Education Commons^™

Collateral Damage: How Expanding Public Charge Policy Influences Adult Esl Enrollment, Allison M. Eckert

Master's Theses

This study used statistical analysis of enrollment records for ESL programs at community colleges throughout California from 2015-2019 to determine whether adult immigrants’ participation in public ESL programs was reduced under President Donald Trump. Immigrant families’ lesser use of public education services and means-tested federal benefits has been widely documented in the wake of Trump’s expansion of the public charge rule, which counted immigrants’ use of a wider array of public benefits against their case for residency in the United States than had any previous iteration of the rule. Failing the public charge test can block an immigrant’s entry into …

A Study Of Students’ And Teachers’ Beliefs About Learning English As A Second Language In Hindi Medium Schools In India, Samir Toppo

Doctoral Dissertations

The present study is an exploration of beliefs about learning English held by English as a second Language (ESL) students and teachers from Jharkhand, India. The basic premise of the study is that the learners’ and the instructors’ beliefs about learning a language affect the learning approach, learning strategy use, personal motivation, the choice of instructional material and the instructional method. Thus, beliefs indirectly affect language learning. The assumption of this study is also that the participants in this study hold debilitative beliefs about English language learning. A mixed method research approach was used in this study. The quantitative data …

The Role Of Aesthetics In Classroom Design: Implications For Engagement And Equity, Giuliana Barraza

Master's Theses

The desire for achieving greater equity in education has been a prevalent topic of research, with many studies indicating that the current education system in this country is designed in a way that exacerbates initial inequities and has a negative impact on student motivation and engagement (EOCD, 2012). While existing scholarship mostly discusses equity and engagement through the lens of curriculum and instruction, the power of physical classroom environments and aesthetic elements present in those environments is less explored. With student populations becoming more diverse, there is a greater need for new tools for teachers to utilize in pursuit of …

Testimonios Of Cultural Wealth: Racial And Ethnic Identity Development For Latinx Youth In Historically White High Schools, Amanda Montez

Master's Theses

My goal for this study was to study the experiences of Latina/o/x youth as they transition from a middle school that serves Communities of Color to Historically White High Schools. I wanted to know how the change of community impacted participants’ understanding of their racial and ethnic identity. Through testimonios, the five participants question the nuances of race and ethnicity, convey the need for educators to challenge existing structures of oppression, and recognize their moral obligation to be part of the movement for racial justice. Utilizing the frameworks of Community Cultural Wealth and Critical Race Theory, I center the lived …

Contextualizing Bipoc High School Students’ Racialized Experiences Under Trump, Christina Ung

Master's Theses

This thesis contextualizes public high school experiences of self-identified students of color during Trump’s presidency. The study features three recent high school graduates from the same campus, and their perspectives on a series of topics related to their racial identity. It was important that this research served as a space for marginalized voices to share their lived experiences, as they are frequently left out of American curriculum. More specifically in this case, the high school is located in a small, rural town where the population is majority white and politically conservative. Through the lens of critical race theory (CRT), data …

Facilitating Adaptive And Dynamic Learning Transfer Using Genre-Based, Translingual, And Multimodal Pedagogies In L2 Composition Instruction, Raina Levesque

Master's Projects and Capstones

Ensuring that students can transfer the knowledge and skills they learn in L2 composition classes to future personal, academic, and professional contexts outside of the classroom is perhaps the most important goal of L2 college writing instruction. However, while research shows that pedagogies based in adaptive and dynamic learning transfer, defined as the repurposing or innovation of knowledge to negotiate new and unfamiliar writing contexts, are more successful in preparing students to transfer their knowledge to future contexts than pedagogies based in similarity learning transfer, defined as the matching of knowledge across comparable known contexts, many L2 college composition instructors …

A Decolonial Middle School Social Studies Curriculum: 19th Century U.S. Westward Colonization, Leah Chatterji

Master's Projects and Capstones

Social Studies education throughout the United States sustains settler futurity, white supremacy, and coloniality, as it rarely engages with Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) hxstories and structural violence. For middle schoolers, this is especially troublesome as social justice pedagogies are minimal for this demographic. To shift this, this field project offers an 8^th grade decolonial Social Studies curriculum on 19^th century U.S. Westward colonization; this topic was intentionally chosen as it is an opportunity to disrupt settler epistemologies. It centers: Land; relationality; and collective liberation. It complements the California unit 8.8 standards, yet different grades, subjects, …

Raising Awareness Of Bilingual Education: A Website And Resource For Immigrant Parents, Lesi Wang

Master's Projects and Capstones

Under the influence of English Only Movement (Macedo, 2000), bilingual education has been neglected for 18 years in California from Proposition 227 in 1998 to Proposition 58 in 2016. This leads to a result that many immigrant parents were not aware of the importance of bilingual education and have passive attitudes and perceptions towards bilingual education. For example, some immigrant parents think that English is more important than their home language, or that learning their home language will significantly hinder their children’s English acquisition. Yet, according to the three-generation shift suggested by Baker and Wright (2017), immigrant families will often …

Perceived Obstacles By Esl Instructors And Required Support For The Integration Of Educational Technology, Xiaotian Zhang

Doctoral Dissertations

Nowadays, the use of technology has become a significant part of the language learning process inside and outside of the classroom. Many previous studies and surveys, most language educators hold a relatively positive attitude to the usage of technology in language teaching and learning. But many other studies also found that language teachers were not really using technology in their classrooms, or only for very low-level learning and teaching. The integration of technology in second language learning and teaching is still a problem that has not been fully researched.This descriptive study was designed to explore the obstacles that prevent ESL …

Queering Beyond Pronouns: The Necessity Of Indigenizing Learning Communities, Gillian Imazumi-Hegarty

Master's Projects and Capstones

Learners who do not see themselves reflected in schooling face mental health, social and academic hardships. While centring marginalized identities and pursuing efforts to queer learning spaces is vital, it cannot end with attention to gender and sexuality. In order to best serve learners and community members, learning environments must commit to indigenizing as well. This paper culminates in a handbook which seeks to provide best practices for engaging with learners and holding space, as well as includes a sample curriculum and resources for further development. This handbook is focused for educators on unceded ancestral Ohlone Lands, and centres the …

Exploring The Lived Experiences Of Middle-Eastern And North African (Mena) Jews Through Narrative Inquiry Using A Digital Storytelling Approach, Brandy B. Shufutinsky

Doctoral Dissertations

Cultural erasure has led to the virtual erasure of many communities from learning spaces. Discrimination, ignorance, and the politicization of knowledge production are all factors that lead to marginalization that sees certain communities being excluded from academia. One such community are the Jewish communities from Middle-Eastern and North African (MENA) lands. This dissertation directly confronts the erasure of MENA Jewish communities and the knowledge they hold by providing a platform for members of these communities to share their experiences. Storytelling is one way to combat cultural and historical erasure (Iseke, 2013). Not only does storytelling provide a way to resist …

Effects Of The Concept-Mapping Method On International Students' Academic Performance And Perceptions, Yinghung Natalie Chiang

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) Dissertations

There is concern over international students’ low academic achievement at the college level. Due to language challenges and cultural differences, international students’ academic achievement is not satisfactory that resulting in a decrease in the retention rate. Note-taking strategies such as the concept-mapping method may enhance international students’ knowledge acquisition by providing students with learning tools that promote meaningful learning. The purpose of this mixed-method approach with a comparative research design was to investigate the effects of the concept-mapping strategy on international college students’ economic learning and perceptions. One intact class comprised of international students was designated as a concept-mapping strategy …

Pilipinx Radical Imagination: Healing And Visioning In Our Process Of Becoming, Anthony Abulencia Santa Ana

Doctoral Dissertations

There are estimated 10.4 million Filipinos living or working abroad primarily in the Middle East, Europe, Canada, and the United States searching for a better life for themselves and their families (Commission on Filipino Overseas, 2013). Due to economic motivation, assimilating to the host country's culture, values, and traditions is an act of survival. While the majority of the research has focused on the domestic workers’ experience, rarely has there been a study focusing on Filipinos in the diaspora positive contributions to the host country and their Pilipinx Radical Imagination. As a result, the purpose of this qualitative study is …

The Role Of Community Building In Second Language Acquisition In The Mainstream Classroom, Alejandro Clemente Fernandez

Doctoral Dissertations

The world is currently suffering from population displacement due to climate change, war, and economic instability which force many people to migrate in search of a better life, and many of these immigrants include school-age children. This mixed-methods research study sought to establish the association between community building, emotion, and second language acquisition by administering a survey to second language learners in the Napa Valley north of San Francisco in the spring of 2020. The participants were fourteen sixth grade students who had been enrolled in the same English and Spanish dual language immersion program since kindergarten.

The theoretical framework …

Narratives Of Disability And Displacement: Oral Histories Of The Lived Experiences Of Disabled Refugees, Jennifer Lynn Ward

Doctoral Dissertations

Disabled refugees are considered as the most marginalized group of all displaced populations. Disabled displaced people are at particular risk of violence, exploitation, and abuse. Additional barriers to accessing humanitarian assistance, education, health care, and other services exist for disabled displaced people. The purpose of this study was to collaborate with disabled refugees who have resettled in the United States and to create a space for their stories to be told. This research project explores the narratives of the lived experiences of disabled displaced people through the lenses of three theoretical frameworks: human rights, disability justice, and Critical Refugee Studies. …

The Effect Of Teaching And Learning Vocabulary In Lexical Chunks On The Listening Comprehension Of Adult Learners Of Arabic, Bassam Al-Maqtari

Doctoral Dissertations

This study aimed to investigate how teaching and learning Arabic vocabulary items in multiword form (i.e., chunks and phrases), rather than in single form (i.e., one word at a time), affects learners’ ability to comprehend Arabic listening passages and to examine the relationship between students’ auditory knowledge of words, and that of phrases and listening comprehension. Data sources included three types of tests: the Arabic listening comprehension test, the single-word auditory knowledge test, and the multiword auditory knowledge test. The sample consists of 39 students (experimental group=20, control group=19). The study was separated into a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest portion (Phase 1) …

Equity In Language Programs: Revitalizing Indigenous Languages In Secondary School In Anchorage, Alaska, Betsy Watson (Paskvan)

Doctoral Dissertations

"Wherever there is a situation of domination and subordination between any two groups, whatever their color or religion, this will be reflected in the language relationship: one language dominating the other." —wa Thiong’o (2011, p. 244) Indigenous language and culture education efforts in Anchorage, Alaska are limited by omissions in the public school curriculum. One of the many reasons for this is that policy makers believe there is not sufficient demand for Alaska Native languages in public schools. Further there is a perceived lack of language teacher-leaders and experts to build programs for Alaska Native language instruction. This study used …

The Significance Of Jesuit Educational Institution In The Reconstruction Of Postcolonial And Post-Conflict East Timor, Plinio Do Rosario Gusmao Dosreis Martins

Doctoral Dissertations

East Timor, as a postcolonial and post-conflict country, has striven to develop its educational system for almost two decades after its independence in 2002. The current educational system with the Portuguese language as the medium of instruction has been a challenge for teachers and students in the teaching and learning process. The fact that teachers and students are still using Tétum as a supplementary language to explain and express ideas shows that the educators and learners are still struggling with Portuguese despite the efforts of East Timor government to bridge the language gap.

Teachers and students, conversely, acknowledge that the …

Teaching Critical Thinking Skills In A Chinese Immersion School, Pui Hung Helen Wong

Doctoral Dissertations

As a frontline teacher and administrator, I received feedback consistently from parents and students asking for a fun and effective method of instruction for Chinese language development in the US. This study explored the micro-level of how teachers in Chinese immersion schools create an environment to support development of students’ critical thinking skills while learning Chinese. I applied a qualitative approach to the research and designed a case study focused on answering the following research questions: How do teachers help their students to develop critical thinking skills when teaching in a Chinese immersion program? What are the challenges teachers have …