Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons^™

Incorporating The Cultures Of English-Language Learners In Daily Lesson Plans: A Two-Way Street, James G. Doyle

Master's Projects and Capstones

Teaching and learning culture have been matters of interest for teachers of English to speakers of other languages during the past half century. Since the development of the concept of communicative competence, theorists and practitioners have asked questions about the role of culture in the classroom. This field project was designed assist teachers in developing a heightened awareness of the roles of culture in the acquisition of communicative competence. It is my hope that teachers will use the awareness and the skills developed in the exercises and interactions presented in the field project to increase their effectiveness by adapting materials …

Integrating Language And Content Instruction: A Linguistic And Cultural Guide For Content-Area Teachers Of Asian International Secondary School Students In The Us, Joy R. Suzuki

Master's Projects and Capstones

As more and more international Asian ESL high school students seek an education at private American high schools, where students spend most of their time in content-area classrooms, it is imperative that content-area teachers understand the important role they play in their students’ linguistic development and cultural adjustment. The purpose of this project is to provide teachers of content-area classes with an easily accessible professional development opportunity, including tools they need to help their international ESL students achieve linguistic and academic success and guide these students through a rewarding cross-cultural experience. As supported by second language acquisition theory, with the …

Strategies For First-Year University Esl Students To Improve Essay Writing Skills, Mengjie Wei

Master's Projects and Capstones

This project provides a writing guidebook for first-year university level English as a Second Language (ESL) students and teachers. Most ESL students have difficulties in academic English writing, especially first-year university ESL students. Due to the differences in linguistic and education backgrounds, first-year university level ESL students desire a writing guidebook that is appropriate for them; ESL teachers should be provided with professional teaching methods and materials in delivering lectures too. By applying Schema Theory and Stephen D. Krashen’s Monitor Model, strategies for students and teachers are professionally designed in this guidebook.

In order to help ESL students better their …

Improving The Reading Level Of Middle School English Learners In English Language Development Classes., Anastasiia V. Mixcoatl-Martinez

Master's Projects and Capstones

Presently, there are about 2,664,921 English Language Learners (ELLs) and Fluent English Proficient (FEP) speakers in California public schools who speak a language other than English at home (CalEdFacts, 2016). Some of these students have immigrated to the United States from other countries, while others were born and have been raised in the United States. According to the California Department of Education, the vast majority of ELLs (83.5%) in California come from low-income families and speak a language other than English at home. 73% of ELLs attend English Language Development (ELD) classes kindergarten through grade six, and 27% are in …

Embodying The Oppressed And The Oppressor: Critical Mixed Race Studies For Liberation And Social Justice Education, Gwendlyn C. Snider

Master's Theses

This study will focus on the educational and social experiences of mixed race Filipinx PEP (Pin@y Educational Partnerships) instructors in the San Francisco/Bay Area and the connection of these various, lived experiences to their teaching pedagogy and praxis in Ethnic Studies curriculum. The main purpose of this research is to create additional evidence for the need of critical mixed race studies and acknowledgement of mixed race students’ unique experiences to be valued and included in Ethnic Studies curriculum. In addition, the research will also serve as reaffirmation of not only the efficacy of Ethnic Studies curriculum but also the need …

Using Humor To Enhance Metalinguistic Awareness And Expand Cultural Competence In Adult Esl Classrooms, Jean L. Hilburn

Master's Projects and Capstones

Research has shown that there are many benefits to using humor in the ESL classroom. Although this is known, oftentimes humor is avoided. There are a variety of reasons for humor not being incorporated into the ESL classroom. In addition, because much of the research and curriculum development regarding humorous wordplay and its benefits for ESL students has been focused on children, there is a paucity of curriculum, materials, and resources which focus on humor and wordplay relating to adult topics and themes.

The purpose of this project is to fill the gap between what is available and what is …

Perspectives On The Indigenous Worldviews In Informal Science Education Conference, Aparna Venkatesan, A. Burgasser

Physics and Astronomy

The chronic underrepresentation of Native and indigenous peoples in STEM fields (Fig. 1) has been a longstanding issue in the United States, despite concentrated efforts by many local and national groups, including the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) and the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) to address it. Here we report on the conference on Indigenous Worldviews in Informal Science Education (I-WISE), convened in Albuquerque, NM, on Sept. 2-5, 2015. We share what we learned on the commonalities and differences in perspectives between indigenous knowledge (IK) and Western science; summarize the role …

Understanding Translanguaging And Identity Among Korean Bilingual Adults, Nancy Ryoo

Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative study, conducted at a Northern California university, explored how six Korean bilingual adults expressed their unique identities while utilizing both Korean and English in their daily and academic lives. The six study participants shared their journeys as bilingual adults who migrated to the United States from South Korea to attend graduate school. Several will return to South Korea at the conclusion of their graduate studies. Research data included narratives from in-depth personal interviews as well as focus group discussions.

This qualitative study postulated that translanguaging is commonly observed within bilingual/multilingual populations and can be utilized as a source …

Exploring The Racial And Gender Identity Formation Of Men Of Color In Student Leader Roles Who Have White Women Supervisors And Advisors In Higher Education, Alejandro Frank Covarrubias

Doctoral Dissertations

Daily experiences of isolation and invalidation create adverse campus climates that often lead to men of color dropping out of higher education. Student leadership positions can increase feelings of belonging, provide greater access to campus resources and increase retention for men of color, particularly when they centralize identity exploration. White women are overrepresented in student affairs direct student contact positions in higher education and are likely to supervise and/or advise men of color student leaders, but many student affairs professional are not properly trained to supervise or advise through an identity-based framework. This study explored: how do men of color …

Teaching The U.S. Civil Rights Movement And Its Legacy Through Critical Pedagogy In A Taiwanese High School, Ming-Kuo Hung

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation analyzes a Taiwanese learning experience about the U.S. Civil Rights Movement. Taiwanese formal education includes this topic in secondary education. However, a paucity of previous studies described the racial and social meaning of this learning experience. Launching an educational project with a critical-pedagogy approach, this study invited 18 Taiwanese high school students to discuss their understanding of race, racism, and social justice in Taiwan, after learning about the U.S. experience. The rationale of analyzing student participants’ comments rests on critical race theory.

This study applied a critical-ethnography approach to qualitative research to analyze student participants’ learning experiences. The …

Relative Importance Of Anxiety And Motivational Variables In Predicting Language Achievement For College Learners Of Chinese, Qi Wang

Doctoral Dissertations

The growing worldwide enthusiasm in learning Chinese calls for more research on learner characteristics in Chinese classrooms to better inform teaching practice. Language anxiety, which falls under the umbrella of learner’s affect, is considered an important affective aspect that negatively influences language learning and acquisition. As research on language anxiety mainly focused on the learning of Western languages, this study constitutes an initial attempt to investigate anxiety in the learning of Chinese through the testing of a structural model. The purpose of the study was to examine the relative importance of language anxiety in predicting Chinese achievement when motivation, integrativeness, …

Effectiveness Of Gaming In Creating Cultural Awareness, Chenit Ong-Flaherty, D. Valencia-Garcia, D. A. Martinez, W. Borges, L. Summers

Nursing and Health Professions Faculty Research and Publications

Despite the emphasis on cultural competency education in the United States for the past three decades, inequities and disparities in healthcare continue to persist, particularly among minority populations. With the current growing gap in provider and patient cultural congruence, how effectively we train students to work with diverse populations in healthcare settings warrants attention. This article presents the results of a qualitative study on the effectiveness of experiential learning, in the form of the game BaFa’ BaFa,’ in raising cultural awareness among students of health professions. Using thematic analysis, the authors analyzed written reflections from student participants. The findings support …

Innovative Techniques For Inspiring Efl Students' Enthusiasm And Participating In English Classroom Activities, Yinghung Natalie Chiang

Master's Projects and Capstones

Since 1990, the government of Taiwan has sought to position the country as an international economic and trading center. As a result, English became a compulsory subject for Taiwanese students in 2005 (Lu, 2011). The Taiwan Ministry of Education (MOE) is promoting communicative language teaching (CLT) and encouraging learners to develop and increased desire to improve their language skills. However, many Taiwanese English as Foreign Language (EFL) teachers still focus on memorization and the grammar translation method (Chung & Huang, 2009). The author discovered two major issues related to English language teaching in Taiwan. The first issue was many Taiwanese …

The Immigrants In The Central Coast Of California Need Motivation To Attend Classes And Learn English As Their Second Language, Martin Rodriguez-Juarez

Master's Projects and Capstones

This field project shows that the immigrant community that works in the fields from the Central Coast of California need the motivation to attend adult school to learn English as their second language. A six-week courses is included.

An Esl Instructor's Guidebook For Reducing Test Anxiety At The Community College Level Through Exploring Alternatives In Assessment, Allison D. Grant

Master's Projects and Capstones

The purpose of this project is to decrease test anxiety within ESL community college students by providing their instructors with a guidebook for implementing alternatives in assessment. Chapter one dives right into the problem of ESL students experiencing test anxiety. At the community college level, there are added pressures from family needs, work, legal issues, adjusting to a new culture, and more. Teachers could offset this external anxiety by eliminating test anxiety in their classrooms.

Chapter two outlines much of the relevant literature dealing with the topics of test anxiety, foreign language anxiety, ESL testing practices, ESL at the community …

Molding Minds For Peace: A Curriculum For Early Childhood Educators To Teach Peacebuilding Concepts And Skills, Marissa D. Gray

Master's Projects and Capstones

The United States is amidst a period of substantial growth in diversity. This diversification along with feelings of anti-immigrant sentiment has also led to an increase in tension and violence. Molding Minds for Peace: A Curriculum for Early Childhood Educators To Teach Peacebuilding Concepts is a project designed to teach early childhood students the skills that they need to peacefully navigate conflict and difference. After exploring literature about early childhood education/development, multicultural education, and peace education, this project provides early childhood educators with six complete lesson plans that are fully ready for implementation. These lessons have been developed in such …

Humanistic Approach Vs. Technological Approach: Accelerate Language Learning By Having Fun In The Sun, Alex M. Lopez

Master's Projects and Capstones

Technology continues to spread throughout the world, and it seems that this trend will continue for some time. Many students have been left behind because the focus has been largely on viewing computer screens and communicating without the use of a voice, through text messages and chatting.

This project is based on the humanistic approach, and it is designed to promote activities that involve group work, taking the students outside of the classroom, and building a familial support system within the classroom by promoting class chemistry.

The project outlines activities that involve more communication and collaborative activities because these enable …

Code Switching In Teaching English To Speakers Of Other Languages, George H. Keller

Master's Projects and Capstones

One of the most controversial issues in foreign language teaching and learning over many years has been the role of the students’ L1 in L2 target language education. While a monolingual approach prohibited the use of the target language in L2 classroom, researchers have reexamined the issues related to the use of students’ L1 through code switching in the L2 classroom since the 1990s. The results of these studies have shown that the L1, if used properly and judiciously, may serve important functions for the learning process and social environment of the classroom. The purpose of this study was a …

An Interactive Environmental Approach To Teaching English As A Second Language, Jennifer L. Young

Master's Projects and Capstones

This field project offers lessons related to ecoliteracy and environmental understanding for intermediate to advanced English Language Learners. It contains an ESL Ecoliteracy Student Handbook and an ESL Ecoliteracy Teacher Guide. There are two comprehensive units focused on understanding and acknowledging ecosystems in urban areas and foraging. The lessons formed in these units stem from Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences and the pedagogical theories of place based and experiential learning. Each unit has an outdoor activity build into the language learning framework, and the lessons are focused on building communicative, reading, vocabulary and grammar skills within an authentic learning …

Improving Communicative Competence Of Korean College Students Based On The Flipped Classroom Model: A Handbook For Teachers, Jihye Lim

Master's Projects and Capstones

Korean college students tend to focus on obtaining competitive grades in different types of exams such as TOEFL, TOEIC, and IELTS. Despite their high test-scores, many Korean students are not proficient in communicating with others in English. Given the challenges many Korean students at the college-level experience with communication in English, there is an opportunity to provide Korean EFL instructors with a new classroom model for language teaching. The purpose of this project is to provide Korean EFL teachers with model lesson plans and instructional design resources based on the flipped classroom model. The improvement of students’ English level depends …

Challenging Filipino Colonial Mentality With Philippine Art, Francesca V. Mateo

Master's Theses

For 350 years, the Philippines was colonized by Spain and the United States. The Philippines became a sovereign nation in 1946 yet, fifty years later, colonial teachings continue to oppress Filipinos due to their colonial mentality (CM.) CM is an internalized oppression among Filipinos in which they experience an automatic preference for anything Western—European or U.S. American—and rejection of anything Filipino. Although Filipinos show signs of a CM, there are Filipinos who are challenging CM by engaging in Philippine art. Philippine art is defined as Filipino-made visual art, literature, music, and dance intended to promote Philippine culture. This …

"Let Me Tell You What I See" Creating A Culturally Relevant Arts Based Education Through The Use Of Photography And Storytelling, William Tran

Master's Projects and Capstones

There are many constructs that can hinder the ability of students of color to succeed in a classroom environment. Factors such as the construct of whiteness, microaggressions, the banking method, as well as cuts in arts based classes create a learning environment where oppression occurs on multiple levels. The construct of whiteness creates an environment in which only the ideas, values, lived experiences, and knowledge of whites are considered valid. Microaggressions uphold the construct of whiteness by insulting and invalidating any ideas, values, lived experiences, languages, and knowledge that are outside the construct of whiteness. The constructs of whiteness as …

Lotuses Rising: Fostering Southeast Asian Community Cultural Wealth Through Arts Based Culturally Specific Programming, Rhummanee Hang

Master's Projects and Capstones

This project explores how Banteay Srei, a community organization in Oakland, California, works with young Southeast Asian American women using arts based and culturally specific programming to make visible the community cultural wealth that exists in this community. Through cooking and telling stories about their elders' refuge and resettlement experiences, the young women gain a better sense of their own history, culture, and identity. This intergenerational project allows participants to learn, feel empowered, and begin to heal. The result is a cookbook for the young women of the organization. While this project and program is not meant to be replicated …

Finding Our Way: Female Students At Oakland International High School, Nicole M. Germanov

Master's Theses

This thesis seeks to understand the experiences of the female students at Oakland International High School (OIHS). OIHS is a unique public school within the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) that serves entirely low-income, English Language Learner (ELL) populations. A quarter of the school’s 376 students are refugees or asylees who have fled their country due to persecution based on their race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group; additionally, 30% are undocumented, 24% are unaccompanied minors, and 47% are considered SIFE (students with interrupted formal education). However, one of the most outwardly noticeable things on …

Guidebook For Esl Teachers Of Chinese Students, John M. Tubbs

Master's Projects and Capstones

There are currently many Chinese speakers studying and working in the United States. Some of them find English pronunciation to be very challenging. The Guidebook is meant to be a tool for the teachers of Chinese speaking ESL students. English language instruction in China is often teacher centered, with the instructor lecturing and students taking notes. Most classes do not focus on communicative skills. Different language groups often vary in terms of which English sounds they find difficult to pronounce. Vowel sounds have been identified as a particular challenge for Chinese speaking students. The front-vowels in English are the focus …

Writing Research Papers: A Guide For International Students, Veronica Andrew

Master's Projects and Capstones

The recent dramatic influx of international students to universities in the United States has presented many difficulties, both to those students and to those who work in American higher education. One of the most significant of those challenges is helping international students learn, understand, and practice the conventions of research that are a part of academic writing curricula. Grounded in the pedagogical theories of critical literacy, community of practice, and process-based learning, this project presents international students with concepts and skills used in source-based writing. The project, in the form of a workbook, introduces students to the research-related ideas of …

From Culture Shock To Cultural Adaptation: A Workbook For International Students, Gregory R. Sugajski

Master's Projects and Capstones

San Francisco’s complex communal tapestry can lead to cultural disorientation, dislocation, and unfamiliarity for recently arrived F-1 and M-1 international students, a series of events that when related to problematic adaptation issues and negative adjustment implementations is known as culture shock. Easing the adaptation process for this population is considered to be of academic importance from a progressive, economic, sociocultural, and intercultural perspective. Thus, the organizing purpose and principle of the project is to enable cultural adaptation for students who reside in San Francisco by instilling in them proximal, behavioral, and situational safety awareness. The project takes the form of …

Teaching Academic Skills To Chinese Undergraduate Students In U.S. Academic Institutions, Ruisi Gui

Master's Projects and Capstones

The purpose of this field project is to help Chinese undergraduate students succeed in the American classroom through guidance on academic skills. To achieve this goal, a series of situationally-based curriculum modules about different academic skills are developed as the central part of this project. This curriculum is designed not only for Chinese undergraduate students, but also for instructors in U.S. academic institutions to increase their awareness of the academic skills issues among international students.

This project is presented in the form of a teaching manual and a brief syllabus. The teaching manual provides Chinese undergraduate students with practical rules, …

Learning Through Reading: A Handbook Of Literature-Based Lessons For Esl, Lota I. Rygiel

Master's Projects and Capstones

Learning through Reading: A Handbook of Literature-based Lessons for ESL A Field Project written by Lota Rygiel in the spring of 2016. This project is a handbook of lessons for adult ESL students at intermediate or advanced proficiency levels of English as a Second Language. The handbook offers the use of authentic materials in the form of short stories and poems in English. The authentic materials serve as a challenge to students (Krashen's "i + 1" level): with careful guidance of the instructor they will be interesting and meaningful to students. The use of various literary genres corresponds to the …

Teaching Culture Through Social Situations In English As A Second Language Classes, Irina Andreeva

Master's Projects and Capstones

To develop communicative competence, second language learners in addition to mastering linguistic, strategic, structural and discoursal aspects of the language, have to acquire sociolinguistc rules and conventions. The project sought to design a handbook to teach communicative competence along with sociolinguistic competence, as second language learners can never succeed in being fluent speakers in the target language without developing both competences. The handbook includes series of lessons to promote a deeper appreciation of how culture and language interact.