Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons^™

American Sign Language Advanced Studies Programs: Implementation Procedures And Identifying Empowering Practices, Amy June Rowley

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a comprehensive analysis of three universities that have degree awarding American Sign Language programs. The overall theoretical approach was grounded in Freirean thought. For each of these programs, I collected various documents that allowed for an in-depth analysis of the structure, curriculum and program philosophies. A document review of the syllabi, course description, the courses required for graduation, and analysis of data collected through individual interviews with each program coordinator, helped answer research questions: (1) What are curricula designs and infrastructure of existing American Sign Language degree programs? (2) What are the philosophies within the American Sign …

Differences In The Extent Of Use Of Culture In The Classroom Between Indigenous And Non-Indigenous Teachers And The Relationship To Student Reported Academic Achievement In Reading And Math, Nicole M. Butt

Theses and Dissertations

With the historical lack of academic achievement of American Indian/ Alaskan Native (AI/AN) students in public schooling, Indigenous communities have expressed the need to emphasize Indigenous culture in the education of AI/AN students. This study investigated if the relationship between the use of Indigenous culture and academic achievement can be validated through the use of the National Indian Education Survey database. This study examined (1) if there is a difference in the extent of AI/AN culture used in the classroom between Indigenous teachers and non-Indigenous teachers, (2) if there is a relationship between the student reported academic achievement of AI/AN …

U.S.- Educated Multilingual Students In Community College: Transitioning From Esl To English 101, Melinda S. Harrison

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis focuses on U.S.-educated multilingual students as they transition from a community college academic English as a Second Language program to and through a semester-long first-year composition course. Research on non-native English speakers has indicated that U.S.-educated multilingual students have both similar and varied background and literacy experiences compared to native English speakers and international students; they also often present unique literacy needs compared to their peers. These various and shifting similarities and differences sometimes complicate placement and instruction in college courses.

My case study focused on three U.S.-educated multilingual students' experiences in the final semester of a community …

Latino Emergent Bilingual Students' Experiences With The Middle School Transition, Kerry Pecho

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis reports the findings of a qualitative study that examined how Latino emergent bilingual students anticipate and experience the transition from a bilingual elementary school program to middle school. Sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students who were native Spanish-speakers participated in focus group discussions. Overall, participants described positive transition experiences, and much of the content was not unique to these students (e.g., feeling nervous, looking forward to more activities). Other content, though, revealed transition experiences that may be unique to this population (e.g., dramatic shift in ethnic and linguistic backgrounds of peers). Participants' responses suggested that they experience a …

Cultural Identity And Heritage Language Learners, Lydia Reitz

Theses and Dissertations

Heritage language learners (HLLs) in college are studied more than other groups of students with differences, and they are becoming more prevalent in the foreign language (FL) classroom. For the purpose of this study, HLL is defined as; an individual who has parents from a Spanish-speaking country, but was born in the United States and has an almost complete speaking proficiency and any range of grammatical dominance of Spanish (Valdés 2001). This definition eliminates those students who were born in Spanish-speaking countries and those who have little to no dominance of either speaking proficiency and grammatical dominance of the language. …