Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons^™

Chinese Students In U.S. Universities: A Qualitative Study Of Cross-Cultural Learning Experiences, Transition And Adaptation, Josefina E. Oramas, Hagai Gringarten, Lloyd Mitchell

Journal of International & Interdisciplinary Business Research (2014-2019)

Chinese students represent the largest single group among international students enrolled in the U.S, and globalization has played an important role in impacting Chinese students’ perceptions of what it means to study abroad. According to The Wall Street Journal, there are 85 percent more international students enrolled today in U.S. schools than ten years ago, adding more than 35 billion dollars to the nation’s economy in 2015 (Belkin & Purnell, 2017). This qualitative study adds to the limited research available regarding Chinese students’ cross-cultural transition and academic adaptation to American universities (Kusek, 2015; Yan & Berliner, 2009). Findings add a …

Sharing Identity: Indexing Cultural Perspectives Through Writing Responses To Graphic Novels, Alex Romagnoli

SANE journal: Sequential Art Narrative in Education

Indexing identity through writing responses among ELL students in response to a graphic novel helps provide insight into how writing responses represent people and how graphic novels can aid in that process of self-discovery through their inherent multimodalities. This study takes looks at four students in an ELL class at an urban high school in southern Pennsylvania as they responded in writing to a portion of Will Eisner's New York: Life in the Big City (2006). All of the participants took events from the portion of the graphic novel provided to them and indexed their urban, cultural perspectives through their …

Amjambo Africa! (June 2018), Kathreen Harrison

Amjambo Africa!

Welcome to Amjambo Africa! Welcome to Amjambo Africa! We are Maine’s free newspaper for and about New Mainers from Sub-Saharan Africa.

Amjambo Africa! is here to help New Mainers thrive and to help Maine welcome and benefit from our new neighbors.

Amjambo Africa! will serve as a conduit of information for newcomers as they navigate life in Maine.

Amjambo Africa! will include background articles about Africa so those from Maine can understand why newcomers have arrived here.

Amjambo Africa! will profile successful New Mainers from Sub-Saharan Africa in order to give hope to those newly arrived as well as make …

Mexican American Parents Of Elementary Students And Literacy Engagement: A Case Study Of A Bilingual (Spanish/English) Parent Book Club Using Children's Literature, Pablo Ochoa

Dissertations

This qualitative case study explored what occurred when seven Latinx parents and a bilingual coordinator engaged in a book club using the same historical fiction text as the school's fifth grade classroom. Research questions focused on Book Club participation, connections to the focal text(s), and new learning. Data included audiotapes of the sessions, parent written/artistic artifacts, participant interviews, retrospective field notes, and reflective journal entries.

Study findings suggest that positive partnerships between schools and parents can occur within familial text engagement opportunities built on existing relationships with school personnel; use of relevant literature, literacy activities that allow for parent choice …

Poverty And Empowerment Discourse In Utah Dual Immersion Classrooms, Lauren Johnson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper considers the discourse, or communication, that occurs in dual immersion programs in Utah. I take a sociocultural perspective to address the question of whether and how these programs are meeting the unique needs of the students enrolled in them. I consider two tasks frequently viewed in five consecutive days of filming: mirroring/repeated phrases and partner talk. Findings suggest that although they have promise, they often do not meet the intended aims of comprehension and language development. The findings also show that these tasks do little to empower participants. The conclusions and implications suggest that commonly accepted tasks in …

Redesigning Curriculum, Reimagining Education: Preparing Preservice Teachers For Students Of Color In Urban Education, Sabrina D. Jones

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

Dropout rates, suspensions, and expulsions have increased—among urban schools for quite some time. Yet, the number of unmotivated and disengaged culturally diverse students in urban learning environments is steadily increasing. There is a growing number of white female novice teachers who are entering the field of urban education and many prospective/novice teachers overall that are feeling unprepared to reach culturally diverse urban youth. This dissertation by no means suggests that people of other races and cultures cannot teach culturally diverse students in urban learning environments, but it does suggest that those who enter the field of urban education should be …

Teachers’ Sense Of Self-Efficacy And Its Impact On English Learner Students’ Reading Proficiency-Level Scores On A Large-Scale Language Proficiency Test: A Mixed-Method Design, Mirtha Quintana-Toomey

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

The research design applied in this study was a convergent parallel mixed-method approach that included qualitative and quantitative data collection. The quantitative data accrued through the Teacher’s Sense of Efficacy Survey (TSES) survey. The quantitative data also included a collection of English language learner’s reading-proficiency-level scores from a large-scale English-language proficiency test: Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to State for ELLs 2.0 (ACCESS for ELLs 2.0) administered in 2017. The quantitative data from the TSES survey and the ACCESS test were analyzed using the Pearson correlation coefficient. Findings from the TSES indicated that teachers had much self-efficacy in implementing …

The Image Betrays More Than It Reveals: Inter(Ior) Views From Women Of Color On Identity And Social And Academic Experiences In Higher Education, Amy Hauenstein

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation proposes a further conceptualization of intersectional identity as a fundamental topic in education reform research. Overlaying the theoretical lenses of Critical Race Theory and intersectionality, a modified narrative inquiry methodology was used to investigate the self-perceived identities among seven women of color, who are alumnae of an all-girls secondary school, in their current context of higher education. Analysis of data from in-depth, open-ended interviews, a focus group interview, and a fictional writing sample illuminated the role of meaning-making capacity in determining the extent to which contextual influences shape self-perceptions of gender, race, and other emergent identities at their …

Motivating Students To Learn A Programming Language: Applying A Second Language Acquisition Approach In A Blended Learning Environment, Lulu Sun, Christina Frederick, Caroline Liron, Li Ding, Lei Gu, Andrew Calvin Griggs Ii, Paula Sanjuan Espejo

Publications

Learning a programming language typically involves acquisition of new vocabulary, punctuation, and grammatical structures to communicate with a computer. In other words, learning a programming language is like learning a human language. A recent study showed that programmers use language regions of the brain when understanding source code and found little activation in other regions of the brain devoted to mathematical thinking. Even though programming code involved mathematical operations, conditionals, and loop iterations, researchers found that programming had less in common with mathematics and more in common with human language.

Performing Wechat Recording Tasks In Mixed-Ability Study Abroad Content Courses, Hong Zhan, Leeann Chen

Publications

This case study explores the use of WeChat’s recording tool as a solution to the challenges of teaching mixed-ability students in content courses offered in study abroad programs. The tool successfully reduced anxiety and boredom, created opportunities for students to engage in personalized learning tasks in real time, enabled instructors to provide individualized feedback, and helped course curriculums stay on track. Data was collected from an online survey, email interview, and students’ recordings of topics and instructor’s feedback. The study determined that using WeChat’s recording function to complete linguistic tasks is a useful instructional tool for a mixed-ability classes in …

The Role Of Bilingual Interactional Contexts In Predicting Interindividual Variability In Executive Functions: A Latent Variable Analysis, Andree Hartanto

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Despite a huge number of studies examining bilingual advantages in executive functions (EFs), the research findings with regards to the relations between bilingualism and EFs are mostly inconsistent and mixed. In order to shed light on these inconsistent findings, the current research aimed to tackle on both conceptual and methodological limitations that are prevalent in previous studies, namely: (a) failure to consider bilingual experiences in assessing bilingual advantages, and (b) task impurity due to substantial influence of non-EFs processes on EFs task performance. Based on Adaptive Control Hypothesis and Control Process Model of Code-switching, a theory-driven multisession study coupled with …

Language Ideology, Policy And Planning In Peru (Book Review), Yuliana H. Kenfield

Intersections: Critical Issues in Education

No abstract provided.

Shhhh!, Donna M. Druery

Intersections: Critical Issues in Education

Shhhh! is a historical analyses of the quietness America seeks so that its citizens (and the world) will not know/learn of the origins of history and culture of its citizens descended from Africa.

An Instructional Approach To Explore Poverty And Immigration: Using Three Children’S Books That Pack A Punch, David Campos

Intersections: Critical Issues in Education

Contemporary children’s literature can be used as an instructional approach to examine a variety of critical issues that are presented in multicultural education and culturally responsive teaching college courses. The author discusses the benefits of using children’s literature to examine poverty and immigration; his recommendations for selecting the right books and stories; and his experiences using three children’s books: Walk with Me (2017), Two White Rabbits (2015), and Jimmy the Greatest! (2015), all created by the same author and illustrator, Jairo Buitrago and Rafael Yockteng. Each book is carefully reviewed, and followed by a sample of critical thinking questions used …

Nothing To Hide, Nothing To Fear? Tools And Suggestions For Digital Data Protection, Jedidiah C. Anderson, Erik Skare, Courtney Dorroll

The Qualitative Report

The developing cyber-infrastructure has provided new tools, methods, and opportunities to conduct research. However, the Snowden leaks and subsequent developments proved that the same infrastructure has made all-encompassing surveillance possible – posing new challenges for researchers when engaging with those they are obligated to protect. As the cyber-infrastructure simultaneously opens up new possibility-spaces for circumventing structures of surveillance, while drawing on the authors’ own experiences, this article presents a number of tools and suggestions that will aid the researcher to engage more responsibly and safely with the research subject digitally.

Testimonies Of Identity And Intimate Partner Violence, Jamie Berrien

Master's Theses

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is an epidemic that has impacted millions of women in our country. IPV is found in every community and impacts women from all races, ethnicities, religion, background, and socio-economic status. Yet, research shows that women in the United States who are not a part of the dominant culture experience IPV at a much higher rate than white women. This study focuses on the sacred testimonies of six women who have experienced IPV, as well as an analysis of the women's identities and other forms of oppression which impacts her experiences and survival of the violence.

The Linguistic Landscape Of A Cambodia Town In Lowell, Massachusetts, Virak Chan

Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement

This research was conducted in a Cambodian community recently recognized as the second Cambodia Town in the U.S, which is new to the linguistic landscape research community. Data for this research were 279 photos collected in Lowell, MA during August of 2013. They were collected from two important main streets (Westford Street and Branch Street) that house many Cambodian businesses. The site for this data collection was purposefully selected because it is located in the heart of the Cambodia Town with many Cambodian businesses and offices. All the photos were entered into and coded with NVivo 10. Findings were reported …

Understanding The Knowledge And Attitudes Of Parents Of Students With Limited English Proficiency Towards Standardized Testing, Michele P. Tiedemann

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

State and federal regulations mandated standardized testing of students, including disadvantaged students: economically disadvantaged students, students with disabilities, and students with Limited English Proficiency (LEP). The results of the standardized tests were used for the accountability of school districts by way of state and federal reports, resulting in standardized testing also being referred to as high-stakes testing. Standardized testing was criticized for a number of reasons, including holding teachers accountable for students’ scores (Ysseldyke et al., 2004) and subjecting students to stress and anxiety brought on by the demands of standardized testing (Albrecht & Joles, 2003; Von der Embse & …

Best Practices For The Development Of English Language In Rural Elementary Schools In Prevention Of Long Term English Learners, Heather Christine Gomez

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe the best practices of English language development programs in rural South San Joaquin Valley elementary schools in the targeted areas of reading, writing, listening and speaking and best practices in teacher professional development to prevent Long Term English Learners from the perspective of principals. An additional purpose was to identify and describe obstacles to the implementation of best practices of English language development in rural South San Joaquin Valley elementary schools from the perspective of principals.

Methodology: Through data analysis, rural elementary schools in South San Joaquin Valley were identified …

Promoting Cultural Identity Through Dance/Movement Therapy With Immigrant Children, Karen Alejandra Salazar

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The present research project focuses on exploring how culture influences identity and how the development of a bicultural identity affects bicultural individuals. Having a multicultural or multiethnic identity could be a source of strength and/or confusion, bicultural individuals may have difficulties in identifying and sorting their group membership status and their cultural attitudes, values, perspectives, and behaviors (Navarrete & Jenkins, 2011). The present research proposes that dance movement therapy and the Expressive Therapies could serve as a means to allow individuals to explore and strengthen their cultural identity. A cultural identity workshop was implemented with second grade, English language learner, …

Black Mothers' Counter-Narratives Of Agency: A Pulse On Racism And Parent Involvement Strategies In Twenty First Century Schools, Sharnee N. Brown

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This qualitative study examined African American mothers’ perceptions of their children’s schools (public, charter, and private) within the context of institutional, structural, and individual racism. Employing qualitative techniques, interviews and focus groups of middle to lower working class Black mothers were conducted to explore their lived experiences with individual, institutional, and structural racism within American schools. The goal of this study was to learn how these mothers make meaning of the educational institutions that serve their children, the racial barriers they encountered and the strategies of contestation they employed in order to address these perceived barriers.

The results of the …

An Intensive Esl Camp Curriculum And Excursion Activities For International High School Graduated / College Students, Ying Chen

Master's Projects and Capstones

There are many factors for students’ poor command of English among international students in the native language institutions. One of the factors is the students’ negative attitude and low motivation in English learning. Another aspect to lower students’ English learning motivation is the inappropriate use of the learning materials. Moreover, learners still lack a chance to immerse in the real language environment and the authentic cultural background to improve their comprehensively intercultural and communicative competence. For the sake that the second language instruction provided in regular schools is limited in time, many students even do not have enough time to …

Teaching English In China’S Shadow Education Settings Where Communicative Competence Is Left Out, Bei Ye

Master's Projects and Capstones

ABSTRACT

English shadow education, whose curriculum in the shadow mimics the curriculum inside the school (Zhang, 2014) has become increasingly prevalent in China. The fact that English shadow education simply serves for dealing with examinations without developing learner autonomy and communicative competence is a problem that needs to be solved. However, the huge demand for shadow education is derived from deep-rooted traditional values and the current education system. Also, many contextual realities such as high student-teacher ratio, overloaded curriculum, and teachers’ limited English language proficiency (Nunan, 2003; Yu, 2001; Zhang & Watkins, 2007) stop teachers applying the Communicative Approach and …

Understanding The Body Paragraph: A Handbook For Efl Teachers & Students, Terpsithea P. Papadopoulos

Master's Projects and Capstones

English learners have a significant gap in their English language learning in that they have difficulty writing paragraphs. This difficulty appears to be the result of a combination of factors: foreign English language teachers’ lack of training and support to teach writing, the manner in which English is taught abroad, and students not learning or understanding the logical flow of a paragraph in English academic writing. This project aims to reduce the gap in students’ inability to write effective body paragraphs and foreign English language teachers’ knowledge of paragraph writing. The handbook created in this field project provides supplementary materials …

Mandarin Chinese Tone Identification Training: Developing Materials For Second And Third Grade Classes In Mandarin Chinese Immersion Programs, Xiaoyi Zhang

Master's Projects and Capstones

Among all the different perspectives of Mandarin teaching, Mandarin tone teaching and practicing has been largely ignored. The lack of attention and materials for Mandarin tone teaching is why many students speak, read and listen without the correct tone pronunciation, which leads to a lot of misunderstanding. This field project is a curriculum of Mandarin tone teaching. This project is for second grade and third grade teachers who teach Mandarin Chinese as a foreign language in immersion programs in the Bay Area. This curriculum will enable students to speak and read Mandarin with correct tone pronunciation and distinguish different tones …

A Curriculum For Improving Chinese Elementary School Students' Listening Comprehension Skills Through Video Games, Ming Cheng

Master's Projects and Capstones

English has been a compulsory subject in Grades 3-9 in China since 2010, English is also a compulsory subject at the secondary level and widely used at the postsecondary level as well. However, Chinese English teachers spend more time teaching English grammar and vocabulary translation while ignoring the instruction of listening and speaking. The importance of teaching listening has been ignored while listening skill is primary to the acquisition of the other language skills. Chinese students’ incompetence of listening and speaking has become a common phenomenon. Also, due to the exam-oriented education system in China, students are under intense pressure, …

Living In Two Worlds: The Phenomena Of The Language Immersion Experience, Laura E. Adelman-Cannon

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

As Vygotsky (1986) concludes in his seminal work Thought and Language, “A word relates to consciousness as a living cell relates to a whole organism, as an atom relates to the universe. A word is a microcosm of human consciousness” (p. 246). Even without an in-depth understanding of science and only the most popular appreciation of the police procedural be it Sherlock Holmes or CSI, it is easy to see how a single cell can relate to the whole organism. But how can a word be a microcosm of human consciousness? The purpose of this study was to explore …

Effective Teaching Techniques And Study Strategies For English Language Learners In Esl Community College Classes, Dorothy M. Steiner

Master's Projects and Capstones

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this field project, Effective Teaching Techniques and Study Strategies for English Language Learners in ESL Community College Classes, is to provide guidance to the busy instructors who work with adult ESL students, particularly in non-credit programs. This field project can also be used by instructors of credit community college ESL classes, Adult schools, or (Community Based Organizations) CBOs. The handbook is designed to be a resource on the many areas that present common challenges in the ESL classroom such as diverse needs, low literacy levels, building academic rigor and vocabulary, communicative language teaching, increasing engagement and …

Empowering Students To Develop L2 Identity - Supplemental Online Lessons, Laura Espino

Master's Projects and Capstones

As an immigrant, learning English is part of acculturating to the new culture. From this process, a new identity emerges in the context of the new language and culture. Currently, identity issues and intercultural competence are explicit objectives in language learning. The implications of neglecting identity formation in second language acquisition include vulnerability to culture shock, mental health issues, and the inability to thrive. The unique set of needs, motivations, and strengths of immigrant English language learners should inform language instruction design in order to achieve sustainable and equitable successful language learning and acculturation. Explicitly designing instruction that incorporates issues …

Teaching English In China’S Shadow Education Settings Where Communicative Competence Is Left Out, Bei Ye

Master's Projects and Capstones

English shadow education, whose curriculum in the shadow mimics the curriculum inside the school (Zhang, 2014) has become increasingly prevalent in China. The fact that English shadow education simply serves for dealing with examinations without developing learner autonomy and communicative competence is a problem that needs to be solved. However, the huge demand for shadow education is derived from deep-rooted traditional values and the current education system. Also, many contextual realities such as high student-teacher ratio, overloaded curriculum, and teachers’ limited English language proficiency (Nunan, 2003; Yu, 2001; Zhang & Watkins, 2007) stop teachers applying the Communicative Approach and should …