Education Commons^™

The Connections Of Music, Culture, And Language: A Qualitative Case Study Of The Musical Experience Of A Newcomer Program, Jessica Strawderman

Masters Theses, 2020-current

In this qualitative case study, I investigated the philosophy and process of an elementary newcomer program and explored the perceived benefits for newcomer students of the musical experience, aiding in transition from full-time English as a second language (ESL) services in self-contained class to a general education setting. The studied school division serves a high population of students who are English Language Learners (ELLs), representing a multitude of languages and cultures. The division places students of immigrant families who have no social or educational experience speaking English in the newcomer program. In order to gain a deep understanding of the …

Competent And Confident: Empowering English Language Learners Through Pronunciation Instruction, Faith Pellas

Master's Projects and Capstones

Compared to other language skills such as reading, writing, listening, and speaking, pronunciation is often neglected in ESL and TESOL curriculum planning and material design. Moreover, many English language teachers lack training in pronunciation instruction, therefore these techniques are not often addressed in class. Learning pronunciation is a top priority for many English language students because it enables them to communicate clearly, have better opportunities, and integrate well into Anglophone communities. The literature review discusses second language acquisition and the determining factors of accented and non-accented speech. It also addresses accent discrimination and the obstacles English language learners (ELLs) face …

Virtual Tools Show Promise For Moving The Needle On Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Family Engagement, Tamra Mitchell, Socorro Herrera

The Advocate

The school building closures of spring 2020 fundamentally disrupted education in Kansas, but out of this disruption emerged the need and opportunity for schools and educators to be creative and innovative. At a time when every parent in our state was either employed as an essential worker and working longer hours, trying to work from home, or trying to navigate the loss of their job, they were also trying to support their children with continuous learning. This required Kansas schools to think differently and try new strategies for truly engaging families. One promising innovation that many schools piloted was to …

Examining The Relationship Between Academic Achievement And English Language Proficiency, Cynthia Grant Hyacinth

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

English language learners continue to be a growing demographic in American schools. Despite this, linguistically diverse students’ academic achievement continues to lag behind their native English-speaking counterparts. Historically, language proficiency measures have measured language proficiency in terms of social English, neglecting the importance of academic language development. Using Cummins’ threshold hypothesis as a framework for distinguishing social English development from academic language development, language proficiency assessments and standardized assessments focused on reading achievement were examined. The purpose of this quantitative, correlational study was to determine if a relationship exists between 5th grade English language learners scores on a state-mandated standardized …

Resources For Content-Area Teachers Educating Ells: A Literature Review, Heidi Jo Bartlett

The Nebraska Educator: A Student-Led Journal

Educating English Language Learners (ELLs) is a rapidly growing need in K-12 schools. While often viewed as a homogeneous group, in reality this population is varied in terms of prior knowledge, access to formal education, age, and native language. Despite these differences, students must be taught first social, and then academic, English in order for them to be successful in their classes and graduate. While in previous decades, ELLs were isolated from the mainstream population, common education practices now integrate them into their grade-level classes. However, while working with this high-need population, mainstream content-area teachers often lack the time, professional …

An Evaluation Of Teachers’ Perceptions Of Preparedness To Teach In Dual Language Programs, Cari Andreani

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

Students whose first language is not English (English language learners or ELLs) make up the fastest growing demographic in public schools. School districts nationwide have implemented dual language programs as a way to help close the achievement gap between ELLs and native English speaking students, however, a main concern of implementing a dual language program is the shortage of prepared and qualified teachers. The purpose of this study was to assist school districts, dual language schools, and dual language teachers in determining what training and support teachers need to be successful in a dual language program. This study surveyed dual …

Mindfulness And Social Emotional Learning: The Lived Experience Of Students Learning English As A Second Language, Lara Catherine Donnelly

Dissertations

In a phenomenological case study, the author sought to gain an awareness of the lived experiences of 4th and 5th grade ESL students, their parents, and their teachers who participated in the MindUp mindfulness curriculum. The author was interested in the relationship between the mindfulness curriculum and SEL based on the perspective of all three participant groups. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 3 students, at least one parent of each of those three students, and the two classroom teachers who conducted the MindUp lessons. Five main themes developed from coding of the raw data: (1) positive impact on students; (2) …

“Frozen Up Like An Ice Cube!”: The Influence Of Situated Learning On Pre-Service Teachers' Cultural And Linguistic Awareness, Omran Akasha

The Qualitative Report

The overall goal of this study was to explore the influence of situated learning experiences on pre-service teachers' perceptions and understandings of their future Arab students. This study investigated in part the interaction between culturally diverse families and pre-service teachers. It also explored changes in pre-service teachers’ attitudes and knowledge, their perceived applications of the situated experience to their future teaching, and the families’ reactions to this experience. Twelve Arab families volunteered to host 25 pre-service teachers as participants of this study. Results showed that the situated learning experience helped the pre-service teachers develop their cultural knowledge as well as …

Attitudes, Beliefs And Self-Efficacy Of Elementary Teachers Towards Inclusive And Equitable Education In A Diverse Suburban School, Rachel Mcclellan-Kirksey

Graduate Theses & Dissertations

Merging the two philosophies of inclusive and equitable education has significant advantages for all students in the general education classroom. Moving beyond the inclusion of students with disabilities, and focusing on all students, especially those historically marginalized or with diverse needs in today’s classrooms is crucial. This raises the importance about how teachers and school principals might further learn to better support all students in the general education classroom, and to make schools a more productive and engaging experience for all students, despite their diverse learning needs (Woodcock & Hardy, 2017). Therefore, examining teachers’ attitudes, beliefs, self-efficacy, and self-disclosed needs …

Analysis Of Linguistic Inclusion In Tesol Courses For Teacher Candidates, Dylan Thibaut, Irina Mclaughlin

Journal of English Learner Education

According to TESOL standard 1, teacher candidates are required to have knowledge about language including: having knowledge in foreign language grammar and how English develops in ELLs (standard 1a), comprehension of language acquisition and how L1 influences learning (standard 1b), and understanding of the language process where an interlanguage develops as ELLs become comfortable using English (standard 1c) (TESOL International Association, 2018). To identify whether teacher candidates in TESOL courses are prepared to meet TESOL standards 1a, 1b, and 1c, a study was conducted to test one hundred teacher candidates’ knowledge of basic linguistic features of English and the five …

English Language Learning Professional Development For K-12 Teachers, Kristen M. Fober

Master's Theses & Capstone Projects

In response to the growing population of English language learners (ELLs) in a school district in rural Iowa, professional development (PD) has been developed as a school improvement plan to help teachers learn how to meet the needs of this population. This plan has been developed based on a robust review of current literature on strategies to support ELL students. The school improvement plan includes a pre-survey, six 1-hour sessions of PD plans, PD resources (such as handouts and slides), and a post-survey. The intended outcome of the PD is for teachers to feel more prepared to work with ELLs …

Teacher Lore Concerning Teaching English Language Learners In Urban Schools: A Reciprocal Determinist Analysis, Helen Clare Colby

Theses and Dissertations

Changing patterns of immigration have caused schools in the U.S., which previously encountered few to no English Language Learners (ELLs), to see classrooms filled with many ELLs (Massey & Capoferro, 2008; Walker et al., 2004). Existing research on teaching ELLs focused heavily on the work of pre-service or early years educators’ teaching in secondary or post-secondary settings (de Courcy, 2011; Flynt, 2018; Rahman et al., 2018). This study uncovered the teacher lore of four veteran teachers of ELLs employed at a Title I, urban elementary school in the Rocky Mountain region. Data collection and analysis utilized techniques of narrative research, …

Supporting English Language Learners With Disabilities In Special Education, Margaret Kramer

Master's Projects and Capstones

The number of English Language Learners, both appropriately and inappropriately, placed in Special Education has risen in the public education system. This requires Special Education classrooms to incorporate language acquisition opportunities into the child’s education, but the school systems are not currently prepared to provide this to the staff and students. There is a lack of culturally and linguistically appropriate curricula, limited collaboration between parents and teachers, and incomplete IEPs affecting students placed in Special Education and learning English as a second language. The purpose of the project is to address the needs of staff and families working with students …

Strategies To Mentor Teacher Candidates During Caltpa To Use Research-Based Practices To Facilitate Engagement And Learning For English Language Learners., Lasisi Ajayi

Q2S Enhancing Pedagogy

Developing the knowledge and skills to teach K-12 English language learners (ELLs) is a crucial aspect of the teacher candidate learning to teach. This is even more critical as school districts are increasingly enrolling English language learners into the mainstream classrooms. Hence, teacher candidates must become proficient in implementing appropriate research-based strategies that promote learning for K-12 students with disabilities.

The California Teacher Performance Assessment, CalTPA, requires teacher candidates to teach one student ELL and upload the video of the instruction for assessment. This aspect of this CalTPA presents some challenges to our students because they have not worked with …

Best Practices: Promoting Parent-School Relationship To Increase Hispanic Parental Participation In Schools, Marlene R. Torrez-Graham

Masters Theses/Capstone Projects

The purpose of this research was to find the factors that affect Hispanic parents’ decision to engage in their children’s education, while they attend public schools in the United States. At the same time, I wanted to find model practices and programs that encourage parental engagement and compile this information to create a manual that can be used for professional development and as a reference for parents. I found that most of the researchers used Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler’s theoretical model of parent engagement as a framework. I used the Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler’s theoretical model to organize the factors that affect …

Engaging English Language Learners Through The Use Of Graphic Novels, Maribel Ortega

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This paper will examine the benefits of using graphic novels in the classroom to engage English Language Learners. Graphic novels have carried a negative stigma since the publishing of “Seduction of the Innocent” by Frederick Wertham which claimed to find a connection between teenage delinquency and comic books. Teachers have stayed away from using graphic novels in classroom instruction. Many findings show that graphic novels benefit students but especially English Language Learners. Graphic novels require higher cognitive abilities than traditional novels. This research also explores the attitudes of teachers and students towards graphic novels as well as the possible problems …

Left To Their Own Devices, Hugh Kesson

New Jersey English Journal

How do students use digital mobile devices as part of their learning? This study is a case based investigation of five students in two ELA classrooms, the full ELL population in two high school honors classes, in a comprehensive public high school in the United States. It adds to what we know about how students use digital mobile devices, and suggests the ways students need to be supported.

The Howl - Spring 2020, Gwendolyn Derosa, Jerusa Cadorin Rovai, Andrea Pac, Kai Iwasaki, Tong Yu

The Howl

The Howl is a magazine that is planned, researched, written, photographed and designed by Otterbein University’s ESL and international students. The magazine serves to give them a safe space in which to use their voice to share their cultures, experiences and lives. If you are interested in submitting to the Howl, please e-mail your writing or photography to gderosa@otterbein.edu. Enjoy Otterbein ESL’s contribution to the Otterbein community’s literary scene.

English Language Learner’S Inequities And The Social Reproduction Theory, Cintia Khouzami

Honors Program Contracts

This poster explores the Social Reproduction Theory and connects it to the experiences of English Language Learners (ELL) among various social classes. The research looks into the inequity of resources and opportunities that ELL students receive and how it impacts the rest of their life.

Methods: Through interviews with ELL District Coordinators and ELL Alumni, the quality of education for ELL students will be assessed. Information from scholarly articles, charts, and course content will be used to further the findings and conclusions in the research.

A Correlational Study Of Hispanic High School English Language Learners' English Proficiency And Mathematical Resilience, Jettie Ann Dush

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This quantitative study investigates the relationship between Hispanic high school English language learners’ English language proficiency and mathematical resilience using a Pearson’s r and Spearman’s r correlation tests. The sample population consists of 9th-12th grade students enrolled in a large public high school in the northeast whose native language is Spanish. English proficiency is measured using the New York State English as a Second Language Achievement Test. Mathematic resilience is measured using the Mathematical Resilience Scale. The results of this study establish a positive relationship between Hispanic high school students’ level of English language proficiency and mathematical resilience, particularly amongst …

Essay-From Nes To Ell: The Struggle For The Language Rights Of Public School Children In The United States, Nena Torrez

Q2S Enhancing Pedagogy

A review of the changes to how the state of California tests English Language Learners

Teacher Trust In The Principal: Does It Impact Achievement For Students With Disabilities And English Language Learners?, William Fahey

Theses and Dissertations

School improvement continues to remain a focus across the nation as evidenced in the U.S. Department of Education Performance Plan (2017) and the Every Student Succeed Act (ESSA). Achievement gaps continue to exist for certain populations, specifically Students with Disabilities (SWDs) and English Language Learners (ELLs). Building on the school improvement research of Bryk, Bende-Sebring, Allensworth and Luppescu (2010) and the relational trust research of Hoy and Tschannen-Moran (1998, 1999, 2003), this research study examined the relationship between teacher-principal trust items on the NYC School Survey and student achievement on state assessments over a four-year period for four student sub-groups: …

Language Acquisition In Bilingual Education And Full Immersion In English As A New Language Programs: An Explorative Case Study Of Three Elementary Schools, Rhonda Gracey Antoine

Theses and Dissertations

With a growing English Language Learners (ELL) population in New York State (NYS), schools need to investigate best practices to serve this population. Based on a NYS Regulation, CR 154-2, districts with 20 or more ELL students who speak the same language at any given grade level should provide bilingual education (BE) all day, while districts with fewer than 20 students who speak the same home language at any given grade level may take English as a New Language (ENL) classes all day. Bilingual classes, where instruction is provided in a mix of English and the students’ home language, typically …

Affordances And Constraints: Pre-Service Science Educators Co-Teaching In Support Of Ells, Steven Drouin, Katya Aguilar, Virginia Lehmkuhl-Dakhwe

Faculty Publications

Co-teaching has increasingly been utilized as an alternative model for the student teaching experience in pre-service education. Recent literature highlights potential for co-teachers to develop by engaging in cycles of inquiry in learning communities. The purpose of this study was to explore the experience of a science student teacher who engaged in cycles of inquiry around supporting English language learners (ELLs) in a co-teaching student teaching placement. This qualitative case study involved a science mentor teacher and a science student teacher engaged in a yearlong co-teaching placement. Data sources included surveys, interviews, and written and oral lesson plans and reflections. …

Instructional Strategies For English Language Learners In Elementary Classrooms, Jiji P. Olds

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In an Eastern U.S. school district, little is understood about how elementary general education teachers apply instructional strategies for English Language Learners (ELLs) in the classroom and which strategies they perceive support academic achievement. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore elementary general education teachers' reported application of ELL instructional strategies and their perceptions of how those strategies support ELL academic achievement. The study's conceptual framework consisted of Vygotsky's sociocultural theory, which infers that learning is a social process guided by interactions with one's environment, people, and culture. Also framing this study was Krashan's second language acquisition …

Middle School General Education Teachers' Instruction Of English Language Learners, Lakisha Mitchelle Nelson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In a southeastern state, Grade 7 and 8 middle school general education teachers were not implementing cultural and individual instructional strategies consistently to support the academic achievement of the growing population of English language learners (ELLs). The purpose and key research questions of this qualitative study were designed to (a) identify what cultural relevant instructional strategies Grades 7 and 8 middle school general education teachers implement, (b) identify what individual relevant instructional strategies, and (c) understand what perceptions teachers have regarding strategies to facilitate consistent implementation of cultural and individual instruction to support ELLs. The conceptual frameworks guiding this study …

Instructional Leadership Practices Of K-12 School Principals Regarding Teachers Of English Language Learners, Omolola Tumininu Wright Odusoga

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem addressed in this project study was that K-12 school principals in international schools located in the Middle East were inconsistently implementing instructional leadership practices to support teachers who teach English language learners (ELLs). The purpose of this study was to understand how K-12 school principals were implementing instructional leadership practices to support teachers who teach ELLs. The research question involved instructional leadership practices K-12 school principals implement in international schools in the Middle East to support teachers who teach ELL. The conceptual framework was the instructional leadership theory of Murphey, Hallinger, Weil, and Mitman. For this basic qualitative …

Prekindergarten Teachers' Perspectives Of Supporting The School Readiness Of English Language Learners, Shannon Rice

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem examined in this study was that English language learners (ELLs) are not meeting readiness proficiency, which contributes to the growing learning gap between ELLs and their native English-speaking peers. The purpose of this qualitative study was to gain an understanding of prekindergarten teachers' perspectives about what is needed to increase their effectiveness in teaching ELLs. The conceptual framework for the study was Vygotsky's sociocultural theory. Prekindergarten teachers' perspectives were examined to understand how they assess, create goals, and monitor the learning progress of ELLs as well as how they can be further supported by colleagues and administration. Data …

An Exploration Of Federal, State Of Florida, And Local Policies And Classroom Implementation In Early Childhood Education, Brittany Baggaley

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis identifies the English Language Learners (ELL) policies according to federal, state, and districts and compares these policies to what is currently implemented in Orange County Public Schools in the state of Florida. The introduction includes vocabulary for ELL and personal rational. They are followed by the history of the court cases and policies pertaining to the state of Florida that create a timeline. Immediately after, a literature review compares policies to what is being implemented in various states across the United States. Next, interviews with two former or retired Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) were conducted with findings …