Education Commons^™

Social Emotional Learning (Sel) For Secondary English Language Learners (Ells), Summer E. Wallace

Honors Projects

This literature review and unit plan seeks to understand what Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is and provide resources to educators on its importance in the classroom. The literature review provides an overview of peer-reviewed sources from various educational journals, as well as online publications. It also contains interviews with two educators currently in the field. This project examines the benefits of SEL within the classroom and beyond, and proposes steps and considerations for implementing SEL into the classroom. It also includes specific provisions for SEL instruction to secondary English Language Learners (ELLs). Additionally, it discusses specific strategies to implement in …

A Journey To The Midwest For Migrant Farmwork: Women's Testimonies Examining Their Lived Experiences Using Autoethnography And Plática Research Methodologies, Yesenia G. Alcalá

Theses & Dissertations

A JOURNEY TO THE MIDWEST FOR MIGRANT FARMWORK: WOMEN’S TESTIMONIES EXAMINING THEIR LIVED EXPERIENCES USING AUTOETHNOGRAPHY AND PLÁTICA

RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES

Yesenia Garza Alcalá, Master of Business Administration

University of the Incarnate Word 2026

The purpose of my research was to share the stories of five women who experienced a yearly migratory routine from Del Rio, Texas, to work in farms and factories in the Midwest, and how that annual journey shaped and educated us. The women are four of my older sisters and me, all of whom traveled and worked in the Princeville, Illinois, migrant camp, where we experienced the …

Performing Proficiency: Ethnodrama As Arts-Based Research In An Esl Acting Classroom, Angel M. Morales

Journal of English Learner Education

This study explores the use of ethnodrama as an arts-based research method and pedagogical tool in English as a Second Language (ESL) education. Drawing on the work of Saldaña, Salvatore, and Denzin, the project examines how performance can communicate lived experiences, foster language development, and promote social justice in multicultural classrooms. Based on interviews and observations of ESL students in an Acting I course, the resulting ethnodrama, What?! Acting?!, presents verbatim narratives that reveal learners’ identities, struggles, and resilience. The findings highlight how theatrical practice enhances linguistic fluency, self-expression, and cultural understanding, demonstrating the transformative potential of performance in …

A Franco-American University Collaboration: Oral Assessment With Cefr And Star, Nadia Yassine-Diab, Christina Torres University Of Central Florida, Aimee Schoonmaker

Journal of English Learner Education

This article describes the collaboration between faculty at two international
universities, one in France and one in the U.S., who partnered their students to practice and assess oral skills. Using computer-mediated communication with both synchronous and asynchronous elements, the collaboration provided a valuable opportunity for both groups to engage in pedagogically meaningful and structured exchanges integrated into coursework that mirror their future professional situations (O’Dowd et. al., 2020). More specifically, each semester, the U.S. TESOL students interview and assess French speaking English language learners using the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) and the Situation Task Action Results (STAR) interview …

Unlocking Affixes In The Esl Community College Classroom: The Language Of Law, Science, And Technology, Patricia George-Hunter Edd

Journal of English Learner Education

Since vocabulary plays a significant role in second language acquisition, expansive vocabulary targets should be set and pursued. This paper explores the results of introducing affixes to develop vocabulary and increase motivation for beginner to intermediate-level English language learners (ELLs) pursuing academic disciplines in law, science, and technology at a New York City community college. Participants included 23 ELLs with diverse linguistic, educational, and sociocultural backgrounds enrolled in an online synchronous Integrative Language Seminar (ILS) designed to develop all areas of English language proficiency. Pre‑, post‑, delayed tests, questionnaires, and post‑intervention interviews were conducted and analyzed to establish the language …

Math Language Acquisition And Improving English Language Learners’ Ability To Understand And Solve Math Word Problems, Crystal L. Gammon, Jillian Skelton

Journal of English Learner Education

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore third- through fifth-grade teachers’ perceptions of effective vocabulary instruction and collaboration practices used to support English Language Learners (ELLs) in understanding, discussing, and solving math word problems. The problem addressed was that ELL students in rural southeastern U.S. school districts were not achieving mathematics proficiency at the same rate as their native English-speaking peers, particularly when solving word problems requiring academic language comprehension. The findings revealed that teachers viewed math vocabulary instruction as essential for closing academic gaps while also identifying vocabulary as a major barrier when it was not explicitly …

Making The Implicit Explicit For Multilingual Learners: A Language-Based Framework For Literacy Development, Luciana C. De Oliveira

Journal of English Learner Education

Literacy is fundamentally an act of meaning-making that requires bridging micro-level linguistic choices with macro-level text structures across genres. Current literacy policies dominated by Science of Reading (SoR) mandates often overemphasize isolated, word-level foundational skills. This narrow focus creates a one-size-fits-all model that reduces reading to the level of individual words, not appropriate for multilingual learners (MLs) who require access to dense, specialized disciplinary discourse. This article proposes an intentional, language-based literacy framework designed to build high-challenge, high-support classrooms for MLs without lowering academic expectations. Integrating genre-based pedagogy through the Teaching and Learning Cycle (TLC) with the mode continuum, the …

When Bilingualism Belongs: Language Recognition, Academic Context, And Sense Of Belonging Among Bilingual Stem Undergraduates, Cristina Lozano Argüelles

Bilingualism in Higher Ed Summit

No abstract provided.

Faculty And Staff Perspectives On Bilingualism In Higher Education: A Tale Of Two Hsis, Rosemary Barberet

Bilingualism in Higher Ed Summit

No abstract provided.

Literacy Activities To Prepare Mll Students For An Art Museum Visit, Marion J. Tate

Michigan Reading Journal

This article describes how I prepared newcomer Yemeni students to visit, understand, and learn from museums while also strengthening their English language development and cultural identity. Many students had limited English proficiency; however, they brought rich personal, family, and cultural knowledge into the classroom. To build on those strengths, I used literacy-based activities before, during, and after museum visits. These activities included shared and independent reading with e-books, pre-assessment charts, vocabulary development, guided discussions, reflective writing, collage-making, and student-led decision-making. Each strategy helped students practice English in meaningful ways while connecting museum content to memory, immigration, history, culture, and identity. …

Korelasi Foreign Language Anxiety Dengan Performansi Berbicara Bahasa Mandarin Peserta Didik Sma Laboratorium Universitas Negeri Malang, Kharisma Budi Setyawati, Lukluk Ul Muyassaroh, Herri Akhmad Bukhori

Journal of Language, Literature, and Arts

This study aims to describe the Mandarin speaking performance of eleventh-grade IBB students at the Laboratory High School of Universitas Negeri Malang and to examine the relationship between foreign language anxiety (FLA) and Mandarin speaking performance. A quantitative correlational design was applied to 24 students selected through total sampling. Anxiety levels were measured using an adapted Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS; Horwitz et al., 1986), while speaking performance was assessed through role-play dialogues scored with an analytic rubric. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the Shapiro-Wilk normality test, a linearity test, and Pearson product-moment correlation. Students’ FLA fell into …

The Impact Of Code-Switching In Daily Conversation: An Inclusive Effort To Reduce Language Anxiety Among Arabic Education Students, Subhi Muhamad

Jurnal Pendidikan Humaniora

Abstract: This study examines the role of code-switching in daily conversation among Arabic Language Education students, focusing on its relationship with foreign language anxiety (FLA) and willingness to communicate (WTC). Using a qualitative approach, data were collected through observations and interviews involving 28 students. The findings indicate that code-switching functions as an adaptive communicative and psychological strategy that supports interaction, reduces anxiety, and increases speaking participation. However, excessive reliance on the first language may hinder linguistic accuracy. The study highlights code-switching as a form of psychological scaffolding in Arabic language learning.

Silence And Whispering In The L2 Pragmatics Classroom: Duoethnographic Insights From A Vietnamese Context, Duong Minh Tuan, Le Thi Diem Lan

The Qualitative Report

This article examined how silence and whispering shape participation in an L2 pragmatics course for English majors at a Vietnamese university. Using a duoethnographic approach, we, as lecturer–researchers and the sole participants in this study, engaged in written dialogic exchanges over a 12-week semester, drawing on salient classroom incidents and institutional texts as prompts. Our dialogues revisited scenes in which students were quiet or whispered in Vietnamese, and we interrogated our shifting interpretations of those moments in light of scholarship on silence, L2 pragmatics, and language policy. Four themes emerged. First, silence as calibrated participation showed how students strategically modulated …

Untold Mourning: The Epistemology Of Naming And Grieving The Loss Of Identities, Bao Diep, Verna Wong

Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement

This paper explores the epistemology of mourning through the lens of two Asian American scholars pursuing doctoral degrees at a Midwestern university. We examine how racialization in Midwestern educational institutions reflects a broader historical and cultural distancing from Vietnamese immigrants and refugees, despite a shared geopolitical past. Employing critical collaborative autoethnography as both method and remedy, we engage in a dialogic process of uncovering and understanding our collective memories and lived experiences. This approach empowers us to confront hegemonic narratives and reclaim our identities as immigrant scholars navigating predominantly white academic spaces.

Assessment Of The Potential Training Population Within Selected Neighborhoods In The City Of Chattanooga, Tennessee, Kathleen Bolter, Gerrit Anderson, Kyle Huisman

Upjohn Institute Technical Reports

This report provides a strategic analysis of the potential job training population of prime-age (25–54) “Recompete” residents within 14 identified census tracts in South and East Chattanooga, Tennessee. The data reveal a distinct population facing compounded physical and economic barriers that require a multisectoral approach beyond traditional skills training. The report offers neighborhood-specific strategies to improve stable employment through better access to training and other forms of transportation, childcare, and language assistance.

Development Of Reading Skill Material Using Book Creator For Eighth-Grade Students At Ma'had Al-Harby Batusangkar, Partomuan Harahap, Muhammad Yusuf Salam, Maratul Husna

Al-Arabi: Journal of Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language

تتمثل مشكلة البحث في ضعف إتقان التلاميذ لمهارة القراءة بسبب غياب الوسائل التعليمية التفاعلية، واعتماد المدرّسين على الأساليب التقليدية كالمناقشة والسؤال والجواب. وتهدف هذه الدراسة إلى: (١) معرفة الحاجة إلى تطوير مادة مهارة القراءة باستخدام منشئ الكتاب Book Creator، (٢) تقييم صلاحية المادة المطوّرة، و(٣) قياس مدى عمليتها في الصف الثامن.اعتمدت الباحثة منهج البحث والتطوير (R&D) وفق نموذج 4D الذي يشمل: التحديد، التصميم، والتطوير. تم جمع البيانات باستخدام استمارات للتحقق من الصلاحية والعملية، وحُلِّلت كمياً بمعامل "أيكِن V"، ونوعياً بالتحليل الوصفي الكمي.أظهرت النتائج أن المادة المطوّرة باستخدام Book Creator حققت مستوى صلاحية عالياً، حيث بلغت النسبة المئوية العامة ٩٢.٥%، كما …

Promoting The Well-Being Of Refugee Students Through A Kawa-Guided Occupational Therapy Intervention: A Mixed-Methods Study, Suzanne Brederson, Heidi Baist, Jennifer E. Lape

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: Refugee students newly enrolled in U.S. schools encounter academic, socialization, and mental health challenges because of trauma, language barriers, and cultural differences. Many have had limited or interrupted access to formal education in their home country. This study aimed to gain the perspectives of refugee students on their lived experiences and explore the impact of an occupational therapy intervention guided by the Kawa model on the well-being of this student population.

Methods: The researchers employed a convergent mixed-methods design. Refugee students (n = 8) created Kawa models, which provided rich, qualitative data. Participants completed pre and posttest surveys. Quantitative …

Voices Unheard: Multilingual Students Reshaping Rural Stem Education, Erin Brooke Elliott-Elrod

College of Education

The multilingual student population in the United States averages 10.6% nationally. Growth has been most pronounced in the rural Southeast, where schools face demographic shifts with limited linguistic support. At one rural Deep South school named Ridgeway High School (a pseudonym), multilingual student enrollment grew from approximately 5% in 1998 to over 50% by 2024 (A. Harrison, personal communication, January 24, 2026). Yet, not one EL-designated student achieved proficiency in English Language Arts, and school-wide math proficiency stands at 9.15% (Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE), 2024). STEM disciplines compound these barriers, as access to content and discipline-specific discourse depend …

L’Insécurité Linguistique Selon La Perspective Des Élèves D’Immersion Française En Saskatchewan, Olushola Adedeji, Michael Akinpelu

Tête à Tête: Journal of Francophone Studies

Cet article examine l’insécurité linguistique (IL) chez des élèves d’immersion française (IF) en Saskatchewan en s’appuyant sur la sociolinguistique pour le changement. À partir d’un devis mixte (un questionnaire à large échelle auprès d’élèves de 7e–12e année et des groupes de discussion focalisés avec des élèves de 11e–12e année), l’étude décrit les différentes manifestations de l’IL, ses causes et ses effets sur les élèves tout en recensant des stratégies d’adaptation. Les résultats de l’étude montrent que l’IL est moins liée à une compétence linguistique objective qu’à des conditions sociales et pédagogiques modifiables. Des recommandations concrètes sont proposées, notamment la légitimation …

Does Gender Spell Success? Exploring Female Students' Perspectives Of Faculty At A Higher Educational Institution, Chitora Jackson, Terrence Hicks, Jill Channing, Arnold Nyarambi

Journal of Research Initiatives

Numerous studies have pointed to connections and positive interactions with faculty that result in positive outcomes for students (Beckowski & Gebauer, 2018; Jones, 2020; Trolian et al., 2021). However, despite this knowledge, there are still some areas related to this topic that remain under-researched. The purpose of this qualitative interpretative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of female students at a higher educational institution and to understand how those experiences shape their perspectives of female and male faculty. Additionally, this study sought to discover how faculty gender influences their interactions with students and the similarities and differences between …

Digital Learning And Digital Literacy: Conceptual Distinctions, Theoretical Frameworks, And Educational Implications Across The Educational Continuum, Simone Elias, Linda Wilson-Jones, Richard Brutti

Journal of Research Initiatives

The terms digital learning and digital literacy recur frequently in educational policy and institutional discourse. Yet peer-reviewed scholarship shows they are conceptually distinct constructs operating at fundamentally different levels of analysis. This article examines the theoretical foundations, definitional genealogies, empirical interdependencies, and grade-band and postsecondary manifestations of both constructs across the full educational continuum, from kindergarten through Grade 12 and into undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral education. Drawing on literature across leading educational technology journals, the article argues that digital learning constitutes a pedagogical modality, the structured, technology-mediated environment through which instruction is delivered.

In contrast, digital literacy is a multidimensional …

Confidence Intervals As A Quantcrit Method: Reframing Longitudinal Educational Data Through Estimation, Uncertainty, And Within-Group Analysis, Jamaal Young, Jemimah Young, Kristian Edosomwan

Journal of Research Initiatives

Quantitative Critical Race Theory (QuantCrit) calls researchers to reconsider not only what quantitative analyses report, but also how analytic choices reproduce or disrupt racialized ways of knowing. This methods-focused article develops confidence interval analysis as a practical statistical strategy within a QuantCrit methodological framework. Confidence intervals are not inherently critical or anti-racist. Their value for QuantCrit emerges from how researchers use estimation, uncertainty, comparison, visualization, and interpretation. We demonstrate this approach with National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Long-Term Trend mathematics data for Black students ages 9, 13, and 17 from 1978 to 2012. Rather than treating White performance as …

The Cognitive Construction Of Sustainable Environmental Awareness Through Green Language Pedagogy In Second Language Acquisition, Meral Yavuz Kartal, Osman Yılmaz Kartal

Journal of Environmental Science and Sustainable Development

The escalating global ecological crisis highlights the need for new approaches to sustainability education, while the cognitive role of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) remains underexplored. This study employs a critical literature review with a systematic search and qualitative thematic synthesis to develop a proposed Green Language Pedagogy (GLP) model. The review followed a four-stage screening protocol (identification, screening, eligibility, and inclusion) and analyzed 50 theoretical and empirical sources published between 2014 and 2025. This analysis of the selected literature reveals a stark disparity: an estimated 85% of the reviewed environmental education research focuses on factual knowledge transfer, whereas only 15% …

“Whenever You Are Using Media, You Should Always Have A Purpose”: A Study Of Chinese Immigrant Mothers’ Media Practices, Xiaoning Gui, Daniel G. Krutka

Journal of Media Literacy Education Pre-Prints

This qualitative study explores how eleven Mandarin-speaking Chinese immigrant mothers of young children in a southwestern U.S. city navigate and mediate media in their households. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Findings show mothers balance media’s educational affordances with concerns about health and age-appropriate content, employing gatekeeping, time limits, and purposeful sharing. Mothers described children as learners, co-learners, and cultural connectors, sometimes reversing mediation by teaching mothers about U.S. media norms. Interpreted through a lens of Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy while also drawing on Confucian concepts, results underscore the need for early childhood educators to honor immigrant families’ practices while fostering …

A Framework For Teaching Maya Aspect System: Pedagogical Strategies For Maya Grammar, Quetzil E. Castañeda

Journal of Maya Heritage

Abstract. Maya, an Indigenous language spoken primarily in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, remains under-resourced in materials for second-language and heritage-language learners. Its agglutinative morphology, split ergativity, and aspect system pose particular pedagogical challenges, especially when Maya grammar is explained through Spanish or English tense categories. Based on a critical review of existing teaching resources and the author’s more than twenty years of experience teaching Maya, this article proposes a pedagogical framework for understanding its aspect grammar. Rather than organizing verbal morphology around tense, the framework distinguishes four principal conjugational forms: Ongoing Incomplete, Simple Past, Completed Present, and Subjunctive. It also introduces …

Low-Income, Minority-Serving Public Schools In Southern California Have Disproportionately High Surface Temperatures, Joaquin Murillo, Gabriella R. Dauber, Joshua B. Fisher, Gregory R. Goldsmith

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Extensive evidence demonstrates that people from minority backgrounds often face unequal exposure to extreme heat and have less access to green space that can provide cooling relief. What is less clear is whether these inequities extend to students on school playgrounds, where high temperatures can affect physical health, social and emotional well-being, and learning. We paired high resolution, satellite remote sensing surface temperature data for all 615 of the public schools in Orange County, California (serving ca. 450,000 students) with data on neighborhood household income, race/ethnicity of school enrollment, distance from the coast, and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index as a …

Free Ebook! Research And Reflections On Southeast Asian American Education And Advancement, Wayne E. Wright

Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement

Free eBook available:

• Purdue University Press (PDF and EPUB formats)
• Amazon (Kindle version)

Co-edited by our JSAAEA Editorial Team, this book is in commemoration of the 20^th Anniversary of the Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement (JSAAEA) and the 50^th Anniversary of Southeast Asian refugee resettlement in the United States. A paperback version is also available.

This special collection celebrates the contributions of scholars whose works focus on Southeast Asian American (SEAA) issues and highlights empirical research, book reviews, and creative works from SEAA scholars and community leaders whose voices have been prominent in the journal …

Broadening The Community Of Nudibranch Enthusiasts Through Multilingual Educational Programming To Increase Climate Advocacy Engagement, Richelle Li Tanner, Cintya Felix Mendivil, Ashley Lam, Lorena Muñoz, Micah Kim, Elena G. Morales Poot, Gabrielle Keeler-May

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Environmental literacy and advocacy for environmental protections are essential components of responsible stewardship. For coastal communities, stewardship requires knowledge of ocean processes and the biological communities living within these ecosystems. While many studies highlight difficulties in engaging American audiences in environmental concern and stewardship due to hyper-individualistic societal values, tidepooling is one recreational pathway to coastal community engagement that strengthens sense of place, and therefore, responsibility to protect natural resources. We sought to broaden the tidepooling community to include more diverse voices through a participatory science program with inland city-dwelling, multilingual, and non-English speaking adults. Using nudibranchs as an environmental …

The Lessons I Never Took, Nadia Luong

Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement

“The Lessons I Never Took” is a lyric poem rooted in the author’s experience growing up as a first-generation Cambodian American child in an immigrant family. The poem examines how socioeconomic hardship and language brokering shape a child’s relationship to desire, responsibility, and unrealized possibility. While other children receive formal lessons that allow their interests and talents to be discovered, the speaker develops unrecognized interpretive skill by helping her parents navigate English-speaking institutions. Without assigning blame, the poem holds parental sacrifice and childhood loss together, revealing how survival can limit not only access to enrichment but also a child’s opportunity …

Impact And Utilization Of Asl Lab Spaces In University Settings, Nathan J. Dutra, Michele Vincent

Journal of Interpretation

American Sign Language (ASL) is a challenging yet rapidly growing language taught at both secondary and higher education levels. Despite its increasing popularity, there is limited literature on utilizing ASL labs as learning centers. This quantitative study examines the implementation of a new ASL lab at a large four-year university in California. It investigates the factors influencing participation, the motivations behind students' involvement, and their perceptions of the lab's effectiveness. Results indicate significant associations between course modality, instructor influence, and lab participation. The study suggests that ASL labs function as cultural and educational spaces that promote visibility of Deaf culture …