Education Commons^™

Instigators And Partners: Young Adult Literature’S Role In Readers’ Identity Formation, Cammie Jo Lawton

Doctoral Dissertations

This instrumental case study explored self-identified YA readers’ formative experiences with YAL and how their reading experiences contributed to their holistic identity. Using reader response theory, conceptualizations and varying layers of social imagination, and identity as theoretical foundations, the purpose of this dissertation is to inquire into YA readers’ experiences and determine how they describe YAL’s role in their sense of self over the course of their lives. The study was guided by the following research questions:

1. What types of transactions with YA texts have occurred with self-identified YA readers? Why have these transactions proved meaningful for the reader?
2. In …

Bridging The Gap: An Analysis Of Elementary Literacy Instruction, And Proposed Solutions To Exponentiate Literacy Skills, Avery E. Gray

Honors College Theses

The reading achievement gap is generally identified as the increasing disparity between higher-level students and lower-level students within the same grade or school level. Student data presented in the form of secondary reading assessment scores were analyzed for the state of Georgia, as well as nationally, for student achievement regarding reading skills in public schools from grades 3-5. Interviews conducted with educational professionals were conducted to reveal anecdotal manifestations of what the presented data looks like in terms of student ability, and how the teaching practice has reacted to such manifestations. The evaluation of these consistencies and explanations given to …

Foreign Expert: A Memoir Manuscript, Jenny L. Rowe

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This is a full memoir manuscript that I wrote for my MFA thesis, which is tentatively titled Foreign Expert. In this manuscript, we follow myself as narrator as I struggle to adapt to life in Beijing (prior to the pandemic) while also recovering from a recent divorce. The man I’d been married to for five years back in Iowa had become violently mentally ill, and though I’d been fortunate enough to remove myself from him, I quickly learned that being a foreign expert in China—my residential visa title—required more work than basic survival. By the end of my two years …

Scaffolding Strategies That Benefit And Support Adult English As A Foreign Language Reading Comprehension: A Literature Review, Walkiris Mejia Ortega

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The poor reading proficiency and the lack of reading comprehension strategies have been a major flaw for adult university learners in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) contexts, particularly in the case of English majors at the School of Foreign Languages in the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Research has shown this reading gap can be improved through suitable instructional strategies and assistance referred to as scaffolding. The purpose of this literature review was to investigate how beneficial scaffolding is for EFL adults´ reading comprehension, which scaffolding strategies prove effective in supporting EFL reading comprehension, and how those …

Effects Of Language Status, Community Advice, And Parent Beliefs On Heritage Language Maintenance In The U.S.: A Scoping Review, Jasmine Loeung

University Honors Theses

This scoping review examines the effects of language status, community advice to parents, and parents' beliefs on heritage language maintenance within a U.S. context. A total of 34 articles met the inclusion criteria. Four key themes were identified as follows: (1) status of a language in society affects maintenance, (2) parents' beliefs about the impact of the heritage language affect family language practices, (3) community advice impacts parents' beliefs and practices, (4) other factors affecting maintenance of the heritage language across generations. Overall, HL maintenance was observed as a dynamic relationship between a variety of factors, with individuals as well …

The Influence Of Bolded Keywords In Online News Texts On Reading Speed And Comprehension For Heritage+ Learners Of Arabic, Marwah Khost Aljarkas

Theses and Dissertations

Learners and readers of Arabic, especially Heritage Language Learners, suffer more than ever from the lack of focus while reading online texts. This becomes a challenge that negatively impacts their overall learning process. This paper explores the influence of one salience feature - bolded keywords - over reading speed and comprehension amongst Heritage+ Learners of Arabic. Heritage+ refers to Arabs living in the Arab world, but who have minimum exposure to the language. Thirty-two students, who are Heritage+ Learners of Arabic, currently studying at the American University in Cairo and belong to Generation Z (18-25 years), participated in the study. …

The Brothers Grimm Fairytale Cookboook, Grace Therriault

Graphic Communication

Modern technology and the Internet have made cookbooks relatively obsolete. Nowadays you only see them as coffee table decoration, something to flip through but not actually use. Designing a creative and fun children’s’ cookbook based on some of the famous Brothers Grimm fairytales, will encourage kids, ages 5-12, to have some fun in the kitchen and use their imagination to whip up some incredible edibles. This opportunity creates a window for children to get excited about a book and translate what they read into the real world. Lastly, this project is important to me because it the impact experimenting in …

Uncorking The Speaking Skill: Wine And Prosody In Conversation, Efren Antonio Serra

Master's Projects and Capstones

Although the skill of speaking is necessary for attaining basic interpersonal communicative skills (BICS), most traditional second language acquisition programs base their pedagogy and curriculums on lexis and grammar of the written form and phonology/phonetics. The purpose of this project is to demonstrate how to effectively adapt content-specific material for developing the speaking skill at community colleges with adult students who are interested in pursuing a career in the wine industry as a sommelier. Courses for becoming a sommelier or a server in the wine industry are traditionally offered at community colleges under the culinary arts and hospitality management programs, …

Forming A Global Citizen: Personal Development Through Study Abroad, Anna L. Reiter

Honors Thesis

This literature review examines key benefits of studying abroad, while investigating which elements most contribute to students’ overall success. Current literature suggests that benefits of studying abroad include, but are not limited to, second language acquisition (SLA), identity formation, and intercultural competence. The degree of which each is improved depends on a multitude of variables. SLA improvement is explored via consideration of students’ baseline proficiency level, degree of receptivity of the host country, and length of the study abroad program. Students’ identity formation is explained through the three bases of identity: person, role, and group/social. Finally, intercultural competence in study …

The Effects Of An Intervention Using Pokemon Trading Card Game On The Decoding Abilities Of Children, Derek Emmett

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The present study focuses on illustrating the relationship between word decoding instruction and word decoding abilities within the context of a trading card game. Additionally, an argument for reading motivation and improvement of literacy skills is made. Three participants between the ages of 9 and 13 were recruited for participation in this study. Several decoding strategies such as phonemic awareness and morphological awareness strategies were implemented and trained over the course of several trading card games. Performance in decoding of several lists of compiled nonwords following treatment phases were systematically measured by the researcher. Two of the three participants demonstrated …

Examining Early Word Recognition Instruction: Synthetic Phonics Vs. Analytic Phonics, Jenelle Gallagher-Mance

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This single subject experimental design study used an adapted alternating treatment design to examine the effects of a synthetic phonics intervention and an analytic phonics intervention on oral reading accuracy, oral reading rate, and letter-sound correspondences among first grade students. Students who were reading at least two levels below guided reading level expectations and scored below the 25th percentile on the AIMSweb R-CBM (2017) fluency probe and the Words Their Way Primary Spelling Inventory (Baer et al., 2007) were selected to participate in the study. Five participants received daily instruction based on a synthetic phonics intervention (systematic directed phonics) or …

Novice Teacher Experiences Of Online Reading Instruction During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Deyanira M. Echevarria Candales

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation documented novice teacher experiences providing online reading instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the researcher captured educators’ first-hand accounts of their experiences shifting to fully online reading instruction, adapting instructional materials that were designed for in-person instruction for online learning, confronting challenges and successes during this period of uncertainty, and transitioning back to in-person instruction amidst the then ongoing pandemic.

The following research questions were posed: 1. How do novice elementary reading teachers, in a large public school district in South Florida, describe their experiences teaching reading online during a global pandemic? 2. How do novice elementary …

Teaching Justice Through Literature: How Higher Education Informs Ethics And Identity, Kami Mittlestadt

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

This thesis argues that literature is a valuable tool in examining issues of justice, and teaching ethics through literature is a way to build critical thinking skills and awareness of the world. In this thesis, I examine research and teaching methods that have already been studied and implemented in the teaching of ethics and justice in companionship with literature, and use these resources to propose my own syllabus for a community college class on Ethics in Reading. The syllabus is broken into 7 units: an overview of justice in literature, five specific justice issues (race, feminism, queer studies, eco-criticism, and …

The International Academy Of Language And Culture: The Global (Pre)K-12 Charter School Network, Dree-El Simmons

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The International Academy of Language and Culture (IALC) is a charter school based on the original concept of charter schools by Ray Budde and Albert Shanker, as an academic environment dedicated and designed to improving the educational outcomes for its students through innovative pedagogy. Committed to American (and global) education reform, the IALC incorporates elements from higher education into the early childhood and adolescent settings. We accomplish this by utilizing an interdisciplinary approach in our language and culture-based program.

The IALC is a multilingual, full-immersion program. Food Studies (including culinary arts), the Arts, the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Martial Arts …

Reading Privileges: Enacting Critical Race English Education In English Language Arts Classrooms, Keith Newvine

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation uses practitioner inquiry (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999, 2009), narrative inquiry (Clandinin & Connelly, 1990; Rolling & Bey, 2016; Schaafsma & Vinz, 2011; Toliver, 2020a), composite character counterstorytelling (Baker-Bell, 2020), and critical discourse analysis (Bloome et al., 2008; Bloome & Power-Carter, 2013; Fairclough, 2003; Power-Carter, 2008; Rogers, 2004; van Dijk, 1993) to present findings from a 10-month qualitative study of the understanding and enactment of critical race English education (CREE) (Johnson, 2018, 2021) in one school and the effect of one teacher’s enactment of CREE (Johnson, 2018, 2021) on youth’s understanding of antiracism. Informed by critical whiteness studies (Applebaum, …

Sheltered Math Curriculum For Middle School English Learners, Jasmine Ercink

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Language barriers have shown a need for differentiation and sheltered instruction in the classroom for English Learners (ELs) to be successful in the United States public school system. This project proposes a mathematics curriculum using SIOP so that both groups of students in the middle school level can increase their proficiency in the mathematics content area as well as experience opportunities for academic and social language development. The purpose of this report is to describe the processes, methods, data, and intent of the mathematics curriculum for these learners. The curriculum acts as an effective intervention to fill gaps in both …

Finding Their Chrysanthemum: Linguistic Representation In Children's Literature, Marielena Zajac

Master of Arts in Professional Writing Capstones

Children in America today struggle with finding themselves in the books they read due to societal expectations. From an early age, children are dictated on the correct way to speak and write in “American,” which can leave children and their home languages feeling unseen and dismissed. To help further the conversation and promotion of linguistic diversity in American society, this capstone analyzes dialectal representation in children’s books, with a heavy focus on attitudinal linguistic principles rather than prescriptive mechanics. The secondary research explores current literature and resources that discuss literacy acquisition in adolescents, trends in dialects in America, and childhood …

Applying The Strategic Self-Regulation Model To Tone Acquisition In Mandarin : A Case Study, Adele Laurie Touhey

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation examines the experience of college-level American native English- speaking students who are learning elementary Mandarin Chinese as a foreign language acquire tone. Oxford (2011)’s Strategic Self-Regulation (S2R) Model is used to analyze the findings in a cross-case analysis. The findings showed that students in this study employed a variety of language learning strategies across all dimensions (cognitive, affective, and sociocultural-interactive), with the highest number of tactics being categorized as metacognitive and affective strategies. The results indicated that fostering a positive classroom environment can contribute to reduced learner anxiety and overall increased positive emotions related to tone acquisition. This …

Reading With Social, Digital Annotation: Encouraging Engaged Critical Reading In A Challenging Age, Miranda L. Egger

English Theses & Dissertations

This design-based research study examines the pedagogical role of social, digital annotation in teaching reading as rhetorical invention, particularly the kind of invention necessary for thoughtful democratic participation in the contemporary discursive era, often described as troubled. In this dissertation study, I deployed a classroom-based intervention meant to challenge how educators in rhetoric and composition/writing studies might directly address the acute and exigent discursive struggle in the first-year composition classroom. This study ultimately finds that social, digital annotation invites significant shifts in students’ reading habits, in that Hypothes.is-based annotations yielded a far more complex, multifaceted set of reading skills, behaviors, …

How Rhythm Affects Prosody, Mckenzie Ward

Student Research Submissions

Music interventions and how they benefit reading fluency have been researched, but there is more to be done in discovering the benefits of rhythm and prosody. This quantitative research study looked at how rhythm-based interventions affect student prosody in a second-grade classroom. Data were gathered from a music experience survey, a prosody pre-assessment, and a prosody post-assessment. The music intervention in this study involved three rhythm-based interventions called “DeeDee games.” This research analyzed and compared the growth between the prosody pre-and post-assessments and the results between students with musical backgrounds and students without musical backgrounds. This study found insufficient evidence …

Using Repeated Reading And Previewing Vocabulary Interventions With Elementary-Aged Struggling Readers To Improve Fluency And Comprehension, Khaled S. Alotaibi

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

Students with Learning disabilities and at risk for reading difficulties often face challenges in reading fluency and comprehension that impact negatively on academic success. Repeated reading (RR) is an intervention designed to increase reading fluency and comprehension skills among students at risk and diagnosed with disabilities. The purpose of this review was to investigate the effectiveness of the repeated reading (RR) and vocabulary previewing (VP) interventions on the fluency and comprehension skills of elementary school students. The review yielded a modest number of research articles published between 2008 and 2019. The results of these studies suggested that RR can have …

Reading With Joysticks: Video Games In The English Language Arts Classroom, Wesley Wingert

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This paper examines the new literary format of video games and argues that video games can be studied as their own text in the English Language Arts classroom through the lenses of film theory, narratology, and ludology. In order to be precise, the paper offers explicit connections to each of the reading and writing standards supplied by the Common Core State Standards. The paper then suggests that video games as literature can offer opportunities and skills beyond what traditional literature can, including problem solving and communication skills. Next, the paper lays out a framework to be used in order to …

A Generic Qualitative Study Of Primary Grade Reading Teachers' Challenges And Personal Teaching Solutions, Jennifer Lynn Nunes

Theses and Dissertations

Not all children enter school with the same skill set. Teachers of young children know this. Despite this, schools prescribe curriculum and pacing guides as well as assessments that may fit only a subset of students’ instructional levels. Teachers are left to determine the best way to meet the student and mandated requirements. Teachers from two elementary schools from a neighborhood area were interviewed about their perspectives and how they manage instructional expectations to help students learn grade level expectations.

The following research questions were addressed.1. How and why do teachers report adapting literacy instruction for students who are deficient …

The Effectiveness Of A Caregiver Delivered Phonics Intervention For At-Risk Students, Iwalani Dela Paz-Miller

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Reading skills are important for students' academic success. Phonics specifically is a foundational skill which is necessary for reading fluency and overall reading proficiency. Additional support outside of the classroom can be beneficial for those struggling and at-risk. There are various strategies and interventions that can help students' gain important academic skills. In addition to various reading skills and interventions, parents and caregivers can help implement interventions within the home setting to support students in their academic growth. Overall, the research has documented the effectiveness of reading intervention delivered by parents and caregivers, but there is little research on caregiver …

Asking Appalachia: Appalachian English In The Writing Classroom, Rachel Nicole Hampton

Online Theses and Dissertations

This thesis combines primary and secondary research in order to make an argument about the need for better educational practices for Appalachian students. A problem is first established that, because of how Appalachian people and their culture are represented in the media, negative stereotypes are spread about those from the region who are easily identified by their use of Appalachian English. Standard English is widely taught and students are encouraged to suppress their accent and dialect in order to mediate this. However, these practices allow no room for these students to use and embrace their own language. This thesis investigates …

Role Of Morphological Awareness In Language And Literacy In Children With And Without Developmental Language Disorder, Melissa Phelan

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Past research has shown phonological awareness is highly correlated with language and literacy success in children with and without Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), but a less examined area of language and literacy is morphological awareness. Delayed morphology in children with DLD has been studied extensively in spoken language, but relatively little in written language in the DLD population. This study explored two research questions: 1) Is morphological awareness related to language and literacy success in children with and without DLD, and 2) Is morphological awareness impaired for those children with DLD and dyslexia similarly to that of phonological awareness. A …

Building Confidence Of Academic Library Staff In The Selection Of Culturally Authentic Native American Picture Books, Cassondra Leeport

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This study aimed to explore the confidence and ability of library staff to select and identify culturally authentic Native American picture books. The researcher, a self-identified Native American, developed a tool designed to assist in library staff in identifying key elements of a picture book that lend themselves to a work being culturally authentic. Assisting patrons in selecting materials is a key element in the library profession. The setting of this research is a university with a large Professional Education Program as well as a documented dedication to serving Native students and surrounding tribal communities and the participants of the …

The Time To Talk Is Now: Race-Based Dialogue Among White Student Affairs Professionals, Imari Hazelwood

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

Enrollment of students of color (SOC) in higher education has called on student affairs professionals to design and implement programs and policies focused on diversity and inclusion (Mueller & Pope, 2000, 2003; Ellertson, Moore, & Marsh, 2007; Pope, Mueller, & Reynolds, 2009). White student affairs professionals need to develop cultural competencies about race to aid the development of students of color at Predominantly White Institutions (PWI) (Mueller & Pope, 2001). Book clubs are one way to gather and converse about race and identity (Polleck & Epstein, 2015). The White Racial Identity Development theory (WRID) is a way to bring awareness …

An Analysis Of Class In Composition From 1970-2010, Holland R. Cutrell

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

Class and socioeconomic status in composition and rhetoric remains a topic that is felt, yet not often discussed. The language students use is highly indicative of their class background, and everyone has a slightly altered form of discourse they prefer (Zebroski, 2006). My thesis examines the issues working-class students have faced with literacy acquisition and discourse assimilation from 1970s–mid 2000s. My analysis illustrates how composition and rhetoric has evolved from the error-centered and hyper-correct culture of the 1970s to the technologically dominated, media driven production powerhouse that affects every aspect of college and beyond. To most effectively address how working-class …

The Effects Of Watching Text-Relevant Video Segments On Reading Comprehension Of Culturally Unfamiliar Texts With Adult English Language Learners Supported By The Schematic Information-Processing (Sip) Model Of Reading Comprehension, Amirreza Karami

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed-methods sequential explanatory study was to investigate the effects of watching text-relevant video segments on reading comprehension of a culturally unfamiliar text when technical words are present or absent. Therefore, 44 adult English Language Learners (ELLs) with higher-intermediate to advanced English language proficiency levels from the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (UASD) School of Languages located in the Dominican Republic were chosen and randomly assigned to two different groups: control vs. experimental.

First, the researcher compared two different types of reading instruction—traditional text-based vs. video-based reading instruction supported by the Schematic Information-Processing (SIP) model of reading …