Reading and Language Commons^™

Countering Online Misinformation In The First-Year Composition Classroom, Samantha Sparrow Williams

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This thesis encourages the intentional and explicit integration of the best practices in media literacy education within the first-year composition classroom. The nature of FYC, which incorporates such content as research skills and source evaluation, provides an ideal opportunity to address the online misinformation and disinformation that have resulted in growing political polarization and cynicism. Recent findings suggest that these trends can be countered with the teaching of practices like lateral reading to verify a source’s veracity. After first demonstrating the challenges that university freshmen may bring with them to campus, this project makes suggestions for simple, consistent practices that …

Acquisition Of Word Spellings And Meanings During Reading In Nonnative Chinese Speakers, Yang Liu

Dissertations

This dissertation explored the acquisition of word spellings (orthographic learning) and word meanings (incidental word learning) during reading in adult nonnative Chinese speakers. Two studies were designed for this dissertation. In Study One, 45 Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) learners at intermediate and advanced proficiency levels participated and completed a character learning experiment in a self-teaching paradigm. Results indicate that CFL learners were able to use the phonetic regularity and semantic transparency of radicals to learn the spellings and pronunciations of new characters after limited exposures to the characters in a story context. In Study Two, 72 CFL learners …

Tutor In A Bag: Reaching Struggling Readers, Lillian Hoskinson

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Tutor in a Bag is a tutoring program designed to match novice adult tutors with struggling early readers. The program trains tutors with varied backgrounds to work with struggling readers using evidence-based instructional strategies and data collection methods. Tutors attended an initial training session to receive materials, practice each component of the lesson plan, and to receive fundamental training on use of reading games and strategies supporting solid reading instruction at a brisk pace. Each designated struggling reader was paired with a tutor for 10 weekly, thirty-minute sessions driven by each student’s individual needs. Support for the tutors was provided …

Ua1c11/23 Wku Libraries Photo Collection, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

WKU University Libraries photograph albums.

Conscious Reconstruction: The Effects Of Second Language Acquisition On Self-Perception Of Gender Identity, Geneva Ged

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Gender interacts with other facets of English Language Learners’ social identity like race and ethnicity to guide their learning experiences, desires, and outcomes; however, much of traditional Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL) research has focused on how motivation and language learning beliefs differ between male and female English as a Second Language/English as a Foreign Language (ESL/EFL) students with the intent to identify difference, if it exists. English Language Learners who are studying abroad or who have immigrated to the United States have already established a gender identity influenced and created by their experiences in their first language …

Reviving The Surrealist Revolt: A Retracing Of Surrealism’S History And A Reimagining Of Its Future In Translation, Kyle Young

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Although Surrealist writing has literary merit, Surrealist texts were written as revolutionary tracts meant to undermine the social order. Yet the politically radical aspects of the movement are no longer taken very seriously. At least one contributing factor to the current impotence of Surrealism is the approach taken in the translation of Surrealist texts. Many translators have presented Surrealist texts as they would traditionally present any literary document. However, Walter Benjamin’s writings on translation, in particular his essay “The Task of the Translator,” provide a novel conception of translation, one which can produce linguistically radical texts. I will argue that …

An Examination Of Reading Assignments In The Secondary Classroom, Rachel Elizabeth Leer

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this research study is to examine reading assignments given in the secondary classroom of a rural secondary school. The intention is to analyze student readiness to handle complex text found in post-secondary education and/or the workforce, based on current reading trends within the school. The research questions guiding this study focus on the average amount of reading students are expected to complete in a week, what strategic support is being provided to students to enhance comprehension of text, the methodology behind how teachers select both reading assignments and reading strategies, and finally the methodology behind how teachers …

Moving Beyond The Written Comment: Narrowing The Gap Between Response Practice And Research, Jane Fife, Peggy O'Neill

English Faculty Publications

While our field’s response practices have changed dramatically over the past two decades to involve more student comments on their own texts, empirical studies have lagged far behind classroom practices, focusing almost exclusively on teachers’ written comments as texts. By broadening our notion of response—and acknowledging the many and varied ways that teachers respond to student writing as well as the many and varied ways that students influence and interpret those responses—we will be able to narrow the gap between our teaching practices and our research questions.

English As A Second Language: Evaluation Of A Language Program Designed For & Implemented In The Colombian Oil Company's Research Institute, Patience Nave

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

An incredible proliferation of knowledge has generated a critical need for professionals in all fields to have access to current information and research results. Costs for study and research are extremely high, particularly in science fields, and most professionals seek to minimize loss in time and funds by avoiding duplication of efforts. Language is often a handicap, preventing the voluntary sharing of valuable information between individuals and countries, and many recognize the establishment of a universal language as a means of eliminating this unnecessary barrier. English is rapidly becoming accepted as a universal means of communication, but those who seek …

A Study Of The Effects Of Writing Instruction Versus Writing And Reading Instruction On 10th Grade English Students, Patricia E.G. Craig

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The effects of writing instruction as opposed to writing and reading instruction were studied on 10^th grade English students’ reading comprehension and writing. Two groups (classes) completed pretests and pre-sample writing. Then, both groups were given writing instruction while only one group was given related reading skills instruction. Finally, both groups completed posttests and post-sample writings.

An analysis of covariance of the pre-and posttest data was done. It revealed no significant difference between the two groups related to reading comprehension. However, a significant difference existed between the two groups related to language expression (editing skills or writing sub-skills). The …

A Comparison Of Book Choices Of Fifth-Grade Pupils Today With Those Of A Generation Or More Ago, Anita Sanders

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Questionnaires containing the names of ten books, two series, and spaces for titles to be written in were distributed to 482 fifth-grade pupils to obtain data on the following questions: Are trade books that were popular with fifth-grade pupils a generation or more ago maintaining their popularity: Which new titles of children's books have emerged and gained popularity? Are selected series books popular with today's fifth-graders? To what extent do reading interests of boys and girls differ at the fifth-grade level? Interest scores were computed on all titles rated by as many as ten subjects Only King of the Wind …

The Effect Of Summer Recess On The Reading Achievement Of Title I Students At L.C. Curry School, Bowling Green, Kentucky, Virginia Scheider

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of the study was to determine if there were significant differences between spring reading achievement scores and fall reading achievement scores in the Title I students of L. C. Curry School, Bowling Green, Kentucky, and if significant differences did occur, were these differences related to grade level, IQ, sex, or reading achievement level.

The Investigation Of An Imagery Technique As A Screening Device For Reading Difficulties, Joseph Saxe

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

A form for assessing imagery ability based on behavioral criteria in response to an imaginary ball toss was developed and its utility as a screening device for reading difficulties was evaluated. The Imagery Assessment Form was administered to 167 kindergarten, second, fourth and sixth grade children. Grade and sex differences were compared and the imagery scores were correlated with standardized reading achievement scores. Significant mean score differences were found between kindergarteners and second graders only. Significant sex differences in imagery were observed across all grade groups. There was no sex by grade interaction. Positive significant correlations between imagery and reading …

Comparisons Of The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test And The Wechsler Intelligence Scale For Children-Revised With Late Elementary Aged Children, David Hughes

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of the study was to compare the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) in an effort to establish an estimate of the similarity between the two measures. The sample included 194 nine, ten, and eleven year old children referred to the University’s Psychological Clinic. There were 100 males and 94 females with a mean age of 10 years and six months. Out of the 194 children, 106 were white, 46 black and 42 of unknown race. Pearson Product Moment Correlations were performed between the PPVT IQ and the WISC-R variables. As …

The Effects Of A Short Term Preacademic Total Approach Program On The Language Development Of Disadvantaged Children, Doug Richter

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This research tests a short term total academic language development program on the development of language delayed children. It was hypothesized that an increase in vocabulary and response length after a six week treatment program would be reflected on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test and the Mean Length of Response Test. The treatment program utilized both the group and tutorial approach emphasizing the basic skills associated with listening, language, reading, writing and arithmetic. The subjects were nine-preschool Head Start children participating in a summer program at Western Kentucky University. A comparison of the performance on pre and post test revealed …

Ua77/1 Western Alumnus, Vol. 42, No. 6, Wku Alumni Association

WKU Administration Documents

Alumni magazine published by WKU. This issue has the following articles:

• Wood, Willson. He Did Not Teach Art - He Taught People - Ivan Wilson
• Dixon, Frances. Russell Miller - Benevolent Despot of Western Theatre
• The Ivan Wilson Center for Fine Arts
• Conway, Sheila. For New Center . . . A Fine Arts Send-Off - Ivan Wilson Hall
• Hackney, Karen & Richard Hackney. Soaring in '77: Satellite Research
• Branham, Judy. Homecoming 1973
• Conway, Sheila. Music, By Gemini! - Gemini 15
• Given, Ed. For More Than A-Mews-ment - Marvin Mews
• Dunn, Thomas. WKU Professors Complete International TV Research
• Remember 1966-67
• Pomp, …

A Certain Semite: The Path Of Written Language From Him To Us, Sybil Clark

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

A Certain Semite is not intended to be a history of handwriting, but rather a restriction to that part of the history and development of writing which has had either an indirect, or a direct effect on American writing. Although some authorities maintain that there can be no chronological order to the development of handwriting, it seems to me that there is a reasonably understandable order which can be followed in a reasonably discernible route from the Semite to us.

A Certain Semite is an effort to trace handwriting from him who was, according to discoveries made in the past …

The Mcguffey Readers, Louise Lively

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The textbook, an important factor in public school education, is nowhere so wonderfully developed as in the United States. It occupies a more important position in our educational system than it does in the systems of many foreign countries. In fact, most of the teaching in our schools today revolves around the textbook - the cause of much criticism by many writers. They deplore the fact that both our teachers and pupils are dependent on textbooks.

A Study Of The Effect Of Home Environment Upon The Reading Abilities Of Elementary School Children, Beulah Campbell

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study is to determine to what extent reading ability is related to certain factors in the home environment of children.

A Study Of The Effect Of Growth In Reading Achievement Upon The Total Personality Of The Child, Lillie Nix

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of reading achievement as measured by a standardized test of reading, upon the total personality of the child, as measured by a standardized test of personality.

An Analysis Of Basal Preprimers In Terms Of Factors Determining Their Difficulty, Virginia Brunson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of the study is twofold:

I. To make a comparative analysis of recently published preprimerrs from the standpoint of:

A. Relation of the content of the picture to the content of the printed text.

B. Style of writing

C. Elements of interst

D. Vocabulary burden

II. To evaluate the difficulty and relative merit of the preprimers analyzed.

An Experimental Study Of Leisure Reading In The Eighth Grade, Georgia Mcelwain

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The problem of the study was: To test the effect of free reading in the eighth grade, having materials provided with a range of difficulties suited to the differences in ability of the pupils.

An Analysis Of The Vocabularies Of Primers, Katie Motley

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of the present study is threefold:

1. To analyze the vocabulary of each of fourteen primers to determine the extent to which their vocabularies are identical.
2. To find what percentage of words each primer has in common with the Kentucky adopted text Ben and Alice.
3. To suggest primers which best supplement Ben and Alice for slow learners and for fast learners.

A Contract Plan For Teaching American Literature In High School, Elizabeth Stagner

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The plan may be characterized as follows:

1. A definite provision for four levels of mastery.
2. A challenge to the individual pupil, through a written presentation of contracts, to place himself satisfactorily at the grade-level he desires.
3. Provision for a period of thirty-six weeks, in six-weeks units.

Specific Training As A Means Of Developing Specific Abilities In Reading, Ola Roemer

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The problem specifically stated is: What is the effect of specific training upon the development of the ability to pick out central thoughts of paragraphs as compared with the results of obtained in the same direction from general reading procedures?

The purpose of this study is to compare the results of specific training upon the development of this special ability in reading with the results obtained in the same direction from general reading procedures.

Is Formal Grammar Necessary In The High School?, Edward Ray

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study does not attempt to decide which is the better method of presenting grammar to the high school pupil; that is a question which would require much more extensive research to answer. We are interested primarily in determining and evaluating the success in college formal grammar of students who have had formal grammar in high school as compared with the success of those who have not had high school formal grammar. The study, therefore, is an attempt to show the differences existing in preparation for college formal grammar on the part of the students who have had high school …