Digital Commons Network^™

"You Are Safe": Black Maternal Politics Of Resistance And The Question Of Community Consensus In African American Women's Literature, Daniela Marinova Koleva

Theses and Dissertations

The study focuses on a number of African American women's literary texts that employ the figure of the black mother and the motif of infanticide to engage in critical statements about system arrangements, repressive practices, and theory designs with direct effect upon black people's choices for organizing their lives and existence. Such critical statements are inevitably political and their construction is offered in a most provocative and startling way given the choice of maternal infanticide to make the claims.

Angelina Weld Grimke's "The Closing Door" (1919), Georgia Douglas Johnson's Safe (c.1929), Shirley Graham's It's Morning (c. 1938-1940), and Toni Morrison's …

Through Process, Mitchell Goldstein

Theses and Dissertations

At the core of any designer’s activity is the process they engage with to create design. Process is not only a way to get from an idea to a completed work, it is also what determines our attitude towards design. This is the place where both the design and the designer are created. The gray area between nothing and something is where we go to discover design, and in turn to discover who we are and what matters to us. In this thesis I am investigating the nebulous place between ideas and things, thoughts and artifacts, and being just a …

Teacher Retention: What Motivates Highly Qualified Urban Teachers To Stay?, Orlando B. Milligan

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to provide insight into what motivates highly qualified teachers to remain in urban schools. Research has shown that the single most important factor in a child’s education is the teacher. Consequently, the issues related to teacher recruitment and retention rank as serious problems facing urban schools and the achievement of their children.

The purpose of this study was to examine what motivates highly qualified teachers to remain in urban schools and to identify factors that may contribute to the retention and recruitment of an urban teaching corps. This study also sought to determine if there …

Intonation Processing In Individuals With Parkinson's Disease, Alanna Friedman

Theses and Dissertations

Parkinson's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease caused by the death of dopaminergic neurons in structures that make up the basal ganglia. Previous research has shown that damage to the basal ganglia can result in deficient (Cheang et al, 2004; Ma et al, 2007) production and perception of intonation in non-emotional (Cheang et al., 2004; Ma et al., 2007) and emotional (e.g., Breitenstein et al., 1998; Cancelliere & Kertesz, 1990) contexts. Studies on perception have shown evidence that individuals with Parkinson's disease have difficulty discriminating intonation patterns when compared to healthy controls, and that these difficulties are due to higher …

Intonation Perception In Elderly And Young Adult Subjects, Afua Mmra Blay

Theses and Dissertations

Various studies have reported that elderly individuals have difficulty perceiving intonation, especially in emotional context. However, the nature and the extent to which this problem affects the communication ability of these individuals are poorly understood. Most studies use isolated sentences which unlike natural discourse indicate no contextual information. Consequently, it is unclear whether the intonation processing problems for the elderly are manifested across the board regardless of availability of contextual information. To understand this issue, the present study sought to compare the performance of elderly adults on perception of intonation in stimuli presented with and without contextual information. Participants were …

Rhetorical Agency And Survivance: American Indians In College Composition, Rebecca Lynn Gardner

Theses and Dissertations

American Indian writers in college have a distinct cultural background related to rhetorical agency and language. Particularly for Indian students who grew up on reservations, the effects of official federal policies regarding the use of English for assimilation remain significant. However, in writing classes, we have an opportunity to reverse course and to specifically teach toward what Scott Lyons calls rhetorical sovereignty.

In this project, four American Indian college students demonstrate agency with writing. All four students grew up on federal Indian reservations (Standing Rock and White Earth), and at the time of this study, were enrolled in their first …

Literacy Coaching In The United States: Implications For Taiwan, Mei-Lan Lo

Theses and Dissertations

Literacy coaching has become a popular professional development approach in the United States over the last decade. To date, there has been little research on the different lived experiences and challenges of literacy coaches working in different contexts. Furthermore, research findings regarding the effectiveness of literacy coaching are inconclusive. To fill the gaps in the literature, this study was designed to explore the nature of literacy coaching in the United States and examine the relationship between literacy coaching and student literacy achievement, both from the perspective of literacy coaches and that of classroom teachers. An embedded mixed methods research design, …

The Golden Country, Jennifer Robinette

Theses and Dissertations

This novel, The Golden Country, owes its structure primarily to the tradition of female quest narrative. Set in April of 2003, an outward journey provides the framework for an exploration of a young woman's evolving consciousness and developing identity. Ava, the twenty-four-year-old protagonist who narrates the action, joins her mother and another character on a journey across Pennsylvania to locate her missing brother. While the main action of the novel is presented chronologically and occurs over a brief span of time (several days), the characters' motivations and family dynamic are heavily informed by back story. Absolutely crucial to both plot …

"There I, Paul Dolnstein, Saw Action." The Sketchbook Of A Warrior Artisan In The German Renaissance, Danielle Mead Skjelver

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis provides analysis, transcription, and translation of Paul Dolnstein's early sixteenth century annotated sketchbook. The study offers insight into one `type' of German Renaissance mercenary, the sedentary type. Known as Landsknechts, German Renaissance mercenaries were prized for their discipline on the field and for their commanders' ability to provide well equipped and well trained armies for the battlefields of Europe. As opposed to roving Landsknechts who followed the drums of war year in and year out, the sedentary Landsknecht retained his roots and returned to civilian work in his town of origin between campaigns. He might serve in only …

Selective Mutism And Art Therapies, Dalene Erickson

Theses and Dissertations

Selective Mutism (SM) is a social anxiety disorder characterized by a child's inability to speak in selected social situations, usually school. The causes of SM are multi-factorial. Affected children often have a history of anxiety, linguistic and motor disorders. Current therapies include a mix of anti-anxiety medication, behavioral modification therapy and anxiety reduction techniques.

Art therapy, (dance, drama and theater), has been shown to be beneficial in reducing anxiety and encouraging communication through forms other than speaking. Art therapy could be a valuable modality, benefitting children with SM.

I surveyed parents, teachers, former teachers of children with SM, and adults …

Auditory Recall In Normal Children And Children With A Diagnosis Of Central Auditory Processing Disorder, Kara J. Nunziato

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in level of performance on auditory memory tasks between individuals with and without a diagnosis of Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD). The study was also designed to examine the differences in performance among different auditory memory tasks. A total of ten participants were recruited for the study. Five typically developing individuals served in the control group and five individuals with a clinical diagnosis of CAPD served in the experimental group. Results from the study indicated that individuals with a diagnosis of CAPD performed significantly lower than the control group on …

'Reel' Gangs Or 'Real' Gangs: A Qualitative Media Analysis Of Street Gangs Portrayed In Hollywood Films, 1960-2009, Christopher J. Przemieniecki

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the portrayals of street gangs as presented by a select sample of Hollywood films from 1960 to 2009. Using the theoretical framework of social constructionism and cinematic realism, a content analysis of 25 `street gang' films was conducted to (a) determine the comparability of depictions of street gangs in Hollywood films with those characteristics of defining a street gang in the law enforcement and academic literature, (b) identify emergent themes and patterns, including changes over time, and (c) address the representations of realism in the portrayal of street gangs as depicted …

Narrowing The Achievement Gap: A Case Study On How St. Cloud School District 742 Improved Academic Growth For Black Students In Three Years, George Earl Nolan

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this case study was to identify gradual growth and improvement in test scores of black students compared to white students for St. Cloud School District 742 as showed in NWEA and MCA testing. The achievement gap in the state of Minnesota has been a pervasive issue that has long been discussed and analyzed. School districts the size of St. Cloud have seen dramatic shifts in demographics that have caused administrators and teachers to change their instructional approaches.

This study looked at specific programs, practices, and instructional strategies that recognized growth and improvement in state testing and assessment …

A Comparative Evaluation Of An Educational Program Designed To Enable Mechanical Engineering Students To Develop Global Competence, Aaron Gerald Ball

Theses and Dissertations

The 'flattening of the world', using Thomas Friedman's phraseology, is driving corporations to increasingly use collaborative engineering processes and global teams to operate on a global scale. Globalization of the traditional university engineering curriculum is necessary to help students prepare to work in a global environment. More scalable and economically sustainable program types are needed to enable the majority of students to obtain a globalized education. The purpose of this research was to determine how effectively a global team- and project-based computer aided engineering course provided learning opportunities that enabled students to develop elements of global competence in comparison to …

The Female Experience: Study Abroad Students In Egypt, Heather Raquael Walsh

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study explores the experiences of female students on study abroad programs, with the aim of answering the following questions: do they face unique challenges as female students (including harassment or assault), how do they avoid or cope with any negative experiences, and can we as language departments better prepare our students to have the best experiences possible? The participants for the study were primarily 12 of 50 students involved in the Brigham Young University Study Abroad to Cairo, Egypt during Spring and Summer terms 2010. Data include participant observation, student journals, and ethnographic interviews conducted during the last …

Impact Of Indigenous Language On Achievement And Emotional Conditions: A Case Study Of East European Students In Utah, Natalya Georgiyeva

Theses and Dissertations

The importance of using an indigenous language as a medium of school instruction has been discussed in world education for a long time. This study focuses on the influence of the presence of a native language in the learning process of the students and the impact on their academic achievement, emotional conditions, and post-school lives. A qualitative method of research was used in the study, comprising 12 interviews among Ukrainian/Russian adopted and nonadopted students who attended Utah schools. Information obtained through interviews presented language levels of students (both native and English), academic achievement, and emotional conditions of students during the …

Acquisition Of Spanish Voiceless Stops In Extended Stays Abroad, Mary Williams Crane

Theses and Dissertations

Although English and Spanish both have the voiceless stops /ptk/, they differ in VOT; English has long-lag voiceless stops and Spanish has short-lag. This difference means that native English-speaking learners of Spanish are likely to transfer the long voice lag typical of their first language (L1) to Spanish voiceless stops. This study measured the VOT of 20 native English-speaking learners of Spanish, each with a length of residence (LOR) in a Spanish-speaking country of almost 2 years. The study participants were found to produce voiceless stops intermediate to the averages of their L1 (American English) and L2 (Spanish), with some …

Community Outreach English: Marketing A Community Esl Program, Carrie Lane Drake

Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this MA TESOL project was to develop promotional products for BYU's Community Outreach English (CORE) program. The purpose of these products is to create greater community awareness of the program and the resources it provides to learners. It is also hoped that the promotional products will aid in the process of recruiting students for the program from one year to the next. While the essential elements of the marketing mix (product, place, promotion, and price) were reviewed, an emphasis for this project was placed on promotion, which translated into developing materials for this purpose. Promotional materials that …

Better Speakers Make More Friends: Predictors Of Social Network Development Among Study-Abroad Students, J Wyatt Brockbank

Theses and Dissertations

Social network development has been studied in the social sciences for the last several decades, but little work has applied social network theory to study-abroad research. This study seeks to quantitatively describe factors that predict social network formation among study-abroad students while in the host countries. Social networks were measured in terms of the number of friends the students made, the number of distinct social groups reported, and the number of friends within those groups. The Study Abroad Social Interaction Questionnaire was compared against these pre-trip factors: intercultural competence, target-language proficiency, prior missionary experience, gender, study-abroad program, neuroticism, extroversion, agreeableness, …