Education Commons^™

Mapping The Contact Zone: A Case Study Of An Integrated Chinese And Canadian Literacy Curriculum In A Secondary Transnational Education Program In China, Zheng Zhang

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This case study using ethnographic tools was conducted in an Ontario transnational education (TNE) program in China where Ontario secondary school curricula were integrated with the Chinese national curricula. Curricula are seen by TNE researchers as key to successful TNE programs (e.g., Hughes & Urasa, 1997). However, little is known about how literacy-related curricula are exported across borders and what happens with them in local contexts. The study investigated how literacy was conceived and practiced at the various levels of curriculum at the elite secondary school (Pseudonym: SCS), namely, intended, implemented, lived, hidden, and null curriculum.

The theoretical tools of …

The Language Learning Of Refugee Students In Canadian Public Elementary And Secondary Schools, Hongfang Yu

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation investigated the role that funds of knowledge play in refugee students’ language acquisition and acculturation to the new school, and the support schools provided for their language learning.

This study explores theoretical frameworks related to student ecological environments, second language acquisition, and funds of knowledge that refugee students bring with them to the classroom. This qualitative research study presents a case study of four refugee students in both ESL classrooms and mainstream classrooms at an elementary school and a secondary school. Refugee students’ English language learning was scrutinized through research techniques which include participant observation, interviews, and documents. …

Little Liberals: A Child-Centred Approach To The Inculcation Of Values, Alison M. Braley-Rattai

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In a liberal-democracy, the proper role of parents and of the state in forming children’s beliefs involves several separate but interrelated debates: These concern the conceptual space that children occupy within liberal theory, the basis of the ‘control rights’ adults are said to have over children, and the tension between the values of autonomy and diversity, which are foundational values for a liberal-democracy. To clarify these debates, competing paradigms are identified in political theories that address them: A dual-interest view and a child-centred view. The former ‘balances’ the interests that parents and children have in the child-rearing relationship, and the …

National Identity Perceptions And The Experiences Of 1.5 Generation Youth With English Learning And First Language Loss, Olena Yuzefova

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

With the increasing number of immigrant youth, often referred to as the 1.5 generation, settling in Canada every year, it is important to understand the experiences and national identity perceptions of this immigrant generation. This qualitative case study investigates national identity perceptions and the experiences of 1.5 generation youth with English language learning and first language maintenance. A focus group was held with five high school students to understand their current experiences of being 1.5 generation. In addition, seven individual interviews were conducted with college/university students who were asked to reflect on their past and current experiences. The findings indicate …

Motivation And Technology For Quebec Cegep Esl Classes, Jamie R. Bridge

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This paper focuses on English as a second language (ESL) learning by students at Quebec Collèges d’Enseignement General et Professionnel (CEGEPs). The research seeks to describe the positive outcome of computer assisted language learning (CALL) practices on the motivational level of students, their efficacy in helping students understand the cultural contexts of a second language, and their role in the achievement of proficiency in oral and written language skills. The main aim of the research is to investigate the role of new constructivist pedagogies and CALL practices in enhancing student motivation for continuous second language learning. Following qualitative case study …

Sentence Recall In Monolingual And Ell With And Without Parental Concerns About Language Development, Areej Mazin Balilah

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Sentence recall has been identified as a potential clinical marker of Specific Language Impairment (SLI). The extent to which sentence recall may be useful in distinguishing children with SLI from English Language Learners (ELL) has not been examined. Despite tapping existing language knowledge, sentence recall may be sufficiently sensitive to reveal differences between these groups. In the present study, 1253 school age children completed a sentence recall task and their parents declared whether their first language was English and whether there were any concerns about language development. Given the lack of a gold standard in identifying language impairment in bilingual …