Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons^™

Exploring Early Language Acquisition Through English And French, Rebecca C. Aguilar

Honors Capstones

Knowing that there is no singular event that leads to learning a language, and factoring in the extent an individual’s culture can affect language learning, this study emphasizes the importance of a cross-linguistic approach to continue to broaden the scope of language acquisition research. The primary objective is to identify and analyze the critical commonalities in the initial stages of learning English and French as first languages through two major categories: speech/language and culture. This project carried out an analytical review of 24 pieces of relevant literature, in both languages, in an effort to highlight key findings. Those findings include: …

Language Concordance In Medicine And The Need For Medical Schools To Require Taking A Foreign Language As An Intervention Method To Minimize Language Barriers In The U.S., Mary K. Yousif

Honors College Theses

During medical school future student doctors are exposed to a multitude of patients, both natives and non-natives. However, there is no course offering (such as a foreign language or culture class) provided within the curriculum that prepares them for these future interactions. With communication being one of the primary skills used in healthcare, it is imperative to discuss the effects it can cause on a patient if not established. Overall, the goal of this research is to conduct a literary investigation regarding this matter and educate the medical community about the importance of providing effective communication in medicine. This begins …

Morphological Production Accuracy Patterns In Younger And Older Spanish-English Bilingual Children, Isabel Angelica Cano

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Clinicians require a model of typical bilingual language development. Morphological production accuracy patterns vary in Spanish-English (S-E) bilingual children considering differences in the exposure and use of their two languages compared to their monolingual peers. The purpose of the current study was to examine morphological production accuracy patterns in thirty younger (3- to 4-years old) and older (5- to 6-years old) S-E bilingual children utilizing English and Spanish Morphosyntax subtests from a bilingual language screener. Across development, older bilingual children were more accurate on all forms in both English and Spanish than younger bilingual children. Across languages, all S-E bilingual …

Implications Of Dual Language Scoring Of The Preschool Language Scale-Fifth Edition Spanish For Bilingual Preschool-Aged Children, Callie Mae Mathis

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Purpose: Spanish versions of standardized tests used in language evaluations are not well studied. The purpose of this study is to further examine the appropriateness of the Preschool Language Scale, Fifth Edition Spanish (PLS-5S) in a U.S./Mexico border community by comparing the Dual language scores versus the Spanish only scores and comparing the normative sample of the PLS-5S to the population of El Paso, TX.

Method: Twenty-three bilingual preschool aged children in the El Paso area completed the Spanish Edition of the PLS-5S. The parents and teachers of the participants completed two language proficiency questionnaires (Bilingual Input Output Survey; BIOS …

Interpreting, Stephanie Jo Kent

Doctoral Dissertations

What do community interpreting for the Deaf in western societies, conference interpreting for the European Parliament, and language brokering in international management have in common? Academic research and professional training have historically emphasized the linguistic and cognitive challenges of interpreting, neglecting or ignoring the social aspects that structure communication. All forms of interpreting are inherently social; they involve relationships among at least three people and two languages. The contexts explored here, American Sign Language/English interpreting and spoken language interpreting within the European Parliament, show that simultaneous interpreting involves attitudes, norms and values about intercultural communication that overemphasize information and discount …

Black English, Karen Tibbitts Filimoehala

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Black English has recently entered the media spotlight with the passing of the Ebonics resolution by the Oakland School Board on Dec. 18, 1996. In this resolution, the school board unanimously voted to recognize Black English or "Ebonics" (a term which combines the words "ebony" and "phonetics")(LeLand & Joseph, 1997, p. 78) as the primary language of many of its students, and to teach students in their primary language in order to maintain the "legitimacy and richness" of the language, and to help students master standard English. Needless to say, the resolution was met with highly charged arguments - some …