Education Commons^™

Daily Departures: Speed Reading Passages For English Language Learners, Regina D. Weaver

PDXOpen: Open Educational Resources

Daily Departures: Speed Reading Passages for English Language Learners is a collection of twenty 200-225 word reading passages written primarily within the 1,000-word level of the New General Service List and designed to provide fluency support for English language learners at the Waystage level of the Common European Framework Reference.

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Impact Of Professional Development On Accessible Early Literacy Content For Preschool Children With Disabilities In Public Library Storytime, Melissa Pebly

Dissertations and Theses

Library storytime programs provide opportunities for preschool children to develop readiness skills in early literacy that are linked in research to later success in learning to read and write. Children with disabilities that do not demonstrate school readiness skills upon entry to kindergarten are often placed in self-contained special education settings where opportunities to learn to read and write are diminished. English Language Learners (ELL) who have disabilities face additional challenges in benefiting from the models of language that are optimal for learning literacy when placed in self-contained settings. Despite the critical role that storytime programs play in equalizing the …

How Much Do Emotional, Behavioral, And Cognitive Factors Actually Impact College Student Attitudes Towards English Language Learning? A Quantitative And Qualitative Study, Xin Zuo, Regina D. Weaver, Julia Macrae, Limin Wang

Intensive English Language Program Faculty Publications and Presentations

Researchers have proposed many multidimensional frameworks to identify significant and potential factors, e.g., educational background, positive feelings and career aspirations, that impact English learning attitude in second language acquisition. Yet, there is still very little research to graphically describe the interactions between these factors and how these factors directly or indirectly impact learning attitude. To this end, a questionnaire survey was conducted in Changchun University of Technology. Statistical measures and Bayesian network analysis were introduced to quantitatively and qualitatively analyze the collected data. Furthermore, the significant attitudinal differences between students majoring in the Liberal Arts or Sciences were investigated for …

Transition With Purpose: Pathways From English Language To Academic Study, Michele Miller, Anne Greenhoe

PDXOpen: Open Educational Resources

This Open Access Textbook will guide students through their English language to academic degree studies.

Part one of this textbook is a guide for moving from ESL study to academic study at Portland State University*. It includes the resources students will use to understand policies and processes governing their degree study and their transition to academic coursework.

Part two focuses on how academic skills are used across various disciplines and is comprised of activities and assignments designed to practice these skills.

Key elements include culture and expectations in an American university, transferring academic skills from ESL to content-specific academic courses, …

Teaching "In Their Best Interest": Preservice Teachers' Narratives Regarding English Learners, Amanda T. Sugimoto, Kathy Carter, Kathleen J. Stoehr

Curriculum and Instruction Faculty Publications and Presentations

In the United States, teachers are increasingly working with English Learners (ELs) in mainstream classrooms. Several areas of focus have been proposed to guide the preparation of teachers for working with ELs, including: language related knowledge, skills, and dispositions. This narrative study examined how field-based experiences shaped 49 preservice teachers' dispositions toward ELs. An iterative and thematic analysis of collected narratives found that preservice teachers often completed their practicum in classrooms that did not model positive dispositions or pedagogical practices toward ELs. These findings have implications for the tasks and experiences given to preservice teachers during their preparation sequence.

Communication Beginnings: An Introductory Listening And Speaking Text For English Language Learners, Della Jean Abrahams

PDXOpen: Open Educational Resources

This textbook is designed for advanced beginning-intermediate English language learners in an academic English program. It is composed of 7 chapters, each of which covers specific speaking and listening learning objectives and includes dialogues, interviews, discussions and conversation activities. Each chapter also focuses on 10 target words from the New General Service List of English vocabulary and reviews basic grammar points. The textbook includes an audio component that consists of recorded conversations of native and non-native English speakers, as well as links to additional listening resources on the web.

Audio files are also available online via PSU Mediaspace.

Please see …

The Voices Of Special Educators: How Do Special Educators Teach English Language Learners Who Are Receiving Special Education Services?, Elizabeth Ann Dubois

Dissertations and Theses

Disproportionality in special education has been examined from various perspectives over a 50-year period. English Language Learner (ELL) students have been included in the discussion among researchers in the past two decades as a disproportionate number of ELL students are referred to special education. Though the problem of disproportionality has been acknowledged, documented and discussed over a period of decades, there is a lack of research from the voices of special educators. The purpose of this study was to describe special education teachers' experiences teaching students currently or previously enrolled in an English language learner program who are receiving special …

Textbook Publishing For Esl Professionals, Della Jean Abrahams, Amber Bliss Calderón, Anne Greenhoe, Michele Miller

Intensive English Language Program Faculty Publications and Presentations

This panel discussion will describe and explain the process of open source textbook writing, something relatively new to the field of ESL. The panel speakers will discuss their experiences with open source publishing, and will describe and show three different textbook projects. Attendees will be able to view the completed and in-process textbooks and will see how they are accessible to learners around the world.

A Study Of The Intelligibility, Comprehensibility And Interpretability Of Standard Marine Communication Phrases As Perceived By Chinese Mariners, Lillian Christine Holland

Dissertations and Theses

Worldwide, mariners use a variety of English as an International Language known as Maritime English regardless of the first language spoken by the crew or port in which they enter. English knowledge and ability is therefore critical to a mariner's livelihood at sea and is also mandated by the International Maritime Organization. The ability to understand and be understood is paramount to safety at sea. This study investigated which accents of English a subset of Chinese mariners found easy or difficult to understand. The data from 39 Chinese mariners who listened to 8 Standard Marine Communications phrases was analyzed. The …

Pdx Journeys: Studying And Living In The Us, Low-Intermediate Novel And Textbook For University Esl Students, Amber Bliss Calderón

PDXOpen: Open Educational Resources

Each unit begins with a chapter of fiction about a teacher and students in one ESL class. Reading comprehension and reading skills exercises follow. Prefix and suffix vocabulary-focus exercises are included. Academic Word List vocabulary exercises help students build a strong foundation in both receptive and productive knowledge. The following chapters in each unit expand on unit themes through non-fiction articles focusing on academic preparation, international experiences, and cultural adjustment. Vocabulary is repeated and comprehension and reading skills are further practiced.

Please see the Open Textbook Library for faculty Reviews of this textbook

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Co-Curriculum And Esl Student Success: A Case Study In An Intensive English Language Program, James D. Mitchell

PSU McNair Scholars Online Journal

This project examines the relationship between co-curricular activities and ESL student success in an intensive English language program. Extracurricular and co-curricular activities have been linked to the improvement of several factors, such as self-esteem, retention, and grade point average (Astin, 1984, 1999; Bergen-Cico & Viscomi, 2013). Research in second language acquisition has suggested that meaningful interaction between individuals in the target language (L2) will increase a student’s proficiency. Therefore, a ESL student’s further involvement in an intensive English program could have a major impact on not only their academic success (operationalized in this study by the amount of classes that …

Empowering All Who Teach: A Portrait Of Two Non-Native English Speaking Teachers In A Globalized 21st Century, Rosa Dene David

Dissertations and Theses

One of most prevalent issues surrounding English education internationally is the differentiation between Native English-Speaking Teachers (NESTs) and Non-native English-Speaking Teachers (NNESTs). What is sometimes termed the "Native speaker fallacy" is the notion that in order to be a proficient teacher of the English language one must either be a native speaker or possess native like fluency (Phillipson, 1992). This position is furthered by Hollidays Native Speakerism (Holliday, 2006) which suggests that within the field of English Language Teaching (ELT) there is an assumption that NESTs are better equipped to teach English language learners due to language proficiency and Western …

Attitudes Towards The Use Of Technology Among The College Students Who Study English As A Second Language (Esl), Monerah Alduwairej

ETD Archive

This research study aimed to evaluate the impact that technology could have on the development of language skills of English Second Language (ESL) college students. The importance of this topic was underlined in the comprehensive literature review that highlighted the existing debate between computer technology being a vital aid and helpful in the ESL classroom. This study focused on obtaining the student perspective concerning the use of technology and how technology may impact the learning process. A survey with Lkert scale questions and three open-ended questions were used in the study. The 50 student participants were gathered from Cleveland State …

Response To Intervention For English Learners: Big Ideas And Myth Busters, Julie Esparza Brown

Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

This presentation focuses on the key features of response to intervention (RTI)

Learning Through Correspondence: Creating Inter-Classroom And Global Understanding Through Letter Writing, Della Jean Abrahams

Intensive English Language Program Faculty Publications and Presentations

This session will focus on how to teach reading, writing, and critical thinking through student-generated correspondence. Participants will learn how to connect learners and build core skills through letter writing. Authentic results of a successful pen-pal project between two adult ESL classrooms will be shown and discussed.

Measuring Adult Learners' Foreign Language Anxiety, Motivational Factors, And Achievement Expectations;A Comparative Study Between Chinese As A Second-Language Students And English As A Second-Language Students, Li-Ching Lin

ETD Archive

This dissertation focuses on interpreting the impacts of foreign language anxiety and individual characteristics on the achievement expectations of Chinese second-language learners and English second-language students at the university level. Four research questions are examined through quantitative design. In relation to methodology, this study utilizes a factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA), logistic regression, and χ 2 as the statistical methods in addition, the latest version of Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) is used to analyze the data. This study provides current and future second-language educators and administrators who plan to set up second-language programs with a broad idea of …

Collaboration Between English As A Second Language Teachers And Content Area Teachers;Implications For Working With English Language Learners, Widad Mousa

ETD Archive

This study examined the collaboration between ESL and content area teachers and its implications for working with English language learners and regular education students at three educational levels: primary, intermediate and secondary. Qualitative methods were used for data collection. The study explored the factors that led to a successful collaboration, and its effects on the learning experience of ELLs and regular education students as well as the roles and responsibilities of the ESL and regular education teachers. Results indicate that such collaboration benefits the ESL and regular education teacher(s) as well as the ELLs and regular education students at the …

An Investigation Of The Representation Of Middle School English Language Learners (Ells) In Special Education Programs In A Large Urban School District, Leah J. Lerma

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The disproportionate representation of ethnically and racially diverse students in special education has been an enduring problem in education for the past four decades. However, most of the research on disproportionality has focused on the ethnic/racial variable; the body of research focusing on the linguistic variable is still slim in comparison. As linguistic diversity in the United States continues to rise, teachers will continue to be challenged to meet the needs of the English Language Learners in their classrooms. However, many teachers feel unprepared to deal with this diversity and have difficulty discriminating whether a student’s poor performance is due …

Effects Of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (Call) Instruction On The Acquisition Of Passive Grammatical Forms By Post-Secondary English As A Second Language (Esl) Students, Ya Chi Chien

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to compare Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) grammar instruction with traditional classroom teacher-directed grammar instruction for post-secondary English as a Second Language (ESL) students enrolled in an Intensive English Program (IEP). Students‟ achievement was measured by their performance on three measures (multiple choice, cloze/fill-in-the-blank, and open-ended tests) of passive grammatical forms. This study gathered quantitative data on students‟ performance on the three measures for both teacher-directed and CALL instruction groups as well as qualitative data with respect to the CALL participants‟ perception of the Azar Interactive online grammar instruction program. Results of the mixed design …

Ethics, Equity, And English-Language Learners: A Decision-Making Framework, Shelly Chabon, Julie Esparza Brown, Christina E. Gildersleeve-Neumann

Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

This articles addresses challenges related to clinical decision-making in intervention with English-language learners and their families.

Academic Achievement And Course Taking Among Language Minority Youth In U.S. Schools: Effects Of Esl Placement, Rebecca Callahan, Lindsey Wilkinson, Chandra Muller

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The 1974 Lau decision requires that U.S. public schools ensure a meaningful education for students learning English. English as a Second Language (ESL) placement is an institutional response to the linguistic needs of these students; however, its academic implications remain largely unexplored. Using nationally representative data from the Educational Longitudinal Study (ELS), the effects of ESL placement on college preparatory course enrollment and academic achievement of language minority students are estimated, first with fixed effects regression models and then with multi-level propensity score matching techniques. While numerous school and individual level factors beyond language proficiency predict ESL placement, a significant …

The Academic Word List Reorganized For Spanish-Speaking English Language Learners, Robert W. Bushong Ii

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Published in TESOL Quarterly a decade ago, the Academic Word List (AWL) (Coxhead, 2000) has become increasingly influential in the field of TESOL. With more than 82% of the AWL comprised of words of Latin and Greek, much of this important list logically consists of English-Spanish cognates because Spanish originated from Latin. In order to serve Spanishspeaking English language learners (SSELLs) better, their teachers need to know which AWL words are cognates. Using published sources and linguistic analysis of the 570 items in the AWL, the research in this thesis has resulted in a newly reorganized AWL divided into four …

Being An "Other": The Significance Of Teachers' Lived Experiences In Working With Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Students, Yumiko Otsuki

Dissertations and Theses

The study's goal was to understand what contributes to the formation of teachers' perspectives regarding the education of culturally and linguistically diverse students. Its focus was to portray through teachers' stories the experiences in their lives that may have contributed to constructing who they are as people and as educators.

Four teachers from one rural district participated. Using qualitative methods, the study explores and describes incidents in teachers' lives, looking at the way their life experiences are reflected in their relationships with students. In considering ways in which those experiences may have helped shape teaching philosophies and practices, the study …

Esl Placement And Schools: Effect On Immigrant Achievement, Rebecca Callahan, Lindsey Wilkinson, Chandra Muller, Michelle Frisco

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this study, the authors explore English as a Second Language (ESL) placement as a measure of how schools label and process immigrant students. Using propensity score matching and data from the Adolescent Health and Academic Achievement Study and the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, the authors estimate the effect of ESL placement on immigrant achievement. In schools with more immigrant students, the authors find that ESL placement results in higher levels of academic performance; in schools with few immigrant students, the effect reverses. This is not to suggest a one-size-fits-all policy; many immigrant students, regardless of school composition, …

Partnerships To Recruit And Prepare Bilingual Teachers, Julie Esparza Brown

Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

To address the need for teachers with the skills to effectively teach English Language Learner (ELL) students, Portland State University (PSU) collaborated with three Portland area community colleges and 17 school districts to develop a program to recruit and prepare bilingual/bicultural teachers. This nine-year-old program provides a career ladder for education paraprofessionals. Candidates begin their work at the community colleges or at the upper division or graduate levels at PSU depending upon their backgrounds. This article describes the program, assessment of the program, and lessons learned. To date, over 190 candidates have completed the program and 99 percent have been …

Constructivism For The English-As-A-Second-Language Learning Environment And Professional Development, Starley Beatrix Dullien

Theses Digitization Project

This project addresses the needs of the adult learner. The adult learner referred to in; this project comes from two distinguishable groups. One group of adult learners consists of the ESL students who attend adult school or community-based English programs. The other group of adult learners consists of the teachers within adult education ESL programs who themselves are students as they participate in professional development workshops.

Leveling The Field: Using Rubrics To Achieve Greater Equity In Teaching And Grading, Dannelle D. Stevens, Antonia Levi

Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

Rubrics can be used to assure greater consistency in grading and as a teaching tool to promote greater equity, especially with students who are first generation and /or non-native speakers of English.

Using Children's Literature With Young Learners, Eowyn Ferey

Intensive English Language Program Faculty Publications and Presentations

The biggest practical challenges in using English language children's literature rather than readers created specifically for EFL/ESL students are:

• choosing an appropriate book
• preparing to teach, from writing lesson plans to developing supporting teaching materials
• brainstorming creative teaching ideas

This paper will serve as a guide for those who would like to use literature in the classroom with their young students, but aren't sure how to begin.

Using Self-Directed Learning Strategies And Affective Factors In Educating Adult English Learners, Jennifer Margaret Heald

Theses Digitization Project

The content of this project will serve to demonstrate that ample research connects self-directed learning to more healthy psychological dynamics in language acquisition. It will also show that self-directed learning strategies are practical and effective in teaching a second language.

A Corpus-Based Investigation Of Collocational Errors In Efl Taiwanese High School Students' Compositions, Yi-Chin Chen

Theses Digitization Project

Many language instructors focus on vocabulary word by word, neglecting common phrases. The result is that English as a Second Language students do not learn to speak idiomatic English (i.e. they make collocation errors). This study of the English compositions of National Tainan Second Senior High School students in Taiwan examined collocation errors, categorizing them according to Benson, Benson and Ilson's Collocation Classification System. An examination was then made of the error types as correlated with general English proficiency.