Reading and Language Commons^™

Ambanasom's Son Of The Native Soil And The Western Concept Of The Tragic Hero, Denis Fonge Tembong

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In his article "Ambanasom's Son of the Native Soil and the Western Concept of the Tragic Hero" Denis Fonge Tembong discusses the view that although African and Western literatures are fundamentally different as they exhibit or represent distinct cultural values, they nevertheless share some common notions. The concept of a tragic hero is one of those convergent loci where the two literatures meet. With this in mind, Tembong examines in Aristotle's and Shakespeare's concepts of the tragic hero and demonstrates how the ideas exploited in Macbeth are similarly used in Shadrach A. Ambanasom's Son of the Native Soil against the …

Racism And Identity In Onwueme's Riot In Heaven, Onyeka F. Iwuchukwu

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In her article "Racism and Identity in Onwueme's Riot in Heaven" Onyeka Iwuchukwu explores Tess Osonye Onwueme's acclaimed play in the context of the Black diaspora in the U.S. Iwuchukwu posits that because of Onwueme's exploration of the theater of the absurd in the play, audience's attention is directed to the illogical presentation of dialogue and action. However, the technique with textual properties suggesting unmotivated and meaningless references in fact carries profound meaning. Further, the said "absurd" presentation and narration results in a strong ideological and political message akin to the practice of littérature engagée. Iwuchukwu's analysis of …

Emerson, Reading, And Democracy: Reading As Engaged Democratic Citizenship, Michael D. Boatright, Mark A. Faust

Democracy & Education

“What is the right use of books?” Responding to the question he famously raised, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote that “books are for nothing but to inspire,” which we take as endorsing a pragmatic and pluralistic view of reading literature and other kinds of texts in a manner that keeps books open to a flow of continual questioning and renewal. The purpose driving Emerson’s democratic conception of reading, we argue, is not to arrive at definitive readings but to engender new possibilities for thinking about oneself in relation to others and to society at large. As such, an Emersonian perspective on …

Change One Thing, Change Everything: Understanding The Rhetorical Triangle, Tracy A. Townsend

Rhetoric Unit

This lesson exposes students to the most fundamental rhetorical concept, that of the “rhetorical triangle,” a device for understanding and articulating audience awareness in persuasion. Provided here are suggestions for a brief and engaging mini-lecture, followed by an exercise using two classic pieces of American rhetoric, speeches by the suffragettes Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. Students will be challenged to learn the principles of the rhetorical triangle, close-read a text for rhetorical clues and cues, and make sound judgments about the speaker’s rhetorical process based on evidence. This lesson and activity are suitable for students in grades 9-12, …

A Word Is Worth A Thousand Pictures: A Systemic Functional And Multimodal Discourse Analysis Of Intersemiotic Evaluation In University Science Textbooks, Leo William Roehrich

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Images are an invaluable medium in science textbooks for clarifying confusing concepts and establishing a visual foundation for field related topics. The integration of image and language within a single unit of discourse builds a larger meaning than the two semiotic forms are capable of producing separately. Visual representations are chosen for their functional value in aiding linguistic explanation and also for their aesthetic value in textual enhancement. Aesthetic choice is a matter of subjective opinion. Although science writing is generally classified as objective, authors embed personal opinion in written and visual discourse. The choice of visual medium has a …

Who Is You? Identifying "You" In Second-Person Narratives: A Systemic Functional Linguistics Analysis, Davina Kittrell

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

In narratives, characters are introduced to readers through the use of textual clues left by the author. These clues, often in the form of pronouns, enable the reader to follow the various characters involved throughout the story. Pronouns have no lexical content and are used as referential devices, guiding the reader through the story and helping them recover the identity of the story’s characters. However, some narratives employ a literary technique in which the story’s protagonist is introduced by the pronoun “you” with no previous textual information given. As a result the pronoun “you” is assumed to be exophoric, pointing …

A Contrastive Systemic Functional Analysis Of Causality In Japanese And English Academic Articles, Masaki Shibata

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Typological differences between languages have been a much debated topic in linguistic studies. Despite their usefulness in understanding syntactic features of various languages, such contrastive analyses have yet to thoroughly explore semantic variation among languages; furthermore, the results obtained have not been practically utilized in other areas of applied linguistics. This situation may come from the fact that a large number of contrastive studies have eclectically examined isolated areas of language variation either from syntactic, morphological, or from pragmatic perspectives. Viewing this issue from another angle, Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) focuses on language from a multi-dimensional perspective, where language is …

Text Complexity In Graded Readers: A Systemic Functional Look, Sally-Ann Newnham

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Utilizing the Systemic Functional Linguistic frameworks of taxis, logico-semantic relation, grammatical metaphor, and appraisal, this thesis examines two of the most popular rewrites: Jane Eyre and The Canterville Ghost from the Macmillian Reader, Black Cat Reading and Training, Oxford Bookworm, and Penguin ELT graded reader series. Although a considerable body of literature exists concerning graded readers, the majority of research tends to focus on statistical gains in fluency development or vocabulary acquisition and their retention rather than the linguistic properties of these texts. Furthermore, studies on textual adaptations primarily take a broad corpus-style approach, contrasting altered and unaltered material, rather …

Guide To The Massachusetts Reading Association Records, 1971-Current, Kara Leclair, Orson Kingsley

Archives & Special Collections Finding Aids

Administrative History:

The Massachusetts Readers Association, or the MRA, is a professional non-profit organization of individuals whose primary purpose is to improve the quality and level of literacy in the state of Massachusetts. The MRA is an affiliate of the International Reading Association, a worldwide literacy organization with a network of 300,000 educators in 99 countries. The MRA promotes literacy for all learners through professional development, research, publications, and advocacy for the literacy community. Some of the ways advocacy is met is through an annual state conference; disseminating best literacy practices to educators and parents; advocating for literacy issues through …

Script-Based Reading Lessons And Socialized Language Usage, Joseph James Spencer

Theses Digitization Project

This study focuses in particular on the connections students make to their reading as seen through contextualized language usage. Many educators and curriculum developers suggest that using these new script-based curriculum will help teachers systematize and close gaps in teaching and learning. If unwritten teacher questions and statements are used to redirect students' comprehension about texts occur during the reading lesson, these will be described and analyzed for their effects on the lesson goals and objectives.

Trans-Relational Poetics And Outsider American Modernist And Postmodernist Poetry, Anna Elena Eyre

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation is concerned with how language mediates the relationship between self and other, and in particular, mythopoetic language. The political potential of myth has long been condemned, so much so that the word "myth" is now synonymous with "false." I argue that this is a result of what I term as heroic mythopoesis wherein the relationship between self and other is predicated on a violent separation that reinforces conceptions of identity. In contrast, in what I term as trans-relational mythopoesis this relationship is contingent on an embodied exposure between self and other that reciprocally translates and transforms conceptions of …

Pragmatism And Democratic Embodiment : The Poetics Of Constructive Conflict In Emily Dickinson, Gertrude Stein, Mina Loy, And Laura (Riding) Jackson, Aidan Patricia Thompson

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

My dissertation, "Pragmatism and Democratic Embodiment: The Poetics of Constructive Conflict in Emily Dickinson, Gertrude Stein, Mina Loy, and Laura (Riding) Jackson," establishes a methodology based on William James's notion of the subject (1890) as fluid to interrogate how these poets, working roughly between 1860 and 1970, complicated questions of writing in order to critique systems of gender. I reconsider a presumed relation between language and feminism in Modernist Studies that understands the aesthetic practice of unsettling linguistic norms to be counter to feminist concerns relating to the body. Through this reassessment, I argue that the poets anticipated problems associated …

Use Of Subordination In English Second Language Texts, Susan L. Nesbitt Perez

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study investigates features of high-level academic writing in English with the aim of understanding the development of L2 English learners' academic writing skills as they follow a course of study in an English-speaking country. The study focuses on L2 writers' text quality and use of clause subordinators as a measure of writing complexity. The typology of the writers' L1s provides the organizational framework for the study, with three language typology groupings determined by a writer's L1 word order tendency: (1) configurational languages, (2) nonconfigurational languages, and (3) Asian languages.

‘An Isle Full Of Noises’: The Perception & Influence Of Sound In Shakespeare’S The Tempest, Paul A. Di Salvo

Student Publications

Since the play’s authorship in 1610, actor-managers and directors alike have struggled over staging the opening scene of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. The physical presence of the ship, the sounds and lighting effects of thunder and lightning, the dialogue of the actors, and the use of music have varied from the early 17^th century to the present in an effort to appeal to the audience. The presentation of these elements, especially sound cues and music, prepares audiences to understand the dynamics of Prospero’s powers and transformation as a character. Depending on how sound and stage technologies were implemented …

A Special Talk With Professor Richard Kiely

PASAA

In this issue, PASAA is very honoured to have an opportunity to interview Richard Kiely, Professor of Applied Linguistics and Language Education in the Centre for International Language Teacher Education (CILTE) at University College Plymouth, St Mark and St John, in the UK. Professor Kiely's research interests include language programme evaluation, language teaching and teacher training, and language learning explored from language socialisation and identity perspectives. Prior to joining CILTE, he worked at the University of Bristol, University College Chichester, and the University of West London. He has published in a wide range of journals, including the TESOL Quarterly, Language …

Using Journal Writing With Peer Feedback To Enhance Efl Students' Writing Ability Across Proficiency Levels, Watcharee Kulprasit, Thanyapa Chiramanee

PASAA

This quasi-experimental research integrated journal writing with peer feedback in an EFL writing classroom to examine its impact on writing ability of 42 Mathayomsuksa 3 Semi-English-program students in terms of accuracy and fluency across proficiency levels. The findings revealed that all students' overall writing ability improved significantly. The middle and the low groups' writing ability improved significantly in terms of accuracy and the word count in their writing significantly increased while the high group's did not. However, no significant improvement was found in all students' production of consistent language structures and vocabulary use: an aspect of fluency. The data analysis …

The Use Of Win, Self-Creative Interaction Ppt, And Online Tests To Assist In The Instruction Of English For Taiwanese Freshmen, Hui-Kuei Hsieh, Hui-Uen Chia, Erickson Lin

PASAA

Nowadays, because of the expansion of high-speed networking, people highly depend upon computers and the Internet to receive information and acquire knowledge. Education is gradually transforming from teacher-centric to student-centric. Instructors have become facilitators, tutors, coaches, guides and motivators. As a result, instruction has become non-linear and self-directed. Traditional classroom lectures are being gradually replaced by interactive teaching approaches. To reflect this trend, new forms of instruction must also take learners' needs into consideration. Consequently, interactive multimedia (IM) integrated instruction has become a must in Taiwanese higher education. Today, IM and courseware are required educational media in almost every Taiwanese …

Tests And Measurement For People Who (Think They) Hate Tests And Measurement, Sakolkarn Insai

PASAA

Salkind, N. J. (2013). Tests and measurement for people who (think they) hate tests and measurement (2nd ed.). Los Angeles: Sage Publication.

Classroom Assessment For Student Learning: Doing It Right - Using It Well, Champoon Sam-Arng, Thidawan Charoenpornsook

PASAA

Chappuis, J., Stiggins, R., Chappuis, S., & Arter, J. (2012). Classroom Assessment for Student Learning: Doing It Right - Using It Well (2nd Edition). Boston: Pearson Education.

Harnessing The Power Of K-W-L To Help Struggling Efl Readers Become Strategic Readers, Dumrong Adunyarittigun, Wichaya Pidchamook

PASAA

This study aimed to investigate the effects of KWL to help struggling college EFL readers to read informational texts. Thirteen Thai college second-year students received instruction on how to use KWL through a process of teacher modeling. They were engaged in activating their background knowledge and interest, generating their own questions, and discussing the texts with peers and teachers before, during and after reading. Four reading tests and interviews were used to investigate the students' reading performance. The results revealed that the struggling readers did improve their reading performance over time and had active engagement in reading the informational texts. …

Degree Of Comprehensibility In Thai Accented English Rated By Native Speaker Judges, Rachada Pongprairat, Sudaporn Luksaneeyanawin

PASAA

This study focuses on Thai accented English in one suprasegmental aspect—tonality (tone group chunking and rhythmic group division). Prior studies mostly compared the productions of learners at different proficiency levels with reference to native speakers as a norm. This study goes further by investigating the degree of difficulty in understanding Thai accented read speech by two groups of native speaker judges with different amounts of contact with Thai learners. The English read speech of two groups of Thai EFL learners representing slightly accented speakers (n = 5) and heavily accented speakers (n = 5) were randomised and presented to the …

An Analysis Of Moves In Introductions In International And Thai Journal Research Articles, Wirada Amnuai, Anchalee Wannaruk

PASAA

The schematic organization of research articles in terms of moves and steps has attracted extensive attention in genre study, and the focus of move-based analysis is on the hierarchical schematic structures of texts. The primary aim of this study is to compare the rhetorical moves in English research article introductions in Applied Linguistics as published in local Thai journals with those published in international journals. The comparison was made between 20 local and 20 international research article introductions selected from seven refereed local Thai journals and from seven international journals. These research article introductions were analyzed based on Swales' (2004) …

Encouraging Thai Efl Students' Recursive Progression Through The Writing Process With Blogs, Onuma Lakarnchua, Punchalee Wasanasomsithi

PASAA

Blogging, which allows users to post texts to an online site and have others comment on them, is posited to benefit writing as a process. Whether or not blogging encourages recursive progression through the writing process, which is deemed essential to fostering writing ability, and the factors that help it to do so, still need further investigation, particularly when it is implemented in a Thai context. This study sought to determine if Thai EFL students who used blogs to complete writing assignments moved recursively through the writing process, and if so, what features of blogging seemed to promote this action. …

Ten Mistakes To Avoid When Writing A Literature Review, Woravut Jaroongkhongdach

PASAA

Writing a quality literature review is important for success in publication and graduate studies, but it is a difficult task for many novice researchers and graduate students to achieve as noted by several scholars. For instance, Boote and Beile (2005) assert that ―most literature reviews [in dissertations] are poorly conceptualized and written‖ (p. 4), and Onwuegbuzie and Daniel (2005) report that many literature reviews of manuscripts for publications are underdeveloped and have problems with unsupported claims. These problems seem to be common in various disciplines such as education and social studies (see e.g., Fraenkel & Wallen, 2008; Zorn & Campbell, …

Communication Mobility And The Environment For Its Development, Olga A. Marina, Olga V. Smirnova

PASAA

Language use in the professional sphere gives rise to great complexity of communication as it adds contextual dimensions of both a linguistic and non-linguistic character due to the specific purposes and demands of this environment. The explosion of information for professional needs in foreign languages and expanding international professional communication, cooperation and mobility point to the need to revise the methods of teaching foreign languages to university students in order to increase the competitiveness and mobility of future graduates. Now the quality of professional foreign language training is defined by the ability of specialists to work effectively, to adapt to …

Looking Through The Critical Lens With The Public Service Announcement: A Short Discussion In Teaching Practice, Sheiron Sanchez

PASAA

Success for lifelong learners in the 21st century requires a more active, dynamic, and critical engagement with the diversity of texts inside and outside the classroom. This cornucopia of texts is constantly available for both educators and their students. Especially with the limitless access to texts via different media outlets, acute awareness and vigilance are necessary when certain texts are applied in any classroom. Within a classroom discourse, the development of critical thinking skills can be transformed into a social practice in the global community. Teachers can guide students in challenging established power relationships and social norms and practices, allowing …

Bitten By The Reading Bug, Mary Whisner

Librarians' Articles

Is reading books about law helpful to law librarians? Ms. Whisner discusses why and what she likes to read, and makes recommendations about books others might find interesting.

Individual Novices And Collective Experts: Collective Scaffolding In Wiki-Based Small Group Writing, Mimi Li

English Faculty Research

This article reports on a case study that explored the process of wiki-based collaborative writing in a small group of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students at a Chinese university. The study examined the archived logs from the group wiki ‘Discussion’ and ‘History’ modules with a focus on the group members' scaffolded interaction when co-constructing texts in the wiki space. The analysis revealed that the participants were actively engaged in reciprocal communication in terms of content discussion, social talk, task management, technical communication and language negotiation. They were also found to have scaffolded each other's writing efforts during co-constructing …

The Phenomenological Experience Of Narrative Transportation, William Buchanan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has attempted to identify consequences of mental transportation into narrative worlds. While scales have been developed and validated to measure readers' levels of transportation, the objective quantification has left researchers at a descriptive disadvantage for the full range of qualitative responses to this phenomenon. This study presents a qualitative method of inquiry designed to get at the experience of narrative transportation as it is lived: the phenomenological interview. Interview transcripts were inductively analyzed for common themes that indicate intersubjective features of narrative experience. Four main themes were identified, which were composed of 22 base-level experiences reported by participants. …

The Impact Of Transactional Strategies Instruction On The Reading Comprehension Of A Diverse Group Of Second Graders, Sunjoo Shawn Kim

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of TSI in teaching reading comprehension to a diverse group of second graders. The diversity included various levels of readiness in reading, language status such as English learners and native speakers of English, and various levels of participation by children in a whole-class setting. Part One of this study used teacher action research as its methodology to address reading comprehension and student autonomy. Part Two of this study used participatory action research, involving children as co-researchers, to investigate how second graders perceived Literature Circles as their reading comprehension instruction and …