Education Commons^™

English As A Second Language: Writing Challenges, Self-Assessment, And Interest In For-Credit Esl Courses At Southeastern University, Katherine M. Jones

Selected Honors Theses

Whether Chinese, French, Swahili, Hindi, or English, learning a language requires time and dedication. One of the more challenging languages to learn is English, yet English is becoming more prevalent around the globe. According to a statement by Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc. (TESOL), English is now “the most widely taught language in the world” (“Position Statement on English as a Global Language”). Many individuals are striving not only to learn English but also to master it. These individuals include businessmen, doctors, politicians, scholars, athletes, and students. As English is swiftly becoming the international lingua franca …

Supporting Ongoing Language And Literacy Development Of Adolescent English Language Learners, Jason T. Jay

Theses and Dissertations

Literacy proficiency is critical for success both in and out of school; yet adolescent English language learners (ELLs) are not performing at the level of their English-speaking peers. This qualitative study focused on ways in which one successful high-school teacher facilitated literacy events as a way to provide language and literacy support for these students. The findings describe the actions of the teacher, the affordances made by these actions, and how the students took up those affordances. Teacher actions included creating a safe and comfortable atmosphere, following a routine, and participating in sharing activities. Affordances included opportunities for using vocabulary …

Eagle Educator, Georgia Southern University

Eagle Educator (2012-2019)

• Growing up Migrant: Building upon personal experiences to help students succeed
• Reaching Out Locally, Regionally and Globally: Centers enhance COE’s mission and create synergy
• EAGLES Tutoring Takes Flight
• COE Faculty Help Chatham Teachers Reach ELL Students
• Department News
• Embedding College Classes in K-12 Schools
• COE Students Create Curriculum for Renaissance Center
• COE Welcomes Twelve New Faculty
• Reaching Out Through Research
• COE Announces New Board Members
• Jack Miller Awards Announced

Deliberative Democracy In English-Language Education: Cultural And Linguistic Inclusion In The School Community, Tonda Liggett

Democracy and Education

One of the most notable aspects of democracy in schooling lies in the challenge of schools to prepare individuals with the skills to participate and deliberate with others who have varying beliefs and worldviews. Deliberation and dialogue are seen as core components for academic achievement and cross-cultural connections between English language learners (ELLs) and native English speakers. I analyze the notion of deliberative democracy in English language education as a way to promote a certain type of education that would foster ELL inclusion as well as expand the perspectives of native English speakers. I argue that this type of education …

Competing Discourses About Education And Accountability For Ells/Bilingual Learners: Dual Language Educators As Agents For Change, Rebecca Freeman Field

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

This paper situates the contemporary debate about education and accountability for English language learners/bilingual learners within a sociocultural context and suggests ways that dual language educators and researchers can help move this debate forward. I begin with a brief review of competing discourses about bilingualism and education for diverse learners on the national level in the United States. The paper then provides an insider’s perspective on dual language education in three different contexts (Washington, D.C.; Schaumburg, Ill.; Philadelphia, Pa.) at different times (before and after NCLB was passed) to illustrate how these dual language educators hold themselves accountable for student …

Testing English Language Learners: Another Special Case Of Bias, Evangeline Harris Stefanakis

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

Book Reviewed:

Menken, K. (2008). English learners left behind: Standardized testing as language policy.

Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters, LTD.

Transient Ells: A Teacher’S Inquiry Into Literacy Instruction, Dianne Maysonet

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

This narrative describes my learning process in becoming a teacher-researcher as I worked with an ELL, Jayla, who experienced a transient lifestyle. As a member of a teacher-inquiry group, the Bilingual Teacher-Research Forum I collaborated with other bilingual and ESL teachers from schools in a large city in the northeastern part of the United States. I learned to systematically investigate my practice to identify instructional strategies that promoted ELL students’ literacy in English. My first inquiry was guided by one query: What instructional strategies may promote the language and literacy development of transient ELLs? In this article I describe how …

Letter To Nysabe Members And Friends, Nancy Villarreal De Adler

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Extended Time On Reading Comprehension Performance For English As A Second Language College Students: Is There A Need For Accommodations?, Laura Ann Miller

Dissertations - ALL

American colleges and universities are enrolling an increasing number of students for whom English is a second language (ESL). These students face literacy challenges that may impact their academic performance as well as create disadvantages on tests, particularly reading intensive tests under time constraints. This study examined the effects of extended time as a test accommodation on a timed reading comprehension test for ESL students compared to non-ESL peers under standard time, time and one half, and double time conditions. Results revealed that under standard time conditions ESL students with low Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) in English access significantly …

Writing And The Internationalization Of U.S. Higher Education: The Roles Of Ideology, Administration, And The Institution, Melissa May Watson

Dissertations - ALL

In this dissertation,Writing and the Internationalization of U.S. Higher Education: The Roles of Ideology, Administration, and the Institution, I examine one private institution, Syracuse University, for how it has approached internationalization (both currently and in historical efforts), how it has dealt with the increased presence of English language learners (ELLs), and how both realities may affect the research and practice of writing program administrators (WPAs). I use scholarship from Second Language Writing and Writing Program Administration as frameworks for examining some of the sociopolitics involved in addressing the new needs of an internationalized higher education institution, including the politics and …

Factors That Contribute To Hispanic English Language Learners' High Academic Performance In High School Science In The Rio Grande Valley Of Texas: A Multicase Study, Antonio Elizondo

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The purpose of this study was to identify, discover, uncover, examine, and document factors that contribute to Hispanic English Language Learners’ (ELL) high academic performance in high school science in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Participants were high school seniors enrolled in college-level classes who had scored commended on the science exit-level Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills and ranked toward the top of their class. One science teacher and school administrator from the respective schools also participated in this study. One student from each of four different high schools in south Texas was selected to participate. School officials …

Creating Inclusive Learning Communities For Ell Students: Transforming School Principals' Perspectives, Kathryn Brooks, Susan R. Adams, Trish Morita-Mullaney

Susan Adams

School-level administrators are often concerned about tertiary supports for English language learners (ELLs), such as translating signs and school documents or offering Spanish classes for their teachers. Although modeling and learning the heritage language(s) of the ESL population can be helpful, its focus on language differences can limit our considerations of broader systemic challenges that impact the success of ELLs in our schools. This article shares the dialogues that school administrators are having about ELL students and discusses the use of social justice and equity focused professional learning communities as a way to transform this discourse to address the broader …

Creating Conditions For Transforming Practicing K-12 Mainstream Teachers Of English Language Learners, Susan R. Adams, Kathryn Brooks

Susan Adams

Critical incident reflection journal writing provides a rich source for identifying high impact components of Project Alianza, a graduate course for mainstream secondary teachers funded by a US Department of Education Title III Professional Development grant. In this narrative pilot study featuring one strand of existing data, the co-authors, who are also co-instructors and co-researchers, begin the first rounds of analysis to identify emerging key conditions and contributing factors featured within specialized graduate courses for encouraging dispositional change and professional efficacy toward English language learners (ELLs) in practicing K-12 mainstream educators. Using Mezirow’s adult transformational learning theory (1991), Kegan’s stage …

Coaching Teachers Of English Language Learners, Alma D. Rodríguez, Michele H. Abrego, Renee Rubin

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

The following qualitative study examined how Reading First Literacy Coaches refined their literacy coaching to meet the cultural and linguistic needs of Hispanic English language learners (ELLs) in 30 elementary schools located along the US Mexico Border. Data were gathered from the coaches through written surveys and a focus group. Findings from the coaches’ practices identified three themes: 1) Coaches understood bilingual programs and the theory underlying such instruction; 2) Coaches supported teachers of ELLs by sharing their knowledge and experiences about ELLs; and 3) Coaches faced challenges in meeting the needs of teachers of Hispanic ELLs. This study is …

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 …

School Principals' Perceptions Of Bilingual Education And Their Relation To English Language Learners' 8th Grade Reading Performance On Staar, Imelda Mares

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This research examined school principals’ perceptions of bilingual education to determine whether perceptions were a function of gender, age, years of experience, level of academic knowledge of bilingual education, and language discourse or bilingualism. Moreover, this study explored whether principals’ perceptions of bilingual education were related to English language learners’ 8th grade reading performance as measured by the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR). Thirty-one middle and high school principals in five school districts from south Texas and one district from southeast Texas responded to an electronic survey that solicited demographic information, perceptions of bilingual education, and academic …

Educational Engagement In Boston’S Vietnamese Community: Asian American Studies Program Student-Faculty-Alumni Engagement With Teachers, Students, And Families Of The Mather School (Bps) In Dorchester, Asian American Studies Program, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

Founded in 1639, the Mather Elementary School in Dorchester is the oldest public elementary school in the US. In 2012, nearly 40% of Mather students were Vietnamese American from immigrant households. The Mather School’s Vietnamese Structured English Immersion (SEI) program is the largest in Boston. In 1993, Ngoc-lan (Loni) Nguyen, a Vietnamese refugee student in education and Asian American Studies at UMass Boston, was hired as a 4th grade bilingual teacher. Many of Lan’s students later attended UMass Boston where they reconnected educationally with the importance of Vietnamese American identity, community, and empowerment in AsAmSt courses. In 2007, Lan visited …

Motivating English Language Learners: An Indonesian Case Study, Rebekah Nichols

Master of Education Program Theses

Motivation is a complex issue, especially when considered in the Asian context, where passive learning and teacher-centered lessons dominate. This study attempted to identify student-preferred motivational strategies that would correlate to increased attention and engagement among and increased levels of intrinsic motivation in Chinese Indonesian students in a Year 12 English classroom. Student surveys indicated preferences for the use of audiovisual material and the use of collaborative reading quizzes. The implementation of these strategies resulted in positive levels of attention and engagement in the classroom, but no increase in levels of intrinsic motivation were observed.

Writing A Reading And Language Arts Unit Designed To Motivate Elementary School English Language Learners (Ell) And Students Of Poverty, Kaitlin J. Carlson

Honors Program Projects

One of the biggest challenges that educators face today is what has become known as “summer reading setback.” Many students who have at or above grade level reading skills during the months when school is in session fall behind over the summer due to a lack of continued reading practice. For students of poverty in particular, many of whom do not have access to reading materials over the summer months, “summer reading setback” has become a serious problem as they continue to fall behind summer after summer. Although “summer reading setback” has become a reality for far too many elementary …

Reflections On Effective Writing Instruction The Value Of Expectations, Engagement, Feedback, Data, And Sociocultural Instructional Practices, Kara Mitchell Viesca, Kim Hutchison

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

This reflection on effective writing practice is the result of a university–school partnership focused on collaboratively investigating the work of a successful 5th grade-writing teacher. The co-authors collectively present the work of Mrs. Hutchison, a veteran teacher who worked in a predominately low-income school with a high percentage of students labeled English language learners. Mrs. Hutchison’s class was a space where each student was both a learner and a teacher and most students developed a great interest and love of writing. This reflective piece presents data documenting Mrs. Hutchison’s success as well as a collaborative reflection on her work intended …

When Every Teacher Is A Language Teacher : A Case Study Of High School Math And Science Instructors' Use Of Multimodal Accommodations With Els, Karen Marie Gregory

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This case study investigated the multimodal accommodations that content teachers make in order to dually support linguistic and conceptual development for English language learning students. Data from digitally recorded classroom observations, teacher interviews, student work, and questionnaires were collected from the participating math and science teachers. The data were analyzed from the theoretical framework of an ecological -semiotic perspective of language teaching and learning (van Lier, 2004), and is theoretically tied to communication accommodation theory and multimodal communication theory as well.

Ascension, Megan Hopkins, Jeremy Wilburn, Sandra Bennett

Ascension: Elevating Research and Scholarship (2012-2015)

No abstract provided.

Back To Basics: Rethinking Thematic Reading Instruction For English Language Learners, Amber Warren, Natalia A. Ward

Natalia A. Ward