Digital Commons Network^™

Locative Expressions In Signed Languages: A Cross-Linguistic Comparison, Sarah E. Eberle

Theses and Dissertations

The primary focus of this paper is to examine whether sign languages organize their locative expressions similarly to spoken languages. Paving the way in the study of spatial relations by focusing on the structuring of ON and IN locatives in spoken languages, Bowerman and colleagues (Bowerman 1980; Melissa Bowerman & Eric Pederson 1992a; Bowerman 1993; 1994; 1996a; 1996b; Bowerman & Levinson 2001) found that spoken languages organize the locative phrases representing the relationships of ON and IN in a continuum which is called the ON-IN continuum.

This thesis shows that sign languages do not linguistically pattern similarly to spoken languages …

Ell Vocabulary Acquisition: How Improvement Measurements Are Affected By Text Type, English Reading Ability, And Assessment Methods, Joellen Magnus

Theses and Dissertations

Vocabulary acquisition is a crucial part of language learning. This study seeks to determine what textual and student factors affect vocabulary acquisition rates from reading English texts for high school students for whom English is a second language, as well as how assessment factors affect the measurement of vocabulary acquisition. In this study, vocabulary acquisition was measured by comparing the differences between pre-test and post-test scores from before and after reading different texts. Text type did not affect student outcomes, but the improvement rates were affected by students' pre-test scores, students' English reading ability, and the types of assessment questions. …

Code-Switching In The Classroom: Teaching The Neutral American Dialect To The 21st Century Student, Hollis Louise Casini

Theses and Dissertations

Language is a personal process, a product of not only our development, but of one’s culture. Yet in the United States, an actor must be able to speak without a detectable dialect to be competitive in the entertainment world. How can voice teachers in a multi-cultural society, train students with more attention to the individuality of the students we educate? In this thesis, I present the information I have found important in my development as a voice teacher that has influenced my approach to training actors to use the Neutral American dialect. I begin by outlining human language acquisition and …

Acceptance Of Disability In College Students, Brian Charles Carl

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents the findings of a study examining the following questions: How do students in a particular disability group differ from students in other disability groups in the degree to which they accept their disability? How are level of functional impairment and acceptance related? How are an individual's view of disability as a defining characteristic and acceptance related? How are functional impairment and the degree to which disability is seen as a defining characteristic related? Analysis using ANOVA indicated that there was not a significant difference in the level of acceptance between disability groups. Three Pearson's r correlation analyses …

The Effectiveness Of Systematic And Engaging Early Literacy (Seel) Intervention On Word Reading In Kindergarten Students Receiving Tier 3 Services, Christina Haley Cole

Theses and Dissertations

This study evaluated the effectiveness of the Systematic and Engaging Early Literacy (SEEL) intervention method to improve consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) reading in four students receiving Tier 3 services. The SEEL intervention method was also combined with the use of digital books on an iPad to investigate the effects of using technology in reading intervention sessions. Previous research indicates effectiveness for the foundational principles of SEEL, which include instruction in engaging, meaningful contexts that provide frequent and intense opportunities to practice. This research involved 4 kindergarten students who qualified for Tier 3 services based on their performance on an index of difficulty …

Social Networks Of Children With Language Impairment, Serena Marita Louisa Mickelson

Theses and Dissertations

Children with language impairment (LI) often exhibit social difficulties along with language issues that can affect their friendships with peers. This study sought to identify the self-reported social networks of children with LI and compare them to the self-reported social networks of children with typical language development. Sixteen children with LI (9 girls and 7 boys) between the ages of 5-11 years, and sixteen children with typical language development matched for age and gender were studied. Children were asked to name interactants in four social circles (Blackstone & Hunt Berg, 2003): family, friends, acquaintances, and paid interactants. A parent also …

The Physical Theatre Of War: Language, Memory, And Gender In Black Watch And War Horse, Andrea M. Gunoe

Theses and Dissertations

The public's perception of war is influenced by every media story they see, every account they read, and every story they hear. News telecasts and newspapers tend to lean towards a focus of the grand narratives of war such as political involvement and overarching strategy. Media such as books and film can tell a more personal narrative of the events of war and attempt to display how war "really is" through the use of written and visual language that focuses more on how things happened as opposed to simply what happened. Theatre provides a unique perspective on war as the …

Using An Ipad To Teach Spontaneous Communication Of Students With Low-Functioning Autism, Deborah Leonard

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of using the Apple iPad to assist students with low functioning autism in learning communication skills. Three non-verbal students identified as having autism and being low-functioning participated in the study. A multiple baseline design with AB phases across academic and social settings was used. During the baseline, students were given access to an iPad with the SonoFlex voice output communication aid (VOCA) application. Some of the students played games on the iPad, but none of them attempted to us it for communication purposes. During the intervention, students were taught to …

Speaking For Himself: Odysseus And Rhetoric In Sophocles' Philoctetes, Christian Wiggo Axelgard

Theses and Dissertations

In order to reconcile the deus ex machina at the end of Sophocles' Philoctetes with the actions of the rest of the play, this project analyzes the role of Odysseus within the play with special attention to rhetoric. By considering the character of Odysseus as a complex construct referencing both literary and historical contexts, this study suggests that Neoptolemus in fact errs in siding with Philoctetes to the degree that he does by the tragedy's end. The themes of the play involving Philoctetes and Neoptolemus then become warnings against inappropriate emotional responses, again consistent with Heracles' advice in the deus …

Alignment Between Secondary Biology Textbooks And Standards For Teaching English Learners: A Content Analysis, Joseph H. Hanks

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of the most recent science education reform movement in the U.S. is science literacy for all Americans. Science literacy among U.S. students remains low, however, as compared with students in other industrialized countries, and is lowest among English Language Learner (ELL) students. Although there are barriers to developing science literacy for all adolescent students, ELL students often experience additional barriers that make developing science literacy even more challenging without support. Because textbooks are often heavily relied upon by secondary science teachers, the opportunity for many ELLs to develop science literacy may depend upon the support for these students …

Sparking Metacognition: Contextualizing Reading Strategies For Low-Proficient Esl Readers, Deborah L. Pratt

Theses and Dissertations

Reading strategies are consciously controlled actions learners execute in order to aid comprehension. The effectiveness of strategies is increased with metacognitive awareness. Researchers have created instruments to raise metacognitive awareness targeted for native and highly proficient L2 readers. This article outlines the creation of a new survey, the Contextualized Inventory of Metacognitive Awareness for novice to low-intermediate L2 readers. Unlike other instruments, this survey contextualizes pre-, during-, and post-reading strategy deployment with the use of simplified, narrative reading passages. The survey was piloted at an Intensive English Program with 88 subjects. The overall readability of the survey had a Lexile …

Pro-Drop And Word-Order Variation In Brazilian Portuguese: A Corpus Study, Stewart Daniel Smith

Theses and Dissertations

The present study examines certain syntactic properties of the Brazilian variety of Portuguese (BP): 1) BP is a pro-drop language with instances of both null subjects and covert objects, and 2) BP exhibits several possible word orders. To determine the frequency of pro-drop and word-order variations, the CDP (The Portuguese Corpus) was used to provide samples of transitive, main clauses, which were then categorized based on whether or not they had null subjects and covert objects. The clauses were also categorized according to word order. In addition to providing samples, the corpus allowed for the comparison of four different registers …

Curriculum Development For The Novice Developer, Darcy L. Whetten

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis addressed the need to inform and demonstrate to novice developers the process of developing a curriculum and the need to guide novice teachers with little or no access to formal training. A curriculum for novice teachers in community programs was developed such that the teachers were presented clear and specific guidance in presenting lessons with minimal preparation time and with minimal training. Eight novice teachers presented the lessons in ESL and EFL contexts and provided feedback on the success, strengths, and weaknesses of the curriculum and lessons. The participants indicated that the curriculum overall is satisfactory, easy to …

Acts 17: Paul Before The Areopagus, Michael R. Preece

Theses and Dissertations

Luke's record of Paul in Athens is among the most interesting and widely studied topics in the life of the Apostle Paul. Luke recorded that Paul taught in the Athenian marketplace, where he was asked to present his doctrines before the Areopagus. Many have commented on the controversial aspects of Paul's speech before the council as recounted by Luke. Much of this scholarly commentary has been centered on the speech itself and the historical authenticity of the account. The purpose of this thesis is to reexamine the context and the setting of the speech as recorded by Luke in the …

Perceptions Of English Proficiency Levels: The Unspoken Expectations Of Native English Speakers, Alison Divett Roberts

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the relationship between nonnative English speaker (NNES) proficiency level and native English speaker (NES) level of comfort interacting with NNES. The purpose of this study was to discover at what proficiency level NESs feel comfortable interacting with NNES. This study also looked at how communicative task and NES demographic variables affected the proficiency expectations NNESs have for NESs. Participants included 120 NESs and 7 NNESs. The NESs listened to sound clips from the 7 NNESs and rated how comfortable they would feel (on a scale of 0-10, 10 indicating very comfortable) interacting with the speaker in a …

Adult Second Language Learners' Social Network Development And Perceived Fluency Gain In An Immersion Environment, Marie Naomi Bejarano

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the social networks developed by language learners and their relationship with perceived changes in the learners' fluency in the context of an intensive English as a second language (ESL) program. Using data from the Study Abroad Social Interaction Questionnaire (SASIQ) to determine SN development and native speaker ratings to determine perceived fluency, a simple linear regression to test the relationship between social network variables and fluency gain, as well as a hierarchical regression measuring (a) the combined effect of variables previously found to be significant in fluency gain, and (b) the additional joint effect of the remaining …

Types Of Questions That Comprise A Teacher's Questioning Discourse In A Conceptually-Oriented Classroom, Keilani Stolk

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines teacher questioning with the purpose of identifying what types of mathematical questions are being modeled by the teacher. Teacher questioning is important because it is the major source of mathematical questioning discourse from which students can learn and copy. Teacher mathematical questioning discourse in a conceptually-oriented classroom is important to study because it is helpful to promote student understanding and may be useful for students to adopt in their own mathematical questioning discourse. This study focuses on the types of questions that comprise the mathematical questioning discourse of a university teacher in a conceptually-oriented mathematics classroom for …

Style, Discourse, And The Completion Of The Vernacular Style In Modern Japanese Literature, Jacob Zan Adachi Lee

Theses and Dissertations

Many histories of modern Japanese literature see the "completion" of the modern vernacular style in the writings of Shiga Naoya (1883--1971), Mushakōji Saneatsu (1885--1976) and Takamura Kōtarō (1883--1956). Why and how this critical-historical perception of stylistic normalcy arose and still continues is better understood, I propose, through a close reading of key texts that identifies instances and patterns of creative manipulation of-as opposed to mere determination by or complicity with-certain philosophical, social, and historical discourses.How this creative manipulation plays out varies in prose and poetry and from text to text. In Mushakōji's Omedetaki hito (1911; The Simpleton), temporal and generic …

Concepts Of Divine Action For A Theistic Approach To Psychology, Brent S. Melling

Theses and Dissertations

Recent years have seen increased interest in using theism (the perspective that assumes that God is currently actively in the world) as a conceptual framework for scientific inquiry. This interest has built particular momentum in psychology where several scholars have expressed that traditional naturalistic approaches limit understanding and investigation of psychology's subject matter and thus are insufficient to fully account for human phenomena. Others have previously made the case for the consideration of theism as a legitimate alternative basis for psychological theory, research, and practice. This dissertation begins with that consideration and examines what would be required to move a …

Pragmatic Transfer Of Compliment Responses Among Chinese Esl Lds Missionaries, Courtney Price Bodily

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the pragmatic transfer Chinese Latter-day Saint (LDS) missionaries speaking English display when responding to compliments in English conversations. Previous studies have shown that native American English speakers have a higher rate of compliment acceptance in their compliment response (CR) strategies. While, native Chinese speakers have a higher rate of denial in their CRs (. A common research question is whether or not CR strategies transfer from a Chinese English speaker's first language (L1) into their English conversations. To measure this, 40 missionaries from the LDS church participated in naturalized role plays. Half were native Chinese (10 male, …

Improving Implicit Learning And Explicit Instruction Of Adult And Child Learners Of Chinese, Li-Hui Kuo

Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the main effects and interaction effects of implicit learning and explicit instructional approaches on the language acquisition of beginning adult and child learners of Chinese and analyzed the successful adult and child learners' learning styles in their information processing time, second language acquisition techniques, and cognitive strategies. Volunteers from Brigham Young University and Wasatch Elementary School were randomly assigned to either an Explicit Instruction Treatment (EIT) or an Implicit Learning Treatment (ILT). Following the treatment, the participants completed an online survey and a vocabulary application test. Results from a 2 x 2 factorial ANOVA indicated that adults …

The Effect Of Age On Speech Motor Performance During Divided Attention, Dallin J. Bailey

Theses and Dissertations

The present study examined the divided attention effects of three non-speech tasks on concurrent speech motor performance. These tasks targeted linguistic, cognitive, and manual motor activity. Participants included 60 healthy adults separated into three different age groups of twenty participants each: college-age (20s), middle-aged (40s), and older adults (60s). Each participant completed a speech task once in isolation and once concurrently with each of the three non-speech tasks: a semantic decision task, a quantitative comparison task, and a manual motor task. The non-speech tasks were also performed in isolation. The speech task involved repeating a target phrase each time a …

Nailing Down Truths: Evental Historiography In Fors Clavigera, Sari Lynn Carter

Theses and Dissertations

The theoretical framework of this study is intended to explore the potential Alain Badiou's theory of event, truth, and faithful subject may provide for understanding literature. This study applies this framework to John Ruskin's late and lesser-known work Fors Clavigera: Letters to the Workmen and Labourers of Great Britain (1871-1884). Both Ruskin's fragmented style in Fors Clavigera and his notion of historical truth developed therein have been read as madness and as reactionary romanticism. I examine key metanarrative moments in Fors Clavigera where Ruskin reflects on his historiographical choices and methods. Through my analysis, I show how Badiou's theory provides …

The Effects Of Pre-Speaking Planning On Students' Performance During Speaking Tasks, Celine Gaillard

Theses and Dissertations

Research has explored the impact of various planning types (i.e. different ways to help students prepare for a language task by, for instance, giving them time and/or specific instructions) on the fluency, complexity, and accuracy of second language learners (e.g., Ellis, 2009). However, results have been mixed and studies have never investigated the impact of pre-speaking activities such as those proposed by Thompson (2009), a teacher-led planning focusing on both form and content with students. Previous research suggests that this type of planning could benefit students: Foster & Skehan (1999) believe that teacher-led planning is effective in comparison to other …

Assisting Novice Raters In Addressing The In-Between Scores When Rating Writing, Brittney Greer

Theses and Dissertations

In the research regarding rating ESL writing assessments, borderline writing samples are mentioned, but a solution has yet to be addressed. Borderline samples are writing samples that do not perfectly fit a set level within the rubric, but instead have characteristics from multiple levels. The aim of this thesis is to provide an improved training module in the setting of an Intensive English Program by exposing new raters to borderline samples and rating rationale from experienced raters. The purpose of this training is to increase the confidence, consistency, and accuracy of novice raters when rating borderline samples of writing. The …

From Theory To Practice: Translating Ying Chen's Les Lettres Chinoises, Sunny Ann Hendry

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes Ying Chen's Les Lettres Chinoises through the lenses of literary translation, migrant writing and epistolary genres, as well as through critical theory of Chen's poetics in order to inform a translation of said novel from French into English. This theoretical groundwork is accompanied by analysis of the process of the translation, including specifications, methods used, and justifications for translation decisions. Les Lettres Chinoises is Ying Chen's second novel, written in French rather than her native Chinese language. Spanning a fifty-seven letter exchange between Shanghai and Montreal, Chen's choice to write in language other than her first, as …

Automated Identification Of Relative Clauses In Child Language Samples, Erika E. Ehlert

Theses and Dissertations

Relative clauses are grammatical constructions that are of relevance in both typical and impaired language development. Thus, the accurate identification of these structures in child language samples is clinically important. In recent years, computer software has been used to assist in the automated analysis of clinical language samples. However, this software has had only limited success when attempting to identify relative clauses. The present study explores the development and clinical importance of relative clauses and investigates the accuracy of the software used for automated identification of these structures. Two separate collections of language samples were used. The first collection included …

Brain Imaging Of Event Related Potentials In Children With Language Impairment, Hillary Ann Benton

Theses and Dissertations

Event related potentials (ERPs) may provide specific information about how particular aspects of language are processed by the brain over time. This study investigated the electrophysiology of language processing in two children with language impairment (LI) when compared to five typically developing children. The N400, P600, and the early left anterior negativity (ELAN) were analyzed after participants listened to linguistically correct, syntactically incorrect, and semantically incorrect sentences. Participants were instructed to indicate whether the sentences were correct or incorrect. Latency and amplitude of the ERP components were compared between the two groups of participants and sentence types. Results from the …

Effects Of The Integrated Symple Readers Curriculum On Expressive Vocabulary Acquisition In Elementary Students With Developmental Disabilities, Loralene Edvalson

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the emphasis society places on literacy, most students with developmental disabilities remain illiterate. One cause for this illiteracy may be that these students lack foundational language skills that contribute to being able to read. Research has shown that, among other contributions, multiple exposures across time increase students' abilities to acquire knowledge. The Symple Readers integrated curriculum plans for multiple exposures to novel picture vocabulary words by building them into all activities across the students' day and week. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of the Symple Readers integrated curriculum on expressive vocabulary development. During the …

Kenneth Burke As Educator: What His Theories Of Aesthetic Form And (Non-Symbolic) Motion/(Symbolic) Action Suggest For Teachers In The Literature Classroom, Tara Brock Boyce

Theses and Dissertations

Burke scholars oftentimes overlook Burke's fundamental role as educator and how his work can and should be applied to the classroom. This paper explores Burke's theoretical works and centers on two concepts important to developing rhetorical skills necessary for functioning and participating in a democratic society: his theory of aesthetic form and his distinction between motion and action. Specifically, this paper (1) clarifies these concepts and explains how they relate to each other and the emotional experience of literature, and (2) demonstrates how these concepts work together to imply a new method of practicing rhetorical criticism in the literature classroom …