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Full-Text Articles in Education

Adult Educators At The Crossroads Of Language Learning And Workforce Development: A Qualitative Study Of Teacher Agency, Liz Ging Dec 2019

Adult Educators At The Crossroads Of Language Learning And Workforce Development: A Qualitative Study Of Teacher Agency, Liz Ging

Graduate Masters Theses

Since the passage of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) in 2014, there has been renewed questioning about the nature and purpose of adult education programs in the United States, including English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). The heavy workforce development orientation of the new law is a starker manifestation of trends focused on job training which have been sweeping through the field of adult education for the last few decades. In the midst of these shifts, little research has been done to investigate what the educators charged with meeting these policy goals think about these changes, the …


Learner Persistence In English For Speakers Of Other Languages (Esol) Programs, Elyse Waksman Dec 2018

Learner Persistence In English For Speakers Of Other Languages (Esol) Programs, Elyse Waksman

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

Persistence – or continued, intense study – is a common challenge for adults in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) programs because of various institutional, situational, and dispositional factors. The current state and federal funding standards for adult ESOL programs are driven by human capital theory, and therefore most funders require demonstrated employment outcomes for students. These top-down objectives do not always align with English learners’ own motivations and goals. ESOL organizations must consider the complexities of these interacting forces to develop effective persistence strategies for their constituents. This case study of an ESOL organization in central Massachusetts is …


Teaching Reading To Adults Where English Is Their Second Language, Judith Ann Powell Jan 2008

Teaching Reading To Adults Where English Is Their Second Language, Judith Ann Powell

Theses Digitization Project

This project sought to identify methods that will work best for Second Language (ESL) adults and identify ways in which ESL can be taught to help facilitate learning for the older adult over 40 years of age. This project identified some of the problems caused by the nature of the English language and the grammatical issues older ESL students face when attempting to learn to speak and read English.


Constructivism For The English-As-A-Second-Language Learning Environment And Professional Development, Starley Beatrix Dullien Jan 2005

Constructivism For The English-As-A-Second-Language Learning Environment And Professional Development, Starley Beatrix Dullien

Theses Digitization Project

This project addresses the needs of the adult learner. The adult learner referred to in; this project comes from two distinguishable groups. One group of adult learners consists of the ESL students who attend adult school or community-based English programs. The other group of adult learners consists of the teachers within adult education ESL programs who themselves are students as they participate in professional development workshops.


Don’T Be Afraid To Communicate With Americans: Research About Low Self-Esteem Japanese Students In The United States. How Esl Teachers Can Build Students’ Self-Esteem In The Class., Mami Tanaka Jan 2002

Don’T Be Afraid To Communicate With Americans: Research About Low Self-Esteem Japanese Students In The United States. How Esl Teachers Can Build Students’ Self-Esteem In The Class., Mami Tanaka

MA TESOL Collection

This project is a research paper about low self-esteem Japanese students who have a hard time communicating with Americans in spite of the fact that their English ability is high enough. It is based on my private teaching experience with one of many Japanese students in Boston. This paper is composed of two sections. The first section shows that low self-esteem can be one of the main obstacles to foreign language acquisition for Japanese students. The second section is about what we can do as ESL teachers.