Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons^™

Teaching Spanish To Second-Language And Heritage-Language Learners, Kathryn R. Wall

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The following portfolio is an assemblage of work submitted for the Master of Second Language Teaching (MSLT) program at Utah State University. Contained herein is the author’s personal teaching philosophy about teaching beginning level Spanish in college with second and heritage language learners in the classroom. Following the teaching philosophy are artifacts and reflections relating to specific topics of the teaching philosophy. These artifacts represent the author’s understanding of the role that language, culture, and literacy play in the Spanish second and heritage language classroom.

Spanish-Speaking Parents' Negotiation Of Language And Culture With Their Children's Schools, Ronda L. Bickmore

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Latinos are now the largest public school minority population in the U.S. Because of a shift in the states, cities, and counties where Latinos are choosing to live, many schools that did not previously serve substantial numbers of Latinos are doing so now. Additionally, many of the Latinos in these new settlement areas are recent immigrants who speak little or no English. This qualitative study examined how immigrant Latino parents who speak little or no English supported their children in the English-speaking school system of the U.S. It specifically examined how 12 Spanish-speaking parents negotiated language and culture with their …

Maintaining Spanish In An English-Speaking World, Audrey Constance Juhasz

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

As the Latino portion of the United States population continues to grow each year, more and more children in the United States leave their Spanish-speaking homes and enter English immersion schools. Throughout their lives, these children are likely to shift language preferences from their home language, to the language of the community. However, maintaining development in their first language would be a benefit to them in multiple ways. Identifying factors within bilingual homes that influence English and Spanish language development in preschool-aged children will help researchers and practitioners encourage families to cultivate the optimal learning environment.

This study endeavored to …

Teaching Languages Communicatively: The Journey Of Becoming An Effective Teacher, Indira Garrido

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This portfolio is a compilation of various papers written throughout my studies in the Master of Second Language Teaching (MSLT) program at Utah State University. These papers are the result of research and reflections on the most relevant and important topics I have learned during these two years of study. My journey through the MSLT program has been an experience of growth as I reflected on my own teaching practices and what research demonstrates as the most effective approaches for language teaching.

Rethinking Materials For The Reading Class, Nolan Weil

Languages, Philosophy, and Communication Studies Faculty Publications

With experienced teachers reading pedagogy revolves around activities that promote:
• Background knowledge
• Knowledge of text structure
• Vocabulary development
• Strategic reading
• Reading fluency
• Interactions around text
Inexperienced teachers can be mentored so that they learn to use texts to teach as experienced reading teachers teach. Publishers and materials writers can facilitate this by writing and publishing materials that have lots of stimulating text and instructional materials (e.g., pedagogical explanation, techniques, and recommendations) that empower teachers to teach.

The Effect Of The Visual Gender Of An Embodied Agent: A Cross-Cultural Comparison, Yanghee Kim, A Guiz, A Silveryarg, M Haake, T Chen, N Kim

Yanghee Kim

This study explored if the visual gender representations (androgynous, male, or female) of an embodied agent would influence students’ perceptions of their agent and their attitudes toward the agent as their conversational partner. The study also explored if students’ gender and cultural background would interact with the agent’s visual gender to influence their perceptions and attitudes. Participants were 208 early-teen students sampled from US and South Korea. The results revealed that student gender was a significant factor for influencing students' perceptions and attitudes and that the students showed positive attitudes toward an androgynous agent more than toward a gendered agent …