Education Commons^™

Translanguaging: The Instructor-Perceived Benefits Of Use In The Adult English Language Learner Classroom, Paul Jonas

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

This thesis, seeks to answer the research questions: what are the instructor-perceived benefits of translanguaging in the adult second language acquisition classroom for students who have not had any prior English language experience when learning English as a second language? Additionally, is there an instructor-perceived increase in output and comprehension with adult learners when translanguaging is actively used, and how is it being used? Topics explored during the literature review process included translanguaging, perceived benefits and challenges of translanguaging in the classroom, age-related factors for language acquisition, and non-age-related factors regarding language learning. Six English language instructors of adult non-degree-seeking …

Exploring How Elementary Esl Teachers Experience Learning And Change Related To A Genre-Based Approach To Language Instruction, Angela Froemming

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

This study explored how elementary ESL teachers describe their experience learning about genre-based pedagogy, and how they describe change that resulted from learning about this instructional approach. Multilingual learners represent a rising student demographic across the United States (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2021), however, most teachers and administrators have not been adequately trained in language development, so language remains an abstract concept and professional learning experiences related to language development are scarce (He & Bagwell, 2021; Ranney, 2012). Without language-based resources or frameworks, ESL teachers are often underutilized professionals in their schools (Harper & de Jong, 2009). A genre-based …

How Equitable Teaching Practices Impact The Mathematical Identity Of English Language Learners From Teachers’ Perspectives, Xiaomei Segelstrom

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

This mixed method research study examined the teacher’s perspectives on how equitable teaching practices impact the math identity of English language learners. A quantitative research survey instrument including five major themes that was generated from the frameworks in the literature review was used, and then followed by semi-structured interviews to address the research question. The data collected from the survey indicated that participants do believe that equitable teaching practices would impact the math identity of ELLs via: conveying high expectations, language support, modifying lessons, mathematical tasks and mathematical tools. Building on the survey results, interviewees furthermore informed that all these …

Implementing Tpr And Tprs In The Adult Esl Classroom With Slife Learners: A Teacher’S Diary Study, Ann Gehrt

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

This study addresses the question: how can TPR and TPRS be used in the adult ESL classroom to teach vocabulary and reading skills? Adult ELLs with limited or interrupted formal education may struggle to learn English in traditional classrooms that rely on pre-existing literacy skills they have not yet developed, such as reading or taking notes. TPR (Total Physical Response) and TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling) are methods of teaching language that may make use of body movements, gestures, role-play, drama and oral storytelling to make language understandable before connecting it to its written form. TPR has a …

Early Career Language Educators Experience Joy And Purpose In The Creation Of Multilingual Classroom Ecologies, Jonell Pacyga

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this phenomenological study was to intensely analyze and interpret the experiences of a select sample of early career language teachers as they reflected on their languaging interactions with their learners. To answer the research question: How do early career language teachers experience the creation of multilingual classroom ecologies?, four individuals participated by collectively providing 14 interviews, submitting 13 bi-weekly journals, and sharing 17 self-selected semiotic images over a two month time period. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith, 1996) was then employed using a double hermeneutic to uncover themes in each case by elucidating descriptions and then cohesively analyzing …

Adult Immigrant English Learners’ Perceptions Of Their Multilingual And Multicultural Identities, Greta Mcelvain

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

Adult immigrant English learners (ELs) must navigate living in a new country while also learning a new language. These immigrants are becoming both multicultural and multilingual. It has been established in prior literature that as immigrants adjust to living in a new culture with a different language, they experience both a language (Wardhaugh & Fuller, 2015) and cultural (Gibson, 2001, as cited in Schwartz, 2006, p. 2) shift. These shifts can sometimes result in immigrants losing connection to their first languages (Zhang, 2010) or their home cultures Gu and Lai (2019). Self-reflection activities have been shown to allow individuals to …

English Learner Families, Rural County Public Libraries, And Rural Public Elementary Schools, Carmel Murphy

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

English Learner families in rural areas have unique experiences in accessing bilingual materials in home languages for literacy learning. This research focused on gathering the perceptions of parents of elementary school ELs regarding the barriers that impede collaboration between public elementary schools and county public libraries for improving the literacy of ELs in rural communities. This qualitative research followed a grounded theory process and community-based research from data collection via interviews with parents of ELs, rural public elementary school educators, and rural county public librarians. Seven participants from Central Minnesota included two bilingual parents of ELs, three educators, and two …

Classroom Questions: How Mainstream Elementary Teachers Use Questions To Support Achievement For English Language Learners, Holly Wandersee

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

This small-scale study of an elementary classroom was designed to better understand the research question How do mainstream elementary teachers use questions in their instruction of ELLs? The goal of this study was to explore how one elementary teacher used questions in the classroom, how her class responded to the questions, and how she supported her learners along the way. A detailed literature review explored research that has already been conducted related to teacher questions and ELLs, and it included information about the following topics: second language acquisition, classroom questions in both the ESL/EFL classroom and the mainstream classroom, and …

Representation Of Cultures And Languages In Children’S Picture Books, Kristen Neff

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated cultural representation in children’s picture books located in classroom libraries. The literature review explored what is culture, the history of children’s books, what past studies have found on representation in books, and why this topic is important. The research methodology was a qualitative study that involved inventorying classroom teachers’ libraries, as well as interviews with teachers about diversity and their libraries. The results included each of the individual teachers’ libraries as well as all the libraries’ data together; data revealed that the majority of characters were animal or non-human characters. Additionally, most of the books in these …

The Impact Of Language Attitudes On The Bilingual And Bicultural Self-Perceptions Of Fifth-Grade Latino Students, Abigail Winnes

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the impact of language attitudes on the bilingual and bicultural self-perceptions of fifth-grade Latino students. The research questions posed in this study included: 1) What are the language attitudes (specifically toward English, Spanish, and Spanish-English bilingualism) held by Spanish-speaking English learners in Fifth Grade? and 2) How do these attitudes interact with students’ developing bilingual and bicultural self-perceptions? The literature review includes research related to heritage language maintenance; societal attitudes toward minority languages and their speakers; Latino language attitudes; language attitudes in multilingual educational settings; and the development of bilingual and bicultural self-perceptions. Participants in this study …

Factors Of Persistence In Multilingual Abe Secondary Credential Participants, Sherry Smith

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question addressed in this study is What factors contribute to multilinguals’ persistence in adult secondary credential programs? ABE participants in general have a high rate of stopping out of programs. For those trying to earn a secondary credential in a second language, the goal of earning a secondary credential may be more complex. There was little research focusing on this population of ABE participants with this goal. This mixed methods retrospective case study examines which factors supported the persistence of three multilingual participants in Adult Basic Education (ABE) who earned their GED®. The supports are categorized into individual, …

No “Pobrecito Student”: Translanguaging High-School Science For Academic Language Development, Agustina Borré

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

Borré, A. (2022). No “Pobrecito Student”: Translanguaging High-School Science for Academic Language Development. The research questions addressed in this study were: what are the impacts of translanguaging on academic language development? And what are the challenges and successes in implementing translanguaging in highly culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms? Thus, the topics explored in the literature review range from research on academic language development and the teaching and learning of science in high school and the struggles and challenges English Language Learners (ELLs) face when learning then different content areas. The literature review also reveals some of the findings emerging from …

Investigating The L2 Motivational Self System Of Mauritanian Efl Learners: A Unique L2 Learning Experience, Casey Hatlevoll

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated Mauritanian EFL learner motivation through the lens of Dörnyei’s (2009) L2 Motivational Self System. The research question was: Within a private English center context, how is the motivation of Mauritanian EFL learners impacted by their L2 selves and the L2 Learning Experience? Specifically, two sub-questions were addressed: (1) Within learners’ L2 Motivational Self Systems, how does the impact of the L2 Self compare with the impact of the L2 Learning Experience? and (2) Which aspects of the L2 Learning Experience within the English center’s learning environment foster learner motivation?. A mixed-methods design was utilized, including a motivation …

The Impact Of Home Language Maintenance And Acculturation Gaps Amongst Somali-American Families, Morgyn Wade

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question addressed in this thesis was: What impact does home language maintenance and acculturation gaps have on Somali-American families? The purpose was to understand the impact of language loss and acculturation gaps and to see what teachers and others could do to help encourage home language maintenance amongst Somali-American families. It discusses previous research in the field; such as Brown and Carpenter’s (2018) study of a community of Somali-Americans in Barron, Wisconsin, and Gonzalez and Mendez-Pounds’(2018) study on Mexican-American families and parents’ approaches to home language maintenance. In addition, this thesis explores the various connections between language, culture, …

Yo Soy Mi Idioma: Latinx Bilinguals’ Journeys To Two-Way Immersion Education, José Becerra-Cárdenas

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

This study examined how the lived experiences of Latinx bilingual teachers influenced their path toward two-way immersion (TWI) programs and informed the development of their beliefs about education. This research was designed as a qualitative multiple case study, with triangulated data points including surveys, dialogues, and journals. The results were analyzed using pattern matching and cross-case analysis. Underpinned by Critical Race Theory (CRT), both LatCrit and Counter-Storytelling were utilized to add dimension to the Latinx experience, which not only takes into consideration experiences of migration, immigration status, language, and ethnic identities, but also rejects the notion that there is a …

Need Not Apply: A Systematic Literature Review Re-Evaluating English Prestige And Its Retribution On Foreign English Language Leaders And Their Learners’ Identity, Jessica Ibarra-Gambrill

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

This comprehensive literature review aims to progress the dialogue on the influence of English prestige in the ESL field related to hiring practices, pedagogical practices, and consideration for how it impacts learner success. Traditional interpretations of cultural capital from Bourdieuean theory form a deficit view of Communities of Color with an extension to immigrant families and those for whom English is not the first language. Further to that, Bourdieu's concept of linguistic capital measures against the knowledge of the ability to speak the official language. The English language has served as a gatekeeper worldwide as the demand for English language …

Factors That Contribute To Success In The Remote English Classroom, Emily Stein

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

in their classes? 2) Which factors do remote teachers believe contribute to success in their classes? In an increasingly technological world, remote classes are becoming more common. With this change in the modality of class also comes a change in teacher characteristics, teaching strategies, and more. Topics explored in the literature review include these changes to teaching due to the remote modality, the successes and challenges of remote teaching and learning, as well as descriptions of remote models in the elementary school language learning context. The study looks more closely at a particular remote English program located in a small, …

Somali Family Priorities And Perspectives Regarding Middle School Engagement, Joanna Fischer

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to investigate Somali families’ priorities and perspectives regarding middle school engagement. A survey was used which asked parents to rate the importance of different school engagement efforts, both at home and at school. Parents were then asked to answer open-ended questions regarding school engagement. Findings suggest that Somali parents prioritize those events and activities that directly benefit the child’s academics, more so than events and activities related to school-wide information and involvement. Furthermore, parents asked for better communication, more resources, and more equitable practices from educators. They also saw the importance of the education …

The Roles Of School-Based Language Specialists: Implications For Ell Teacher And Speech-Language Pathologist Collaboration, Erica R. Solorio

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The field of education is a dynamic one due to the ever-changing demographics of the society it seeks to serve. Research has shown that the number of culturally and linguistically diverse students in schools is increasing. As a result, schools and educators need to meet the academic and linguistic needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students. Past research as also shown that Speech-Language Pathologists must differentiate between a language disorder or language difference when working with a culturally and linguistically student and they should collaborate with a bilingual interpreter or bilingual teacher during this process. However, much of the past …

In What Ways Do Language Lessons That Incorporate Student- And Teacher-Generated Gestures Support Language Learning In An 8th Grade Beginning-Level Spanish Classroom?, Simone Johnson

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

In this six-week action research study, 18 participants between the ages of 12 and 14 were given four week-long gesture-based vocabulary lessons to determine the role that gestures have on L2 vocabulary acquisition in an eighth-grade beginning-level Spanish classroom. Each week, students were encouraged to learn and practice a list of vocabulary words using gesture-based activities, seeing that gestures, a form of embodied learning, has proven to positively affect L2 vocabulary acquisition and address the needs of diverse learners. The first and third lessons consisted of teacher-generated gestures, while the second and fourth were student-generated gesture-based lessons and the two …

Meaningful Family Engagement In Schools: Karen Family Perspectives, Emily Mattson

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research project was to examine how meaningful family engagement with schools is perceived by Karen families. In-home interviews, a focus group, and school event sign-in forms were used to collect data. Families were asked to reflect on their experiences with their child’s school, how they felt involved, supported, and what more they would like to see offered in regards to support and engagement. Results showed that the families perceived meaningful family engagement to be culturally relevant, relational, and as being equipped with resources that empower them to support their children. Furthermore, the data collected from event …

The Roles And Identities Of English As A Second Language Teacher Leaders, Madeline Benson

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

Due to rising numbers of English Learners (ELs) nationwide, mainstream teachers are increasingly called upon to meet the needs of their ELs without adequate preparation to do so (Correll, 2016). In an effort to address these needs, the English Learners in the Mainstream (ELM) Project trains English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers to assume a leadership role in their buildings. Through a model of peer instructional coaching, ESL teachers provide professional development for their mainstream colleagues. The goal of this study was to answer the following questions:

1) After being trained as teacher leaders, do ESL teachers experience a …

High Interest Low Readability Books And Motivation In Chinese Classrooms, Renee Zhang

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question addressed in this study was, how do high interest texts mediate Chinese middle school students’ reading comprehension? The author opens up this research territory by exploring four areas including the history of education in China, China’s examination system of high-stakes testing, L2 motivation, and classroom reading materials used at her school. The author focuses on interest as a factor and orientation towards intrinsic motivation, where high interest texts are used to mediate students’ reading experience and reading comprehension. Wigfield and Guthrie’s seminal work on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation along with Saddleback Educational hi-lo books influence the author’s …

Heritage Language Maintenance In An Urban Somali Community And Its Relationship To Academic Performance, Sarah Latzke

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

This research project sought the answer to the question: Is there a correlation between the maintenance of Somali heritage language and academic performance in relation to national norms of urban Somali elementary students in a focus school? Key indicators of heritage language maintenance were determined through research and were identified as Family Language Policies, socioeconomic factors, prestige, identity, and motivation. The project focused on the collection of academic data and interviews of urban Somali parents, guardians, and students to determine if there is a relationship between heritage language maintenance and academic achievement. Interview data was coded and checked for reliability …

A Hmong American Esl Teacher’S Struggles With Quietness And Its Effect On Oral Acquisition Of English: An Autoethnography, Nou Ly

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question addressed in this project was: What factors, whether internally or externally, contributed to my quiet behavior as an English learner (EL) and did these factors affect my own English language acquisition, and if so, to what extent? The purpose of this autoethnography was to reflect on my personal experience as an English learner (EL) in order to explore and make an attempt to identify some of the factors that may have caused me to be a quiet learner. Understanding what these factors are can help me and other educators understand why the majority of our Hmong English …

A Study On The Use Of Rubrics To Guide Writing And Self-Assessment In The L2 Elementary Classroom, Matthew Hoerr

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The use of rubrics in the classroom to guide writing or as a means of self-assessment are not new concepts but ones that have received little study at the primary level. This study took the

form of a classroom-based action research project, over a seven-week period, in a fourth- grade elementary school classroom, at an international school in Ecuador. Data was collected

through responses to narrative writing prompts scored by the teacher and self-assessed by the students using the 6-Traits Writing Rubric. The students received direct instruction on writing traits as well as training on how to use the rubric. …

The Aspect Hypothesis And Its Application In The Comprehension Of Perfective Telic And Imperfective Atelic Situations In Leveled English Language Learners: Insights Into The Link Between Comprehension And Production, Collin Klagmann

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The motivating factor for this research was to determine if predictive meaning-based tenets of the Aspect Hypothesis can be applied to the comprehension of perfective telic and imperfective atelic situations, and to assess the role lexical aspect plays in the attribution of perfective –ed to telic and imperfective –ing to atelic predicates for English language learners in WIDA proficiency Levels 2, 3, 4 and Exited. Student’s preference for aspectual attribution, and ability to notice completedness were measured. Results suggest that the perfective is more salient in a telic context, and is therefore acquired first. However, the salience of the imperfective …

Using L1 In Support Of Learning English: Code-Switching Behaviors Across Wida Levels, Laura Lucarelli

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

Many researchers agree that code-switching, or the complex behavior of switching between two languages or dialects, is an effective learning tool for ELs. This case study examines code-switching among Somali students in the context of three high school English-medium classrooms. Although there exists much research on the topic of how

and why students code-switch, little evidence has been collected to determine how code- switching behaviors vary between students at different levels of English development.

Therefore, the following research questions are investigated: How do multilingual Somali high school students code-switch in English-medium classes? How do the CS behaviors of these students …

Culturally Relevant Pedagogy And Student Motivation: An Applied Study Of Their Relationship In Fourth Grade English Learners, Joy Mcclain

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question addressed in this paper is: How are feelings of motivation observed in and

reported by English learners when they are educated in culturally relevant ways? Using Ladson- Billings’ definition of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, Ryan and Deci’s self-determination theory

of motivation, and Gonzalez’ definition of culture as lived experience, the author conducts classroom research with fourth grade English learners in an urban setting in the American Midwest. Student surveys, teacher observations, and field notes are used for the duration of two co-taught lessons that can be classified as being culturally relevant. One lesson introduces the metaphor to students …

Examining The Effectiveness Of An Esl Teacher Observation Tool, Hetal Ascher

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

This research investigates the effectiveness of a teacher created ESL teacher observation tool. This paper argues that although commonly used tools such as the Charlotte Danielson Framework (2013) exist, they do not fully meet the needs of ESL teachers. A mixed methods study was conducted in order to compare the Charlotte Danielson (2013) rubric to the ESL Teacher Observation Tool in terms of language related feedback. Principals from a Midwestern school district conducted evaluations based on a video clip using both tools, and subsequently, principals were interviewed. The ESL Teacher Observation Tool appeared to yield more language-instruction related feedback in …