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Teaching The Language Of A Lab Report: A Guide For Science Teachers, Lori A. Ward
Teaching The Language Of A Lab Report: A Guide For Science Teachers, Lori A. Ward
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
Academic language in the register of science is often challenging for students to compose, and their science teachers may struggle to support their language development. This project explores the question, what are the language structures science teachers must teach for secondary students to be able to write successful science lab reports? In this paper I report the strong link between language and knowledge in science. Students must develop strong language skills in science not only to communicate scientific ideas but also to gain understanding of scientific concepts. Supporting the development of language in the register of science is a challenging …
Using Culturally And Racially Relevant Curriculum To Close The Opportunity Gap, Carmen Higueros
Using Culturally And Racially Relevant Curriculum To Close The Opportunity Gap, Carmen Higueros
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
The purpose of this research Capstone and project was to examine the “achievement gap” between students of color, including EL students, and their white counterparts. By examining the trends found in student achievement, the legislation around accountability and the assessments used to determine proficiency, the “achievement gap” is prevalent across the country and in Minnesota. In an effort to find new solutions to closing this “achievement gap”, culturally and racially relevant curriculum and teaching are being utilized across the field of education. The project portion of the Capstone utilizes “Backwards By Design” to create a curriculum kit that is culturally …
Using A Functional Language Approach To Modifiy Guided Reading For English Langauge [Sic] Learners, Kristen A. Young
Using A Functional Language Approach To Modifiy Guided Reading For English Langauge [Sic] Learners, Kristen A. Young
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations
The first research question addressed in this study was, how can one modify the standard methods of teaching guided reading to better meet the language needs of non-native speakers? The second question was, what adjustments need to be made to include the teaching of academic language functions with guided reading instruction? This study documents the teacher’s exploration of the most effective strategies for teaching English learners (ELs) to learn the language needed to accelerate reading levels. The author uses the Modified Guided Reading for ELs lesson model produced in the work by Avalos, Plasencia Chaves and Rascon, and combines it …
Teaching Academic Language And Prosody Through Content-Related Collocations, Nell Duffy Hernandez
Teaching Academic Language And Prosody Through Content-Related Collocations, Nell Duffy Hernandez
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations
My research seeks to answer the questions How can students gauge their own prosody of targeted collocations?, What feedback and strategies can content teachers use to aid students? and Can a holistic rubric aid students’ learning to produce academic collocations?. To answer these questions I designed a study given to six sixth grade level four and five English language learners (ELs). Eight academic collocations were chosen from the students’ social studies textbook as the targeted language. The research examined the ELs’ language use using a holistic speaking and writing rubric designed for teacher assessment and a student self-monitoring sheet. The …
Small Group Explicit Academic Vocabulary Instruction For Kindergarten English Language Learners, Mara Verstraete
Small Group Explicit Academic Vocabulary Instruction For Kindergarten English Language Learners, Mara Verstraete
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations
This study examines the impact of small group explicit vocabulary instruction on kindergarten ELs’ receptive and expressive knowledge of selected academic vocabulary. Key influences include research by Beck, McKeown, and Silverman. The research consisted of a mixed-methods quasi-experimental approach. Data was collected through a pretest, posttest, checklists and a teacher observation journal. The main findings suggest that small group explicit vocabulary instruction is a more effective way to increase academic word meaning knowledge rather than embedded vocabulary instruction alone. The results from the study also show that modeling and prompting were often required for students to correctly respond to the …
Grammatical Acquisition Of Present And Past Tense Verb Forms In A Communicative Setting, Katherine N. Nelson
Grammatical Acquisition Of Present And Past Tense Verb Forms In A Communicative Setting, Katherine N. Nelson
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations
The research question addressed in this project was, “Does the communicative approach to teaching language increase 5th grade English Learners’ proficiency in their grammar acquisition of present and past tense verb conjugation?” This study looked at ELs’ challenge in conjugating present to past tense verbs and the subsequent effect on their ability to comprehend age-level literature, to create comprehensible original written works, and to perform well on high stakes testing. Research is reviewed in the areas of communicative language teaching (CLT), fifth grade grammar proficiency, grammar acquisition, and correct verb tense conjugation. Communicative language teaching is hallmarked by the understanding …
Esl International Students’ Perceptions Of Their Academic Readiness For Us Higher Education, Jaclyn Combs
Esl International Students’ Perceptions Of Their Academic Readiness For Us Higher Education, Jaclyn Combs
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations
The purpose of this study was to examine English as a second language (ESL) international students’ perceptions on how prepared they felt they were for academic culture and classroom expectations at their higher education institution in the United States. A mixed-methods approach was employed using an in-depth quantitative survey and qualitative interviews. Findings suggest that even if ESL international students satisfy English language proficiency admissions requirements, they still need ongoing English language support, academic literacy development, and a clearer understanding of workload expectations in order to complete their studies successfully. Implications for future research include inspecting the role of US …
Cultural Hybridity: A Case Study On Hmong Teen Identity, Kao Moua Her
Cultural Hybridity: A Case Study On Hmong Teen Identity, Kao Moua Her
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations
The research design attempted to examine racial and ethnic identities’ construction in adolescent Hmong girls by addressing two critical questions: (1) How do adolescent Hmong girls construct their own racial and ethnic identities within the Hmong and dominant White cultures? and (2) How does exposure to Hmong women of influence impact their racial and ethnic identities? In order to gain a comprehensive perspective of how adolescent Hmong girls construct their identities, multiple assessment tools such as the Multidimensional Inventory of Hmong Identity and pre- and post interviews were implemented to collect reliable and valid information so that answers to the …
Esp For Ecotourism: Discourse Skills, Technology, And Collaboration For Job Contexts, Jill King
Esp For Ecotourism: Discourse Skills, Technology, And Collaboration For Job Contexts, Jill King
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations
This capstone’s primary aim was to design a companion instructional guide for teachers of English for Specific Purposes for ecotourism professionals in Mexico. It identified gaps left by traditional EFL courses that tend to lack strong connections between language instruction and real-world job requirements for English usage. It looked at curricular reform efforts in other world regions with the intention to innovate ESP instruction in Mexico. Findings include recommendations for student-centered curricula that incorporate multimodal learning activities and authentic contexts for tourism jobs. Multiliteracies pedagogy drove the creation of the instructional guide’s components, which provide support in conducting small-group projects …
Texts In Reading Intervention Programs: Are They Culturally Representative Of English Learner Populations?, Lisa N. Marquardt
Texts In Reading Intervention Programs: Are They Culturally Representative Of English Learner Populations?, Lisa N. Marquardt
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations
In this study, a total of 52 reading intervention texts were examined for cultural representation and authenticity; the texts under analysis were from Fountas and Pinnell’s Leveled Literacy Intervention and Hasselbring’s Read 180. There were four major, interrelated research questions addressed by this work, two of which dealt with cultural representation in the texts and the extent to which they aligned to the regional population and national publishing statistics. The second set of research questions addressed the level of cultural authenticity through a comparative analysis of each program’s texts. The author concludes that, in this sample of texts, Read 180 …
Sing If You Know It: Songs With Gestures Used To Reinforce Tier-2 And Tier-3 Content Vocabulary To Early Elementary English Learners, Catherine C. Ragsdale
Sing If You Know It: Songs With Gestures Used To Reinforce Tier-2 And Tier-3 Content Vocabulary To Early Elementary English Learners, Catherine C. Ragsdale
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
In Minnesota, the state standards require that all students, including English learners of all proficiencies, demonstrate knowledge of complex academic and content vocabulary. This can pose obvious problems for students with limited English proficiency. Research has shown that music and gestures can play an integral part in the retention of difficult vocabulary. It can also increase a student’s motivation, while building their confidence and minimizing their anxiety. Furthermore, music can create solidarity in the classroom. Many teachers, though at times intimidated by its implementation, agree that using music in the classroom can enhance learning and increase retention. That being said, …
Curriculum For Teaching Relative Constructions To Somali-Speaking Learners Of English, Kelly M. Rynda
Curriculum For Teaching Relative Constructions To Somali-Speaking Learners Of English, Kelly M. Rynda
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
The research question addressed in this project was, how do relative constructions in Somali compare to relative constructions in English, what difficulties do Englishlanguage learners have acquiring relatives, and what teaching strategies are most appropriate for these learners? It documents one teacher’s creation of a unit focused entirely around the acquisition of relative constructions, using strategies that have been identified as most effective, such as learning subject relatives and object relatives in sequence and utilizing repeated timed reading. The author provides lesson plans and activities that align with the best practices outlined in the research, with particular consideration given to …
Developing Academic Language In The Context Of A Fourth Grade Mathematics Geometry Curriculum Unit, Rachel J. Pazandak
Developing Academic Language In The Context Of A Fourth Grade Mathematics Geometry Curriculum Unit, Rachel J. Pazandak
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations
The research question addressed in this capstone project was: How can a mathematics geometry curriculum unit be organized to support and develop academic language for fourth grade students through meaningful engagement strategies? The author reviewed literature in the areas of English as a Second Language and mathematics and synthesized best practice methods for teaching common to the two disciplines. The author found that explicit teaching, practice, and support of academic language is vital and beneficial for linguistically diverse learners, with attention to word, sentence, and discourse dimensions. Mathematics is rich in language, particularly when lessons are structured to allow students …
Malp® In The Classroom With A Focus On New Activities For Learning To Improve Linguistic Complexity In Writing For English Learners Seventh-Grade Students, Jehan Hanna Rehayem
Malp® In The Classroom With A Focus On New Activities For Learning To Improve Linguistic Complexity In Writing For English Learners Seventh-Grade Students, Jehan Hanna Rehayem
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations
This study was conducted to answer the following question: Can MALP® help raise the ELP of our EL students in writing by focusing on new activities for learning to improve linguistic complexity? Based on the existing literature, I designed my study to incorporate tried strategies pertaining to the implementation of MALP® in Writing with a focus on linguistic complexity in the classroom. I carefully documented my students’ progress using established assessments. At the end of five months, more than fifty percent of my students rose to the next level on the ELP rubric for Writing, a much more promising progress …
Guided Reading For Beginning English Learners In The First Grade Classroom, Alexis L. Lundberg
Guided Reading For Beginning English Learners In The First Grade Classroom, Alexis L. Lundberg
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations
The purpose of this study is to examine how guided reading can support beginning English learners (ELs) in the first grade classroom. Three first grade English learners were observed in twelve guided reading sessions and their observation survey results were analyzed. This is a mixed methods study conducted in a mainstream classroom. Data collected for this study consisted of observation survey results from the fall, winter, and spring, three video recorded guided reading lessons which were assessed using a rubric, and an electronic teacher observation journal. The primary finding of this study is that when guided reading is modified to …
Valuing Multilingualism: Differences In Perceptions Of Students In World Language Classes Versus Students In Esl, Kazusa Yamashita
Valuing Multilingualism: Differences In Perceptions Of Students In World Language Classes Versus Students In Esl, Kazusa Yamashita
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations
With globalization, the need and benefits of multilingualism become increasingly clear (Diamond, 2010). This study aims to identify how multilingualism is valued in a school by comparing the teachers’ perceptions of students taking world language classes versus those taking ESL classes. By understanding the perceptions of teachers towards students engaged in becoming multilingual, the study provides information on how multilingualism is perceived by the school community. Students taking world language classes are praised for their language acquisition but ELs are viewed with a deficit perspective, their potentials overshadowed. Even though the school overtly promotes multilingualism, ELs may be marginalized due …
Fourth Grade Curriculum To Increase Literacy Achievement In Ell Students, Shannon Baker
Fourth Grade Curriculum To Increase Literacy Achievement In Ell Students, Shannon Baker
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations
This curriculum project answered the question: How can I make the Units of Study more accessible to English Language Learners by incorporating balanced literacy techniques? The author incorporated ideas from best practices in literacy, and combined them with best practices for ELL students to create a curriculum unit. The unit is comprised of ten lessons. It includes graphic organizers and best practice ideas for ELL students. In this paper the author describes the research involved in creating this unit. She also discusses limitations, implications, and ideas for future research.
An Investigation Into The Allophonic Split Of /B/ And /P/: Is There A Relationship Between Noticing And Pronunciation For Adult Somali Els?, Amy Christine Carruthers
An Investigation Into The Allophonic Split Of /B/ And /P/: Is There A Relationship Between Noticing And Pronunciation For Adult Somali Els?, Amy Christine Carruthers
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations
My study sought explore the relationship between an adult Somali EL’s ability to notice the difference between the allophonic split of /b/ and /p/ in two-letter syllable minimal pairs and each participant’s ability to pronounce the same minimal pairs. I also explored whether the use of color photos in targeted pronunciation instruction was significant in improving noticing and pronunciation ability. I conducted a quasi-experimental study using the framework of Schmidt’s noticing theory, and his definition of focal awareness, in a one-time session with two treatment groups; one group utilized the independent variable, color photos of minimal pairs. I conducted a …
Effective Whole Group Literacy Instruction For Teaching English Language Newcomers Through Total Physical Response And The Use Of Visuals, Nicole Holmes
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
The purpose of this curriculum development was to create whole group literacy lessons that would benefit all students, especially English Language newcomers. In-depth research in Total Physical Response, the use of visuals, literacy and English Language newcomers drove the findings to implement the use of three vocabulary words at the beginning of each lesson. There are a total of twenty lessons, five lessons in four units, with the implementation of three vocabulary words at the beginning using TPR and visuals to get the meaning across to students. There are assessments to better support English Language newcomers within each unit.
The Impact Of Trauma And Refugees: Resources For Educators, Deanna Taylor
The Impact Of Trauma And Refugees: Resources For Educators, Deanna Taylor
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
The research question addressed in this project was, how can professional development be provided to assist educators in working with refugees and immigrants who have experienced trauma? Hos, 2016; DeCapula, et al, 2011 concur that the number of refugees with trauma is on the rise throughout the world. Research by Hurley, et al, 2014 explains that previous research indicates that teachers have limited experience in working with refugees and trauma; there is a lack of training to support these students. My method of study was on the work on adult learning by Malcolm Knowles (2005). His work assisted me in …
Making The Transition: Moving From A Pull-Out Model For El Instruction To A Co-Teaching Models, Alyssa Kae Anderson
Making The Transition: Moving From A Pull-Out Model For El Instruction To A Co-Teaching Models, Alyssa Kae Anderson
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
Many schools are transitioning from the pull-out model for English Learner (EL) instruction to the co-teaching model, and many factors are likely to impact the smoothness of this transition. As a result, the author’s research questions were: Is the coteaching model for EL instruction truly more effective than the pull-out model? If so, how can elementary schools effectively transition from the pull-out model to the co-teaching model? An examination of the existing literature demonstrates that very little research has been conducted comparing the effectiveness of the pull-out and co-teaching models. However, research does provide a number of components that must …
Teaching Writing To English Learners: Professional Development For Content Teachers By Ell Teachers, Elizabeth D. Gillaspey
Teaching Writing To English Learners: Professional Development For Content Teachers By Ell Teachers, Elizabeth D. Gillaspey
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
The research question for this project was: what is the best format and content for a professional development class designed to help middle school content teachers improve their skill-set for teaching ELL writing? After presenting literature on different types of professional development as well as best practices for teaching ELL writing, a modified version of train-thetrainer was used to develop four professional development sessions. The sessions were designed to be presented in a school by that school's ELL teachers and they each have a separate focus: background information, pre-writing strategies, during writing strategies, and post-writing strategies. The project contains slides …
Giving English Language Learners A Paddle: Idiom Usage In Two Undergraduate Texts, Michael John Heine
Giving English Language Learners A Paddle: Idiom Usage In Two Undergraduate Texts, Michael John Heine
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
The purpose of this project was to answer the research question of: What types of idioms are common in two undergraduate texts and how often do they occur? Idiom definition and type were first explored based on several different factors. A text analysis was used in order to identify the frequency and typology of idiom occurrence within two undergraduate texts. The identified idioms’ were looked at for non-compositionality, and they were then categorized based on their level of transparency. The findings reinforced the idea that idiom instruction should be informed by corpus-based lists created from authentic language. The findings also …
Increasing English As A Second Language Teacher Retention, Sarah Tupy
Increasing English As A Second Language Teacher Retention, Sarah Tupy
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects
With the increasing number of English Learners entering schools across the nation, there is an increased need for high-quality English as a Second Language teachers. (Watlington, Shockley, Guglielmino, and Felsher, 2010) School districts spend time and money to hire and recruit high-quality teachers. Many teachers in various districts face an overwhelming workload. Due to the overwhelming workload, many teachers leave the profession. Districts are faced with increased costs to recruit and hire quality teachers. (Brill and McCartney, 2008; Cha and Cohen Vogel, 2011; Sharplin, O’Neill and Chapman, 2011) Students’ education is compromised when the turnover rate is high. (Kraft, Marinell, …
English Learners’ Oral Production Of Math Vocabulary In A Play-Infused Kindergarten Classroom, Meagan Reissy
English Learners’ Oral Production Of Math Vocabulary In A Play-Infused Kindergarten Classroom, Meagan Reissy
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations
Research indicates that ELs’ vocabulary knowledge is an important basis for building communication skills in a second language, as well as a strong predictor of later academic skills. High quality vocabulary instruction is crucial and the literature emphasizes direct instruction techniques with words that are intentionally selected (Anderson & Nagy, 1993; Christ, 2007; Silverman & Crandell, 2010). However, little research has been done in kindergarten classrooms that teach through a play-based curriculum which avoids extensive amounts of direct instruction. This qualitative casestudy of two ELs in a kindergarten classroom using the Angry Birds Playground (ABP) framework to guide curriculum and …
Culturally Responsive Grammar: Utilizing Contrastive Grammar Analysis To Support Knowledge Of Modern Dialects In The High School Classroom, Katie Corrigan
Culturally Responsive Grammar: Utilizing Contrastive Grammar Analysis To Support Knowledge Of Modern Dialects In The High School Classroom, Katie Corrigan
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations
Varying dialects are spoken depending on the speaker’s location and community. While each one of these dialects has very clear patterns and rules, only one dialect, Standard American English, is regarded as “correct grammar” according to academic and professional associations. For this reason, students learn the rules of Standard American English in school. However, this practice leaves students who speak other dialects at a significant disadvantage. This capstone addresses this dichotomy by providing curriculum that includes grammar instruction using a contrastive approach. Students are simultaneously taught grammatical rules in both Standard American English and African American Vernacular English in order …
Teaching Listening For Prominence In Combination With Reading To Help Students Determine New Information, Margaret Genereux
Teaching Listening For Prominence In Combination With Reading To Help Students Determine New Information, Margaret Genereux
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations
The purpose of this study was to assess whether teaching adult English Language Learners (ELLs) to listen for new information spoken with prominence on the target new information increased their ability to make inferences about meaning. Data collected included: a pre and post-test to assess students’ learning during the intervention; an uptake sheet to solicit students’ self-perception of their learning about pronunciation and placement of new information; and a Likert scale to elicit participants’ self-assessment of their ability to identify and use prominence. While results of the post-test on selecting the correct inference were inconclusive, quantitative and qualitative data indicated …
Sfl In The Secondary Classroom: Writing Procedural Recounts To Describe Thinking When Solving Algebraic Equations, Theresa Brunker
Sfl In The Secondary Classroom: Writing Procedural Recounts To Describe Thinking When Solving Algebraic Equations, Theresa Brunker
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations
The research questions addressed in this classroom study were, after explicit instruction, do students choose language structures inherent to procedural recounts, such as technical verb processes, precise nouns, sequence words and causal phrases to describe their mathematical thinking? Additionally, do student self-perceptions of their mathematical abilities change after learning to write procedural recounts to describe their thinking processes? This study examined the use of these language structures prior to explicit instruction in writing procedural recounts and compared it to post-intervention writing samples. The author documents the use of these writing structures by participants before and after intervention and finds relational …
How Mindsets Matter: Second Grade, English Language Learners’ Reportings Of Their Experiences With A Growth Mindset Curriculum In Colombia, Amanda Brooks
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations
This qualitative, classroom action research was conducted in a private bilingual school in Colombia with seventeen participants. The research questions were: 1) How do second-grade Colombian English language learners report changes to their Growth Mindset qualities following a six-week Growth Mindset intervention? and 2) How do second-grade Colombian English language learners perceive their language learning ability following a self-evaluation of Growth Mindset qualities? The research fills a gap in existing literature on three similar topics: Growth Mindset and academic achievement for adolescents and adults, conditional self-worth for children six and younger, and attribution theory and language learning for adolescents. One …
Discovering Conceptual Metaphors In High School Biology To Instruct English Language Learners, Nancy R. Mccurdy
Discovering Conceptual Metaphors In High School Biology To Instruct English Language Learners, Nancy R. Mccurdy
School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations
An investigation was completed to identify and define abstraction that occurs within abstract nouns in biology terminology in the Mississippi high school biology subject area practice test in order to determine conceptual language patterns in biology terms to teach to high school English Learners. The conceptual metaphors that dominate biology concepts in major scientific theories of the text exemplar examined are ORGANISMS ARE MACHINES, ECOSYSTEMS ARE COMMUNITIES, DNA IS A TEMPLATE, and DESIRED TRAITS ARE VALUABLE. The most prevalent common conceptual metaphors found within abstract nouns in biology of the text examined are MATTER IS A STRUCTURE, PROCESS IS A …