Digital Commons Network^™

Exploring Elementary Pre - Service Teachers Technological Knowledge For Teaching Literacy: A Phenomenological Study, Christy Nicole Grigsby

Theses and Dissertations

As a result of the fundamental changes to education due to COVID-19, this study focuses on the readiness of pre-service teachers to meet the literacy needs necessary in this technology mediated world by utilizing a theoretical framework that consists of a learning framework: Transformative Learning, a literacy framework: Multi literacies, and a technological framework: Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) to include the 2019 addition of another knowledge base: ConteXtual Knowledge (XK). It is this context component of TPACK that is so frequently overlooked that may encompass the cultural aspects of teaching and learning including the primary and secondary Discourses, the …

From Captive To Captor: Hannah Duston And The Indian Removal Act, Olivia Cronquist

Theses and Dissertations

In 1697 Massachusetts settler Hannah Duston was taken captive by a group of Abenaki Indians. Duston and her companions escaped captivity by using a tomahawk to kill ten of her captors. Within her captivity narrative, Duston inhabits the role of captor rather than captive, providing a literary framework for reading and understanding the process of Indian Removal in the nineteenth century. Like white captives in the early colonial period, Native Americans in the nineteenth century faced pressure to assimilate, forced marches through unfamiliar territory, and acts of shocking violence like the Wounded Knee Massacre. During this time period, the United …

Processing Nihilism: The Struggle For Valuative Supremacy In Javier Marí­As' Berta Isla, Kristen A. Brimhall

Theses and Dissertations

Nihilism is a popular and heavily studied topic which is prominently displayed in Javier Marí­as' novel Berta Isla. In this article, both Nietzschean and Heideggerian concepts of nihilism will be identified and analyzed within the context of Marí­­as's novel. Through textual analysis, the origin of nihilism will be explored as it relates to the will to power and valuative schema of the individual. It will be suggested that nihilism stems from valuative thinking induced by the herd-mentality of a community and that the fulfillment of such is the acceptance of absolute truth grounded in being and becoming.

"Al This Loude Fare:" The Echo Of Renown In Chaucer's The House Of Fame, Madeline Nicole Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

This paper approaches The House of Fame through the emerging lens of sound studies and discusses how Chaucer used the developing sonic theories of his day and other literary works as a catalyst for his discussion of fame in his dream vision. Chaucer's poem shows the fragile and uncontrollable characteristics of lasting fame by comparing it to the Boethian metaphor of sound functioning similarly to rippling water. The construction of The House of Fame ultimately becomes an example of this medieval sonic theory as it engages with, incorporates, and echoes themes and ideas from other texts. In exploring the process …

The Effects Of Dynamic Written Corrective Feedback On The Accuracy And Complexity Of Writing Produced By L2 Graduate Students, Lisa Rohm

Theses and Dissertations

What started as a discussion of the efficacy of explicit grammar instruction has over time led to a debate about the need for and effectiveness of written corrective feedback (WCF) within the field of English language teaching (ELT). Dynamic written corrective feedback (DWCF) is a relatively new strategy developed by Dr. Norman Evans to provide WCF to English as a second language (ESL) students through systematic, coded feedback. While previous studies on DWCF have looked at its effects among other groups, few studies have examined DWCF in the context of ESL students studying at the graduate level. This study analyzes …

Improving The Oral Narrative And Expository Language Of Kindergarten Students And Reducing The Matthew Effect, Taylor Camille Magleby

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a tier-2 combined oral narrative and expository language intervention on kindergarteners' narrative and expository skills in comparison to an alternate decoding intervention and no treatment control condition. This study included 54 kindergarten students. After being administered the PEARL Kindergarten Screener at the beginning of the school year, eight students were found as at-risk for future reading comprehension difficulty and were matched to nine students not-at-risk, and all assigned to a language treatment group. Additional students not-at-risk for future reading comprehension difficulty were randomly assigned to an alternate decoding treatment …

The Practice Of Belonging: Can Learning Entrepreneurship Accelerate And Aid The Social Inclusion Of Refugees In The United States, Jabra F. Ghneim

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the role that culinary entrepreneurship communities of practice, using Lave and Wenger's Legitimate Peripheral Participation (LPP) model (Lave & Wenger, 1991), can lead to better social and economic inclusion for Middle Eastern Muslim refugee chefs in Utah. The life history approach was used to construct life histories for two Middle Eastern Muslim refugee chefs in Utah who joined the Spice Kitchen Incubator (SKI) program. SKI is a community of practice funded by the International Rescue Committee to assist refugee chefs in the resettlement process. This was an exploratory study, and given the limited number of cases reviewed, …

Norming A Dynamic Assessment Of Narrative Language For Diverse School-Age Children With And Without Language Disorder: A Preliminary Psychometric Study, Ashley Elizabeth Frahm

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate preliminary psychometric normative data of an English dynamic assessment of narrative language for a group of diverse school-age students with and without language disorder. This study included 364 diverse students with and without language disorder ranging from kindergarten through 6th grade. Students were confirmed as having a language disorder if they had an existing active IEP for language, and scores below a certain cutoff point on a nonword repetition (NWR) task and the narrative language measure (NLM). English language proficiency was investigated, and students were classified as being a dual language learner …

Ecological Perspectives On Study Abroad For Language Learning, Matthew Thomas Bird

Theses and Dissertations

The field of study abroad for language learning has drawn extensively on related fields such as applied linguistics and psychology to conceptualize learners' experiences, which then informs how practitioners go about designing programs for those learners. Research has encouraged practitioners to increase learners' access to the target language (e.g., through speaking partners, content courses), but it has also become clear that while access might be necessary, it does not guarantee learner engagement and growth. This dissertation explores two unique conceptual frameworks for understanding language learners and presents empirical research that demonstrates the kinds of findings that these frameworks can produce. …

A Self-Study Of The Shifts In Teacher Educator Knowledge Resulting From The Move From In-Person To Online Instruction, Celina Dulude Lay

Theses and Dissertations

Given the competing contexts of teacher education, it is important to uncover what teacher educator knowledge concerning curriculum design and development emerges in design, implementation, and instruction during the transition from in-person to online contexts. Yet, there is little research that uncovers teacher educator knowledge in curriculum making generally, and more specifically, how this knowledge is carried forward or changed as teacher educators create and enact online teaching. Because transitions are an important time to uncover tacit and embodied understanding, in this self-study of teacher education practice (S-STEP), I examined my own teacher educator knowledge during planning, teaching, and reflecting …

Spatial Resolution Of Quantitative Electroencephalography And Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging During Phoneme Discrimination Tasks: An Abbreviated Meta-Analysis, Emily Jean Jacobs

Theses and Dissertations

Phonological processing, the ability to recognize and manipulate the sounds of one's native language, is an essential linguistic skill. Deficits in this skill may lead to decreased social, educational, and financial success (Kraus & White-Schwoch, 2019). Additionally, phonological disorders have been shown to be highly variable and individualized (Bellon-Harn & Cradeur-Pampolina, 2016) and therefore difficult to treat effectively. A better understanding of the neural underpinnings of phonological processing, including the underlying skill of phonemic discrimination, could lead to the development of more individualized and effective intervention. Several studies, some using quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG) and others using functional magnetic resonance imaging …

Quantifying Speech Pause Durations In Speakers With Nonfluent And Fluent Aphasia, Brooke K. Thomas

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates pause duration between and within utterances in the speech of 20 people with different degrees and types of aphasia: 15 with fluent aphasia and five with nonfluent aphasia. It also examines within utterance pause durations as a function of utterance position. Using aphasia speech samples collected in a previous study by Harmon (2018), Praat acoustic analysis software was used to segment words and periods of pause and measure pause duration within and between utterances. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, including pause duration mean, standard deviations, and interquartile range. Speech pauses were also categorized by the …

How Word Characteristics Affect Language-Mediated Eye Movements In Preschoolers With Varying Language Ability, Shelby Nicole Slocum

Theses and Dissertations

Children with lower language abilities, including children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) are at risk for persistent reading difficulties. Previous studies have demonstrated that children with lower language abilities display eye movements different from their typically developing peers while hearing nouns in a naturalistic storybook reading context. This study examined how language ability and various lexical characteristics interact with 4- and 5-year- olds' eye movements during a naturalistic storybook reading task. We used eye-tracking technology to measure eye movements of 49 preschoolers with variable language skill. The children looked at storybook pictures on an eye tracking computer while they listened …

From Trump Tower To Trump White House: The Rhetoric Of Donald Trump's 'Winning' Brand, Benjamin Metcalf

Theses and Dissertations

Donald Trump's rhetoric of winners and losers has prompted dangerous division in the United States. It is well understood that Trump's divisive discourse appealed to white, blue-collar Americans who had become disillusioned with the political establishment. This study explores how Trump persuaded this audience by transitioning business communication principles, highlighted by his signature 'winners and losers' theme, into politics. Trump's use of the reality television show, The Apprentice, as a branding platform had the rhetorical effect that catapulted Trump's unique 'winning' brand back into the public's consciousness. While the principles of business rhetoric Trump used in The Apprentice were clearly …

Transgressive Migrations: Gender Roles, Space, And Place In American Novels, 1900-1999, Selena Gail Larkin

Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, I examine how gender roles combine with changes in space and place to affect women protagonists in twentieth-century American literature. I argue that as these characters migrate, the (self-)perception of their identities shift. Particularly, their outward performances as well as their internal awareness change. My analysis concentrates on the novel genre because of specific characteristics—plot, characterization, and narration. The chosen literary works on which I focus are The Grapes of Wrath (1939), Quicksand (1928), Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937), The Dollmaker (1954), and Under the Feet of Jesus (1996).

Concepts that I …

Sanctuary Poetics And Contemporary Us Culture, Alex Howerton

Theses and Dissertations

Sanctuary Poetics and Contemporary US Culture argues that contemporary poets of color create spaces of safety, relation, and justice through the act of writing as resistance itself. Sanctuary Poetics discusses poetry responding to the myriad crises of our contemporary moment, and considers how poets, through formal techniques such as ekphrasis or synecdoche, envision moments of shelter and connection that provide necessary relief to imperiled populations. I introduce the idea of a sanctuary poetics through Amanda Gorman’s recent poem “The Hill We Climb,” performed at Joseph Biden’s inauguration. The first chapter covers citizenship and the work of the Undocupoets, a multiracial …

Language Interpreters’ Perspective Of The Interpreter-Genetic Counselor Working Alliance, Dacia Lipkea

Theses and Dissertations

Interpreters are an asset to the genetic counseling process as they help to bridge both cultural and linguistic gaps. For various reasons, their ability to accurately render the often-complex information discussed in genetic counseling sessions is likely dependent on their ability to establish a working alliance and collaborate with genetic counselors to overcome any challenges. Studies in other healthcare fields document the elements crucial to forming a working alliance between interpreter and healthcare provider, but little research has been done specifically investigating how to form a working alliance in the context of the specialized nature of genetic counseling. The goal …

It’S /Tʃuzdeɪ/, Innit?: Yod Coalescence In British English, Jenna Rose Rees-White

Theses and Dissertations

Previous research on British English (BE) has shown that variation in dialects stems from both regional and social differences (Hughes & Trudgill, 1979; Kwon, 2006; Glain, 2012; and others). For instance, if a speaker identifies as middle- to upper-class in the UK, they are more likely to use RP (Received Pronunciation) than a speaker who identifies with a lower-class social status. This, and other variables, accounts for variability among regionally similar but phonologically different British dialects.

This thesis analyzes the use of Yod Coalescence (YC), a phonological phenomenon that focuses on C-/ju/ sequences and their tendencies to drop yod and …

“Where Beauty And Anguish Had Contended”: Eden, Gender, And Creativity In Melville’S Pierre, Kersey Reynolds

Theses and Dissertations

Much critical interest regarding incest in Pierre has been focused horizontally on the Glendinning family tree, in terms of the brother-sister relationship forged between Pierre Glendinning and Isabel Banford. But this thesis evaluates incest within Melville’s scheme of creativity and gender in the novel. As Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar have established, to author a text is to become owner of its subjects—a father of one’s “brain-children” (Gilbert and Gubar 7). So, as Pierre writes Isabel into the Glendinning name, the incestuous relationship between Pierre and Isabel may be viewed through the lens of a father-daughter dynamic between the …

Exploring Neurocognitive Processes That Underlie Reading Performance In Children: A Foundational Study, Ayan Mitra

Theses and Dissertations

With advancement in brain research, neuroscience researchers have collectively informed our understanding of reading-related processes. Despite an extensive body of literature, many educators are not aware of specific neuroimaging findings related to phonological processing and word reading. Therefore, the study builds on this body of research by exploring the connection between the brain and reading scores. Quantitative EEG and standardized academic achievement analyses were performed on 60 school-aged children. Intrahemispheric coherence analysis at rest were conducted across the sample of participants and several coherence networks were extracted and compared to standardized reading achievement scores. Specifically, networks that included Brodmann area …

A Historical Analysis Of U.S.-Based Study Abroad Program Providers, Chrissie Faupel

Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this dissertation is to analyze the emergence and development of study abroad program providers as a distinct model of study abroad program through archival research and interviews. This particular focus will allow scholars and international educators to understand how program providers emerged, evolved, and responded to the changing nature of education abroad. The combination lock theory and institutional theory provide a lens through which we can reconstruct the historical underpinnings of study abroad program providers. There is scant research on the historical aspects of the development of program providers. In this way, this research offers scholarly significance. …

Politics Of Belonging: Identity, Integration, And Spatial Practices Of Algerian Immigrants And Their Descendants In Paris, France, Elizabeth Nelson

Theses and Dissertations

Using a geographic framework, this dissertation explores how Algerian immigrants and their descendants perform identity and negotiate belonging in French society. Bringing together critical theorizations of race, identity, space, and place, this work investigates what it means to be a racialized minority in a postcolonial context and to learn and experience the boundaries of ‘Frenchness.’ It is based on the narratives of Algerian immigrants who have migrated to Paris, France, and their French-born children. The empirical evidence of the case studies highlights the myriad ways in which Algerian immigrants and their descendants encounter and structure their interactions with French society, …

Let’S Talk About It: Bridging The Gap Between Diverse Students And Their White Teachers, Beth Dean Boring Shoff

Theses and Dissertations

The achievement gap is a notorious construct of 21st-century schools and refers to the achievement of marginalized groups as compared to their White counterparts. This qualitative action research studied this phenomenon in a small, suburban school district experiencing shifting demographics by analyzing educators’ perceptions and attitudes for multicultural education and culture-centered themes. Survey responses and interview data were coded using Banks’s five dimensions of multicultural education (content integration, knowledge construction, equity pedagogy, prejudice reduction, and empowering school culture) to frame professional learning opportunities for White, middle-class educators. Additionally, emergent themes were identified that impact the achievement gap in this setting: …

Student Perceptions Of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy And The Impact On Teacher-Student Relationships, Robert Louis Harris

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore how six eighth-grade Magnet Program students perceive their teacher-student relationship through the teacher’s use of culturally relevant pedagogy. This case study provided information that guides a classroom teacher in the implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy that helps develop and maintain teacher-student relationships. The resulting analysis and interpretation provided major themes that developed regarding the use of culturally relevant strategies in the classroom.

This study informs educators in the profession about the extent to which students perceptions impact their relationship with the teacher. Findings could be used by teachers and administrators to advocate …

Destabilizing The Ivory Tower: An Autoethnography, Chelsea Mcfadden

Theses and Dissertations

The education system of the western world is a tool of hegemony used to command replication of an ontology rooted in oppression. Teachers interested in combating oppression must work toward decolonizing their praxis, a nuanced task accomplished with the help of critical inquiry done through autoethnography. I seek to synthesize literature that validates and confirms autoethnography as a mechanism of critical inquiry. I will explore the following research questions: How does autoethnography function as a tool of decolonization? Are there ways in which it reifies colonizing practices? How might autoethnography be used in the classroom to encourage nontraditional discourse? Themes …

“Hey, I’Ve Got This Kid”: A Study Of Multimodal Semiotics In Adapted Physical Education Strategies, Nancy Morrow Crowe

Theses and Dissertations

General education physical education (GPE) teachers currently face difficulties in providing for the special needs of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in inclusion GPE classes. In addition, there is currently no best practice in how to present information on adapted physical education (APE ) strategies to GPE teachers effectively. This study aims to address the problem of practice through a multimodal semiotic approach in offering GPE teachers APE strategies to implement in their inclusion classes. Specially, the study investigates three GPE teachers as they participate in multimodal semiotics and employ APE strategies in inclusion classes. Three GPE teachers were …

Southern United States English As A Rhetorical Device In The Field Of Marketing: A Study And Implications For Business Writing Pedagogy, Megan Jacklynn Busch

Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation project, I examine how professionals in the South use their Southern United States English (SUSE) to communicate in business situations. My goals are to (1) understand how regional language variety rhetorically shapes writtenprofessional communication and (2) establish a pedagogical framework for business writing that attunes to the nuances of language variation in the workplace. I hypothesize that speakers of SUSE implement regional dialects to form interpersonal business connections and build ethos and that SUSE has a significant rhetorical role to place in professional communications. To test this hypothesis, I develop a hybrid method of interviewing, discourse analysis, …

Deep Learning Based Models For Classification From Natural Language Processing To Computer Vision, Xianshan Qu

Theses and Dissertations

With the availability of large scale data sets, researchers in many different areas such as natural language processing, computer vision, recommender systems have started making use of deep learning models and have achieved great progress in recent years. In this dissertation, we study three important classification problems based on deep learning models.

First, with the fast growth of e-commerce, more people choose to purchase products online and browse reviews before making decisions. It is essential to build a model to identify helpful reviews automatically. Our work is inspired by the observation that a customer's expectation of a review can be …

The Shape Of The Bilingual Mental Lexicon: Testing The Cognate Continuum, Danielle Kristine Fahey

Theses and Dissertations

Items in the mental lexicon have three storage and processing strata, the concept, lemma, and lexeme, which equate to semantic, syntactic and phonological information. Lexical items relate to each other at each stratum. Bilingual lexicons, which contain items from all languages, may contain cognates, items sharing concepts and with overlapping lexemes. Because cognates likely relate at the lemma level also, this research proposed the Cognate Continuum, a categorization of cognates and noncognates in the bilingual mental lexicon. The Cognate Continuum includes three sets of cognates:

(i) true cognates have the closest phonology and syntax.

(ii) lemma cognates have close syntax …

The Inescapable Effects Of Discourse As Knowledge And Power: Refugee Youth’S Resistance To “The System” In Pursuit Of Higher Education, Fallon Puckett

Theses and Dissertations

Employing a Foucauldian inflected analytic framework, I examine how youth resettled in and around Unity, NC, ambivalently managed racializing discourses associated with being ‘refugee’ as they pursued access to higher education (HE). Like many scholars who are drawn to post-structuralist concepts, I understand ‘discourse’ to be a form of knowledge and power, which operates through institutions implicated in advancing forms of self-government. In my video-conferenced interviews with youth they revealed cogent interpretations of the many ways these different U.S. governmental (and some non-governmental) institutions operated in their lives as “the System.” In the particular case of refugee youth, they used …