Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons^™

Evaluating The Intersection Of Continuous Growth And Assessment In The Field Of English As A Second Language, Madison Johnson

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

This teaching portfolio contains a compilation of the author’s personal teaching experiences and research interests while in the Master of Second Language Teaching (MSLT) program at Utah State University (USU). The sections of this portfolio highlight collaboration with current USU professors in the field of teaching English as a second language and the author’s personal experiences working in a second-grade elementary school classroom as well as teaching English in a community education setting. Much of the mentioned research focuses on the subfield of second language assessment. This is an area of interest to the author as an area for personal …

Improving Second Language Learning Through Performance-Based Assessment Practices, Maria Granados

Dissertations

From the time of the No Child Left Behind Act (2001) to the present day, standardized testing has become the benchmark measure for student assessment and school accountability in the United States. Multilingual learners are a vulnerable population with more testing and accountability requirements than mainstream students. Not only are they required to learn a second language, but they are also assessed within the same standardized testing paradigms as their peers - native speakers of the English language. This study aimed to examine and evaluate the benefits of instructional practices and assessments that provide multilingual students and teachers prompt and …

The Reality Of Teaching English Virtually: Esl Teachers' Perspectives And Experiences During The Covid-19 National Pandemic, Natalia Guerrero

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study examined the dilemma ESL teachers experienced as the educational system shifted from the usual modus operandi of in-person lessons to the uncharted virtual learning environment (VLE). ESL teachers, in one of the largest urban districts in Louisiana, accumulated additional roles and responsibilities that were unique to the teachers of the English learner (EL) population enrolled at their schools.

Data collected to answer the research questions were the product of single and focus group’s interviews with five ESL elementary and middle school teachers in Freedom District. State and district emergency response to COVID-19 guidelines, along with instructional artifacts, were …

Pax Populi: Empowering Afghans Through Virtual Tutoring, Lara Chuppe

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

I began tutoring two Afghan high school students through Pax Populi as a service-learning component of HONR 39900: Virtual Abroad Central Asia. This semester, I will be assisting Purdue students with developing successful tutoring partnerships with Afghan refugees through Pax Populi. The non-profit Pax Populi seeks to empower Afghans through virtual, one-on-one English tutoring. Originally, the program matched young people living in cities across Afghanistan with volunteer tutors, but in light of the Taliban’s rise to power, the organization is now working to provide virtual English lessons to newly arriving Afghan refugees. Many of the refugees speak little English. They …

Fifty Definitions Of English Learner: A Proposed Solution To Inconsistent State-By-State Systems In The United States For Classifying Students Who Speak English As A Second Language, Rolf Straubhaar, Pedro R. Portes

Educational Considerations

Although nearly one in 10 U.S. students is an English Learner (or EL), the definition of the term EL varies considerably from state to state, as does the means of assessing English language proficiency and the period of time for which the label is applied to individual students. As EL populations are growing throughout the U.S., both in school systems familiar with teaching ELs and in systems that do not have such experience, it is urgent that the methods by which this population is identified and by which its needs are met in acquiring English language proficiency are backed up …

The Implications Of Integrating The Theory Of Multiple Intelligences Into English Language Learning Methodologies, Taylor Woodbury

Education Theses

The achievement gap between English Language Learners and their peers has emerged as a problem in our nation's school system. Although the Theory of Multiple Intelligences has been used in education, it is not often applied to English Language Learners. This research analyzed the application of Multiple Intelligence Theory as it pertained to the achievement of EL’s. The results show that by using MI to dictate what teaching method to use, EL’s benefited both socio-emotionally and academically. Overall, the findings show the importance of 1) ESL training for all teachers, 2) the consideration of students' Funds of Knowledge, and 3) …

The Policy Feedback Loop: Exploring English Learner (El) Policy, Policy Implementation, And The Relationship Between Policy, Research, And Practice, Nathan D. Koerber

Doctoral Dissertations

This study will explore the EL policy implementation process and offer evaluative feedback by systematically reviewing the history of US federal educational language policy and its impact on schools and classrooms, as well as the role research, has played in the development of EL policy. Additionally, this study will explore how current language policy implementation impacts programming and practices in both the UK and the US through two separate case studies, as a means of providing evaluative feedback on the policies.

The purpose of this study is to elucidate the complicated history of EL policy and its impact, as well …

Black Lives Matter In Teaching English As A Second Language!, Kristin Lems

Faculty Publications

The Winter 2020 issue of theIllinois Reading Council Journal published a special issue focusing on “action for equity,” with thoughtful articles and abundant family and classroom resources. This issue of the “wELLcome”column, which is dedicated to topics regarding English language learners (ELLs), continues in that same vein. In this issue, we place the spotlight on ELLs of African descent, their teachers, and their schools.

Pedagogy Or Andragogy?: Which Teaching Method Produces Successful Esl Tutoring That Involves Musical Activities?, Julia Cormack

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Considering the connections between music and language, as well as Chi et al.’s (2001) theory, this thesis introduces an original case study investigation: which teaching method, pedagogy or andragogy, will be most effective in one-on-one ESL tutoring sessions that use music as source material? The term pedagogy often describes the art and science of teaching. However, its Greek roots refer to the method of the teacher leading the classroom. Meanwhile, andragogy describes a teaching method where the teacher engages with the students in the learning and leading; Greek for “leader of man,” andragogy most often refers to teaching adults. To …

Secondary Teacher Attitudes Targeting Inclusion Of English Language Learners In Mainstream Classrooms, Jacquelin Drusilla Buttram-Brownell

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

Educational leadership in public schools have struggled to service second language learners across the United States. Although support systems in urban education settings have seemed to be fully staffed, the surge of new immigrants, has posed challenges to classroom teachers. Unspoken attitudes of bias and perception of faculty members have been menacing and could have impeded equitable practice and performance of both the English language learner and the teacher. Previous research of Reeves (2002, 2004, & 2006) has inferred teachers have struggled with their attitudes toward ELLs in their mainstream classes and have indicated professional development as being essential. Specifically, …

Silent Film: A Visual Narrative For Developing Linguistic Competence, Patricia George

Open Educational Resources

Visual narratives in silent films are an effective method for developing linguistic competence in English language education and are equally constructive in developing critical thinking skills across disciplines. “Silent film, more than any other film property, capitalizes on ESL students’ visual literacy, using it as both a foundation and a catalyst for honing the verbal language skills that are key to acquiring and articulating complex knowledge in English” (Kasper and Singer, 2001). Silent films rely on the power of vivid, interactive visual imagery to depict personal struggles, character interactions, and plot development. This medium grabs the attention of ESL students …

Enhancing Cultural And Linguistic Responsiveness In Argument Writing Pedagogy Through Effective Adaptations For English Learners: Insights From C3wp Resource Analysis And Three Experienced Teachers’ Practices, Katelyn Walsh, Katey Robinson, Rachel Deacon, Zuzana Tomaš

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

This article examines recommended adaptations for English Learners (ELs) in the nationally-recognized C3WP argument writing program through the lens of effective EL literacy practices and culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogy. We present an analysis of C3WP EL tips and EL notices and argue that when evaluated from the second language literacy and linguistically and culturally responsive pedagogy perspectives, the C3WP program could be enhanced by adding guidance for 1) specific instructional supports designed to increase ELs’ access to the resources and 2) helping teachers leverage these learners’ multicultural and multilinguistic capital. To help imagine how such effective additional guidance could …

Adaptive Learning Environments And Student Learning Outcomes, Marie-Conceptia Girault

Theses and Dissertations

In response to the urgent need to alleviate South Carolina from poverty and elevate them into the 21st century industry, South Carolina Department of Education (SCDOE), has vowed to educate all South Carolina students and ensure that they graduate prepared for success in college, careers, and citizenship (SCDOE, 2017). To accomplish this mission, SCDOE has developed rigorous educational standards, which include technology-integrated curricular (SCDOE, 2015). Through a non-experimental quantitative study, the relationship between adaptive learning environments (ALE) while employing technology and student outcomes were explored. These learning outcomes were in support of K-12 novice-mid language learners and were defined as …

Literacy Uses And Practices Of Schoolchildren Living In A Contemporary Malaysian Context, Syerina Syahrin

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper reports the uses and practices of literacy in English of primary schoolchildren in Malaysia. Data was gathered from two children, their parents and the English subject teacher. The results reveal four major findings. First, the results reveal that the students’ experience with out-of-school literacies in English were largely afforded by new technologies Second, popular culture played a considerable role in the students’ out-of-school lives. Third, the students’ engagement with out-of-school texts was influenced by cultural artefacts and social discourses, and fourth, there were also complementing and contrasting literacy practices reflected in both environments. This paper argues that …

Self-Directed Learning Practices In Esl: How Beginning Adult Latinx English Language Learners Can Increase Learning Outcomes, Jessica Parisi

Master's Projects and Capstones

This field project investigates the self-directed learning (SDL) practices that could increase learner outcomes in English language acquisition for beginning adult English language learners (ELLs), and presents on a website designed for the learner, the practices and local resources to engage them. Non-credit English as a second language (ESL) courses in community colleges in the San Francisco Bay Area have high enrollment and low levels of advancement, especially beginning levels. Latinx adult ELLs face unique challenges that contribute to their low rates of advancement, including linguistic isolation, and work and home duties that often prevent learners from attending classes the …

Flipgrid And Second Language Acquisition Using Flipgrid To Promote Speaking Skills For English Language Learners, Annelise Difilippantonio-Pen

Master’s Theses and Projects

Integrating twenty-first century skills within the classroom has become a global driving force within the educational field. While schools have adopted models of one-to-one technology or digital formats for native English speakers, addressing the twenty-first century skills for English language learners have been absent. Given that the present global society is driven on bilingualism and multilingualism, English language learners need to be given the equitable digital opportunity to build their twenty-first century skills. The purpose of this mixed methods research study is to explore the influence and use of the digital application, Flipgrid, on the oral, English development for foundational, …

Educational Challenges Of Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Learners In Canada And In The United States Of America: A Systematic Literature Review, Fabiana Menezes

Major Papers

This systematic literature review (SLR) examined Canadian and American peer-reviewed articles published in the past ten years (2009 – 2019) which pointed out the main challenges that affect culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) learners in their educational settings in Canada and United States. More specifically, it scrutinized the central theories that have been used to explain the main challenges that hinder the success of CLD learners in their educational settings in North American schools. Four key themes emerged in the analysis of fifteen peer-reviewed articles: A research-to-practice gap in the education of CLD learners; inappropriate referrals of CLD learners to …

Three Ways To Help Esl Content Linger Beyond The “El Course” In Teacher Preparation Programs, Melanie Gonzalez

Journal of English Learner Education

Like many other states, our teacher preparation program arrived at this compartmentalized, “single-experience” ESL-focused course model as a result of local, state, and federal policies in the United States that have increasingly placed ELs into mainstream classrooms rather than into language and literacy development courses (de Jong, 2014). TESOL faculty might have questioned: how can everything related to effective ESL teaching be covered in one semester? The fact of the matter is that the onus on this work largely rests upon teacher candidates’ shoulders after they depart the ESL-focused course. What follows are three practices that largely have arisen …

A Phenomenology: Teachers Lived Experiences With Workplace English As A Second Language (Esl) Programs, Odilia Lineth Mitre Marciaga

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative phenomenological study was designed to understand in-depth teachers lived experiences with workplace ESL programs. This study provides strategies and recommendations to improve the overall logistics of workplace ESL programs which can benefit the employer, the students, the institution, and the teachers. Strengthening the partnership and communication of all the parties can strengthen the program as whole as well. Data collection of the methodological process included in-depth face-to-face interviews with seventeen teachers during the summer of 2019.The data was managed and analyzed through initial and axial coding from which main themes emerged. Six key findings emerged from themes as …

All About The American Flap, Kristin Lems

Faculty Publications

In this column, I am going to talk about the American flap, a phonological feature of the American English dialect. Those of us with backgrounds in ESL/EFL learn about this in our master’s programs, but I have found that even teachers who have taken a course in linguistics may not be aware of the flap and its important implications for listening, reading, and spelling in English (Lems, Miller, & Soro, 2017)

A Dialectical Relational Analysis Of Tesol Quarterly 2006 Special Issue On Race: Discourse, Race, And White Supremacist Ideology, Ginger A. Looney

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

Although the field of TESOL is not racially neutral this dialectical relational analysis examined (1) what discourses did the authors use to deploy race in the articles in the 2006 TESOL Quarterly Special Issue on Race (TQSIR)? and (2) how do these discourses work to either conform to, or resist white supremacist ideology? Analysis of the texts identified four key discourse: racialization, whiteness, emotional labor of racism, and sonic and optic negation of racism. These discourses were examined in the domains of scholarship, curriculum, teachers, and students. In 21 instances, these four discourses work to resist white supremacist ideology. …

What Can We Learn From Adult Esl Students’ Responses To Children’S Literature?, Monique C. Stone

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

Some teachers face frequently changing populations of students, making it difficult to gain cultural knowledge that is important to support student learning. The aim of this study was to explore how adult language-learner students in intensive English programs (IEPs) respond to children’s picture books portraying their home countries or cultures. Reader response theory (Rosenblatt, 1995) and cultural scaffolding (Gay, 2002; i.e., the use of student culture to support student learning) are the initial frameworks upon which the study was developed. The study was qualitative in nature and driven by a desire for the researcher to gain more cultural knowledge about …

Teaching English To Refugees Through Storytelling, Emily Camplejohn

Senior Honors Theses

Many refugees are trying to learn English while assimilating to a new culture. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has identified several needs and goals of refugees including competence in the language of the receiving culture and participation in a new, welcoming community. Storytelling, expressing or receiving a narrative through oral or written communication, can be implemented for teaching English to refugees with these goals and can link academic learning with real life experiences. In addition to using storytelling as a meaningful way to interact with language, storytelling also fosters a community within the classroom. The teacher is …

An Evaluation Of A Title One Elementary School's English For Speakers Of Other Languages Program, Kim L.P. Rigby

Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Enrolled at many public schools in the United States are students who primarily speak languages other than English and lack proficiency in the English language. These students are required to show language proficiency on end-of-year English-only state assessments. One public elementary school utilizes a support program to assist second language learners in acquiring a level of language skills necessary for proficiency on state assessments. My evaluation of this school’s program utilized mixed methods to determine the viability of support services provided to second language learners. The findings of my evaluation revealed some weaknesses within the provided services and indicated …

The Impact Of Math Vocabulary On Conceptual Understanding For Ells, Vanessa Valley

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of teaching daily math word problems in a 3rd-6th grade ELL classroom on math vocabulary use and math word problem and place value comprehension. This teacher research study used a pre and post word problem test graded on a 16 point scale and a frequency tally to track math vocabulary use. The results showed a small increase in word problem comprehension and a large increase in math vocabulary frequency. While math problems help some students’ math comprehension, the written format in English combined with the students’ lower English reading ACCESS …

Advocating For Integration: Acculturation In A Non-Profit Serving Immigrants Organization, Daniel Calderon

SPACE: Student Perspectives About Civic Engagement

This paper presents acculturation practices in a non-profit, serving immigrants organization in a Midwestern city in the United States. Although the programs and services offered at this organization become pertinent vis-à-vis the welfare of the immigrants, their expected outcomes seem to foment the Americanization of the organization’s clients.

Through a critical examination, certain services and practices within this organization respond to a unidirectional process of acculturation, in which the immigrants turn out to be the ones who have to acquire certain sociocultural and linguistic repertoires for them to adapt and fit in the U.S. mainstream society.

The utilization of the …

Creating An Energetic Classroom: A Handbook For Esl Teachers, Lusha Sha

Master's Projects and Capstones

Low classroom energy is a common problem in English language teaching. This field project discusses the problematic low-energy classroom from both the student side and the instructor side. The first aspect explored is the silence of students. Because speech shows the process of language acquisition and is also the precondition of language acquisition, it is crucial to discover and understand the reasons for some students’ unwillingness to speak (Baran-Lucarz, 2014). The project explains the willingness to communicate and the cultural variations in learning. The second aspect of a low-energy classroom in this project is the ESL teacher lack of enthusiasm. …

Indonesian Students' Perceptions Of Written Feedback In Second Language Writing, Rahmah Fithriani

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

Grounded in sociocultural theory, written feedback activities in second language (L2) writing provide the social interactions that help learners develop their psychical functions within the zone of proximal development (ZPD) as they co-construct knowledge with teachers and peers through guided learning (De Guerrero & Villamil, 2000). Written feedback can also help student writers improve their writing proficiency, including organization of their texts and awareness of the mechanics of the language necessary for successful communication of the intended message (Chandler, 2003; Ferris, 2006; Jahin, 2012; Kamimura, 2006).

Regarding the eminence of feedback in L2 writing, a large body of research has …

The Language Of Learning In Family And Consumer Sciences: English Language Learners In Career Technical Education, Kali S. Lenhoff

Empowering Research for Educators

Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) content and English as a Second Language (ESL) strategies can be organically incorporated to create a successful education for an English Language Learner (ELL). The first objective of this research project is to discover how prepared Family and Consumer Sciences teachers feel to work with English Language Learners in the classroom. The second objective is to identify practical and effective methods and strategies that are useful for Family and Consumer Sciences teachers instructing English Language Learners. The rationale for this project is that by identifying the challenges faced by English Language Learners in education, teachers …

The Importance Of Using Information Communication Technology For Learning And Teaching The English Language In Kurdistan Of Iraq, Nabaz Noori Kareem

English (TESOL) Master Theses

Kurdistan as a region in north of Iraq has undergone significant changes regarding its educational system, and using ICTs (information communication technologies) for teaching and learning English has been given a great role in the system. There are many researchers who wrote about the benefits and the challenges of using ICTs. As the term ICT includes many kinds of devices and applications, students and teachers in Kurdistan are using various types of ICTs inside or outside of the schools. Students and teachers use ICTs for teaching and learning the skills of the English language such as reading, writing, speaking, and …