Digital Commons Network^™

Self-Directed Learning Practices In Esl: How Beginning Adult Latinx English Language Learners Can Increase Learning Outcomes, Jessica Parisi

Master's Projects and Capstones

This field project investigates the self-directed learning (SDL) practices that could increase learner outcomes in English language acquisition for beginning adult English language learners (ELLs), and presents on a website designed for the learner, the practices and local resources to engage them. Non-credit English as a second language (ESL) courses in community colleges in the San Francisco Bay Area have high enrollment and low levels of advancement, especially beginning levels. Latinx adult ELLs face unique challenges that contribute to their low rates of advancement, including linguistic isolation, and work and home duties that often prevent learners from attending classes the …

Digital Awareness For Esl Students, Ehab Khalaf

Master's Projects and Capstones

ABSTRACT

Many immigrants come to the United States of America seeking to live, study, and work in this country. With an influx of immigrants, there is a need for educational opportunities tailored to meet their needs and demands with the ultimate aim of helping them integrate into society. One of the major demands is for English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, which are useful in equipping immigrants with not only the English language skills, but also in equipping and preparing the students for success in the workplace and with communication skills for navigating life in the United States. The …

Teaching English To Refugees And Immigrants With Low Literacy In Their Native Language And Limited English Proficiency (Using The Language Experience Approach), Jacqueline Hill

Master's Projects and Capstones

Immigrants who enter the United States come with varying degrees of education. Some immigrants come with a bachelor’s degree or higher, and some come with very limited schooling or no schooling at all. Yet many immigrants or refugees that come to the United States with low literacy in their native language, and limited English proficiency never enroll in an ESL class. There are many causes attributed to this lack of enrollment: learners’ embarrassment and anxiety to admitting their lack of literacy, class scheduling conflicts, long waiting lists, and the English-only approach taken by most ESL classes in the United States. …

Black Unrealia: Handbook For Teaching The Structure Of Past Counterfactual Statements, A. Carter

Master's Projects and Capstones

For various reasons, students are attending California community colleges to learn English. Classes taught are usually influenced by models that integrate aspects of reading, writing, speaking, and listening, and courses that center on grammar are rarely if ever taught. There has been a resurgence in interest in Form Focused Instruction and strong evidence that grammar instruction combined with Corrective Feedback can produce marked gains in a student’s implicit and explicit knowledge of grammatical forms. This Field Project proposes that by combining Form Focused Instruction with aspects of Communicative Language Teaching such as authentic materials, or realia, instructors can assist learners …

How To Correct Fossilized Pronunciation Errors Of English Language Learners, Kathleen Dolan

Master's Projects and Capstones

Being able to speak English with comprehensible pronunciation is key to communicative competency, yet pronunciation is one of the most difficult parts of learning English as a second language. English Language Learners (ELLs) are not receiving enough effective pronunciation instruction to correct their fossilized pronunciation errors. Currently, ESL teachers often lack effective tools and training in how to teach pronunciation. The purpose of this project is to give ESL teachers specific tools to help de-fossilize their ELLs persistent pronunciation errors. This literature review discusses five different linguistic theories that explore the journey and the obstacles (fossilization) in second language phonological …

Using Sitcoms In Esl/Efl: A Handbook For Using Friends In The Classroom, Elif Konus

Master's Projects and Capstones

English learning has become the most significant objective throughout the world for learners of English as a second language (ESL) and foreign language (EFL). Unfortunately, most learners do not have a chance to learn the language in English-speaking countries. In most ESL and EFL classrooms, teachers have solely adapted their teaching method through textbooks even though there are numerous teaching techniques to support learners’ language process. Considering the fact that we live in an age of constant change of technology in which students’ attention spans have been shortened, students might lack engagement and motivation in learning English through solely textbook-adapted …

From Anxiety To Motivation: Creating Anxiety-Free Classrooms Using Culturally Responsive Teaching, Jing Rong

Master's Projects and Capstones

Simultaneous with cultural and economic globalization, English is spread as the key to receiving education in the U.S. This trend is starting to bring about new knowledge ecologies involving English as a second language (ESL) students and instructors. However, learning efficiency issues have been frequently confronted by ESL students, among which learning anxiety is a major setback. There are multiple factors causing learning anxieties, including the cultural transitions that ESL students are experiencing. This study focuses on analyzing the causes as well as the solutions to ESL students’ learning anxiety issues. Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) is a practical and effective …

Enhancing Accessibility, Diversity, And Literacy Of Heritage Language Maintenance In Our Community: A Proposal For Public Libraries With A Focus On The Korean Community, Sooyoung Yang

Master's Projects and Capstones

In contrast to the U.S. emphasis on producing English monolinguals, the needs of world language fluency and education have become more evident than ever as society becomes more globalized and potential bilinguals and even multilinguals are transformed to important human resources. However, even now, linguistically diverse communities often experience significant heritage language loss after immigrating to the U.S. due to the still long-held undervaluation of heritage languages and the push for rapid assimilation to the new society. Research has revealed the many benefits and advantages of heritage language development and maintenance, but unfortunately, the formal education system in the U.S. …

Intergroup Dialogue With High School Participants, Meaghan E. Kachadoorian

Master's Projects and Capstones

Liberatory education facilitates identity expression, promotes empathy and understanding across difference, and builds capacity for recognizing and resisting oppressive social structures. However, many students’ educational experiences lack intentional practices that subvert societal intolerance. Without these practices, education can perpetuate social group divide without empowering students to create social change. The practice of dialogue, specifically critical intergroup dialogue, brings together participants from various social group identities in facilitated conversations in pursuit of social transformation. This project is an exploration of intergroup dialogue with high school students. For the research, I carried out a phenomenological study by co-facilitating a dialogue group with …

Il Giudizio Universale Tra La Scolastica Medievale E La Divina Commedia Di Dante, Amanda R. Latrenta

Theses and Dissertations

In The Divine Comedy, Dante presents his readers with an interpretation of The Last Judgement. Although this interpretation bears distinct markers of Dante’s originality, it also closely aligns with medieval scholastic writings on the phenomenon. This thesis examines how Dante’s interpretation aligns with or diverges from medieval theology.

Mapping Ecological Futures: Toward A Cartography Of Climate Justice, Timothy C. Lau

Theses and Dissertations

The concept of climate justice importantly reveals the uneven impacts of climate change. However, existing attempts at mapping climate justice are dominated by nation-state-based approaches, which fail to capture the sociospatial complexity of climate injustice. To address that gap, this thesis explores climate justice through the lens of critical cartography.

Linguistic Barriers In Mathematics Word Problems For Deaf Students, Stefania Sarkic

Undergraduate University Honors Capstones

Many teacher preparation programs provide insufficient problem-solving skills training, and deaf students whose primary language is ASL encounter linguistic barriers when answering mathematics word problems. Research suggests that deaf students do not fully develop their critical thinking skills due to the linguistic barriers in mathematical word problems. This project investigates whether the use of ASL in mathematical word problems effectively gives another approach, more visual-based, to solving word problems and thereby helps deaf students develop critical thinking skills. A survey of 28 deaf students in developmental mathematics courses included three-word problems, one asked in English only, a second in ASL …

Winning The Narrative War, Samantha A. Taylor, Amanda B. Cronkhite

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

No abstract provided.

Effective Ways To Lower Muslim Immigrant Students' Anxiety In Esl Classes: A Handbook For Educators, Mehrnaz Ayazi

Master's Projects and Capstones

ABSTRACT

This field project is a handbook for educators that recommends effective ways of lowering Muslim refugee students' anxiety in ESL classrooms. Schools are challenging for refugee and immigrant students as they have to navigate school systems that do not accommodate their unique needs. As a result, Muslim refugee students are often discriminated against, marginalized, and bullied in schools. They suffer from low self-confidence, high anxiety, and lack of motivation. Research concludes that educational institutions in host countries are ill-equipped in creating an equitable education and school environment for Muslim refugee students due to the lack of educators’ training and …

Using Graphic Novels To Teach English And American Culture In Japanese Middle Schools, Jenna Pollack

Master's Projects and Capstones

English proficiency in Japan has historically been lower than other Asian countries despite students learning English as a core subject beginning in elementary school. To help address this, Japan has brought thousands of assistant language teachers (ALTs) from native English-speaking countries through both government and private companies to help teach English and promote foreign cultural exchange. These teachers often experience cultural misunderstandings and microaggressions from both colleagues and students yet must continue to respectfully teach culture as cultural ambassadors. The purpose of this project is to design a handbook that guides ALTs working with middle school students in how to …

The Function Of The Hukou System In Post-Revolutionary China & Its Autonomous Regions, Joseph Kramer

Master's Theses

Over the course of more than two millennia the Hukou System has shifted in scope and purpose. In dynastic times it served as a mechanism of tax acquisition. In more recent years it has functioned as a method of census and land distribution. Today it holds a duplicitous function serving as both an economic and social control mechanism. The Hukou achieves this through controlling movement through a passport like system of internal registration. In simpler terms, think of the Hukou as an internal passport regulating movement while simultaneously holding all of your biometric data which is surveilled and controlled by …

Teaching The Empire: Education And State Loyalty In Late Habsburg Austria, Scott O. Moore

Central European Studies

Teaching the Empire explores how Habsburg Austria utilized education to cultivate the patriotism of its people. Public schools have been a tool for patriotic development in Europe and the United States since their creation in the nineteenth century. On a basic level, this civic education taught children about their state while also articulating the common myths, heroes, and ideas that could bind society together. For the most part historians have focused on the development of civic education in nation-states like Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. There has been an assumption that the multinational Habsburg Monarchy did not, or could …

Research On Failure Modes Analysis Based On Weighted Evidence Theory, Lulu Shao, Jihong Han, Niu Kan, Xiaohu Liu, Shao Fang

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: Aiming at the risk priority numbers of different failure modes being equal and the criticality of the fault modes changing greatly due to the tiny change of the risk parameters, a method of the failure modes analysis based on the weighted evidence theory is proposed from the perspective of the methodology of dealing with the uncertainty problem. The method qualifies the epistemic uncertainty existing in the expert evaluation of the risk parameters into the basic belief assignment and expert attribute weight respectively, and the information propagation and processing of the epistemic uncertainty is solved, and the ordered arrangement …

Supporting English Language Learners With Disabilities In Special Education, Margaret Kramer

Master's Projects and Capstones

The number of English Language Learners, both appropriately and inappropriately, placed in Special Education has risen in the public education system. This requires Special Education classrooms to incorporate language acquisition opportunities into the child’s education, but the school systems are not currently prepared to provide this to the staff and students. There is a lack of culturally and linguistically appropriate curricula, limited collaboration between parents and teachers, and incomplete IEPs affecting students placed in Special Education and learning English as a second language. The purpose of the project is to address the needs of staff and families working with students …

Tools Of Engagement For Language Acquisition, Cheng Li

Master's Projects and Capstones

It has increasingly become a common phenomenon that a lot of focus is placed on listening skills and disregarding the significance of oral skills in English classes in China. This mode of teaching that allows students to practice only listening, but not practice speaking, has a lot of drawbacks. Classroom context where students are denied the opportunity to participate by speaking the language does not motivate them to develop pragmatic skills that are useful for learners. This project illustrates how classroom teacher-student interactions occur and how the use of appropriate social media technology could be useful to motivate learners. It …

A Migration System In The Making: Institutional And Experiential Dynamics Of Refugees And Asylum-Seekers In Mexico, Melissa Balliet

Master's Theses

This thesis argues that Mexico’s refugee regime - its institutions, its legal instruments and its norms - are under serious pressure and, as a result of that pressure, a new refugee regime is emerging in the country. This new refugee regime is based on the notion that the movement of refugees, asylum-seekers and irregular migrants should be effectively managed and strictly controlled. Such pressure, resulting in an aggressive border enforcement strategy implemented by the Mexican state, has come directly from the United States government. New policies and contractual agreements emerging from the United States and Mexico (2018-2019) have made it …

Narratives Of Black Identifying Newcomer Youth, Saniyyah Lateef

Master's Theses

This study seeks to explore and understand the unique and individual experiences of Black identifying newcomer youth in the United States. Current research related to the experience of newcomers is limited in regards to Black identifying newcomers. Through narrative inquiry methodology, this study seeks to share the experiences of Black identifying newcomer youth. It does this while recognizing the omnipresence of racism in the United States, and acknowledging the influence of life prior experience on identity development. The intent of this study is to help educators and community members better understand the integration and assimilation processes of Black identifying newcomers. …

Dangerous Dice: Playing With Artificial Intelligence And Populism During Brazil's 2018 Election, Glen Salazar

Master's Theses

With the advent of artificial intelligence and the resurgence of populism, in particular right-wing populism, we see nationalist parties that were once on the fringes of mainstream politics gain power around the world. Putting under the limelight the recent electoral victories of world leaders riding this new wave of populism, we recognize a troubling new reality: the confluence of artificial intelligence and populism allows for election interference through the spread of disinformation, propaganda, and emotionally charged populist rhetoric on social media. This tectonic shift in election tactics used by extreme nationalists presents an existential threat to democracy, with the potential …

The Object Of Affection: Metamorphosis And The Unbound Subject In Early Modern English Literature, Emily Barth

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

This project explores examples of metamorphoses in early modern English literature, and argues that metamorphosis becomes a means of affective expression for characters who are otherwise constrained. The Ovidian assault on the firm distinction between subject and object tells us something about affective life in the early modern world – and perhaps especially, if not exclusively, the affective life of early modern women. My primary texts include Thomas Lodge’s Scillae’s Metamorphosis and William Shakespeare’s Rape of Lucrece; Edmund Spenser’s Faerie Queene, Book III Cantos 10-12, and Book IV through Canto 10; Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale and John Lyly’s Woman in …

Predicate Informed Syntax-Guidance For Semantic Role Labeling, Sijia Wang

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

In this thesis, we consider neural network approaches to the semantic role labeling task in seman-tic parsing. Recent state-of-the-art results for semantic role labeling are achieved by combiningLSTM neural networks and pre-trained features. This work offers a simple BERT-based modelwhich shows that, contrary to the popular belief that more complexity means better performance,removing LSTM improves the state of the art for span-based semantic role labeling. This modelhas improved F1 scores on both the test set of CoNLL-2012, and the Brown test set of CoNLL-2005 by at least 3 percentage points.In addition to this refinement of existing architectures, we also propose …

Expressive Vocabulary Development In Very Young Children Who Are Deaf Or Hard Of Hearing, Amanda Mcnamara Rudge

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

This longitudinal study aimed to explore the expressive vocabulary growth rate of children ages birth to three years, who are deaf or hard of hearing (d/hh). An additional aim was to investigate hours of direct instruction received during early intervention as a factor that may contribute to the trajectories of expressive vocabulary growth in young children who are d/hh. Hierarchical linear modeling with growth curve analysis was used to investigate expressive vocabulary growth in a population of d/hh children using multiple points of longitudinal vocabulary data. A total of 417 assessments across the 105 participants were analyzed to determine the …

The Pathology Of Passion: Lovesickness In Medieval Iberian Literature And Medicine, Janelle Elizabeth Neczypor

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

My dissertation examines the changes in love literature and notions of lovesickness in Iberia between the thirteenth and early sixteenth centuries in order to demonstrate how alterations in medieval portrayals of lovesickness reflect larger transformations in medicine, politics, and the medieval worldview. Early didactic literature treats love as a hygienic habit that must be learned through guides illustrating proper and improper love, while fifteenth- and sixteenth-century texts often depict love as an illness to be cured and avoided. During the High and Late Middle Ages, plagues and illnesses, medical translations into Latin and Romance languages, and the rise of university-educated …

Beluu El Diak Le Belumam: Reclaiming And Decolonizing Palauan-American Cultural Heritage, Connie Ngirchemat

Master's Theses

Prior to colonization, Palau practiced their own indigenous ways of knowledge and epistemologies in relation to their spirits, land, and community. Through Palau’s colonial and imperial relationships under Spain, Germany, Japan, and evidently the United States, these impacts throughout Palau’s history have affected the community’s traditional ways of knowing. From colonial influences, to the evident emigration of the Palauan diaspora, this created a new generation of Palauan-Americans, who were raised unfamiliar with their cultural heritage and language. This lack of cultural awareness for the Palauan-American diaspora raises concerns of loss of culture, sense of self and identity, and its impact …

Healing Lgbtq+ Juvenile Youth Of Color Through Indigenous Practices, Jennifer Alvarez

Master's Theses

My goal for this study was to explore the experiences of queer youth of color who have been in the juvenile justice system in relation to their mental health/wellness. Through semistructured interviews, the seven participants of this study have shared their testimonio of coming out, being involved in the juvenile justice system and having to engage with mental health services, I explore how queer individuals are mistreated and are placed on temporary methods of healing from their trauma. Utilizing the frameworks of Testimonios, Critical Race Theory and Critical Pedagogy, I bring forward the experiences that queer youth of color in …

An Exploration Of The Cultural And Social Experiences Of Urban High School Students Attending Schools Outside Of Their Communities, Kerrin Mckenney

Master's Theses

The historic residential racial segregation in the United States results in racially segregated public and private schools. Higher achieving schools tend to be in more affluent areas and are more accessible to white students. Schools that are older, in need of repairs, and tend to be identified as low-achieving, remain in the poorer areas and are mostly attended by students of color. Despite the 1954 landmark case that declared separate but equal schools unconstitutional, public schools are more segregated now than before the Brown v. Board of Education case was heard by the US Supreme Court. As a result, some …