Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons^™

Language, Culture, And Identity Negotiation: Perspectives Of Adolescent Japanese Sojourner Students In The Midwest, Usa, Reiko Akiyama

Open Access Dissertations

This qualitative research highlights the voices and lived experiences of adolescent Japanese sojourner students and their mothers residing in the Midwest. The central goals of this research are to understand what adolescent Japanese sojourner students’ school experiences in the U.S. are like—particularly in areas with small Japanese populations—and how their experiences in the U.S. shape their current identities as cultural and linguistic minority students. This research also aims to learn how the students’ sojourning experiences influenced their mindsets as future returnee students. I conducted an in-depth case study with a phenomenographic approach as the theoretical framework to deeply investigate the …

The Disconnect Between General Classroom Teaching Techniques And English Language Learner Needs, Marliese Belt

Honors College Theses

This project will seek to identify gaps in pre-service teacher education as it relates to appropriate instructional strategies for English Language Learners (ELLs). First, public and private liberal arts schools of higher education in Kentucky will be analyzed for relevant programs and courses addressing the needs of ELLs and research-driven instructional techniques used to educate them. It will be determined that many of the schools offer undergraduate or graduate level endorsements and certificate programs, but only one, Murray State University, offers an undergraduate degree-bearing program. Next, ELLs, their characteristics, and unique needs will be defined to ensure that all stakeholders …

Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Special Education: Teacher And Outcome Proficiency Self-Rating Form Ensuring Assessment Competency, Tyler Edward Herman

Graduate Education Student Scholarship

This Master’s project investigated current research literature for prevailing prereferral and referral processes of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students to special education evaluation. To that end, this Master’s project sought to strengthen the validity of the referral process for CLD students by creating a self-rating form to guide teachers in accurately differentiating CLD students who are in need of receiving special education services from those who do not need such services. The self-rating form is founded on three competencies of multicultural teacher efficacy and requires teachers to reflect on classroom-level, team collaboration, prereferral, and referral practices. Limitations and suggestions …

The Acquisition Of Bare Nominals By Three Populations Of Spanish-English Bilingual Adults, Lauren Elizabeth Miller

Open Access Dissertations

The present study contributes to our understanding of cross-linguistic influence by studying three different groups of Spanish-English speakers’ knowledge of the distribution of definite articles in both of their languages using a battery of tests that require them to draw on different linguistic abilities. These three groups include native English speakers who learned Spanish after adolescence, native Spanish speakers who learned English after adolescence and simultaneous bilinguals who grew up in the United States speaking both English and Spanish from birth. Specifically, this study explores interpretation, production and intuition regarding the acceptability of definite articles in different contexts. Since the …

L2 Effect On Bilingual Spanish/English Encoding Of Motion Events: Does Manner Salience Transfer?, Heidi E. Parker

Open Access Dissertations

This study explores the potential effect of a second language (L2) on first language (L1) encoding of motion events. The domain of interest is MANNER and the goal is to investigate if the degree of manner salience can be restructured under the effect of a L2. Slobin (2004, 2006) proposes an expansion of Talmy’s (1985, 1991, 2000) binary typology and observes that the degree of manner saliencevaries cross-linguistically. The two languages investigated in this study, Spanish and English, are at divergent points along the cline of manner salience. In addition, Slobin (1996b) suggests dividing MANNER into tier one (T1) …

Making A Difference Through Parental Involvement: Techniques Teachers Can Utilize In Kindergarten Bilingual Classrooms, Monica I. Lopez

Theses and Dissertations

The importance of parental involvement in the education of all children is essential in schools. The schools that promote parental involvement prepare students for excellence in their education. Parental involvement, gives students opportunities and advantages by reinforcing and fortifying their learning. Different perspectives and viewpoints were examined, focusing on bilingual students and some Spanish speaking parents in a school in south Texas.

By finding what is causing low parental involvement and by listening to strategies used by educators that help increase parental involvement, this research provides answers on how to help parents get involved in their children’s education. Empowering parents …

Fostering Foreign Language Learning Through Game Design, Brooke Elyse Tybush

Masters Theses

This paper explores the effect of game design on foreign language acquisition through a French language game design project. The approach to language learning that this project explored touched on various L2 theories including the CLT approach, the multilingual approach, and the multiliteracies approach. The design aspect of the project served to create an interest-driven learning environment in which students could combine their academic and professional interests with language. This combination led to the development of a French language-learning game titled Bonne Chance, which is now a working product played by students at the University of Tennessee. The purpose …

Educational Opportunities For Adolescent Girls' Empowerment In Developing Countries, Mary J. Kober

Master's Theses

Adolescent girls’ in developing countries coming from impoverished backgrounds face the added challenge of societies that marginalize the value of education for girls. Complex economic, social and cultural barriers to access secondary education pose challenges and obstacles to their human rights to education, equality and dignity. This study provides an analysis of the relationship between education and empowerment by looking at five innovative non-governmental formal and non-formal educational programs in Guatemala, sub-Saharan Africa, and Bangladesh. The theoretical framework focuses on the empowerment process, transformative agency, intrinsic empowerment, and the conditions and competencies that support education and leadership. The purpose of …

Modernizing The Integrated Approach: A Dynamic Teaching Method Using Podcasts And Multimedia Content, Justin T. Hughes

Master's Projects and Capstones

This project explores ways to create a curriculum in which multimedia and technology such as podcasts, streaming video, and online articles are utilized effectively in order to develop academic skills for adult international students, specifically those with the goal of attending an American university. Through this integrated approach that combines all of the essential language skills (listening, reading, speaking, and writing), students will build confidence and thus become empowered and individualized learners. They will be able to attain mastery of an essential academic skill set that will assist them in attaining their goals in many different realms.

This project engages …

Analysis Of African American And White American Cognitive Profiles For Language And Cultural Influences, Nicole Jones

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

Abstract

One of the most concerning aspects of special education is the overrepresentation of African American minority youth receiving special education services. Samuel Ortiz and colleagues considered the issue of the representation of the Latino, English Language Learner (ELL) population in special education services based on cognitive performance in relation to the mainstream population. To target this concern they determined an estimated level of expected cognitive performance of ELL’s and impact of language and cultural differences to help eligibility teams more appropriately interpret and place students with the aid of the Culture-Language Interpretive Matrix (C-LIM) model they developed. The current …

Writing Their Way To The University: An Investigation Of Chinese High School Students' Preparation For Writing In English In High Schools, Cram Schools, And Online, Cong Zhang

Open Access Dissertations

In this dissertation, drawing from activity theory, I investigate how Chinese students prepared themselves for undergraduate studies in U.S. universities in terms of English writing from three perspectives: English writing instruction in high schools, private supplementary tutoring (PST) in English writing in cram schools, and experience with writing online and using online resources. On the basis of data from a questionnaire, interviews, classroom observations, and examinations of written materials and a forum, I provide a picture of the writing instruction experience and writing background that Chinese students bring to writing classrooms in U.S. universities. It was found that other than …

Fostering Foreign Language Learning Through Game Play, Rachel Marie Floyd

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of pedagogical video games in positively affecting students’ knowledge of a foreign language and culture as well as their students’ perspectives on the learning process in such a learning-throughgaming environment. The theories that support such an endeavor are explored. This study looked at the process of making a French pedagogical video game that focuses on presenting French culture, history, language as well as fostering lexico-grammatical, interpersonal communication, and interpretational skills. It focuses specifically on learning through gameplay and provides evidence on the positive effect of the game on elementary level …

The Effects Of Project-Based Learning On The Academic And Linguistic Achievement Of Emergent Bilingual Learners: A Mixed Methods Approach, Melinda Hardy

Theses and Dissertations

This mixed methods study examined the academic and linguistic impact of teaching emergent bilingual leaners through robotics project-based learning aligned to state standards. Two hundred ten middle school students attending a public charter school in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas participated in the study. Twenty percent of the students were emergent bilingual learners. Qualitative observation notes recorded students’ learning process as they completed an adapted Khan Academy robotics project. The students also completed pre- and post-assessments that quantitatively measured academic and linguistic gains. Emergent bilingual learners grew 20.1% points in academic content and 28.6% points in language development (p …

Teachers' Beliefs And Practices About Grammar Teaching In Public High Schools In Kosovo, Marigona Morina

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many linguists have tried to answer when and how to teach grammar based on research, as well as whether to teach grammar at all. On the other hand, for many teachers, grammar is the backbone of language learning (Sitorus, 2012). This paper analyzes teachers’ beliefs and practices and their relationship regarding grammar teaching in Kosovo’s public high schools. Teachers’ beliefs are resistant to change (Williams & Burden, 1997); knowing what the majority of teachers in Kosovo believe to be true regarding grammar and language teaching can lead to an update on the curriculum of English Language Teaching programs in order …

Changes To Primary Education To Increase Postsecondary Hispanic Enrollment Rates In Tennessee, Shelby L. Moses

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Use Of Student Created Video Podcasts To Promote Foreign Language Grammar Acquisition In Middle School, Sergio Parra

CCE Theses and Dissertations

The use of video podcasts in education has emerged as a phenomenon that has gained a considerable amount of attention over the last few years. Although video podcasting is becoming a well-established technology in higher education, new multimedia instructional strategies such as student-created video podcasts in grades K-12 are under-researched.

The study investigated the effects of video podcasts created by students to promote foreign language grammar acquisition at the middle school level and find how students described such experience. The current investigation was conducted by using the explanatory sequential design, which is a mixed methods research design that occurs in …

An Analysis Of Education Reform In Sub-Saharan Africa, Katharine Eger

CMC Senior Theses

Sub-Saharan Africa continues to fall behind other developing regions regarding educational attainment, despite recent progress in enrollment. This thesis examines a variety of external conditional factors that could contribute to a country’s relative success, in terms of years spent in school using a prediction model that compares years enrolled in secondary education as a foundation to determine over- and under-performing countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

By exploring various educational policies, historical patterns, and projects executed in Rwanda, South Africa, Ghana, and Botswana, this thesis sheds light on four main challenges that can impact educational attainment: ethnic and racial tensions, an acute …

Mirrors And Windows Ab 101 And The Feasibility Of A Statewide Ethnic Studies Curriculum In California, Tess M. Williams

Scripps Senior Theses

This research examines the failure of AB 101 (Alejo) a bill that would have created a statewide ethnic studies curriculum in California. Through a qualitative analysis consisting primarily of interviews, the analysis challenges the validity of the main oppositional arguments against the bill. Then argues that misunderstandings regarding the implications of ethnic studies curriculum, leading to an unwillingness to fund such programs, has served as the main barrier in enacting a statewide curriculum. Lastly, the work identifies the social and political conditions needed to overcome such barriers. In conclusion, the research suggests that, through time, as local ethnic studies programs …