Digital Commons Network^™

Australian Aboriginal English And African American Language: The Development Of Marginalized Language Varieties, Sarah E. Hercula

The Hilltop Review

The development of distinct varieties of English is a diverse and interesting process. In places over the entire globe where once existed exclusively non-English speaking peoples, various forms of English are now used as the primary means of communication in many different settings: governmental, business, educational, and home. Frequently, new varieties of English form out of necessity as a way for groups of people with differing linguistic and cultural backgrounds to communicate and effectively coexist. Two such languages, Australian Aboriginal English and African American Language, though they developed within different circumstances, have some interesting similarities in terms of their origins …

The Hilltop Review, Vol 4, No 2, Spring 2011

The Hilltop Review

The complete issue of The Hilltop Review vol 4, no 2, Spring 2011 includes the cover, editorial board, table of contents, notes from the editor, all the articles, artwork, and calls for papers, art and other submissions for the next issue.

Idealism In Yogācāra Buddhism, Sean Butler

The Hilltop Review

In the last fifty years or so, since Yogācāra texts have been available to western academics, there has been a debate as to how Yogācāra Buddhism should be interpreted. This article seeks to establish that Yogācāra Buddhism is most properly interpreted as an idealist school of Buddhist thought. Specifically, it challenges the arguments that have been put forth in recent years that suggest a phenomenological interpretation of Yogācāra Buddhism. The primary target of my argumentation is Dan Lusthaus but arguments of other scholars are also taken into account. In the process of defending my thesis I will explain the fundamentals …

Testing The Tests: An Investigation Into The Effectiveness Of Alternative Assessment Methods For Bilingual Language-Impaired Children, Lena G. Caesar

The Hilltop Review

Alternative language assessment procedures are gaining in prominence as authentic alternatives to traditional measures, but scant data exist regarding the relative effectiveness of the data they provide. This paper first summarizes the criteria for effective language assessment of bilingual children as documented in the literature, and then comparatively evaluates the effectiveness of research studies employing the three most-cited alternative assessment approaches: descriptive, dynamic, and curriculum-based. Conclusions regarding the impact of appropriate assessment on issues of over- and under-representation of bilingual Hispanic students are also discussed.

Greek In Marriage, Latin In Giving: The Greek Community Of Fourteenth-Century Palermo And The Deceptive Will Of Bonannus De Geronimo, Jack Goodman

The Hilltop Review

This article explores some of the difficulties inherent in the discussion of medieval ethnicity. Early fourteenth-century Palermo was a city with a celebrated multi-ethnic Latin, Arabic, and Greek past, but by the 1300s, much had changed, with Latin culture eclipsing the others. However, two small Greek ethnic minorities persisted in this culture: one indigenous, descending from the ministers, notaries, and monks who thrived under twelfth-century Norman rule, and the other immigrant, composed primarily of Byzantine slaves and freed slaves. The second group is identified in the sources as grecus, while the indigenous Italo-Greeks cannot easily be located in the …

The Hilltop Review, Vol 3, Fall 2009

The Hilltop Review

This is the complete issue of The Hilltop Review: A Journal of Western Michigan University Graduate Student Research volume 3, Fall 2009. This includes letters from Provost Tim Greene, the Graduate Student Advisory Committee chair Brandi Pritchett, and the Dean of the Graduate College Lewis Pyenson.

On Public Knowledge, Joanne Lau

The Hilltop Review

In “Elusive Knowledge”, Lewis begins by saying that we know a lot of trite information about the ordinary world. I know what carrots are. I know how to drive a car. I know that when someone greets me and holds out their hand, they expect me to shake it and so on. However, when we talk in philosophical terms about knowledge, we have no reason to say that we really know anything. There seem to be two contexts of knowing something. Regarding the everyday, general type of knowledge, I know a lot. But when I put on my philosopher’s hat, …

Prism #56, September 2011, Office Of The Provost

Prism: Western Michigan University's Newsletter for Academic Affairs

No abstract provided.

Foster Care Workers' Emotional Responses To Their Work, Alissa Schwartz

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The field of child welfare struggles with high rates of job turnover. This study describes the contributors to and experiences of foster care workers' emotional responses to their work. Uniquely drawing from the field of Positive Psychology, it describes and conceptualizes the relationships of multi-level contributors to foster care workers' emotional reactions at work. In-depth interviews conducted with 25 foster care workers found that negative emotions were more prominently featured than positive, but that working in an agency with positive workplace characteristics mitigated this relationship. Theoretical implications and limitations of taking a Positive Psychology approach to the study are discussed.

Anything Goes? Science And Social Constructions In Competing Discourses, Philip Dybicz

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This paper examines, then disproves, the claim that social work practices based upon postmodern thought are either anti-science, or at the very least, weak on their respect for and application of scientific knowledge. Postmodern thought does attack the epistemological theory of positivism as well as the correspondence theory of truth. Hence, postmodern social work practices do seek to displace the role that scientific knowledge plays in guiding the helping situation. Rather than diagnosing causes and effects in a problem-solving endeavor, science is used to circumscribe the boundaries within which a postmodern endeavor at consciousness- raising takes place. Describing this new …

Footnotes, Issue 9, Spring-Summer 2011, Department Of English

Footnotes: Department of English Newsletter (2008-2012)

No abstract provided.

"Videbantur Gens Effera": Defining And Perceiving Peoples In The Chronicles Of Norman Italy, Jesse Hysell

Masters Theses

The goal of this project is to analyze the ways different cultural groups in Sicily and southern Italy were depicted in a set of historical texts associated with the Norman takeover of those regions in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. To achieve that aim, I consider social vocabulary applied to three distinct peoples (native Italians, Greeks, and Muslims) in five sources written by Amatus of Montecassino, Geoffrey Malaterra, William of Apulia, Alexander of Telese, and Hugo Falcandus. Although recent scholarship has posited that medieval identity was often felt through a "self versus other" or "Christian versus non-Christian" dichotomy, I have …

Possibilities For Peace: Germany's Transformation Of A Culture Of War, S. Elizabeth Snyder

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In reaction to its militarist past, Germany has created a strong culture of peace, including solid educational and institutional supports for maintaining popular attitudes critical of war and military operations. Germany has been recognized for these efforts by a number of international organizations, including the United Nations. At the same time, Germany has sought to maintain a policy of active membership in NATO and active cooperation and participation in NATO operations. As the United States applies increased pressure on its NATO allies in the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan, many of the inherent social and political tensions in German policy …

46th International Congress On Medieval Studies, Medieval Institute, Western Michigan University

International Congress on Medieval Studies Archive

The printed program of the 46th International Congress on Medieval Studies (May 12-15, 2011), including the Corrigenda.

Language, Race, And Culture In Porgy And Bess, Madeline J. Baker

Honors Theses

This study considers the cultural history of the story of Porgy and Bess, from its first manifestation as the 1925 novel Porgy by DuBose Heyward, to the 1927 play adaptation, to the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward. Heyward, a writer from Charleston, South Carolina, based the characters on the Gullah peoples of Charleston and attempted to represent the Gullah creole language they spoke in the dialogue of the novel. The representation of the creole language in the text of the novel, and the way the language changed …

The Aspiration Of The Spanish Grapheme ‘H’, Carolina Gonzalo-Llera

Research and Creative Activities Poster Day

One aspect of Spanish pronunciation that differs from English pronunciation is the phonetic treatment of the letter ‘h’. While this grapheme corresponds to a voiceless glottal fricative [h] in English (also known as “aspirated [h]”), it has no phonetic realization in Spanish. In other words, the letter ‘h’ in Spanish is not pronounced at all or is “silent”. This difference often results in Spanish pronunciation errors by L2 learners of the language. The present study aims to deepen our understanding of the erroneous pronunciation of ‘h’ by exploring how prevalent the error really is in the speech of beginning and …

Somos Y Estamos, Spring 2011, Department Of Spanish

Somos y Estamos

Volume 2, issue 1, English version

Somos Y Estamos, Primavera 2011, Department Of Spanish

Somos y Estamos

No abstract provided.

Reading Horizons Vol. 51 No. 1

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Complete issue of Reading Horizons vol. 51 issue 1 with cover, table of contents, editorial advisory board and back matter including submission and subscription information.

Assisted Reading With Digital Audiobooks For Students With Reading Disabilities, Kelli J. Esteves, Elizabeth Whitten

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

The goal of this study was to compare the efficacy of assisted reading with digital audiobooks with the traditional practice of sustained silent reading (SSR) in terms of reading fluency and reading attitude with upper elementary students with reading disabilities. Treatment group participants selected authentic children’s literature and engaged in assisted reading with digital audiobooks four to five times per week over an eight-week implementation period. Results showed that while all students demonstrated growth in reading fluency as calculated by words read correctly per minute, the growth of the treatment group far outweighed that of the control group. There was …

16 Minutes Of “Eyes-On-Text” Can Make A Difference: Whole-Class Choral Reading As An Adolescent Fluency Strategy, David D. Paige

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Research continues to suggest that adolescents struggle with reading, indicating that much work remains to ensure that all students read at levels consistent with the skills required for academic achievement (Biancarosa & Snow, 2006). This article investigates whole class choral reading (WCCR) within the context of a sixth-grade language arts setting for the purpose of improving oral reading fluency skills with narrative text. In this quasi-experimental study involving 112 students, WCCR was implemented on a daily basis with students utilizing the repeated reading of narrative text. Results suggest that students improved both phonological decoding and oral reading fluency skills with …

Invariance In The Factor Structure Of Translated Instruments: Multiple Group Confirmatory Factor Analysis And Mimic Models, Fatma Ayyad

Dissertations

When factorial invariance is established across translated forms of an instrument, the meaning of the construct crosses language/cultures. If factorial invariance is not established, score discrepancies may represent true language group differences or faulty translation. This study seeks to disentangle this by determining whether cultural/linguistic variance can be decomposed separately from construct variance intended in the measuring instrument.

Translated forms of the God Mediated Control factor of the Belief in Personal Control Scale (BPCS) (Berrenberg, 1987) was analyzed across multiple samples for measurement and structural invariance among American native English speakers, Arab native Arabic speakers, and Arab bilingual Arabic/English speakers. …

U.S. Immigration Policy And Immigrant Children's Well-Being: The Impact Of Policy Shifts, David K. Androff, Cecilia Ayon, David Becerra, Maria Gurrola, Lorraine Salas, Judy Krysik, Karen Gerdes, Elizabeth Segal

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

America is built upon a history of immigration; yet current immigration policy and anti-immigrant sentiment negatively affect the vulnerable population of immigrant families and children. Immigrant children face many problems, including economic insecurity, barriers to education, poor health outcomes, the arrest and deportation of family members, discrimination, and trauma and harm to their communities. These areas of immigrant children's economic and material well-being are examined in light of restrictive and punitive immigration policies at the federal and local level. Implications for social policy reform, such as decriminalization, are discussed.

Prism #52, February 2011, Office Of The Provost

Prism: Western Michigan University's Newsletter for Academic Affairs

No abstract provided.

Insider Vol. 11 No. 1 Winter 2011, College Of Arts & Sciences

College of Arts and Sciences news

No abstract provided.

2011 Complete Digest, Department Of English

Gleanings: Department of English Blog Archive

No abstract provided.

Kjv In The Usa: The Impact Of The King James Bible In The Usa, Brian C. Wilson

Comparative Religion Publications

No abstract provided.

Prism #51, January 2011, Office Of The Provost

Prism: Western Michigan University's Newsletter for Academic Affairs

No abstract provided.

Western Michigan University Undergraduate Catalog 2011-2012, Western Michigan University

Western Michigan University Course Catalogs (1904-present)

• General Information
• Colleges
• Course Descriptions (by prefix)

Looking Back To Move Forward With Guided Reading, Michael P. Ford, Michael F. Opitz

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Guided reading is used in classrooms across the country and, while it is fairly new, it is anything but revolutionary. In this article, and in honor of the 50th volume of Reading Horizons, the authors take a look back at the 50-year history of this practice, provide a definition of guided reading, analyze what caused the practice to change, and discuss their own perspectives and predict the future of guided reading.