Education Commons^™

Balancing Climate, Culture And Achievement In A New Bilingual Program, Jennifer Glickley

Dissertations

Interviews with bilingual teachers, focus groups with general education teachers, and surveys translated into Spanish for the bilingual parents at a small kindergarten through eighth grade school in a northern suburb of a large Midwestern city reveal the thoughts, concerns and excitement about the addition of a bilingual program to the school. This study outlines the need to diversify the school of study and identifies concerns each stakeholder group has about the transition of bilingual students and families to a new school as well as possible solutions to the concerns. Through the data collected in this study, a Change Plan …

Latino Emergent Bilingual Students' Experiences With The Middle School Transition, Kerry Pecho

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis reports the findings of a qualitative study that examined how Latino emergent bilingual students anticipate and experience the transition from a bilingual elementary school program to middle school. Sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students who were native Spanish-speakers participated in focus group discussions. Overall, participants described positive transition experiences, and much of the content was not unique to these students (e.g., feeling nervous, looking forward to more activities). Other content, though, revealed transition experiences that may be unique to this population (e.g., dramatic shift in ethnic and linguistic backgrounds of peers). Participants' responses suggested that they experience a …

Resisting (And Reproducing) Language Domination In A Bilingual Kindergarten Classroom, Roxana Gamble

Honors Theses

In modern U.S. society, English is considered the language of power while Spanish is considered a minority language, unfit for academic or professional settings. These macro-level power inequalities are evident in micro-level interactions between students and teachers in mainstream schools. Dual language education programs, however, attempt to challenge this ideology by elevating the status of minority languages and their speakers. In this study, I use an ethnographic/discourse analysis approach to examine how one teacher's practices in a dual language kindergarten classroom work to both reproduce and resist dominant ideologies about Spanish. Through participant-observation, interviews, and audio recordings of naturallyoccurring speech, …

The Relationship Between The Level Of Acculturation In American (English-Speaking) Culture And Language Proficiency In Arabic Among Adolescents, Ahmed B. Elsayed

Wayne State University Dissertations

ABSTRACT

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE LEVEL OF ACCULTURATION IN AMERICAN (ENGLISH-SPEAKING) CULTURE AND LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY IN ARABIC AMONG ADOLESCENTS

by

AHMED ELSAYED

August 2014

Advisor: Dr. Sharon Elliott

Major: Curriculum and Instruction

Degree: Doctor of Education

The purpose of this study is to describe the relationship between acculturation and Arabic language skills in Arab American youth in a community center setting. Seventy Arabic speaking students at the age of 13 through 17 in a Midwestern state were selected on a non-random sampling basis to participate in this study. Three main measures were used to collect data: (1) Student Demographic Survey, …