Education Commons^™

An Examination Of Instructional Interactions Between Volunteer-Tutors And Students Who Show Differential Gains In Reading Comprehension, Laurie J. Newcomer

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

It is essential to provide high quality interventions designed to improve struggling readers' reading comprehension while making use of limited resources. This study explored, through an holistic, multiple-case study design, volunteer-student interactions and activities in an after school reading program utilizing minimally-trained volunteers. The purpose of this research was to explore and describe factors that differentiated the volunteers working with students who made larger or smaller gains in reading comprehension

Exploring Adult Efl Learners' Language Learning Potential : A Sociocultural Approach, Cagri -. Ozkose-Biyik

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Close scrutiny of the research on language aptitude reveals that it has been considered a quintessentially cognitive construct. No studies, to the researcher's knowledge, have examined language learning ability from a sociocultural perspective. Therefore, this study seeks to reconceptualize the cognitively oriented concept of language aptitude by looking at it through a sociocultural lens. This reconceptualization is achieved first, by reframing language aptitude and offering a new term, language learning potential, and second, by analyzing the dialogic interactions between an EFL teacher (i.e., the author of this dissertation) and two adult learners in a foreign language context in Turkey.

The Role Of Grammar Knowledge For Identifying Language Needs, Anne Toolan Rowley

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The focus of the study was an interest in discerning the relationship between grammar knowledge and its application for evaluating grammar development at different academic and professional stages. A 3-part questionnaire was completed by first and last semester Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) graduate students, and practicing speech-language pathologists (SLPs). The first section gathered data related to educational background, perceptions related to grammar knowledge, and recall of undergraduate instruction on grammar topics. A Grammar Test (GT), which reviewed typically developing grammar elements and sentence structures, and a Language Sample Analysis (LSA) comprised the latter two sections. With this data, the …

An Examination Of Principal Practices That Enhance Teacher Collaboration Through Professional Development In Literacy Collaborative, Marsha Susan Strosberg

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

While whole school reform requires the commitment and collaboration of the faculty to build capacity to effect academic improvement, the school leader plays a crucial role in establishing and nurturing a setting that facilitates this goal. This research described how elementary principals restructure their buildings to create and support professional learning communities in this change process.

Fostering Reading Fluency In The School Library, Linda Steele, Gina Podyin, Edward J. Dwyer

ETSU Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

What Is Really Happening When I Teach? : A Self-Study In A Secondary English Classroom, Margaret Christensen Mnayer

Graduate Research Papers

As an educator in an urban school, determined to provide my students with the most effective teaching, I engaged in a self-study to examine my practices and evaluate effectiveness based on current research. I used Schulte's (2002) framework to build my self-study. Her indicators of a quality self-study are: 1) thorough descriptions of the context, data collection, and analysis, 2) thoughtful problemization of researcher and her practice, 3) indications for how study changed researcher's practice, and, 4) a description of how the new insights gained might contribute to knowledge base for other teachers.

Pragmatic Language Skills Underlying Social Competence Of Reading Disability In Middle School Students, Ali Adibi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this investigation was to examine pragmatic language engagement and social competence in middle school children with and without reading disability during dyadic interaction. Engagement was defined in terms of degree of information and responsiveness provided by each partner. Analyses indicated reading disabled students differ from non-reading disabled students in terms of pragmatic language engagement. However, this was true only in terms of degree of responsiveness. Students with reading disability employed similar degrees of pragmatic language engagement in terms of information to those of their nondisabled peers. Further, no relationships were found between social competence and either type …

Is The Coach Ready For The Game? A Self-Study Of Literacy Coaching In A Secondary School, Barbara J. Perry

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Content area teachers at the secondary level often complain that the students are unwilling or unable to read and comprehend the textbooks. Yet these teachers have seldom had instruction in the teaching of reading. They state that teaching of reading is someone else's job. They state that they need to progress through the entire textbook, and that teaching reading strategies in addition to the content would impede that progress. Many elementary schools have hired reading coaches to help teachers learn and practice effective reading strategies. Only a few secondary schools have hired coaches.

The purpose of this qualitative self-study was …

Literacy Coaching And Teachers' Instructional Practices: The Impact Of The Community Coaching Cohort Model, Sara Elizabeth Miller

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The purpose of this study was to understand the effect of literacy coaching as a vehicle for professional development and growth by describing the impact of the Community Coaching Cohort Model on teachers' instructional literacy practices. Using a qualitative case study design, four questions were answered pertaining to participants' feelings and perceptions about the coaching model, how their experience impacted their knowledge and skills about literacy as well as the instruction in their classroom, and the impact their learning had on their students. Four cohorts of teachers in two schools from a large suburban district were used to complete the …

The Academic Word List Reorganized For Spanish-Speaking English Language Learners, Robert W. Bushong Ii

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Published in TESOL Quarterly a decade ago, the Academic Word List (AWL) (Coxhead, 2000) has become increasingly influential in the field of TESOL. With more than 82% of the AWL comprised of words of Latin and Greek, much of this important list logically consists of English-Spanish cognates because Spanish originated from Latin. In order to serve Spanishspeaking English language learners (SSELLs) better, their teachers need to know which AWL words are cognates. Using published sources and linguistic analysis of the 570 items in the AWL, the research in this thesis has resulted in a newly reorganized AWL divided into four …

Planteamientos Colaborativos En La Didáctica De La Composición Desde Modelos Procesuales, David Sánchez-Jiménez

Publications and Research

El presente artículo parte de una revisión del modelo tradicional de la enseñanza de la escritura en la clase de LE entendida como producto. Desde este punto de partida, se evidencian las ventajas de adoptar una escritura colaborativa basada en la consideración del texto como un proceso en construcción que pasa por diferentes fases creativas y en un modelo pedagógico que centra su atención en el alumno dentro de la práctica escrita.

SUMMARY: In the initial part of this article, we begin with a review of the traditional model of teaching composition in a foreign language class in which writing …

Secondary English Teachers' Attitudes Toward Disciplinary And Literacy Learning Implications For Pedagogical Praxis And Reform, Stephanie Kay Sugioka

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was threefold: (1) to examine the epistemological stances of the two teacher participants, that is, to determine their attitudes toward student literacy and their beliefs about the purposes of English as a discipline; (2) to describe the interplay between their epistemological stances and their pedagogical practices, in particular with respect to their use of research-based literacy strategies; and (3) to arrive at a means of supporting them in their use of more effective pedagogical strategies, in this case including more in-depth discussion in their classes for the purpose of furthering their students' critical literacy. The …

Questions Of Transfer: Writers' Perspective On Familiar/Unfamiliar Writing Tasks In A Capstone Writing Course, Heather G. Lettner-Rust

English Theses & Dissertations

Understanding what students bring from one writing context to another may the central concern for teachers of writing from elementary school to adult learning. Research from the field of composition studies offers knowledge about writing as process(es) (Emig, 1971; Shaughnessy, 1979; Russell, 1999), as socially constructed performances (Flower & Hayes, 1980; Bartholomae, 1985; Bloom, 1985), and as part of a larger activity system (Russell, 1997). This dissertation ties together theories of writing as an activity in a broader system of tools and outcomes and current research on transfer in writing in order to illustrate writers' perspectives on particular writing tasks. …

An Examination Of The Reading First Program At A Southeastern Virginia Elementary School And The Impact On K–2 Student Reading Achievement, Leslie Ford Lippard

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

Reading First was a federal initiative aimed at improving reading instruction and implementing programs and strategies grounded in scientifically-based reading research. The legislation was predicated on research findings that high-quality reading instruction and intervention in the primary grades significantly reduces the numbers of students who experience difficulties in later grades. This study examined the Reading First program at an elementary school in southeastern Virginia from 2006-2008. Specifically, the researcher investigated the impact of the independent variable, the tier three model of intervention on K-2 student reading achievement. Quantitative data was garnered from 792 K-2 student participants attending the research site. …