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Esperanto: A Diachronic Study Of Language Word Order, Daniel Seth Wilson Jan 2016

Esperanto: A Diachronic Study Of Language Word Order, Daniel Seth Wilson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.


The Frequency Of The Twelve Verb Tenses In Academic Papers Written By Native Speakers, Uthman Alzuhairy Jan 2016

The Frequency Of The Twelve Verb Tenses In Academic Papers Written By Native Speakers, Uthman Alzuhairy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Because of the significant and sensitive role of verb tenses in learning English, the current study examined the occurrence of the twelve verb tenses that native writers (NWs) utilized in their selected academic papers at the college level. In doing so, the study created a baseline of relative frequency of verb tense usage that may benefit further studies, especially those connected with the teaching grammar to English learners. The main linguistic items targeted for tabulation in this study were the 12 verb tenses, modals, perfect modals, and imperatives. These items were elicited from an original corpus of 31 research papers …


A Meta-Analysis Of Research-Based Reading Interventions With English Language Learners, Maritza Torres Jan 2016

A Meta-Analysis Of Research-Based Reading Interventions With English Language Learners, Maritza Torres

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Response to Intervention (RTI) model, introduced as part of the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 2004, is a proactive process of early interventions and evidence-based instruction for all students. RTI has additional intensive and individualized interventions to prevent student underachievement, including students at risk for academic failure and culturally and linguistically diverse students (Vellutino et al., 1996; Donovan & Cross, 2002; Francis, Rivera, Lesaux, Kieffer, & Rivera, 2006; Fuchs & Fuchs, 2006; Vellutino, Scanlon, Small, & Fanuele, 2006; Al Otaiba et al., 2009). Klingner and Edwards (2006) suggest that the needs of culturally and linguistically …


Implementation Of An Air Supply Unit Control Scheme For The Uc2av (Unmanned Circulation Control Aerial Vehicle), Cameron Rosen Jan 2016

Implementation Of An Air Supply Unit Control Scheme For The Uc2av (Unmanned Circulation Control Aerial Vehicle), Cameron Rosen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The expanded prevalence of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in recent years has created many opportunities to research novel applications for their use, enabled by the reduced cost, mission flexibility, and reduced risk that small-scale unmanned platforms provide in comparison to larger aircraft. Despite the versatility of unmanned aviation, limitations on payload size and weight, fuel and power capacity, and takeoff and landing infrastructure can restrict UAV applications, and have created a need for lift augmenting technologies that can reduce the impact of these limitations. Circulation Control (CC) is an active flow technique that has been proven as a method for …


Passive Unaccusatives In L2 English, Chad Tyler Davis Jan 2016

Passive Unaccusatives In L2 English, Chad Tyler Davis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Passive unaccusativity refers to a phenomenon whereby L2 English speakers produce unaccusative verbs in passive constructions. Since unaccusative verbs are a subset of intransitive verbs and thus generally do not passivize, the question of how learners recognize unaccusatives without any overt input distinguishing subsets of intransitives has piqued the interest of many researchers since the late 1970's. Oshita's (2000) claim that passive unaccusatives are NP-movement markers is now a widely accepted claim; however, studies of more general characteristics of intransitivity have revealed close parallels between passive unaccusatives and other well-documented phenomena. The aim of this paper is to show that …


The Radical South: Grassroots Activism, Ethnicity, And Literary Form, 1960-1980, Elizabeth Fielder Jan 2016

The Radical South: Grassroots Activism, Ethnicity, And Literary Form, 1960-1980, Elizabeth Fielder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

“The Radical South” examines the art and writings of Civil-Rights-era social movements and locates U.S. based political structures in a hemispheric and global network. I reveal that the Civil Rights Movement, ethnic nationalism, and second-wave feminism were not separate entities; rather, the cultural work of activists was an intersectional effort that defied national strategies, such as non-violent protest and race-based separatism, that were often determined by their urban counterparts. Thus, I argue that new political aesthetics emerged from grassroots activism and set in motion ethnic and racial cultural expressions that embraced multiple, even conflicting, identities. As much as this art …


Intermediate Russian Through Formula Tales, Tamar Karakozova Jan 2016

Intermediate Russian Through Formula Tales, Tamar Karakozova

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The dissertation presents a study of on the benefits of formula tales in university-level foreign language classrooms during grammar practice activities. The study investigates students’ attitudes toward the use of such texts in the post-secondary foreign language environment. In addition, differences between and among the participant-students is analyzed. Cognitive learning theory, noticing hypothesis, and content-based instruction provide the theoretical framework for the study.


Strangers Among Us: Invasive Plants In British Literature, 1669-1800., Thomas Lance Bullington Jan 2016

Strangers Among Us: Invasive Plants In British Literature, 1669-1800., Thomas Lance Bullington

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Exotic flora in the long eighteenth century (1666-1800) embodied a point of contact between the natural and imaginary worlds, bearing witness to the ways that ideology relocates living things according to human desire. Most accounts view these exotics through the lens of ecological imperialism and “invasive” species. Both of these terms are twenty-first century metaphors that materialize the role of imperialism in circulating exotics, applying the narrative of invading British empire to the behavior of foreign plants. However, such accounts do not fully acknowledge the cultural work that images of foreign plants do. I opt instead for an ecocritical reappraisal …


Linguistic Variations Between Cajun French, Pedagogical French, And Mississippi Gulf Coast French, Virginia Jane Geddie Jan 2016

Linguistic Variations Between Cajun French, Pedagogical French, And Mississippi Gulf Coast French, Virginia Jane Geddie

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates lexical variation between three dialects of French in various stages of language death. Those dialects are Pedagogical French, an international language, Cajun French, an obsolescing language, and Mississippi Gulf Coast French, an extinct language. In order to determine the degree of variation, thirty-two lexical items or phrases that display variance with Pedagogical French are selected from Mississippi Gulf Coast French. They are then compared with counterparts in Pedagogical French and Cajun French to determine the amount of variance between dialects. I hypothesized that there is a larger degree of variation between the Gulf Coast dialects and Pedagogical …


I Speak Better Arabic: Arabic Native Speakers’ Perception Of Arabic Dialects, Mahmoud Sayed Abdel-Fattah Abdel-Rahman Jan 2016

I Speak Better Arabic: Arabic Native Speakers’ Perception Of Arabic Dialects, Mahmoud Sayed Abdel-Fattah Abdel-Rahman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A limited number of studies in the field of perceptual dialectology covered the Arab World. This is a perceptual dialectology study that aims at investigating Arabic native speakers’ perception of Arabic dialect areas. This study utilized a questionnaire that is based on Preston’s (1999) techniques for investigating perceptual dialectology. This questionnaire consisted of two parts. The first part includes a detailed map of the Arab world and participants are asked to identify as many dialect areas of Arabic as they could. The second part of the questionnaire investigates Arabic native speakers’ perception of different Arabic dialects in terms of where …


The Effect Of Feedback Medium On Accuracy With English Articles, Elizabeth Giltner Jan 2016

The Effect Of Feedback Medium On Accuracy With English Articles, Elizabeth Giltner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Developing and demonstrating English proficiency is a critical skill for non-native English speakers (NNESs) who wish to study in American universities. Unlike their native English speaker (NES) counterparts, NNES students who apply for university admission are required to demonstrate their proficiency in English via tests, such as the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), that measure an NNES's ability to understand, speak, read, and write English. Although the number of students who have attained those minimum scores is large, there is a large population of adult NNESs enrolled in intensive English programs (IEPs) that are designed to help …


The Frequency Of The Passive Voice In Freshman Academic Books, Basma Moreb Jan 2016

The Frequency Of The Passive Voice In Freshman Academic Books, Basma Moreb

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The use of passive voice has long been an area of difficulty for English learners. Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman (2015) noted that it is learning when to use the English passive that presents the greatest long-term challenge to ESL/EFL students (p. 352). Because textbooks are a source of language input for English learners, this study investigated the frequency of passive voice verbs in samples from four academic textbooks in courses commonly taken by freshmen. The study also examined whether there are significant differences between the frequencies by textbook. The data was collected from four General Education Plan (GEP) subject textbooks used …


Identifying The Most Common Errors In Saudi University Students' Writing: Does The Prompt Matter?, Amal Barzanji Jan 2016

Identifying The Most Common Errors In Saudi University Students' Writing: Does The Prompt Matter?, Amal Barzanji

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the most common writing errors made by undergraduate Saudi students with special focus on the five most common errors. The study also examined whether the type of prompt has an effect on the frequency of these errors. 58 English major students participated in this study, and each student wrote two timed essays. The first one was persuasive and the second one was compare and contrast. In order to analyze the data, the researcher used an error inventory developed by Bushong and Mihai (2012) based on Ferris (2002), which categorized ten types of …


Can Best Practices In Writing Instruction And Standardized Testing Coexist?, Karen Cannavino Jan 2016

Can Best Practices In Writing Instruction And Standardized Testing Coexist?, Karen Cannavino

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

At the high school level, teachers are tasked with a twofold agenda: they must prepare their students for college level and other post-secondary writing, and they must also make sure they perform well on the standardized writing tests that are required by the state. The stakes in standardized testing continue to rise, especially in Florida. Since the passing of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002 (NCLB) and the implementation of the Race to the Top Assessment Program (RTTT) in 2009, teachers across the nation have experienced intense pressures related to standardized testing. Many schools' efforts to conform to …


Displaced But Not Without Place: Refugee And Immigrant Integration Experiences In Greeley, Colorado, Rebekah Natalie Marsh Jan 2016

Displaced But Not Without Place: Refugee And Immigrant Integration Experiences In Greeley, Colorado, Rebekah Natalie Marsh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis research focuses on the integration experiences of refugees and immigrants in Greeley, Colorado and the corresponding actions and reactions of local Greeley members and leaders who are involved with this population. This thesis explains how the political, industrial and economic needs of the historical sugar beet and current meat packing industries shaped and are shaping the segregated landscape of Greeley. This in turn shapes the integration experiences for the refugees and immigrants and local members of Greeley. These industries historically recruited undocumented Mexican laborers to fill high turnover manual labor jobs. Now, the JBS meat packing plant is …


Battle On The Homefront: An Auto-Ethnographic Perspective On Domestic Violence Post-Deployment, Michelle Craske Jan 2016

Battle On The Homefront: An Auto-Ethnographic Perspective On Domestic Violence Post-Deployment, Michelle Craske

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Domestic and sexual trauma that occurs during the time a soldier is actively serving in the military are difficult for researchers to measure in large part because the Department of Defense does not report these offenses to the public. Recent combat missions to the Middle East have increased mental health issues among soldiers, but it is unclear whether these issues are related to domestic violence and sexual trauma soldiers may have endured. The purpose of this study is to investigate how combat operations may have increased domestic violence and sexual trauma among soldiers. An auto ethnographic method is used to …


An Investigation Of Information Literacy Of International Graduate Students: Skills, Challenges, And Needs, Yousef Ayoub Jan 2016

An Investigation Of Information Literacy Of International Graduate Students: Skills, Challenges, And Needs, Yousef Ayoub

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Information literacy at higher education institutions is an important issue at the local and national levels. In 2000, the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) created a set of information literacy standards and asked academic institutions to incorporate them into their college curricula (ACRL, 2000). The ACRL states that, to be considered information literate, a person must be able to recognize when information is needed and be able to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information (ACRL, 2000). Academic institutions follow these standards to teach their students information literacy skills and assist them to become lifelong learners. Library …


The Experiences Of School Leaders Who Promote Achievement Among Students With Disabilities, Eric Wells Jan 2016

The Experiences Of School Leaders Who Promote Achievement Among Students With Disabilities, Eric Wells

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Stagnant outcomes for students with disabilities has resulted in an era where results-driven accountability is emerging as the driving force for special education leadership. Students who receive special education services significantly lag behind their non-disabled peers in their performance on required statewide, standardized assessments. The achievement gap between students with disabilities and their non-disabled peers is significant and pervasive. School leadership is central to school performance (Waters, Marzano, & McNulty, 2003). Very few researchers have investigated that experience as it relates to high achievement for students with disabilities. Yet, policy in the field has shifted to emphasize outcomes for students …


An Investigation Into The Use Of Grade Retention As An Intervention Strategy In Volusia County, Florida, Wesley Porter Jan 2016

An Investigation Into The Use Of Grade Retention As An Intervention Strategy In Volusia County, Florida, Wesley Porter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted to analyze the performance of 1,493 students in Volusia County from 2003 to 2010, comparing ethnic and socio-economic groups, who had been retained a minimum of one time while enrolled from third grade through 10th grade. This study utilized the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) Reading and Mathematic Developmental Test Scale Scores to evaluate student improvement. The groups compared in this study include Black, White and Hispanic students. Higher and lower socio-economic (SES) rates of retention were investigated for the entire population of retained students in Volusia County from 2003-2010. The groups were compared to see …


An Analysis Of School-District Level Policy And Guidelines Related To English Language Learners' Enrollment And Achievement In Advanced Courses, Marjorie Ceballos Jan 2016

An Analysis Of School-District Level Policy And Guidelines Related To English Language Learners' Enrollment And Achievement In Advanced Courses, Marjorie Ceballos

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of school district policy, guidelines, and practices related to the enrollment and achievement of English learners (EL) in advanced coursework in middle school and high school in a large urban school district in the United States. There is a dearth of research on the effect that school district-level policies, guidelines, and practices have on the enrollment and achievement of ELs in advanced courses in middle school and high school. Existing research on ELs provides information on this group's academic achievement on national and state standardized measurements of achievement (Walqui & …


Bullying Victimization, Feared Second Language Self, And Second Language Identity: Reconceptualizing The Second Language Motivational Self System, Hilal Peker Jan 2016

Bullying Victimization, Feared Second Language Self, And Second Language Identity: Reconceptualizing The Second Language Motivational Self System, Hilal Peker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Factors affecting English learners' (ELs) motivation and identity have been explored in second language (L2) learning contexts; however, research examining L2 motivation and identity under the effect of bullying victimization is rare although ELs are one of the populations that are physically and psychologically affected from bullying. Using a unique perspective by merging L2 motivation, L2 identity, and bullying concepts under social ecological framework, this dissertation study is the first study investigating the relationship between bullying victimization, L2 Motivational Self System, and L2 identity. The data were derived from 1022 ELs through a self-report survey that was adapted and tested …


Don't Let The World Rot: Anarchism, Hardcore Music, And Counterculture, Pearson Bolt Jan 2016

Don't Let The World Rot: Anarchism, Hardcore Music, And Counterculture, Pearson Bolt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Hardcore music is intrinsically anarchistic. The hardcore music scene represents a radical departure from contemporary society. Rejecting the materialism, militarism, and hedonism of the mainstream music scene—and, by extension, modern culture—hardcore music presents an alternative lifestyle rooted in solidarity, equality, and liberty. Indeed, the culture of the hardcore scene approaches a transitive, nomadic model of an anarchistic commune built on resistance as a way of life. In this study, I identified the ways music and lyrics craft attitudes and environments for revolt and rebellion, cultivating critical thinking and disobedience in equal measures. In order to understand the hardcore community, I …


The Effects Of Tactile Displays On The Perception Of Target Distance, Timothy White Jan 2016

The Effects Of Tactile Displays On The Perception Of Target Distance, Timothy White

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Because vital information can be missed by Soldiers in combat environments that tax the eyes and the ears, it is imperative that alternative techniques be investigated to determine their potential in relaying this information in an effective way. This research investigated the use of a tactile display for providing distance and azimuth information about enemy targets. In a series of three experiments, participants were asked to engage enemy targets while utilizing cues that provided location information. In Experiment 1, two tactile cueing techniques (i.e., varying intensity and varying pulse rate) and three auditory cueing techniques (i.e., non-spatial speech, varying frequency …


Comrades In Arms?: Russian & Muslim Soldiers In The Red Army During World War Ii, Daniel Bradfield Jan 2016

Comrades In Arms?: Russian & Muslim Soldiers In The Red Army During World War Ii, Daniel Bradfield

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis focuses on the perceptions of Muslims soldiers regarding their military service during World War II. To thoroughly analyze Muslim soldiers' attitudes, the thesis explores the total experience of Muslim military service through the Soviet Union's and Red Army's policies toward Muslims and how Russian soldiers viewed their Muslim counterparts. To achieve this, the thesis summarized current scholarship on Soviet and Red Army policies toward Muslims. The thesis analyzed the oral histories and written accounts of Muslim soldiers and Russian soldiers to understand the perceptions of Russians and Muslim soldiers. A hierarchy of cultural backwardness underlined Soviet policies in …


By Book And School: The Politics Of Educational Reform In France And Algeria During The Early Third Republic, Michael Brooks Jan 2016

By Book And School: The Politics Of Educational Reform In France And Algeria During The Early Third Republic, Michael Brooks

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

During the era of New Imperialism, the newly-formed French Third Republic continued France's civilizing mission both in France and in Algeria. Founded on a series of reforms, republican leaders and educational experts judged primary level education taught in the French language to be the most effective means of uniting a linguistically and culturally diverse population in the metropole. These republican values, based on revolutionary tenet of universality, would help France to sustain a republican regime, would thwart attempts to reestablish monarchical rule, and would teach future French citizens what it meant to be politically active. At the same time, another …


Preschool Attendance: A Parental And Teacher Perspective Of Barriers And Behaviors Using Grounded Theory Research, Anne Meoli Jan 2016

Preschool Attendance: A Parental And Teacher Perspective Of Barriers And Behaviors Using Grounded Theory Research, Anne Meoli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: Preschool children from single-parent households with lower socioeconomic status (SES) are absent from preschool at rates higher than any other group. Some children are chronically absent, missing more than 10% of the school year. The phenomenon of preschool attendance related to behaviors, practices, and parental decision making associated with health and illness in lower SES households has not been previously studied using grounded theory methodology. Aim: The purpose of this study was to explore decision making related to supporting attendance in a preschool of 67 children (aged 3 to 4 years) with primarily low-income, single parents and preschool teachers …


Practicing Teachers' Beliefs Regarding Racially, Culturally, Ethnically, And Linguistically Diverse (Rceld) Students In A Title I Secondary-School Environment, Lisa Sabino Jan 2016

Practicing Teachers' Beliefs Regarding Racially, Culturally, Ethnically, And Linguistically Diverse (Rceld) Students In A Title I Secondary-School Environment, Lisa Sabino

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Based on school-level data that included disparities in discipline rates, Title I status, teacher attrition, and teachers' statements, I designed a dissertation in practice to understand practicing teachers' personal and professional diversity beliefs regarding racially, culturally, ethnically, and linguistically diverse (RCELD) students in a Title I, secondary-school setting. Four hypotheses concerning type of secondary degree, years of experience, subjects taught, and racial or ethnic background were tested. Pohan and Aguilar's (2001a) Teachers' Belief Survey was administered to 59% of the GHS staff in order to measure the personal and professional beliefs of practicing teachers. I used descriptive and parametric tests …


Imc: Its Rhetorical And Philosophical Foundation And Impact, Allison Raemore Peiritsch Jan 2016

Imc: Its Rhetorical And Philosophical Foundation And Impact, Allison Raemore Peiritsch

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A review of current integrated marketing communication (IMC) literature indicates that IMC has swept the globe. IMC has become the normative marketing practice for organizations to promote their goods and services, as well as an increasingly popular area of academic study. At the same time, literature shows inconsistency in IMC's professional practice and academic instruction. An increasing number of IMC theorists suggest that "true" IMC involves reorienting an organization to become consumer-focused and responsive at every level. This broader vision for IMC points to the discipline's communicative underpinnings. It is dialogic, other-oriented and interpretive in nature, yet most organizations and …


Multiple Instance Fuzzy Inference., Amine Ben Khalifa Dec 2015

Multiple Instance Fuzzy Inference., Amine Ben Khalifa

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A novel fuzzy learning framework that employs fuzzy inference to solve the problem of multiple instance learning (MIL) is presented. The framework introduces a new class of fuzzy inference systems called Multiple Instance Fuzzy Inference Systems (MI-FIS). Fuzzy inference is a powerful modeling framework that can handle computing with knowledge uncertainty and measurement imprecision effectively. Fuzzy Inference performs a non-linear mapping from an input space to an output space by deriving conclusions from a set of fuzzy if-then rules and known facts. Rules can be identified from expert knowledge, or learned from data. In multiple instance problems, the training data …


Student Engagement And College Readiness In Mathematics., Leah White Dec 2015

Student Engagement And College Readiness In Mathematics., Leah White

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between reform practices, student engagement in mathematics class, college readiness in mathematics for high school students, and mathematics teacher Professional Development (PD). Quasi-experimental mixed methodology addressed the research question(s) in a parallel design. Treatment teachers participated in PD where reformed teaching practices were presented, observed, discussed, and analyzed using a Cognitive Apprenticeship (CA) framework. Student’s mathematics readiness was measured distantly and proximally. Student engagement in mathematics class and reform practice implementation were observed, using Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP), and compared across groups to assess treatment effects pre and post …