A Case Study Of Two Taiwanese Students With Hearing Loss Navigating The English As A Foreign Language Requirement At Their University, Yu Chen

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

Many institutions of higher education (IHE) students in Taiwan now need to meet the English proficiency requirement to earn their higher education degrees. In this case study, I intended to a) provide the opportunity for IHE students with hearing loss in Taiwan to share their opinions, thoughts, and experiences of learning English as a foreign language in higher education institutes; and b) understand how English as a foreign language policies and educational practices contribute to create opportunities and barriers for IHE students with hearing loss. The research question I intended to examine was “what are the perceptions of the lived …

An Ethnohistorical Study Of The Dowagiac Chieftains, Kathryn A. Bishop

Masters Theses

This research uses ethnohistorical methods to examine the use of imagery appropriated from American Indian cultures by the Dowagiac Union Schools. High School yearbooks from 1899- 2014, along with other artifacts, were identified as sources of information to describe students’ experiences. Applying Brayboy’s (2005) Tribal Critical Race Theory, an off-shoot of Critical Race Theory, combined with the research of historical and theoretical scholars like Davis (2002), Pewewardy (2001), and Deloria, King, and Springwood (2001), a case is made for the removal of American Indian mascots used by educational institutions, including the Dowagiac Chieftains. Though over 1,750 occasions of American Indian-appropriated …

Advantages & Challenges: An Assessment Of Suny Oneonta's Current Approach To International Student Services, Sarah Busche

Capstone Collection

The decision to become an international student is a choice that is as challenging as it is rewarding, and is one that I am familiar with from both a professional and personal standpoint. Per a recent Open Doors’ account, 1,043,839 students from around the world have made the decision to study in the United States in 2016. These individuals make up 9% of New York State’s student population, and 10.1% of the State University of New York system (SUNY, 2016). Currently SUNY Oneonta is host to 56 of these international students, whom I was excited to work with through my …

Strengthening Families In Santa Cruz County, Yajaira Rubio-Mendoza

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Parenting is very rewarding and enjoyable, yet it can be challenging and exhausting. Therefore, there is no right way to be a parent. At La Manzana Community Resources (LMCR), a family program of Community Bridges, there is a strong belief in strengthening families within the Santa Cruz County community. That is why LMCR provides various services such as, Triple-P Positive Parenting Program. Triple-P, funded by First 5, provides parents and caregivers parenting support ranging from birth to 12 years of age, with additional support for families with teens, and families of children with special needs. The …

Evaluating A Translingual Administration Of The Early Grades Math Assessment (Egma) In The Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Fernanda Gandara

Doctoral Dissertations

Translanguaging is a view around languages that normalizes diglossia without separation: the linguistic resources of the bilinguals are considered one integrated system. Translanguaging is also a language practice of bilinguals, who select features from their entire linguistic repertoire to make sense of the world around them. Translanguaging is widely used by students and teachers in the bilingual classroom, as it allows students to build upon their entire set of resources, enhance learning outcomes, perform identities, and develop their languages even further. However, translanguaging is rarely used in assessments of bilinguals. Assessments of bilinguals, especially large-scale tests, are typically monolingual in …

Teachers’ Self-Efficacy When Differentiating Between Language Acquisition Difficulties Or Possible Learning Disabilities In English Language Learners, Elizabeth Hallett

All Theses And Dissertations

This multiple-case study examines teachers’ self-efficacy, or perceptions of their effectiveness, when differentiating between typical language acquisition difficulties and possible learning disabilities in English Language Learners (ELLs) who are challenged academically. Five mainstream elementary teachers from a mid-sized urban school district in the northeastern United States participated in the study. Data from individual interviews, meeting observations and artifacts were collected from each of the participants. Meeting observations occurred during each participant’s Integrated Learning Team meetings. During interviews, participants described their experiences working with ELLs who struggled more than typical ELLs and presented an artifact representing experiences teaching such students. Across …

Online Formative Assessments As Valid Correlates Of Foreign Language Proficiency Levels As Measured By Ilr/Dlpt5 Summative Tests, Alma Castro-Peet

Dissertations

Purpose: This study explored a technological contribution to education made by the

Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC) in the formative assessment field. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to identify the relationship between online formative (Online Diagnostic Assessment; ODA) and summative (Defense Language Proficiency Test 5; DLPT5) assessments in foreign language instruction in Spanish, Korean, Chinese Mandarin, and Standard Arabic to determine their relationship to student success in a basic course program for adult students at the DLIFLC.

Methodology: This nonexperimental correlational study included a standard regression model to determine correlations between ODA scores and DLPT5 …

The Dynamics Of Participatory Monitoring And Evaluation (Pm&E) In Traditional Pakistan., Aamer Shams

Capstone Collection

This research seeks to explore the interpretation and application of Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation (PM&E) in the context of Educational Empowerment by analyzing insights gathered from multiple stakeholder groups in four cities of Pakistan, Islamabad, Lahore, Quetta, and Peshawar. Analysis of the findings reveals nuances of PM&E, including “Equality and Equity, Respect and Tolerance” (pg. 58-61) that limit the potential of this transdisciplinary empowerment process. Empowerment and educational programs often employ the continuous processes of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) to gain an understanding of the implementation, efficiency, impact, and overall performance of the program. M&E also provides valuable information about …

Letter To The President: Longitudinal Critical Discourse Analysis Of Academic And Hip Hop Genres In A Rap Narrative Program, Debangshu Roygardner

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The objective of this study was to examine an in-school rap narrative workshop through critical discourse theory (Bamberg, 2012; Daiute, 2014). Twelve youth from a public school serving youth in urban Houston, TX were recruited from an in-school and after-school Hip hop/Rap narrative program to participate in a two-year cohort research study. The primary research question guiding the study was “How do young people participating in a school-based Hip hop/Rap program use a wide range of narrative genres for literacy and psycho-social development over two years in the program?”

The data-intensive study involved assessments of literacy and psycho-social development via …

Assessing The Influence Of Career-Linked Experiential Opportunities On The F-1 Undergraduate Student Enrollment Decision-Making Process, Harrison Fuerst

Capstone Collection

International mobility efforts in the United States have garnered increased attention and funding in recent years, with such government-led initiatives as Generation Study Abroad and 100,000 Strong driving up inbound and outbound student numbers. Recent inbound mobility reports from the Institute of International Education show double-digit percentage increases in international student enrollment. Other countries also experiencing an influx of international students continue to research these trends to shape their own education strategies. Research conducted by the International Education Association of Australia points specifically to hands-on professional experience and enhanced employability as key factors important to Australia’s international student population. As …

Neighborhood Strategizing: Understanding Community Collaborations Within California Bay Area Public Schools, Windi Hazzard

Master's Projects and Capstones

For the better half of a century, education policy has been guided by economics and profit. One after another, every U.S. president since the 1960s has championed legislation that reflects neoliberal ideals of competition and profitable skills. Through the standardization of the public school system, education has become a marketplace rather than an environment for cultivating empowered learners and critical thinkers. The purpose of this field project is to show how communities are challenging the current education system in order to influence education policy in San Francisco, California. I interviewed four participants from two organizations that advocate parents’ rights as …

Women's Education: An International Perspective, Nneka B. Dean

Honors College Theses

The purpose of this study is to dissect a topic that is heavily discussed around the world: women’s education and the many diverse ways in which it is practiced. One of the reasons women’s education is such a highly-debated topic is because there are still many differences in how people believe it should be accomplished while other places do not see the advantage or purpose of educating women. There are many countries with male dominated enrollment because of the women’s traditionally-held gender role of staying at home or because the family’s socioeconomic status. This study compared the experiences of women’s …

"Y'All And All These Assessments Is A Little Bit Too Much" : The Effects Of High-Stakes Testing On Critical Literacy Pedagogy., Diana Lalata

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

As the United States of America becomes increasingly diverse, there is a need for teachers to embrace multiculturalism within the classroom. Shifting away from the traditional “banking model” of teaching, educational researchers call for a more critical approach—one in which teachers and students challenge dominant beliefs and practices of education. Foregrounded in those aims of cultural competence and critical consciousness, “critical literacy pedagogy” addresses the politicization of literacy education and employs conscious curriculum and teaching strategies to empower marginalized voices. Although a number of case studies on critical literacy pedagogy show considerable promise in disrupting dominant discourse and developing cultural …

Searching For Ourselves: African Cultural Representation In Children’S Books In The United States, And Implications For Educational Achievement, Lulama Moyo

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

Using documentary and discourse analysis of children’s literature I explore the extent to which there is a multicultural gap in children’s literature to reveal the prevailing challenges of the colonized and Eurocentric values embedded in the contemporary education system that supports the monocultural socialization of young children in their early formative years. I translate my research through examining four thematic ways on how the multicultural gap is manifested which are subject matter, the lack of African writers, degree of complexity of diasporic experiences, and confronting whiteness. By focusing more specifically on the gap in African diasporic children literature, I review …

The Effects Of Spoken Accent On Verbal Working Memory Performance, Faithe Snyder

Rehabilitation, Human Resources and Communication Disorders Undergraduate Honors Theses

Language diversity is continually increasing in the United States. In the 2007 American Community Survey taken by the U.S. Census Bureau, it was found that about 20 percent of the U.S. population spoke a language other than English at home. As language diversity increases in the country, the language diversity of individuals diagnosed with cognitive or communicative impairments also increases. As a result, understanding how language and spoken accent difference affects the accuracy of diagnostic testing becomes an important question. A large challenge facing speech-language pathologists regarding culturally and linguistically diverse clients is distinguishing communication differences from communication disorders. As …

A Well-Rounded Experience: Connecting The Home Campus To The Study Abroad Experience And The Study Abroad Experience To The Home Campus, Mary Aurora Grandinetti

Capstone Collection

Many small liberal arts colleges across the United States partner with third-party providers or foreign institutions to provide their students with an opportunity to study abroad. Denison University, a small liberal arts school in Ohio, traditionally sends 50% of its student body to study abroad before they graduate. Since students have the option to spend a semester or two participating in study abroad, it is important for the students to be well prepared, for the experience to be integrated into their overall Denison education and for the students to transition back to campus successfully. To determine how students were preparing …

Creating A Multiracial Lesson Plan, Clayton Davis

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The purpose of this project is to teach students about multiracial identity issues. Multiracial populations in the U.S. continue to grow and it’s important for educators to address the needs of these students. A 5-E multiracial literature lesson plan was created for second grade that incorporates KWL and Text-to-World teaching strategies. A second grade class were read two children’s picture books, each featuring a biracial protagonist, and were asked to discuss and evaluate the content and commonalities of these stories. Students recorded what they learned in this lesson in their KWL’s. The results reveal that some students understood the problems …

Killing Me Softly: The Missed Education Of African American Females, Margaret Daphne Cattenhead

Masters Theses

Using a literature review and personal experience, this paper aims to examine the paradoxes and barriers of African American girls in education. The educational system has left black females without support to ensure consistent results across a variety of settings and environments. There are a variety of voices on what barriers African American girls face and how those barriers influence their educational progress. Despite some progress, many African American girls are at risk for suspension, expulsion, and grade retention. They are at risk to be pressured into dominant culture norms for behavior, to be regarded as subordinate, to be negatively …

From Descendants Of Refugees To First-Generation College Students: The Untold Story Of Southeast Asian American College Students’ Lived Experience, Vunsin Hiew Doubblestein

Dissertations

Aggregate data on Asian Pacific Americans (APAs) may show APAs to have exceptionally high educational attainment and economic mobility compared to other racial groups (Museus & Buenavista, 2016). In reality, various APA sub-groups face significant obstacles to academic access and success and are found at both the highest and lowest levels of the achievement, as well as educational attainment and income spectrums. In spite of the growing awareness of and scholarship on the complexity of APA student experience in higher education, there is limited research on Southeast Asian Americans (SEAAs) who have come to the U.S. as refugees, the circumstances …

The Influence Of Instructional Minutes On Grade 11 Language Arts And Mathematics High School Proficiency Assessment Performance, Simone E. Welcome

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The purpose for this cross-sectional, non-experimental explanatory quantitative research study was to explain the amount of variance in the High School Proficiency Assessment-11 Language Arts and Mathematics scores accounted for by the amount of instructional minutes at high schools in New Jersey. A proportional, stratified random sample which included all public high schools’ students who participated in the State of New Jersey was generated and subsequently analyzed to determine the influence of NJ School Report Card-instructional minutes on NJ HSPA-11 language arts and mathematics scores.

The independent variable was instructional time, which is defined as the exact amount of time …

Educating Incarcerated Youth In Illinois: A Blended Learning Model, John Sonnenberg

Dissertations

The purpose of this case study was to better understand the reasons behind the apparent continued success of a blended learning educational model in place since 2012 in the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (IDJJ). Using a mixed methods approach, data were gathered and analyzed from a variety of records, reports, and other documentation that included: diplomas awarded, courses taken, course completion, enrollment trends, student mobility rates, GED testing information, and special education student enrollment and performance. Data were also gathered through classroom observations and individual and group interviews with the IDJJ district superintendent, principals, and teachers at six different …

English Proficiency Associated With The High School Grades Of Lep Students In Abilene Isd, Donald A. Dolton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, immigration into the U.S. has increased because of growing economic problems around the world. Economic globalization and technological developments (internet access and the ability to move massive amounts of information and people in a short amount of time) have influenced the number of those seeking asylum. Accordingly, the U.S. school system continues to see an increase in students who are culturally diverse with greater educational deficiencies and limited English proficiency (LEP). In Texas there has been a 90% increase in the number of immigrants from 1990 to 2010 (National CE). This means that currently immigrants make up …

Synergy: Game Design + Qur'an Memorization, Sultana Jesmine Moulana

Theses and Dissertations

The rise of digital technology has transformed nearly every part of our daily lives, including the way we learn and memorize. Such transformations raise interesting questions for one of the most long-standing and demanding memorization tasks in the world: the memorization of the Islamic holy book, The Qur’an. For Muslims, The Qur’an is a timeless, sacred text, cradling within its covers many profound images, stories, and parables. Despite rigorous research in the fields of game design and memorization techniques, very little work has been done in combining these two areas of research to create a game-based memorization experience of The …

Cultural Studies In The Mandarin-English Dual Immersion Classroom: A Case Study, Vivian Zhang

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis uses a Mandarin-English dual immersion program at a Southern California public elementary school as a case study to examine how culture is taught and learned in the dual immersion setting. Based on classroom observations and interviews with students, staff, and parents, this thesis argues that concepts of “China” and “Chinese culture” are conveyed, constructed, and negotiated by students as well as teachers, both implicitly and explicitly.

Program Design, Delivery, And Evaluation: Lpc Us Host Family Program, Gillian Wigton Bell

Capstone Collection

This capstone paper outlines the design, delivery, and evaluation processes of the 2017 LPC US Host Family Program, a short-term, pre-camp host family experience administered by the LPC Board, a US support group of Luethi-Peterson Camps, International. It seeks to evaluate the program effectiveness and to determine a set of recommendations for future organizers, based upon the results of evaluative surveys and literature review.

A full review of the research proposal was conducted by the SIT IRB, due to the sensitive nature of research participants below the age of 18. Once approved, online surveys were disseminated to participating campers, camper …

Uncovering The Processes And Consequences Of Egyptian Immigrant Parental Involvement In Their Children’S Education: Bridging Cultural Differences, Hend Shalan

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Abstract

For more than a decade, researchers have concluded that immigrant parents face several barriers to becoming involved in their children’s education. All studies agree that language and cultural differences are the most significant barriers to immigrants’ involvement in their children’s education, yet we know little about what these cultural differences are and how these cultural differences influence the school involvement of immigrant parents. This study integrates theories of cultural differences, acculturation, and culture shock and the corresponding literature to investigate the lesser involvement of immigrant parents in school-related activities.

A focused ethnographic design was employed and a thematic analysis …