Language and Literacy Education Commons^™

"It's Such A Cool Word!" Reflections On In-Dept Vocabulary Instruction In A Middle School Language Arts Classroom, Naomi Watkins

The Utah English Journal

After several years of teaching vocabulary in a very traditional manner—list of words, copy the definitions, memorize them, take a test—I had grown weary of spending my time on instruction that I knew (even from my own personal experience as a student) did not work. I wanted instruction that resulted in my students really using the words in their own speech and writing, rather than just having superficial knowledge or merely being able to recognize words. I knew that my students were capable of a deeper processing level and of acquiring more sophisticated “everyday” words and academic language. I really …

Bullies, Bystanders, And A Birthday, Janae Shepherd

The Utah English Journal

Kelly Jo… Kelly Jo Fransden, the bully of Forbes Elementary School. She was in my classroom and my neighborhood, and I had to see her at church. She wasn’t particularly pretty, although for some reason she seemed to think she was. She strutted around the classroom and anywhere else with an air about her that she was somehow better than everyone else. As some kids today would say, she thought she was “all that and a bag of chips.” I’m still not sure why she acted that way. Perhaps it was her own lack of self-confidence, her projection of what …

Word Ways: Revisiting Ancient Greco-Latin Myths To Build Vocabulary, Jacqueline S. Thursby

The Utah English Journal

I recently assigned an old children’s tale to my senior undergraduate students called “!e Story of the Cruel Giant Barbarico, the Good Giant Benefico, and the Little Pretty Dwarf, Mignon,” written by Sarah Fielding, who lived from 1710 to1768. It was an unfamiliar story to them and written in the archaic style of 18th century English. The primary characters in the story were the giants, Barbarico and Benefico, and the sweethearts, Fidus and Amata. The names clearly reflect characteristics of the players in the story. By using root Latinate forms, Sarah Fielding foreshadowed the characters’ primary personality attributes: Barbarico (barbarous: …

The Pitfalls Of Publishing: Unforseen Challenges When Students Write To Publish, Jill Muir

The Utah English Journal

Sitting at my desk, I read an email regarding grants for teachers. As I pondered the needs of my students that might be met with a grant, I thought about my English Language Learners. Over the course of the school year, I gradually learned their stories of why and how they came to the United States. Some students had stories I had predicted: Their families wanted them to come to school in the United States, so the students were living with relatives and planned to return to their native countries. Other students, however, had dramatic stories: stories of kidnapping, escape, …

All Work And No Play Makes Jack (Or Jill) A Dull Writer, Joseph Anson

The Utah English Journal

Yes, I am one of those geeky idealistic English teachers, who occasionally fantasize about being Robin Williams’ character Mr. Keating from the classic film Dead Poets Society. After twelve years of unsuccessfully convincing my students to call me “O Captain, My Captain,” I still hold to the belief that I can get my students to “savor words and language” (Haft, Henderson, Witt, Thomas, & Weir, 1989). Regardless of an individual’s ability or inherent wordsmithiness, I encourage all students to play with words on many different levels. On Fridays, we set aside time to play with words. Just play. But why? …

Book Review: Writing Across The Curriculum: A Critical Sourcebook, Thomas Henry

The Utah English Journal

The Writing-Across-the-Curriculum (WAC) movement provides some of the most substantial strategies for keeping our discipline relevant for students and for ourselves. More-over, the WAC movement allows us to put focus into our work by informing us of outside writing practices. In a sense, WAC reminds us that our work as teachers does not exist in isolation, but exists to support a much larger economic and pedagogical structure (at all levels). This edited collection, complied by Zawacki and Rogers, provides a wonderful insight into the WAC movement and its literature.

Teaching Textual Recycling, Thomas Henry, Jim Pettersson

The Utah English Journal

Linguist, Michael Lewis suggests that a “recycling” strategy should be at the heart of an approach to teaching English (especially to speakers of second languages). He calls this specific approach the “Lexical Approach.” This approach focuses on ways in which students can use pre-fabricated linguistic units and/or formulaic expressions to form new language. In addition to the Lexical Approach, a “Template Approach” endorsed by Gerald Graff & Cathy Birkenstein, also advocates the “recycling” of chunks of language to form new discourse. Their text, They Say, I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing, contains formulaic language used to promote …

Critical Pop Culture Consumers: Using Tupac And Music In The Classroom To Teach Critical Literary Analysis Of Pop Culture, Marilyn Miller

The Utah English Journal

Teaching critical analysis is a unit that I designed to get students to understand the elements in an increasingly complex world where language provides the vehicle to refine thought. Because students are imbued in the element, they are often persuaded, cajoled, and tricked into embracing messages and images that may negatively influence their lives. Teaching them to look at the music and the videos that influence them and critically analyze the persuasive techniques and the impact of these messages on their developing values empowers them to choose more carefully the music they embrace or at least understand the influence of …

Book Review: Out Of My Mind, Jenna Fitch

The Utah English Journal

Melody is one of the brightest students in her class, but no one knows. All of the words she wishes she could express are stuck inside—Melody has cerebral palsy and can’t talk. Only through the help of a new, special computer does Melody find her voice and correct many of her classmates’ misconceptions about people with disabilities. Unfortunately, neither Melody nor her family anticipates the additional stigmas and judgment that will arrive along with Melody’s new voice.

This 300+ page quick read says what many of the physically and mentally disabled students in our schools can’t: include me. Through Out …

Full Issue

The Utah English Journal

No abstract provided.

Special Issues In Engaging And Collaborating With Families Of English Language Learners, Stephanie Allison Strouse

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Research demonstrates positive outcomes associated with family involvement (Fl), but little exists specific to English Language Learners' (ELLs) FI. Factors impacting FI are identified, but it is unclear which educators view as most significant and what practices are implemented to address them. This study utilized survey data to examine educators' attitudes within an Iowa Area Education Agency regarding FI of ELLs, current practices, perceptions of practices' effectiveness, and professional development (PD) related to ELLs. Participants reported positive relationships with families of ELLs and that ELL families value education, yet only moderate satisfaction with ELL FI. Results indicate incongruity between common …

The Role Of Elementary School Principals Supporting Teachers In The Instruction Of Reading For English Language Learners: A Dissertation, Nadene B. Stein

Educational Studies Dissertations

This study utilized data gleaned from on-line surveys of primary level teachers and elementary school principals to understand what principals need to know and be able to do to support teachers in their instruction of reading for English Language Learners (ELLs). A review of five areas of literature provided a theoretical foundation for this study. Twenty-six primary level teachers and four elementary school principals, from eight Massachusetts schools, participated in separate, three-part online questionnaires. Participants answered questions about licensure, experience, and professional development focused on teaching English Language Learners. In addition, participants responded to questions about their perceptions of (1) …

Portuguese As A Foreign Language: Teaching And Learning In The United States: A Dissertation, Celia Bianconi

Educational Studies Dissertations

This dissertation reviewed the history of foreign language education in the United States relating it to political and economic world events. A quantitative study and a hypothesis generating case study revealed the motivation of learners of Portuguese as a foreign language. Portuguese teachers in higher education in the United States were surveyed and three recently published Portuguese textbooks were analyzed. The results showed that the main reasons that motivate students to learn Portuguese as a foreign language are interest in Brazilian culture, plans to travel in a Portuguese-speaking country, familiarity with Spanish language, skills needed to reach professional goals and …

Cross-Culture Communication: Linguistic And Nonverbal Accommodation Within An English As A Second Language Classroom, Patrick Snyder

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

Immigration to the United States presents difficulties to culturally diverse communities because of various customs, beliefs and languages. Daily social interaction and differing behavioral norms in these communities harbor positive and negative interethnic interactions. English as a second language (ESL) classrooms are common places in which people of numerous nationalities meet and work. The goal of this ethnography study is to observe the students’ and teachers’ interactions within an ESL classroom aided by Howard Giles’s communication accommodation theory (CAT) as a lens through which to view these issues. The communication interaction patterns and themes are divided into groups based on …

The Effectiveness Of Etymological Elaboration As A Method Of Teaching Idioms To Adolescent English Language Learners, Julia L. Coryell

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The prevalence of idioms in both spoken and written English makes learning to comprehend and produce them important for English language learners. It may be particularly important for preadolescent and adolescent learners to become proficient with idioms because of their need to fit in with peers and the frequency with which idioms occur in classroom communication and academic texts. Idioms pose difficulties for non-native speakers because of their nature as both formulaic and figurative language, their cultural specificity, and the fact that their figurative meaning cannot necessarily be determined from the literal meanings of the constituent words.

Theoretical And Practical Implications Of Multicultural Music For Additional Language Learning In South Africa, Nolan Keven Krull

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The South African Department of Basic Education has outlined general goals for the country's education system as well as specific goals for each school subject in a Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) for Grades R to 12. This research focuses on how the use of multicultural South African music can support the goals and objectives of the curriculum for English as a First Additional Language in Grades 10 to 12. The proposed introduction of multicultural music creates a third culture that stems from the novel integration of cultural elements and takes advantage of learners' prior knowledge and cultural experiences. …

Reading For Deep Understanding : Knowledge Building And Conceptual Artifacts In Secondary English, Marc Nachowitz

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The purpose of this design-based experiment is two-fold: to see if classroom pedagogies can be developed to improve student achievement in English literature as well as prepare them for 21st Century literacies. Applying Bereiter and Scardamalia's theory of Knowledge Building to English curricula, this experiment tracked the progress of a sixth grade Language Arts class as they engaged in creating theories of literary interpretation supported by Knowledge Forum, a computer-supported, on-line learning environment. The study revealed several key findings concerning how knowledge-building can support student's attainment of "high literacy" in the reading of literature, including maintaining idea diversity, the importance …

Anatomy Of Process-Based Writing Center Tutorials With Nnes Writers : What Writers Take Away, Jason C. Vickers

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Non-native English speaking (NNES) students in higher educational settings face difficulties writing academic papers and, in response to these difficulties, often seek assistance in understanding cultural, rhetorical, linguistic aspect of writing in English (Harris & Silva, 1993; Powers & Nelson, 1995). One resource available to them is writing centers, which Leki (2009) believes may be "ideal learning environments whose first or strongest language is not English" (p. 1). Writing centers in higher education contexts are places, usually operated by English departments, where students can go to receive assistance at all stages of writing their academic papers. Tutorials are typically collaborative …

The Viability Of Palestinian Efl Teachers To Effectively Apply Ict As An Educational Medium In Palestinian Basic Schools In The Gaza Strip : A Pedagogical Perspective, Wael A. S. Jebril

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The primary purpose of this research is to present a successful model of a Palestinian EFL ICT-using teacher; through investigating the viability of a Palestinian EFL teacher to effectively use ICT as a medium in the classroom in a basic school. The research presents a pioneering idea that focuses on the pedagogical ability of the teacher to design and teach governmental EFL material via technology in a developing, occupied and besieged area (The Gaza Strip: Palestine). The research is meant to present a successful demonstrative study that would address Palestinian EFL teachers, decision makers, school administrators and sponsors.

La ProbléMatique Du Retour Dans Les Films Et Romans Africains : Analyse Comparative D'Œuvres Pré-IndéPendance Et Contemporaines, Anoumou Amekudji

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

L'évolution du monde de nos jours est à l'origine des migrations de plus en plus importantes entre les continents. Cet accroissement des flux migratoires fait que la thématique de l'immigration occupe depuis les années 1980 une grande place dans les oeuvres de cinéastes et écrivains africains francophones vivant en Afrique ou en Occident. Les oeuvres des années trente et soixante mettaient beaucoup plus l'accent sur le séjour des immigrés dans leurs pays hôtes, tandis que celles publiées à partir des années 1980 s'intéressent au retour dans leurs pays d'origine. L'objectif de cette thèse est d'étudier l'évolution de la problématique du …

The Effects Of Interactive Strategies Approach On At-Risk Kindergarten Children's Spelling Development, Sun Hwa Lee

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study involved secondary analyses of an existing kindergarten developmental spelling data set which was collected using the Developmental Spelling Test (DST; Tangel & Blachman, 1992, 1995) in Scanlon and her colleagues' 2005 study (Scanlon, Vellutino, Small, Fanuele, & Sweeney, 2005). The purpose of the current study is to examine whether the early literacy instruction/intervention approach called the Interactive Strategies Approach (ISA; Scanlon, Anderson, & Sweeney, 2010; Vellutino & Scanlon, 2002) is effective for improving at-risk children's spelling development.

Dialogic Conversations In An Embedded Literacy Assessment Field Experience, Lucy Spence, Amy Donnally, Amy Johnson Lachuk, Marcie Ellerbe

Faculty Publications

Preservice teachers often come into teacher education programs with a positivist view of assessment, which may have developed during their own schooling experiences. For this reason, purposefully constructed course work and field experiences must be offered to enable them reframe their conceptions of literacy assessment and to complicate the assessment practices that have become most familiar to them. This paper examines a course in which, the aim is to intentionally counter the positivist testing culture and invest in helping preservice teachers understand assessment as a multi-faceted, dynamic process of inquiry.

Fifth Graders' Discussions Of Graphic Novels Facilitated By De Bono Thinking Skills, Kimberly Ann Jennings

Graduate Research Papers

The effectiveness of graphic novels, heavily illustrated novels and traditional novels as a reading teaching tool has not been heavily researched. During the 5th grade school year of the 2011-2012, 24 students were required to read six novels, two in each format. During and after the reading, students were required to complete assigned assessments. The results of the study were graded based on a rubric system and by the number of responses per novel. The graphic novel received the highest scores in all categories. The graphic novel should be considered as an alternate method of teaching reading to 5th graders.

Implementing Electronic Storybooks And The Effects On Reading Achievement At The Elementary Level, Chelsey Heidemann

Graduate Research Papers

Electronic storybooks are an innovative way to support the reading needs of students today. This literature review discusses the positive and negative effects electronic storybooks have on students' reading abilities. It focuses specifically on word accuracy, word recognition, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Examples and information were taken from published journal a1ticles found through online databases and books. The review concludes that electronic storybooks can have a positive effect on a student's reading ability when using an electronic storybook that meets the needs of the learner.

Digital Storytelling : Building 21st Century Literacy Skills In The Secondary Classroom, William P. Lammers

Graduate Research Papers

Digital storytelling has been a popular activity in technologically well-equipped classrooms, and is gaining popularity due to its ability to help build important 21st century skills for learners and engaging lessons for instructors. This paper reviewed twenty peer-evaluated investigations from 2001 to 2010, citing five original qualitative case studies, twelve research-based papers regarding digital narratives and the skills needed for the 21st century learner. Included in this review is a definition of digital storytelling via a detailed model, an explanation of the 21st century literacies, obstacles to integrating digital narratives, and discussion of related communication skills. Recommendations were made based …

Beyond The Dictionary : What Teachers Can Do To Help Build Struggling Readers' Vocabularies, Stefanie Van Heukelom

Graduate Research Papers

Vocabulary is well documented as a predictor of reading comprehension and school success (Cunningham & Stanovich, 1997; Davis, 1944 & 1968; Singer, 1965; Spearitt, 1972; Thurstone, 1946; Anderson & Nagy, 1991; Baker, Simmons, & Kame'enui, 1998; Becker, 1977; Cunningham & Stanovich, 1998). Through the research of the National Reading Panel (2000), vocabulary was identified as one of the five facets for improving students' reading along with phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, and comprehension. Research has estimated that for every word known by a student who is able to use morphology and context, an additional one to three words should then be …

Pre-Service Teachers' Understandings About Ells: One Pedagogical Tool For Identifying And Shifting Dispositions, Susanna M. Steeg, Amy Markos

Faculty Publications - College of Education

No abstract provided.

Producing Memorable Cloth-Bound Books In The Classroom, Karin J. Keith, A. Horton, A. Roach, J. Temaj, Edward J. Dwyer

ETSU Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Effects Of A Treatment Package To Facilitate English/Language Arts Learning For Middle School Students With Moderate To Severe Disabilities, Pamela J. Mims, Angel Lee, Diane M. Browder, Tracie-Lynn Zakas, Susan Flynn

ETSU Faculty Works

This pilot study sought to develop and evaluate the use of a treatment package that included systematic and direct instruction on acquisition of literacy skills aligned with middle school English/Language Arts standards for students with moderate to severe disabilities, including autism. Participants included five teachers and 15 middle school students with moderate to severe disabilities who were primarily served in a self-contained setting. A one-group, nonrandomized, pre-posttest design was implemented to measure vocabulary, comprehen- sion of familiar text and unfamiliar text, poetry, research, and writing skills. Results indicated significant gains in vocabulary and comprehension of familiar text. Limitations, implications, and …

Book Review: Pregnant Pause, Tanei Henry

The Utah English Journal

Before Pregnant Pause, I’d never read a book by Han Nolan; and after Pregnant Pause, I can’t wait to read another. While many other YA novels deal with teen pregnancy and parent/teen communication issues, none of the others have Eleanor Crowe dealing with them. Eleanor Crowe is a strong female protagonist, not the kind who deals with bows or elves or vampires, but the kind who deals with real issues that real teenagers are dealing with right now. Though fictional, Han Nolan has created completely believable characters that have to make decisions that many teenagers might also have to make …