Education Commons^™

Patterns Of Rhetoric/Patterns Of Culture : A Look At The English Writing Of Japanese Students, Suzanne Raschke

Dissertations and Theses

That a link exists between language and culture has long been accepted; however, not only the extent, but also the exact nature of that link remains unclear. In recent years, rhetoricians have raised questions about how culture affects the patterns of organization and other rhetorical features of writing. At present, the search for answers to these questions is made difficult by the cultural bias imposed by the language of any analysis of writing that may be undertaken and by a lack of criteria that can be used in performing such an analysis.

Metaphoric Extension As A Basis For Vocabulary Teaching In English As A Second Language, Dennis L. Bergmann

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis addresses the problem of teaching and learning vocabulary in English as a Second Language (ESL), and proposes that a vocabulary based on the process of metaphoric extension could be taught directly. Despite the fact that an inadequate vocabulary is one of the main obstacles for intermediate-level ESL students, both ESL teachers and applied linguists have emphasized other aspects of English more than the study of vocabulary teaching and learning. Consequently, ESL students have few strategies for learning vocabulary other than reliance on the dictionary, and the predominant strategy for teachers is to present words rather unsystematically in the …

An Evaluation Of The Academic Success Of Students Who Participated In The English For Non-Native Residents Program At Portland State University, Linda Carol Andrews Dunn

Dissertations and Theses

Many programs exist across the United States to prepare non-native English speaking students for academic work. The effectiveness of these programs has been the subject of various research projects, with mixed results. Some have found that the programs they have examined seem to have led to higher achievement among participants. Others have found that it is difficult to show any effect. However, the amount of time and resources devoted to such programs warrants continuing efforts to evaluate their success.

This study compares the academic records of non-native English speaking students who were enrolled in the English for Non-native Residents Program …

Study Of Referential And Display Questions And Their Responses In Adult Esl Reading Classes, Susan Lindenmeyer

Dissertations and Theses

The technique of asking questions in the classroom has prevailed in first language classes for many years. This teaching technique has also been widely used in ESL reading classes. Though there has been extensive research about teachers' questions and students' responses in first language classrooms, there is a paucity of studies in second language classrooms.

This is a descriptive study of six experienced college level English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers and their discussions of the same reading selection with ninety-eight non-native speakers in each of their classes. Teacher-led discussions were audiotaped and twenty minutes of each class were …

The Effect Of Media On The Listening Comprehension Scores Of Intermediate Esl Students, Marian Tyson

Dissertations and Theses

The use of videotapes has become widespread in ESL classes in recent years. The decline in cost of tapes and VCR equipment has assisted in the spread of this technology. These tapes are often used in listening comprehension classes and may replace or supplement the use of audiotapes. However, research has not established that the addition of the visual element, especially in the movie or TV type context of many videos, is an advantage to the language learner.

A total of seventy-six students participated in a listening comprehension recall exercise. Thirty-nine students viewed a videotape segment, and the remaining thirty-seven …

Chinese Voices: Towards An Ethnography Of English As A Second Language, Diane Niblack Fox

Dissertations and Theses

This study draws on ethnographic methods to provide background information for the English as a Second Language teacher who looks out at the classroom and asks, "Who are these Chinese students?" The goal is to let Chinese students describe for themselves their experiences learning English, both in China and in the United States.

Designing An Instructor's Manual For Introducing Cultural Concepts In The Medical School Curriculum, Barbara C. Nicodemus

Dissertations and Theses

Medical educators recognize the need for including cultural insights into the training of future physicians. This instructor's manual suggests selected journal articles and guidelines for their use in each of the clinical courses to illustrate the relevance of culture, inter- and intraethnic differences, an attitude of cultural relativity, and the importance of language use and communications skills for medical practice. The articles are found in journals typically available to medical students. This manual provides a baseline integrative approach applicable to other specialized training programs. A recommendation is made for evaluation and revision of history-taking interview forms to elicit additional culture-specific …

Intercultural Training And International Exchange : An Exploratory Study Of The Association Of Intercultural Training With Hosting Goals Of American Families, Jan Marie Oehlschlaeger

Dissertations and Theses

This study investigated the host family experience, specifically examining the goals of host families and intercultural training of host families. It compares the the importance and accomplishment of goals between interculturally trained host families and untrained host families.The focus of the research addressed the following research questions:

1) Do host families who receive intercultural training rate their goals differently than families who do not receive intercultural training?

1a) Do host families who receive intercultural training rate differently the goals in which the student meets intra-family needs than families who do not receive intercultural training?

2) Do host families who receive …

Preferred Perceptual Learning Styles Of Chinese Students, Alex Albert Pia

Dissertations and Theses

The basis for this study was work done by Joy Reid (1987) of Colorado State University. Reid's work analyzed the pref erred perceptual learning styles of several groups of English as a Second Language students and one group of American students. The learning styles concept has been established on the theory that students have a particular mode through which they learn best. The learning styles analyzed in this study were: auditory, visual, kinesthetic, tactile, individual, and group. The objectives of this study were to determine the relationships that exist between the preferred perceptual learning styles of P.R.C. and American students …

A Comparative Study Of Chinese Efl Reading Instruction And American Esl Reading Instruction, Changhua Wang

Dissertations and Theses

Reading instruction in China and that in the United States are so different that they are not compatible. In fact, they seem to go in opposite directions. This study examined some of the differences between Chinese EFL reading instruction and American ESL reading instruction through analyzing selected tape-recordings of reading classes from China and the United States, and comparing Chinese EFL reading textbooks with American ESL reading textbooks.

This study was intended to answer the following questions.

1. Is a bottom-up method of reading really taught in China while a top-down method is taught in the United States?

2. Compared …

The Effectiveness Of Fiction Versus Nonfiction In Teaching Reading To Esl Students, Becky Kay Appley

Dissertations and Theses

In recent years with the growing emphasis upon communicative activities in the classroom, controversy has risen as to which type of reading material is best for teaching reading in the ESL classroom, fiction or nonfiction.

A study was conducted with 31 students of which 15 were taught with non-fiction and 16 were taught with fiction. Both groups were taught the same reading skills. Each group was given three pre-tests and three post-tests in which improvement in overall language proficiency and reading comprehension in the areas of main idea, direct statements and inferences was measured. Also, each group was observed for …

Analysis Of Error Type, Source, And Gravity In The Writing Of Arabic Esl Students In U.S.A. Colleges, Fadel Mohammed Na'im Bader

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study is to determine the type, possible source and gravity of errors found in the Test of Written English and Placement Tests compositions written by native speakers of Arabic at college level. The first part of the study is an error analysis designed to reveal the types of errors that are most frequently made by Arab students at college level. The sources of these errors are explained according to Richards' classification of errors as inter- and intralingual (1971). Seven types of errors are identified under interlingual category: articles, prepositions, the copula, embedded questions, pronoun retention, semantic …

An Experiment Testing The Bolinger Principle To Teach Gerunds And Infinitives, Juliet Rosemarie Vawser

Dissertations and Theses

Gerunds and infinitives persist in being a major problem for students of English as a Second Language. Therefore, Bolinger's (1968) principle appeared to be an attractive alternative to teaching gerunds and infinitives as opposed to the usual way of list memorizing.

A group of 101 ESL learners ranging in the mid to upper intermediate level was randomly distributed among two groups--experimental and control. They were given three tests prior to the experiment and three tests after treatment. Both groups were given the same contextualized materials. However, the experimental group was taught gerunds and infinitives using the Bolinger principle whereas the …

The Test Of Written English : A Statistical Analysis Of Validity And Reliability, Christina E. English

Dissertations and Theses

This study examines the use of the Test of Written English (TWE), the essay portion of the TOEFL, as an indicator of academic readiness at Portland State University.

Syntactic Complexity, Error And The Holistic Evaluation Of Esl Student Essays, John S. Sparks

Dissertations and Theses

This study was designed to test five hypotheses in order to answer the following general research questions: 1) Are measures of syntactic complexity valid indices of ESL writing quality as measured by the holistic rating of student essays? 2) Would a measure of frequency and seriousness of error reflect evaluators' perceptions of ESL writing quality?

Script Effects And Reading Strategies : Ideographic Language Readers Vs. Alphabetic Language Readers In Esl, Minglang Zhou

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine script effects of the Chinese Language on Chinese ESL/EFL students· reading strategies, in comparison to those employed by ESL students from alphabetic orthographic backgrounds.

The Cognitive Learning Styles Of International Students, Shelley L. Smith

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this research was to examine the usefulness of David A. Kolb's Learning Styles Inventory (LSI) as a tool for categorization and analysis of systematic differences between American and International students. The research addressed five primary questions:

1. Are the learning styles of the International students tested different from those established by Kolb in previous studies of American students?

2. Do the learning styles of the International students tested differ among the various groups?

3. Are there differences among the groups of International students tested that can be related to gender?

4. Do the learning styles of the …

A Comparison Of Education Systems In Nigeria And The United States Of America, James Edem Etim

Dissertations and Theses

The major purpose of this research study is contrived to determine and evaluate the historical backgrounds of Nigeria and the United States and its implications in the educational policies and systems of the two nations. Both these countries had their humble beginning under the British colonial administration.

A Survey Of Non-White Social Service Personnel In The State Of Oregon, Phillis Benton, Patricia Riley, Cynthia Southwell, Dennis Wong

Dissertations and Theses

The National Association of Social Workers and the Council on Social Work Education are concerned with the eradication of racism within the social work profession and the nation at large. Graduate schools throughout the country are presently attempting to come to grips with this elusive and pervasive problem. The School of Social Work at Portland State University is among these schools.

In early 1972, the Portland State University School of Social Work formalized and adopted a specific policy regarding recruitment, education, and issues concerning non-white students and communities. In doing so, this school became the first School of Social Work …