Education Commons^™

Cultivating Well-Being In English As A Second Language: Teaching Stress Reduction Techniques In The Adult Esl Classroom, Sara C. Coronado

Master's Projects and Capstones

Adult immigrant and refugee speakers of English as a Second Language (ESL) including California community college students may suffer trauma and stressors that can lead to negative mental health outcomes during the stages of migration, yet underutilize mental health services owing to cultural stigma, structural barriers, and a lack of English language proficiency. In addition, ESL speakers may also suffer from language anxiety evoked by speaking the less-developed language in the classroom as well as outside of the classroom during interactions with the majority language community. Both forms of anxiety share symptoms including tense muscles, rapid breathing, shortness of breath, …

Digital Literacy For Older Adult English Language Learners, Talley Caruso

Master's Projects and Capstones

When essential services transition to digital platforms, individuals with limited digital proficiency, immigrant English Language Learners (ELLs), and older adults aged 65 and above face challenges accessing these resources, leading to potential exclusion.

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the shift to online interactions and services due to lockdown measures, reducing face-to-face interactions. This sudden transition left individuals without digital skills unable to access healthcare, essential services, and maintain connections with their support networks. Addressing this issue presents an opportunity to promote inclusivity, empowerment, and community engagement through targeted digital literacy training.

Digital literacy encompasses the ability to navigate technology such as …

Collaborative Drama For The Adult Esl Classroom: A Guidebook For Engaging Adult English Language Learners In Their Oral Language Production Through A Television Series, Molly Mccarthy

Master's Projects and Capstones

ABSTRACT

This field project addresses the lack of engagement in oral language production of adult English as a Second Language (ESL) students in the classroom. To address this issue, this project identifies the reasons behind the lack of engagement in oral language production and suggests the ways in which drama techniques can improve engagement of adult ESL students in their oral language production. This project looks specifically at the positive effects that teaching ESL through the use of a television series will have on students’ engagement of oral language production. With a lens on lowering students’ affective filter, increasing collaboration, …

English Language Investment: A Qualitative Study On Transitioning Adult Language Learners To Postsecondary And Career Certificate Programs, Colleen Collins Stribling

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This qualitative study elicited and examined the narratives of 15 adult immigrants

learning English in a grant-funded program. The purpose of the study was to listen to student

voices to understand persistence and investment from the perspectives of the students. The study

utilized a process called reciprocal ethnography whereby participants analyzed their journeys

with the researcher to determine what factors in their life histories, experiences, and identities

had led them to invest sufficiently in English as a Second Language (ESL) programs in order to

reach levels of achievement that would allow them to transition into post secondary and career

certificate …

Using Humor To Enhance Metalinguistic Awareness And Expand Cultural Competence In Adult Esl Classrooms, Jean L. Hilburn

Master's Projects and Capstones

Research has shown that there are many benefits to using humor in the ESL classroom. Although this is known, oftentimes humor is avoided. There are a variety of reasons for humor not being incorporated into the ESL classroom. In addition, because much of the research and curriculum development regarding humorous wordplay and its benefits for ESL students has been focused on children, there is a paucity of curriculum, materials, and resources which focus on humor and wordplay relating to adult topics and themes.

The purpose of this project is to fill the gap between what is available and what is …

"Off From Lost": Generation 1 Learners' Transition From Adult Esl To Developmental Education, Emily Kyungjin Suh

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Immigrant students access community colleges with increasing frequency (Teranishi, Suarez-Orozco, & Suarez-Orozco, 2011); however, the majority of research focuses on Generation 1.5 students who completed K-12 education in the U.S. Generation 1 learners are defined in this study as adult immigrants (Rumbaut, 2004) and adult learners (Knowles, 1970) who began American education in adult ESL. Learners’ unique experiences and social roles motivate their transition to higher education and produce distinct linguistic and cultural needs. Many immigrant students begin in developmental education (Teranishi, Suarez-Orozco, & Suarez-Orozco), which is strongly influenced by the adult learning theory of andragogy (Knowles, 1968). This multiple …