Digital Commons Network^™

Investigating Linguistic, Literary, And Social Affordances Of L2 Collaborative Reading, Joshua Thoms, Frederick J. Poole

Languages, Philosophy, and Communication Studies Faculty Publications

This exploratory study analyzes learner–learner interactions within a virtual environment when collaboratively reading Spanish poetry in a Hispanic literature course at the college level via an ecological theoretical perspective (van Lier, 2004). The goals of the study are (a) to present empirical data that illustrate the theoretical construct of affordance in a virtual, collaborative reading environment, and (b) to investigate the pedagogical ramifications of using a digital annotation tool to involve learners in collaborative reading. Three distinct types of affordances emerged in the data: linguistic, literary, and social affordances. Our findings indicate that the number of literary and social affordances …

Processing Differences In Reading Alliteration And Rhyme: An Eye-Movement Study, Keiko Bridwell

Senior Theses

In studies of silent reading, it is well-attested that the phonological content of a word, and not only its visual shape, contributes to the reading process. One of the most widely-observed phenomena in this field is the “tongue twister effect”: the tendency for words with repeated initial phonemes to be read more slowly and comprehended more poorly than words without phonological repetition. This effect has been welldocumented over decades of research; however, it has overwhelmingly dealt with wordinitial overlap, or alliteration. Very few studies have looked at the impact that word-final overlap, or rhyme, might have on reading. In the …

A Multi-Generational Deaf Family: A Case Study On Literacy, Rubecca Sue Wilson

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Literacy is a crucial component of life in our society, and the journey to becoming fluent readers begins before conventional classroom instruction. Literacy rates of adults who are deaf and hard of hearing are consistently in the fourth grade, age nine to ten years, range. In order to help build more skilled readers who are deaf and hard of hearing, it is critical to increase understanding of how deafness affects the development of literacy. This case study was of a family of six with all members' deaf and American Sign Language (ASL) as their first language. The purpose of this …

How To Boost Literacy In Ages Birth To Three, Brianna Johnson

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

This literature review explores the history, viewpoints, theoretical frameworks, and themes in literature of early literacy in the United States. It also discusses legislation on this topic, such as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Literacy in ages birth to three has been a long time educational issue. The ‘pendulum’ has swung between different approaches to literacy instruction. It is important for every person to be informed on this subject because early literacy affects each life. What one learns or fails to learn in the first three years of life affects the rest of …

Writing & Linguistics News, Georgia Southern University

Writing & Linguistics News (2012-2022)

• 2017 Senior Reading

Pescado Or Fish? Rapid Automatic Naming Performance For Young Spanish-Speaking English Language Learners, Stephanie Michelle Mcmillen Mrs.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Rapid Automatic Naming (RAN) is a behavioral task that measures how quickly and accurately an individual can name a set of pictured items. This task is an important predictor for reading success in young children, regardless of the number of languages spoken. As a measure of lexical processing eficiency, RANreflects the speed and accuracy of lexical access and retrieval, which is required for comprehension and production fo spoken and written language. The aim of this dissertation was to investigate the longitudinal performance across languages on a RANObjects task for young Spanish-speaking English language learning (ELL)children, as well as the predictive …

Eye Behavior While Reading Words Of Sanskrit And Urdu Origin In Hindi, Tahira Carroll

Theses and Dissertations

Hindi and Urdu are two branches of the same language sometimes known as Hindustani. They are divided by orthography and geography but when spoken are sometimes indistinguishable. Both have contributed loanwords that have now been completely assimilated into the language. The question of how the eye behaves during Hindi reading when it encounters Urdu loanwords has not been focused on extensively in prior research. The main purpose of this thesis is to document the eye behavior during reading Sanskrit-based words and Urdu loanwords in Hindi. We place fifteen word pairs consisting of one target Hindi Sanskrit-based word and its Urdu …

Teaching Listening For Prominence In Combination With Reading To Help Students Determine New Information, Margaret Genereux

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to assess whether teaching adult English Language Learners (ELLs) to listen for new information spoken with prominence on the target new information increased their ability to make inferences about meaning. Data collected included: a pre and post-test to assess students’ learning during the intervention; an uptake sheet to solicit students’ self-perception of their learning about pronunciation and placement of new information; and a Likert scale to elicit participants’ self-assessment of their ability to identify and use prominence. While results of the post-test on selecting the correct inference were inconclusive, quantitative and qualitative data indicated …

The Effects Of The Press Intervention On Kindergarteners With Limited Early Literacy Skills, Lindsey Peterson

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question addressed in this Capstone is: What impact does the PRESS intervention have on Kindergarteners with limited early literacy skills? Many students enter Kindergarten with limited literacy skills and are in need of learning the basic skills of reading before they can learn to read.The action research that was conducted involved seven students and an intervention focused on phoneme segmenting. The students were given a phoneme segmenting pre assessment before the ten day intervention. A post assessment was administered after each ten day intervention. The data revealed that after two, ten day interventions that 100 percent of the …

How Higher Order Questioning And Critical Thinking Affects Reading Comprehension, Lindsay A. Samelian

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question was, how I can increase fifth graders’ reading comprehension through the use of higher-order thinking questions and critical thinking? This qualitative action research was based on Anderson, Krathwohl, and Bloom’s (2001) work on the six levels of cognitive thought, Walsh and Sattes’ (2005) and Morgan and Saxton’s (2006) research on quality questioning, and Brookhart’s (2010) critical thinking assessments and rubrics. Their research incorporates into a fifth grade reading classroom while using Fountas and Pinnell’s (2001) guided reading model. The author creates higher ordering thinking questions for three WWII novels. She studies the types of questions and uses …

Book Review - Teaching African American Learners To Read, Tiffany A. Flowers

Journal of Research Initiatives

No abstract provided.

Writing & Linguistics News, Georgia Southern University

Writing & Linguistics News (2012-2022)

• Fledge contest for first-year writing
• Kim Addonizio (Georgia Poetry Circuit) campus visit & reading

The Influence Of Literacy Intervention On Mathematics Performance, Twana R. Watkins

Student Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether participation in an after-school literacy program utilizing the Barton Reading & Spelling System® (BRSS; Barton, 2000; Barton, 2002) would significantly affect mathematics skills as measured by total mathematics scores on a state-mandated testing assessment. The study consisted of 38 age- and gender-balanced participants categorized into an experimental or control group based on participation in the after-school program. Independent samples t tests and a paired samples t test were used to analyze test score differences for the first (Year 1) and second (Year 2) testing opportunities after exposure to the BRSS program. …

Writing & Linguistics News, Georgia Southern University

Writing & Linguistics News (2012-2022)

• 2016 Brannen Creative Writing Award ceremony & reading

Probing The Enactment Of Reading Miscues: A Study Examining Reading Fluency, Edward Lehner

Publications and Research

Subsequent to the National Reading Panel’s (2000) report, more researchers have been examining the role that reading fluency plays in the development of a child’s reading skills. This study investigated the efficacy of the National Reading Panel’s research claim that a child learns reading fluency skills mainly through phonics and decoding instruction. Using a methodology to track the source of reading miscues, this paper demonstrates that a student’s cultural and semantic knowledge of text vitally influences the development of reading fluency skills. Specifically, the findings suggest that a child culturally enacts reading fluency both through graphophonic and semantic knowledge of …

Whole Language Vs. Phonics?: Meaning-First And Code-First Approaches To Reading Instruction, Andrew P. Johnson

Elementary and Literacy Education Department Publications

This chapter excerpt describes approaches to reading instruction based on two different theoretical perspectives: a meaning-based approach and a skills-based approach. Video mini-lectures are included.

Employing Cueing Systems To Decode Text And Negotiate Text-Meaning In A Second Language, Timothy A. Rodriquez, Laureen Fregeau, Mary Kay Moskal, Robert Leier

ECTESOL Review

Many educators state that teaching English-Language Learners (ELLs) is just a matter of good teaching. While effective teaching is something that all children deserve, there are some differences between the approach a teacher may have to take with ELLs and with other students. One aspect of this difference is the fact that, while children go through the same stages of language development, ELLs may be at stages typically not found in other students. Based on a case study of an EL and his teacher, this article explains cueing systems and their role in literacy for ELs.

Standardized Testing In Reading, Troy L. Cox

Faculty Publications

While some may think that standardized testing is a recent innovation restricted to the United States, it has actually been part of educational landscape for centuries (Min & Xiuwen, 2001; Spolsky, 1995; Barnwell, 1996). The first standardized tests were the proposed solution to combat the problems that existed with appointing civil servants based on cronyism instead of merit. An unknown functionary in the Chinese government hypothesized that a small sample of behavior gathered under carefully controlled circumstances would predict future behavior in uncontrolled situations (Wainer, Bradlow, & Wang, 2007). This observation led to the first, standardized, job-screening tests used to …

Educators' Perceptions Of Best Practices For Increasing Literacy Among High-Poverty Students, Giuseppe Di Monte

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The local problem addressed in this study was the low reading achievement of high-poverty fourth-grade students in a small rural school in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The purpose of this instrumental case study was to examine the perceptions of the campus principal and teachers at a sampled high-poverty and high achieving elementary school to determine best practices for meeting literacy needs of high-poverty students. This knowledge is important because student success in reading achievement contributes to overall academic success. The neo-sociocultural conceptual paradigm of Wertsch, del Rio, and Alverez, which links cognitive and cultural learning processes, was …

Executive Functions And Word Reading Fluency: A Brief Intervention With Economically Disadvantaged Secondary Students, Vanessa Kim

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

This study evaluated the use of a brief intervention that was designed to assist economically disadvantaged secondary students increase their capacity for attention to orthography and increase their ability to shift between rapid sight word recognition and decoding of unknown words in order to improve their word reading accuracy and fluency. The participants (N = 14) were eighth and ninth grade students enrolled in an urban public high school and receiving special education services. The study used analysis of variance for repeated measures and paired measures t-tests to analyze pre- and post-test data. The results indicated significant findings (p < 0.5) in the students’ improvements in their sight word reading fluency and their ability to inhibit impulses and shift cognitive sets with accuracy and speed following the 8-week reading intervention. The findings suggest that exposure to repeated word fluency drills that target attention to orthography and shifting from sight word recognition to decoding may have influenced the students’ self-monitoring skills and offer further support regarding the hypothesized role of executive functions in the act of reading.

Family Support Of Third-Grade Reading Skills, Motivation, And Habits, Lauren Capotosto, James S. Kim, Mary A. Burkhauser, Soojin Oh Park, Bethany Mulimbi, Maleka Donaldson, Helen Chen Kingston

Education and Child Study: Faculty Publications

This qualitative study investigated the ways in which 84 parents from predominantly low-income communities described supporting their third graders’ reading skills, motivation, and habits. Thematic analysis of open-ended parent interviews indicated that parents actively and deliberately scaffolded their children’s progress toward developing independent reading skills. Parents explicitly communicated the value of reading in everyday conversations; actively listened to their children read, even if they did not understand the language in which the text was written; asked reading comprehension questions; created a home environment conducive to sustained reading; promoted reader autonomy through encouragement of strategy use; and incorporated reading practices into …

Effects Of Instructional Pedagogy On Eighth-Grade Reading Students, Barbara Ward

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Education is the foundation for the future, and a successful education begins with strong literacy skills. The 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress reported that only 36% of eighth-grade students in the United States were classified as reading on a proficient level, and 22% of eighth-grade students were unable to read and comprehend text at the basic level. The purpose of this quantitative, quasi-experimental, post hoc analysis was to determine whether a difference existed in the change in test scores of the reading portion of the Criterion Referenced Competency Test from the 2011-2012 academic year to the 2012-2013 academic year …

A Descriptive Study Of Implementing Tiered Systematic Phonics Intervention Through The Colorado Read Act, Geoffrey H. Stokes

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question explored in this capstone was, how might I aid schools and districts in implementing district-wide systematic phonics intervention, both instructionally and organizationally? It documents Denver Public Schools (DPS) efforts to implement the READ act, a comprehensive law in which all students are evaluated in reading and assigned intervention if needed. The capstone explores how DPS can implement tiered systematic phonics intervention as part of the READ act. The paper reviews the most current peer reviewed research regarding the efficacy of phonics intervention. Using the methodology of a descriptive study, the capstone lays out a detailed logistical proposal …

Multisensory Tristram Shandy, Cynthia N. Malone

English Faculty Publications

An absorbed reader typically pays little conscious attention to the visual, tactile, and sometimes aural sensory experiences of reading. Unexpected formal and visual features of Laurence Sterne’s nine-volume fictional narrative, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, startle readers out of absorption and call attention to familiar operations like decoding black figures on white paper and turning pages. My edition of Volume I is designed to engage the senses through its visual structure, textures, and unexpected materials (buttons, marbled paper strips, and ribbons) and through formal surprises (interpolated documents, accordion-fold inserts, and paper lace). In its structure …

An Evaluation Of Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (Vpk) Participation On Third Grade Reading And Math Performance In A Rural School System, Christy Deberry Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

This study examined the longitudinal performance of a district-wide cohort of students who had accumulated scores for both kindergarten and third grade analysis. The sample was disaggregated by Pre-kindergarten participation and student demographics such as gender, age, minority status, rural class, and socio-economic status. STAREarly Literacy, STARReading, and STARMath assessment scores were used for the data analysis. Sample data was collected from the beginning of kindergarten and at the end of third grade.Two types of analysis were conducted to complete the study. This study investigated the analysis of student performance measures based on participation in a Pre-kIndergarten program as well …

A Correlation Between English Oral Language Proficiency And The Success Of The Reading Recovery Program For Karen Students, Heidi Wheelock

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

This case study explores how the success of Karen Reading Recovery students correlates to their English oral language proficiency. Three first-grade Karen students in the second round of Reading Recovery were assessed to find their English oral language proficiency. Their pretest and posttest scores from the program were analyzed as well as observation data about their success in the use of semantic and syntactic prompts. Interview data from the Reading Recovery teachers about the exit status of the students was analyzed for recurring themes. The results show that English oral language proficiency has an affect on the degree of success …

Effects Of Spatial Frequencies On Word Identification By Fast And Slow Readers: Evidence From Eye Movements, Timothy R. Jordan, Jasmine Dixon, Victoria A. Mcgowan, Stoyan Kurtev, Kevin B. Paterson

All Works

� 2016 Jordan, Dixon, McGowan, Kurtev and Paterson. Recent research has shown that differences in the effectiveness of spatial frequencies for fast and slow skilled adult readers may be an important component of differences in reading ability in the skilled adult reading population (Jordan et al., 2016a). But the precise nature of this influence on lexical processing during reading remains to be fully determined. Accordingly, to gain more insight into the use of spatial frequencies by skilled adult readers with fast and slow reading abilities, the present study looked at effects of spatial frequencies on the processing of specific target …

Investigating Text Talk As A Tool For Improving Vocabulary And Comprehension Skills For English Learners In Response To Intervention Groups, Roshawn Terese Sook

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if Text Talk is a viable vocabulary-teaching tool for English Learners. The students of the study were provided additional support in vocabulary and reading skills based on formal and informal grade level assessments. The children received supplemental instruction within the RtI framework. The research approach was an action research project that took place during an extended reading period. The Text Talk program was tested with first, second and third grade students as an intervention strategy. The study was carried out over a four-week period. The first two weeks the Text Talk guide …

How Can Implementing Oral Language Strategies Support First Grade Struggling Readers?, Alexandra Kraemer Askew

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question addressed in this project was, how can implementing oral language strategies support first grade struggling readers? In this project, action research was conducted in an urban first grade classroom with nine student participants. All of the student participants were categorized as first grade struggling readers and came from many different diverse backgrounds. During the research two oral language strategies were implemented during a four-week period with two reading groups. Pre and post assessments were given to monitor student progress and gauge the success of the strategy implementation. At the end of the four-week period, all students made …

Informational Texts And Vocabulary For Young Children, Gwen R. Marra

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

Informational texts are encouraged in the primary grade classroom. Why are they important? How can they be used effectively?