Education Commons^™

Pedagogies Of Possibilities: (Re)Designing Teacher Professional Learning To Support The Use Of Digital Technologies In Multimodal Pedagogies, Lori Mckee

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Digital technologies have the potential to expand communication opportunities (Walsh, 2011), but challenges exist in including these technologies in early literacy instruction (Flewitt, Messer, & Kucirkova, 2015). The literature explains that teachers identify a need for support in using digital technologies in their teaching (e.g., Hill, 2010) and professional learning activities are herein key. Still, the research offers differing advice about the formats these activities should take and the types of literacy digital technologies can support. This exploratory multiple-case study was designed to create teacher professional learning (TPL) opportunities to support early primary teachers (kindergarten-Grade 2) in creating and enacting …

Language Learner Autonomy In Ontario's Esl Context, Alireza Mousavi Arfae

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Since its emergence in the early 1980’s, the notion of learner autonomy has not only become a buzzword in second language education literature but a revolutionary phenomenon affecting teaching/learning approaches across the world. A great number of countries have adopted measures to promote learner autonomy in their language schools. In Europe, for instance, the Council of Europe developed the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and the European Language Portfolio (ELP) with the explicit goal of developing language learner autonomy (Little, 2007). In Canada, following the introduction of Manitoba Collaborative Language Portfolio Assessment (CLPA), very recently Portfolio-Based Language …

A Case Study Of New Media Literacies In An English Language Learning Program, Yifei Hu

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This case study was conducted in a four-week winter program of an English language center affiliated to a university that is situated in a city in Ontario. Underpinned by theories on new media literacies, actor-network theory, and curriculum, the thesis examines human and nonhuman actors that enabled and constrained students’ new media literacies practices in the English language learning program. Despite the fact that there are emergent studies on new media literacies, there is scarce literature on human and nonhuman actors that influence students’ new media literacies practices. In this study, sources of data included curricular documents, students’ artifacts, classroom …

How Does Mode Of Input Affect Incidental Vocabulary Learning, Yanxue Feng

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study investigated the extent to which different modes of L2 input contributed to vocabulary learning. One hundred and seventy-three EFL university students in China were randomly assigned to six groups, each of which was presented with the same full-length documentary in different modes: reading the transcript, listening, viewing with captions (VC), viewing without captions (VNC); silent viewing with captions (SVC), and a non-treatment control mode. A checklist-test and a multiple-choice test were designed to measure knowledge of the target words. Participants also completed the Vocabulary Levels Test (Webb, Sasao, & Ballance, 2017). The results showed that L2 incidental vocabulary …

A Case Study Of Literacy Curricula In A Canadian Offshore School In China, Wanjing Li

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This single case study is embedded in a multiple case study conducted in Canadian offshore schools in China. In response to the scant literature on literacy curriculum in transnational education contexts, particularly in secondary schools, this study reports findings regarding literacy curricula implementation in a secondary Sino-Canadian school.

The theoretical tools of the study include theories on curriculum, multiliteracies, and multimodality. Data presented in this paper emerges from observations of 46 periods of Mandarin and English literacy classes, interviews with two Chinese and two foreign literacy teachers regarding curricula actualization, and related curriculum documents.

Findings relate how Chinese and Canadian …

Re-Conceptualizing The Nature Of Resources In Multimodal Literacy: The Case Of Young Children’S Meaning Making In An Intergenerational Art Class, Zhen Lin

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This case study was embedded in a SSHRC project called: Learning together: A multiple case study of intergenerational multimodal curricula, led by Dr. Rachel Heydon. The study specifically focused on resources employed by young children in their processes of meaning making within intergenerational art classes. Research questions concerned: 1) what resources were available for young children’s meaning making within the intergenerational art classes? 2) what resources were chosen and used by young children in their processes of meaning making and how? and 3) how did different resources interact with each other in multimodal ensembles? The theoretical tool of the …

Employer Perspectives On Eal Employee Writing Problems, Jim Hu, Alana Hoare

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

In academic disciplines, content rather than writing accuracy is usually emphasized (Hyland, 2013), leaving many English-as-an-additional-language (EAL) students unmotivated to improve writing accuracy. However, the workplace may demand accurate and clear writing. Thus, Ferris (2002, 2011) calls for research into employers’ perspectives on inaccurate and unclear writing of EAL employees to help raise academic faculty and EAL student consciousness. To respond to Ferris' call, this study investigated: 1) employers’ expectations regarding writing accuracy of EAL employees, 2) EAL employees’ language problems in work-related writing, and 3) the impact of writing problems on EAL employees’ employment and career opportunities. The study …

Ipads And Paintbrushes: An Exploratory Case Study Of Integrating Digital Media As Placed Resources Into An Intergenerational Art Class, Rachel Heydon, Lori Mckee, Bridget Daly

Education Publications

This exploratory case study integrated digital media as placed resources into an intergenerational art class. Its goals were to generate knowledge of how to bring young children and elders together to expand their opportunities for meaning making and seeing themselves in affirming ways so as to generate transferable understanding of digitally-enhanced multimodal curricula across the lifespan. Participants included 15 elders and 9 pre-schoolers. Focusing on how the digital media were used and with what implications for participants’ literacy and identity options as well as relationship building, data were collected through ethnographic methods, and a qualitative thematic analysis with multimodal elements …

Singing Our Song: The Affordances Of Singing In An Intergenerational, Multimodal Literacy Program, Rachel Heydon, Lori Mckee, Susan O'Neill

Education Publications

This exploratory case study examined singing as a multimodal literacy practice within ensembles that featured art, singing and digital media produced in an intergenerational program that served a class of kindergarten children and community elders. The program that was set up by the study in collaboration with a rural school and home for seniors, saw participants meet one afternoon a week for most of a school year. Study questions concerned the meaning making and relationship-building opportunities afforded to the participants as they worked through chains of multimodal projects. Data were collected using ethnographic tools in the seniors’ home where the …