Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons^™

The Effect Of Powerpoint And Nongraphic Paired List Presentations On The Vocabulary Production And Recognition Of Elementary-Level College French Students, Lucie Viakinnou-Brinson, Steven P. Cole

Faculty Articles

This study investigates the effect of presenting images via PowerPoint (PPT) and nongraphic paired lists to teach vocabulary. In this study nongraphic paired list (PL) refers to a list of French words paired with their English equivalent. The study, conducted with 38 elementary-level college students, examined their recall performance for written production and visual recognition of French vocabulary words. Students were taught French vocabulary via PPT and nongraphic PL presentations. Quantitative results indicated a significant difference between participants’ mean immediate test scores favoring the PPT condition for both written production and visual recognition. The study also investigated participants’ instructional perceptions …

Recuerda Que Yo Estoy Aqui Tambien : A Bilingual Picture Book, Liliana Ivette Funes

Graduate Student Independent Studies

My independent study for my Integrative Masters consists of a bilingual (Spanish/English) picture book that is based on personal experience, and endeavors to describe the emotional distress and anxiety children can experience as second language learners entering a monolingual classroom for the first time. The book addresses not only the emotional and academic struggles of the child, but also the ways in which peers and teachers can intervene to ease the child's transition into English. Thus the book can serve as a resource to support monolingual classrooms. The study also includes a personal reflection of the process and journey, I …

Cognitive Load And Its Major Pedagogical Implications, Focus On Education In Jordan, Bassam Kutkut

MA TESOL Collection

Through my teaching experience in Jordan, I noticed the amount of work students had to do. I noticed the tremendous amount information they received from their teachers on a daily basis. I also noticed that students forgot most of the information they learned in class right after their exams. I was wondering if that’s the right way of teaching. Then, after my study at SIT, I learned that this is a cognitive overload that can impair the learning process.

Cognitive load refers to the information processing abilities in the human memory system which has limitations. When these limitations are exceeded, …

Effective Vocabulary Teaching Strategies For The English For Academic Purposes Esl Classroom, Joseph Mukoroli

MA TESOL Collection

Vocabulary learning is an important and indispensable part of any language learning process. The author of this thesis focuses on effective vocabulary teaching strategies in the English for Academic Purposes ESL classroom. Drawing on findings obtained from observing three English for Academic Purposes ESL classrooms across the U.S.A, several current databases and his personal experience as a teacher and learner, the author discusses various effective vocabulary teaching strategies in the English for Academic Purposes classroom which could greatly assist English language learners in their journey of language acquisition and therefore expedite the language learning process.

The First Child In A Chinese Family Who Could Read Prior To Entry Into Elementary School: A Qualitative Intrinsic Case Study, Shu Ping Zhang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study is an account of the literacy-related human environment a Chinese girl experienced as the first person in the history of her family who was able to read prior to entry into elementary school. Temporally speaking, the study spanned more than a decade from the initial, tentative research question to the formal, primary research question. Spatially speaking, it crossed three cultures: the Chinese, Korean, and American cultures. The study was inspired by the Zero Project in China, known as the "Project of Quality Education and Implementation for Children Aged Zero (fetus) to Six." The significance of the content issue …

Success Stories Of Students Of Mexican Descent, Wesley Montoya

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study tells the personal stories of three academically successful students of Mexican descent. The goal of this study was to give a counter to the stereotypical deficit view of Hispanic students in the eyes of teachers, parents, and other students.

The participants were three high school students of Mexican descent attending an urban high school in Colorado. The research question of this study allowed the participants to tell their story of what it was like to be a student. The research question was: What are the personal and academic stories of academically successful Mexican urban high school students?

Through …

Fostering A Consciousness Of Academic Success With Latino English Language Learners In High School: The Role Self-Efficacy And Social Capital Play, Miguel Angel Huerta LóPez

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study is to suggest ways in which educators can foster a consciousness of academic success with Latino English language learners in high school using self-efficacy and social capital as assets. The concentration of this study is to look at the English language learner population at Vista Valley High School. A total of twelve students participated in this study. Each student will be interviewed twice with at least six additional students being interviewed a third time.

Culturally Responsive Curriculum For Latino Children's Ethnic Identity, Silvia Jenny Cardenas

Theses Digitization Project

This project studies the link between ethnic identity, culturally responsive pedagogy, and classroom achievement and offers a curriculum to address the need voiced by researchers for culturally responsive curriculum for Latino children in elementary school.

Defining A Niche For International Education As The Link To Building Global Civil Society, Thomas Millington

Office of International Programs Faculty/Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Lost In Translation: Strategies Japanese Language Learners Use In Communicating Culturally Specific L1 Expressions In English, Sarina Chugani Molina, Noriyuki Inoue

School of Leadership and Education Sciences: Faculty Scholarship

Communicating in a second language could be seen as a process requiring the deconstruction and reconstruction of cultural meanings. If this is the case, how do second language (L2) learners express cultural meanings of their first language (L1) expressions that do not have semantically equivalent L2 expressions? Twentynine Japanese students learning English as a second language in the US were asked to translate Japanese cultural expressions that do not have equivalent English expressions. This study found that the students either (a) entirely eliminated the expression from the statement, (b) replaced the expression with an English expression commonly used in a …

Closing The Achievement Gap: Favoring A Literacy-Based Approach To Solving The Nation's Education Crisis, Timothy M. Siverd

VA Engage Journal

This paper provides an overview of the educational achievement gap, paying particular attention to the gap between white and minority students. Additionally, this paper explores why closing the achievement gap is important, and why it is hard to do. The goal of this paper is to suggest that using a literacy-based method will produce superior results than using STEM-field methods by highlighting a “best practice,” Musick Elementary School in Newark, California.

Recognizing Samoan Students' Cultural Capital In Schools, Sane Aletoni Mataitusi

Theses Digitization Project

This research focused on Samoan parents' and students' perceptions of student success. This research confronts some of the barriers encountered by minority parents and students within the public education system. Recent research on Samoan students identified the struggle many encounter living as a minority group within the dominant societies of Australia, New Zealand and the United States. This study documented multiple pathways toward success that Samoan parents and students within these countries have identified.

Explicit Content-Area Vocabulary Instruction For English Learners: Impacts With Reading Comprehension, Catherine Ruthe Terrell

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study was to examine impacts of explicit content-area vocabulary instruction on reading comprehension. Effective instructional strategies include multiple texts at students' instructional levels, highly qualified teachers, daily explicit vocabulary instruction combined with student's application of instruction and evolution of instruction as student's reading achievement increases.

The Observation Protocol For Academic Literacies (Opal); A Tool For Supporting Teachers Of English Language Learners, Elvira G. Armas, Ed.D, Magaly Lavadenz, Ph.D.

Practitioner Journal Articles

Schools and school systems are experiencing an instructional support gap that results in limited opportunities for educators to analyze, reflect on and improve research-based practices for ELLs so that outcomes for culturally and linguistically diverse students can change. To address this need, an inter-disciplinary research team from the Center for Equity for English Learners, comprised of educational leaders, teachers, researchers, and content experts developed a classroom observational instrument—the Observation Protocol for Academic Literacies (OPAL). The OPAL is intended for teachers, educational leaders, coaches, and others to conduct focused classroom observations for three potential purposes: research/evaluation, professional development, and coaching. In …

Religion, Forced Migration And Schooling: Varying Influences Of Religious Capital Among Iraqi Christian Refugee Students In Jordan And The Usa, Bruce A. Collet

School of Educational Foundations, Leadership and Policy Faculty Publications

This study is based on focus groups conducted with Christian Iraqi refugee secondary school students in the metropolitan Detroit area, and interviews with staff from volunteer aide agencies, non-governmental organizations, churches, and independent researchers in both Amman, Jordan as well as the Detroit metropolitan area. The article examines varying influences of religious capital among Iraqi Christian students. Examination of the operation of this capital within the context of the two countries’ economic and foreign policy interests including their refugee policies exposes macro-level forces that render religious capital to function in countervailing manners. Iraqi Christian students in both Amman and Detroit …

Examination Of Dispositions And Practices In Diversity: The Impact Of A Teacher Education Course Promoting Culturally And Responsive Pedagogy, Deuslene Leite Bastos

Wayne State University Dissertations

Assimilation ideology guiding teachers and policy makers to mainstream immigrant children into the American schools has prevailed in spite of pluralists' efforts for reform schools to provide more opportunities for culturally and linguistically diverse students. Research shows a need to change assimilation driven policies and practices which are harmful to students into a reconstructivist ideology that has shown to be more conducive for the application of culturally responsive teaching. Teacher education courses aimed to prepare teacher candidates for diverse classrooms have shown limitations due to abundant focus on theory or lack of elements in course work that are known to …

No.3, January 2011: The Promise Model: An English-Learner Focused Approach To School Reform, Laurie Olsen Ph.D.

Education and Policy Briefs

Findings from a 3-year (2006-2009) evaluation of the PROMISE Model pilot are presented in this policy brief that seeks to address three questions: 1) What is the PROMISE Model ?; 2) What changes occurred in schools as a results of implementing the PROMISE Model ?; and 3) What are the lessons learned from the PROMISE Model pilot that can contribute to an understanding of school reform for English Learners? A qualitative, ethnographic approach allowed for exploration of the research questions. The researcher identified five foundational elements to the PROMISE Model. Implementation of the PROMISE Model increased use of EL specific …

Creating Conditions For Transforming Practicing K-12 Mainstream Teachers Of English Language Learners, Susan R. Adams, Kathryn Brooks

Scholarship and Professional Work – Education

Critical incident reflection journal writing provides a rich source for identifying high impact components of Project Alianza, a graduate course for mainstream secondary teachers funded by a US Department of Education Title III Professional Development grant. In this narrative pilot study featuring one strand of existing data, the co-authors, who are also co-instructors and co-researchers, begin the first rounds of analysis to identify emerging key conditions and contributing factors featured within specialized graduate courses for encouraging dispositional change and professional efficacy toward English language learners (ELLs) in practicing K-12 mainstream educators. Using Mezirow’s adult transformational learning theory (1991), Kegan’s stage …

English Learner Oral Language Production In Middle School Academic Classes, Kathryn Brooks

Scholarship and Professional Work – Education

Because of current federal and state educational policies, oral language development is an often overlooked aspect of language and literacy use and development of English Learning (EL) students in K-12 schools in the United States. This article describes a study in which a researcher used an ecobehavioral approach to investigate the conditional probability that young adolescent EL students would produce language in content area classes as they engaged in four different instructional grouping configurations: whole class, small group, one-to-one, and individual instruction. Significant differences emerged between instructional grouping configurations in terms of EL student production of oral academic language. Overall, …

African American Male Teachers In K-12 Education: A Limited Quantity, Kelley A. Peatross

Dissertations

This study examined the underrepresentation of African American (A/A) male teachers in three Midwestern school districts. The study sought to determine: (1) the perception of A/A teachers concerning their K-12 teaching experiences when disaggregated by the number of years of teaching, (2) their perception of why they went into teaching when disaggregated by the number of years of teaching, (3) their perception of the need for A/A male teachers, and (4) their perception of value and accomplishments as A/A male teachers in the classroom.

This study utilized a qualitative phenomenological design and was based upon Maslow’s (1970) hierarchy of needs …

African American Students’ Experiences, Achievement And Outcomes; Examined Through The Lenses Of Teacher Expectations, Racial Congruence And Stereotype Threat, Carla Postell

Dissertations

The phenomenological study examined the retrospective perceptions of academic experiences and outcomes of 13 African American full or part-time college students enrolled in either a community college or university located in an urban area. For the purpose of this study, educational experiences are defined as self-reported academic achievements and perceived success levels attained by participants during high school. Academic outcomes are the self-reported academic achievement and success level attained at their colleges and universities. The researcher interviewed participants, using a one-on-one interview process to conduct the interviews.

This study examined influences of race congruence between students and teachers. This topic …

The Relationship Between Arabic Language Proficiency, English Language Proficiency, And Science Academic Achievement Of 11th Grade Arabic Speaking English Language Learners, Shadia Y. Zamlut

Wayne State University Dissertations

Limited schooling in the first language (L1) has allowed English Language Learners (ELLs) to face obstacles in their second language (L2) and science courses. Therefore, this study examines these variables in the following two hypotheses: (1) there is a significant relationship between Arabic language proficiency and English language proficiency and (2) there is a significant relationship between Arabic language proficiency and science academic achievement. A causal-comparative design was used to examine these hypotheses. The investigator selected sixty 11th grade Arabic-speaking students based on a nonrandom sampling method from one high school in the Metropolitan Schools (pseudonym) in Southeast Michigan. The …

Somali Dialects In The United States: How Intelligible Is Af-Maay To Speakers Of Af-Maxaa?, Deqa Hassan

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The objective of this study was to determine the degree of intelligibility of Af-Maay to Somali university student speakers (n=21) of Af-Maxaa in the United States by implementing a perceived intelligibility test. The investigator aimed to test whether time spent in the United States, language contact with Af-Maay speakers, native Somali dialect, or the region of origin in Somalia affected the intelligibility of Af-Maay. The one-sample t-test showed that Af-Maay is partially intelligible to speakers of Af-Maxaa; t(21)=4.623, p=.000. This appears to agree with Crystal's (1987) Type 5 language-dialect relationship category, where there is a partial intelligibility due to the …

The Efficacy Of Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (Siop) In Mathematics Instruction On English Language Learner Students, Jose L. Vidot

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Studies by the National Association for Educational Progress found that English Language Learner (ELL) students perform poorly compared to other students on standardized mathematics exams. The research problem addressed how Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) affected the instructional practices of high school mathematics teachers. The purpose of this evaluative case study approach was to explore the extent to which the implementation of SIOP influenced mathematics instruction in a mid-sized rural high school. The conceptual framework for this study was formed by combining Krashen's i+1 nativist theory for language acquisition through comprehensible input, Long's interactionist theory for acquisition of knowledge and …

Kindergarten Teachers' Perceptions Of Barriers English Language Learners Face In Mathematics, Martha A. Franklin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There is a disparity of mathematics achievement between native English speakers and English language learners (ELL). This study sought to understand the barriers ELL kindergarten students faced in being successful in mathematics. The purpose of this qualitative, instrumental case study was to explore kindergarten teachers' perceptions regarding English language learner's access to the mathematics curriculum and instruction. The conceptual foundation for this study drew from social development theory, which contends social interaction using language is necessary for cognitive development such as learning mathematics concepts. Individual interviews of 8 kindergarten teachers were conducted to understand kindergarten teachers' perceptions of the barriers …

Influential Factors That Affect Retention And Language Acquisition In Beginning Esl Adults Students, Luis Manuel Rodriguez-Garcia

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study explored the problem of student attrition in beginning courses of an Intensive English Program (IEP) that may affect the sustainability of the IEP. The purpose of the study was to understand the perceptions of continuing students and the factors that influenced their motivation and engagement to persist studying in the IEP. Constructivism and behavioral social learning theory guided this study. The research problem addressed the need for students to remain in IEPs and achieve second language acquisition. The research questions were designed to learn what instructional approaches motivated and engaged participants to persist in successive introductory courses. A …

The Role Of In-Service Teachers In Pre-Service Teacher Preparation For Multicultural Education, Diane Smith Grych

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The U.S. population is rapidly diversifying, with the expectation that culturally diverse groups---including students---will outnumber European Americans by the year 2050. In contrast, public school teachers are expected to remain largely middle class, female, and Caucasian. Most multicultural education research has focused on cultural diversity in urban education settings. However, a gap in the literature has existed regarding student diversity and teachers' culturally responsive teaching in predominantly rural areas. In this study, Appalachian elementary school teachers shared their perspectives and experiences on effective multicultural teaching. An important gap has been bridged by using a 3-part theoretical framework, based on critical …

Pace 9/11 Oral History Project, Maria T. Iacullo-Bird, Ellen Sowchek, Jennifer Thomas

Cornerstone 2 Reports : Community Outreach and Empowerment Through Service Learning and Volunteerism

No abstract provided.

Laser Cutting Informatics, Charlotte Becket

Cornerstone 2 Reports : Community Outreach and Empowerment Through Service Learning and Volunteerism

No abstract provided.

Review Of "I Thought Pocahontas Was A Movie": Perspectives On Race/Culture Binaries In Education And Service Professions. Edited By Carol Schick And James Mcninch., Tracy L. Friedel

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

This edited volume argues that a race/culture binary lies at the heart of Canada's ongoing relationship with the descendants of the country's First Peoples. In looking at the service professions, editors Carol Schick and James McNinch trouble taken-for-granted assumptions based upon racial, cultural, and ethnic difference, arguing that representations of Indigenous peoples as culturally inferior, a trope that has replaced the idea of biological inferiority, is highly instrumental in the social positioning and unequal power relations that exists today in Canadian society. In turn, the editors tie this discussion back to Canada's colonial history and the social, material, and ideological …