the person mad, or is society? These three novels, written in an era when inpatient psychiatric care was losing its prominence as a method for treating those deemed insane, reflect the growing trend of deinstitutionalization in the 1950s …

A Tapestry Of Eyes In The Literacy/Literature Class, Gregory Shafer

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

It is essential that language arts classes make room for different voices, different cultures, and new settings for writing. This paper examines ideas and methods for expanding the discourse and refers to Morrison's Bluest Eye as a way to appreciate the dilemma our students face.

Raciolinguistics, “Mis-Education,” And Language Arts Teaching In The 21st Century, Geneva Smitherman

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

No abstract provided.

Why “Correcting” African American Language Speakers Is Counterproductive, Alice Lee

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

In this article, I address the topic of AAL usage in the classroom, particularly the line of thinking that assumes “correcting” the language is what will “set students up for success” in the future. By providing some abbreviated information on how children acquire language, I explain how AAL “correction” is actually counterproductive for student “success”—in both language acquisition and learning. Additionally, I will offer practical suggestions for how AAL can be incorporated in curriculum and instruction.

Black Voices Matter, Shenika Hankerson

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

This article examines the role of voice in the writing of African American students from the African American Language (AAL)-speaking culture. Drawing on data from a qualitative study, this article presents empirical evidence that is likely to inform existing and new initiatives to support the voice and writing practices of AAL-speaking students, and by extension, all culturally and linguistically diverse students. This rarely considered insight, I argue, is important as in recent decades there have been a growing number of calls for instructional material that meets the language and literacy development needs of second language speakers and writers. By generating …

Thomas Jefferson, Slavery, And The Language Of The Textbook: Addressing Problematic Representations Of Race And Power, Sarah L. Thomson

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

This paper uses critical discourse analysis to demonstrate how two written texts about Thomas Jefferson and slavery construct very different representations of the past. The paper suggests methods that teachers can use to help students critique representations of marginalized groups in written texts, and develop a more authentic understanding of the experiences of enslaved African American men and women.

Lanthorn, Vol. 51, No. 60, April 24, 2017, Grand Valley State University

Volume 51, July 11, 2016 - June 5, 2017

Lanthorn is Grand Valley State's student newspaper, published from 1968 to the present.

The Romance That Didn’T Last: An Analysis Of Language In Chrétien De Troyes Le Chevalier De La Charette, Elizabeth F. Pafford

Masters Theses

Since the appearance of King Arthur in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae, the legend of Arthur and his knights has continually expanded and evolved. The story of the affair between Lancelot and Guinevere began with Chrétien de Troyes and has since been embellished by countless authors, such as Malory, who view it as causing the tragic downfall of Camelot and the Knights of the Round Table.

Le Chevalier de la Charette shows a seemingly satirical depiction of courtly love. Lancelot is humiliated and shamed in the name of Love and willingly accepts it. However, this reading goes against …

Lanthorn, Vol. 51, No. 53, March 30, 2017, Grand Valley State University

Volume 51, July 11, 2016 - June 5, 2017

Lanthorn is Grand Valley State's student newspaper, published from 1968 to the present.

Lanthorn, Vol. 51, No. 51, March 23, 2017, Grand Valley State University

Volume 51, July 11, 2016 - June 5, 2017

Lanthorn is Grand Valley State's student newspaper, published from 1968 to the present.

Grand Valley Forum, Volume 041, Number 25, March 20, 2017, Grand Valley State University

2016-2017, Volume 41

Grand Valley Forum is Grand Valley State's faculty and staff newsletter, published from 1976 to the present.

Grand Valley Preserves Life's Work Of Author, Grand Valley State University Libraries

Off the Shelf

No abstract provided.

Implementing Restorative Justice Under The Retributive Paradigm: A Pilot Program Case Study, Patrick Gerkin, John Walsh, Joseph Kuilema, Ian Borton

Open Access Publishing Support Funded Articles

This article explores the implementation of a pilot program in restorative justice in a medium-sized Midwestern city. Through an examination of meeting minutes, interviews, and the personal reflections of the authors, this article examines the implementation of a victim–offender mediation program, referred to throughout the article as the Fast Track Accountability Program (FTAP). Presented as a case study, the authors describe the key stakeholders, the process, the obstacles, as well as lessons learned along the way. Particular attention is given to the essential role of strong leadership and to the challenges faced when implementing such a program within the bureaucracy …

Lanthorn, Vol. 51, No. 38, January 30, 2017, Grand Valley State University

Volume 51, July 11, 2016 - June 5, 2017

Lanthorn is Grand Valley State's student newspaper, published from 1968 to the present.

Grand Valley Forum, Volume 041, Number 17, January 23, 2017, Grand Valley State University

2016-2017, Volume 41

Grand Valley Forum is Grand Valley State's faculty and staff newsletter, published from 1976 to the present.

Lanthorn, Vol. 51, No. 34, January 16, 2017, Grand Valley State University

Volume 51, July 11, 2016 - June 5, 2017

Lanthorn is Grand Valley State's student newspaper, published from 1968 to the present.

Lanthorn, Vol. 51, No. 32, January 9, 2017, Grand Valley State University

Volume 51, July 11, 2016 - June 5, 2017

Lanthorn is Grand Valley State's student newspaper, published from 1968 to the present.