Reading and Language Commons^™

Living With Harry, Ann Brunjes

Bridgewater Review

No abstract provided.

Using Portfolio Assessment In Course Evaluation, Pamararat Wiriyakarun

PASAA

Recently, portfolio assessment has become popular in language education as an alternative in language assessment, since it allows for the possibility of assessing various complex and important constructs in language learning, such as the progress and achievements of individual learners. It can, moreover, evaluate not only the growth of individuals but also the effectiveness of a particular course or program. This paper discusses concept of portfolio assessment, followed by the demonstration of the design, implementation, and assessment of two basic types of portfolios-process and product portfolios. The paper concludes with the application of portfolio assessment in course evaluation.

The Development Of An Intensive English Course For Buddhist Missionary Monks Using Task--Based Instruction, Nopphawan Chimroylarp

PASAA

The study was aimed at developing an intensive English course for Buddhist missionary monks using taskbased instruction, studying the effects of task-based instruction on the learning outcomes of the students as well as exploring their views on TBI. The subjects of the study were thirty students selected from a class of the Buddhist missionary monk training program, and they were to provide the quantitative data. Twenty students, selected based on their pre--test scores as the representatives of the high ability group and the low ability group, provided qualitative data by writing logs during the course and being interviewed at the …

Articles A Test Taker-Centered Computer-Based Writing Test : Meeting Half Way In The Assessment Of Writing, Tanyaporn Arya, Kanchana Prapphal

PASAA

Lack of resources and of the opportunity to produce drafts often leaves EFL learners at a disadvantage during writing tests. This paper reports on a study exploring the effects of provided facilitative features and prescribed drafting in a computer-based writing test on test takers writing performance scores. Participants were one hundred forty-four Thai EFL undergraduate students being required to write argumentative essays. The study employs a two-bytwo factorial pretest posttest control group design. Data analyses included the use of the two-way analysis of variance, Kruskal-Wallis H and Mann-Whitney U tests. Results suggest that these two factors could potentially be included …

Reading Portfolio Assessment : The Case Of Taiwan Efl Learners, Chin Min Lin

PASAA

The study is intended to find out the effects of reading portfolio assessment and students' perceptions of the implementation in Taiwan. The subjects are a class of third-year junior college students who take an EFL reading class with the researcher. The experimental period lasts one semester.

Are They Making An Appropriate Decision? Implications From Bachman's Assessment Use Argument, Yj-Ching Pan

PASAA

Tests do not occur in a vacuum; they have farreaching and unanticipated consequences. Tests have an effect not only on traditional teaching practices in the classroom but also on the broader educational and societal contexts. Examples are the selection of candidates for education, the monitoring of the performance of schools, the distribution of funding and even societal issues such as the selection of employees and candidates for immigration, citizenship and asylum. Given the potential power of tests, it is essential to justify test use and investigate its consequences. The primary goal of this paper is to utilize Bachman's assessment use …

Popcorn N' Picture Books: Promoting Children's Books In Academic Libraries, Laurie Charnigo, Carley Suther

The Southeastern Librarian

The educational value of children’s literature is supported by a numerous body of research. Helping children to read, write, develop fluency, critical thinking skills and multicultural awareness are just a few of the essential benefits children’s books provide. During the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, children’s book publishing has risen from a small publishing venture to big business. About 2,000 books were published for children in 1960. By the nineties, this number increased to 5,000 and has continued to rise. The “voluminous body of high-quality literature” published yearly makes selection by librarians difficult. As Bernice Cullinan and Lee Galda note, “Our …

Selected Bibliography Of Work On Canadian Ethnic Minority Writing, Steven Tötösy De Zepetnek, Asma Sayed, Domenic A. Beneventi

CLCWeb Library

No abstract provided.

New York Placenames In Film Titles, Jay H. Bernstein

Publications and Research

From 1914 to 2006, 396 feature films with titles containing New York place names were released. This pattern emerged during the silent era, peaked from the late 1920s to the early 1940s, and then dropped off steadily before rebounding in the 1970s. This article discusses the cinematic representation of cities and urban life in the movies and the special place of New York as an “imagined city” and a cultural icon. New York’s associations in the popular imagination help explain the frequent occurrence of themes of negativity, violence, nightlife, and grandiosity (royalty or divinity) in these titles. The use of …

Review Of Back To Nature: The Green And The Real In The Late Renaissance, By Robert N. Watson, Elizabeth Spiller

Department of English: Faculty Publications

Robert Watsons Back to Nature: The Green and the Real in the Late Renaissance identifies the Renaissance as the moment of an "absolutely fundamental change in its consensual interpretation of reality" (41). Fear that material reality obscures true knowledge ("things getting in the way of the Word") gave way to concern that words and other forms of human perception were key impediments to truth or knowledge ("words getting in the way of Things") (41). This decentering of medieval religious epistemology made itself felt across the arts and sciences of late Renaissance culture and brought with it a compensatory need to …

Learner Narratives And The Writing Curriculum: A Study Of The Strategic Rhetoric, Anil Pathak

PASAA

Replacing the traditional view of the curriculum as a statement of what should be done in a course of study, the learner-centered curriculum takes as its starting point what is done by language teachers in their classes. In an attempt to develop a negotiated model in which the curriculum is seen as a collaboration between teachers and students, this project aims at analysis of learner narratives focusing on theirself-concept (metacognitive knowledge) as writers. The research aims to focus on the premise that as a cohesive group, learners do try to assert power that can potentially transform teaching-learning activities. In this …

The Figgerin' Of Aunt Wilma: A Literary Analysis Of The Narration, Poonyasika A. Abhayakul

PASAA

This paper presents a literary discourse analysis of a short story by an American humorist following Austin's Speech Act Theory as refined by John R. Searle and further elaborated by Brown and Levinson (1999). The text was found to be organized in the typical five-point (abstract, orientation, complicating action, evaluation, and resolution) format expounded by Labov (1972) and Traugott and Pratt (1980). The role of characters in the text was also analyzed and discussed using Fillmore's (1968) Case Grammar as further developed by Grimshaw (1990), among others. The narrator's point of view in this text was found to surreptitiously elicit …

Lessons Learned Through Hong Kong- Thailand English Excursions, Kenneth Murray, Sujitra Pathurnlungkar

PASAA

Why Having Overseas Excursions for English Students?

English Next By David Graddol, Suriyan Panlay

PASAA

What makes this British Council commissioned report so fascinating is how the notion of 'global English' is explored in connection with international, economic, technological and cultural changes, and how these changes, in turn, could weaken the 'unassailable' position of English as the language of the world market.

Student Impressions Of Portfolio Assessment: A Thai Case Study, Sornchoen Honsa Jr., Pongrat Ratanapinyowong, Salee Kiewkarnka, Anchalee Sattayatham

PASAA

This paper reports on a case study into a pilot introduction of portfolio assessment and what student impressions and suggestions regarding this alternative form of assessment were among a group of students studying the Introductory English II course in the faculties of Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Science, Mahidol University. Questionnaires used revealed: (1) the most popular learning style was in a whole class with a teacher; (2) most students thought speaking skills were most important but that many also thought listening skills were most important; (3) watching UBC programs with worksheets was ranked the most popular listening activity by the largest …

Academic Writing Development As A Socialization Process: Implications For Eap Education In Japan, Mayurni Fujioka

PASAA

In spite of the increasing demand for courses that assist Japanese students to have successful academic experiences in their overseas studies, little is known about what is needed to ensure success in students' studies abroad and how to better prepare them for their future academic experiences overseas. Given the emphasis on writing placed in academia, this paper focuses on academic writing and views academic writing development as a socialization process into academic communities. In order to find what the academic literacy socialization process entails, previous studies on students' academic literacy socialization processes in North American university settings were reviewed, and …

An Exploratory Study Of Corrective Feedback In A Thai Efl Writing Class, Thanisa Choornbala

PASAA

Although a large number of studies have focused on oral corrective feedback in communicative classes, comparatively, few have focused on the corrective feedback devices used in writing classes. Whenever emphasis has been placed on the corrective feedback employed in writing classes, the focus has primarily been on the written corrective feedback. Where oral corrective feedback employed in writing classes serves as the research focus, the context has mostly been teacher-student conferences. This study attempts to shed more light on the usage of the different kinds of corrective feedback devices during teacherfronted class sessions. It investigates the corrective feedback usage of …

Predictors Of Test Performance In English For Consumer Product Marketing, Nisa Vongpadungkiat, Kanchana Prapphal

PASAA

This study aimed to investigate (1) the relationships between three selected variables (formal content study, English language attainment, and overall academic achievement) and performance in the Reading Test of English for Consumer Product Marketing (RT-ECPM), (2) the extent to which the three variables can predict the RT-ECPM scores, and (3) the test takers' attitudes towards the test. The two research instruments employed were the RT-ECPM and an attitude questionnaire for test takers. The subjects were 133 fourth-year university students from the Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy majoring in Business Administration at Chulalongkorn University. The study revealed that all selected variables …

A Special Talk With Dr. Hayo Reinders

PASAA

Talking about different modes of learning, do you think there is anything that differentiates learning a computer game from learning to speak a foreign language?

Lies Breathed Through Silver: Mythological Constructs In Tolkien’S Works, Joshua Mccrowell

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

It’s not hard to imagine the English air being warm the night John Ronald Reuel Tolkien brought Clive Staples Lewis hard won into Christianity. The image of their lengthy midnight talk has since become almost mythic to those who study those two authors because of the impact that Christianity (and the other) had on each other’s lives. Lewis’ most famous works - everything from Narnia to his Space Trilogy to his apologetics - all are based on and inspired by his faith. Similarly, Tolkien once said that “The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic …

A Qualitative Study Supporting The Development Of A Community Family Literacy Center In Isolated Communities, Sioux Annette Rees-Mitchell

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study is to provide a community with the resources necessary to help children become proficient readers. This qualitative study explored the literature on attributes of successful Community Family Literacy Centers and before and after school tutoring programs. Community Family Literacy Centers are localized places where families can build literacy skills in a supportive and safe environment.

Does Intensive Reading Interventions Cause Alienation In Ninth Grade High School Students?, Allan Lee Aab

Theses Digitization Project

The objective of this research was to determine if students who are enrolled in intensive reading intervention classes due to limited reading and comprehension skill, experience greater alienation than students not enrolled in these classes. Ninth and tenth grade students from March Valley School, a small alternative high school in Moreno Valley, CA participated in this study.

Dual-Language Drama As A Door To Classic Literature, Ezekiel Glenn Stear

Theses Digitization Project

The author believes that the mediation of classic literature through drama would increase student's opportunity for academic success on the secondary and post-secondary levels of education. This project develops curriculum and materials using dramatic adaptations of ancient literature created by the author.

Creating A School Based Family Literacy Institute, Teresa Ann Cimino

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this project is to assist parents, through the development of a school-based Family Literacy Institute, to learn to actively help their children when they read at home. The study will teach parents how to pick appropriate books for and with their children and use them as a read aloud. It is, also, to get parents involved with their children's literacy development and to support their educational experiences from elementary school through high school.

Increasing Fluency In Struggling Readers Through Newspaper Reading, Kimberly Bonice Koch

Theses Digitization Project

The focus on this study was on improving the oral reading fluency of third grade students who struggle in reading. One third grade teacher and six of her students participated in this 4 week study that examined the effect on fluency of newspaper reading and various constructive reading and engagement activites. These six students were assigned to an Optimal Learning Model pull-out fluency instruction using the newspaper as text. Results from the Developmental Reading Assessment instrument reveal significantly improved effects in the number if miscues, correct words per minute, and prosody for the six students. From the results, it is …

The Use Of Reciprocal Teaching As A Mediational Tool To Enhance Reading Comprehension, Luz Elena Nguyen

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this project was to study how Reciprocal Teaching can best serve students in a third grade classroom for reading comprehension. A curriculum was developed to help the classroom teacher find a better way to teach reading comprehension using four important reading strategies: predicting, summarzing, clarifying and questioning. Several mediated tools were developed to enhance reading comprehension with clear explanations on how to implement Reciprocal Teaching with the current curriculum and California Standards on comprehension.

An Innovative Approach To Grammar Instruction In The High School Language Arts Classroom, Robert John Miller

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects on student writing of two separate approaches to teaching grammar - one traditional, and one non-traditional. Over the course of four weeks, the writing abilities of two high school English classes, similar in composition and academic skill, were compared.

Aesthetic Scanning: Refining Critical Thinking Through Oral Language Activities, Elaine Diana Golledge

Theses Digitization Project

This study examines the use of aesthetics in the art education curriculum as a strategy for building oral language skills and critical thinking skills. In this study reproduced artworks were used to stimulate discussion; students learned to scan paintings using a technique called aesthetic scanning during which they learn how to look at a painting orally through guided questioning by the classroom teacher. It was concluded that providing oral language opportunities through the implementation of the aesthetic scanning program was an effective way to promote oral language skills and critical thinking skills in the kindergarten classroom. Arts, as a core …

Ivy Leaves, 2007, Ivy Leaves Editorial Staff

Ivy Leaves

The 2007 edition of the Anderson University journal of art and literature, Ivy Leaves.

The names of the known editors for this issue of Ivy Leaves were Jessica Sopolosky, Charlie Grant, Phyllis Goins, Joshua Rigsby, Robbie Cobb, Wayne Cox, and Eric Whitlock.

Documentary Editing, Volume 29, 2007.

Documentary Editing: Journal of the Association for Documentary Editing (1979–2011)

No abstract provided.