Language and Literacy Education Commons^™

Reading, Argumentation, And Writing: Collaboration And Development Of A Reading Comprehension Intervention For Struggling Adolescents, Martha Susan Grogan

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to develop and implement a new reading intervention with fifth grade struggling readers that included reading across multiple texts, constructing arguments from the texts, engaging in oral argumentation, and writing argumentative essays. A Convergent Mixed Methods design incorporated both quantitative and qualitative data to determine if teacher collaboration influenced the implementation of the new intervention and its subsequent effect on students' reading and writing outcomes. The intervention focused on a 10-week argumentative unit based on the American Revolution War. Group 1 teacher implemented the intervention in a whole-class setting, plus collaborated with the researcher …

Biological Processing Rhythms In Beginning Readers: A Spectrographic Examination Of Oral Reading Behavior On Texts Of Increasing Difficulty, Laura Juhl

Theses and Dissertations

A qualitative comparative research design grounded in the theory of biological processing rhythms (Holdaway, 1979, Miner, 1903) described oral reading behaviors in different levels of beginning early readers during oral reading of texts of increasing difficulty. Spectrographic analysis with waveform data triangulated with running record data, Slosson Oral Reading Tests (SORT-R3) (Slosson & Nicholson, 1990) and transcriptions allowed an in-depth analysis into the behaviors. Three research questions guided the analysis: (1) How do biological processing rhythms operate with different levels of beginning readers? (2) How do biological processing rhythms, as examined through waveforms of oral reading behavior, operate as beginning …

Overcoming Literacy Barriers Through Interventions: A Mixed Methods Study, Cynthia Whitfield Owens

Theses and Dissertations

A convergent parallel mixed methods study was conducted to examine the effect of multiple layers of writing instruction for accelerating the literacy achievement of at-risk kindergarten students. Participants included 33 teachers and 151 kindergarten students from 9 schools. The effects of Treatment 2 Group (whole class, small-group writing instruction in the classroom, and Interactive Writing Intervention) and Treatment 1 Group (whole class and small-group writing instruction in the classroom) were compared to a Control Group (whole-class instruction). Additionally, a case study design with constant comparative analysis was used to examine the practices and instructional decisions of two expert intervention teachers …

The Principle Of Reciprocity In Hospitality Contexts: The Relationship Between Tipping Behavior And Food Servers’ Approaches To Handling Leftovers, John S. Seiter, Harry Weger

Languages, Philosophy, and Communication Studies Faculty Publications

Based on the norm of reciprocity, this study hypothesized that food servers would earn higher tips when they boxed customers’ leftovers compared to having customers box leftovers themselves. In addition, the effect of writing messages (i.e., the date and/or customer’s name) on boxes of leftovers was explored. Two female food servers waited on 608 diners and boxed or did not box leftovers, and wrote or did not write messages on boxes. The hypothesis was supported. However, writing messages was not associated with tipping behavior.

Factors That Impact Successful Reading: Student-Related, School-Rated, And Text Related, Earl H. Cheek Jr., Gerlinde Beckers

Journal of Contemporary Research in Education

Guest Column

Partnering For Best Practice: Grade 2-4 Teachers And A University Professor Collaborate For Success, Shawn Watkins

Journal of Contemporary Research in Education

This article describes a partnership between a university literacy consultant and elementary educators in grades 2-4 to implement small group reading instruction during teachers’ literacy block. Further, I discuss the process and outcomes of our efforts: research based instructional approaches, the importance of collaboration between K-12 schools and higher education, data and findings, and the future paths of our partnership.

Differences In Mathematics And Literacy Achievement Between African American Males And Other 11th-Grade Students, Jeffery Flanigan

College of Education Dissertations

The gap in school performance between African American students and students of other subpopulations has shown up in a range of academic success measures including course grades, test scores, course selection, and college graduation rates (Johnston & Viadero 2000); college and high school grade point averages [GPAs] (Banks & Banks, 2004); and dropout rates (Gordon, 1999; Green, 2001; Irvine & Armento, 2001; Jencks & Phillips, 1998; Kober, 2001; Lee, 2002). These indicators all point to a disturbing pattern in the educational system and beg the question: What is going on with the education of African American males in the United …

Ten Pop Culture Modules For The Middle School Exploratory Spanish Classroom, Amy K. Gramlich

Theses and Dissertations

Twenty-first century adolescents desire to learn through methods and topics which are relevant to their contemporary experiences. Middle school students are motivated by technology and popular culture, and they desire high interest activities in the classroom. Foreign language educators have a plethora of authentic resources that represent target language popular culture available for the modern-day classroom such as YouTube videos, Twitter, Pinterest, Google Voice, online magazines, and student cell phones to help meet these needs. However, many educators feel limited and rushed in finding the time to prepare for culture lessons. The intent behind this thesis is to create pop …

Ten Integrated Performance Assessments For A Novel-Level College French Class, Nanette Ada Zobkov

Theses and Dissertations

In response to the need for standards-based assessment, researchers created the Integrated Performance Assessment (IPA), which connects assessment and instruction, testing learners within an authentic context across three communicative modes. It is a better measure of proficiency, provides feedback to learners, positively impacts instruction, and improves learners' attitudes toward assessment. There are many benefits of the IPA, but many instructors do not know how to create and implement them in the classroom. There is a lack of quality IPA examples available to French teachers, and existing IPAs are for high proficiency levels. The author believes that if teachers had access …

Evaluation Of The Start Making A Reader Today (Smart), Beth L. Green, Amanda Cross-Hemmer, Lorelei Mitchell

Early Childhood

The goal of the Start Making a Reader Today (SMART) program is to support young children to develop early reading and literacy skills, as well as to increase their interest, confidence, and enthusiasm about reading. SMART pairs trained adult volunteers with PreK-3 rd grade children, primarily in schools serving significant proportions of low-income families. Thus, SMART augments the one-on-one reading support available in typical elementary schools. Volunteers read to children for 30 minutes, either once or twice a week, and provide books that children can take home and keep for themselves. Prior evaluation research (Baker, Gersten, & Keating, 2000) found …

Fall 2014, Uni Literacy Clinic Anthology, University Of Northern Iowa

UNI Literacy Clinic Anthologies

The anthology contains the writings of children participating in the UNI Reading Clinic tutored by UNI students enrolled in the Advanced Literacy Practices course and the co-requisite Experience in Literacy: Tutoring course. As their literacy skills progress, each child contributes a written work to the anthology for their clinic.

Evaluating Gifted Program Identification Procedures For English Language Learners, Rachael L. Sloan

Honors Projects

Under-identification of English language learners (Ells) in gifted programs is partially a result of identification procedures that do not account for cultural and linguistic differences. This paper explores the literature regarding research into gifted ELL identification and investigates five school districts' identification methods, accommodations for Ells in identification procedures, and avoidance of biases in procedures. Research was conducted through surveys and interviews with gifted and ELL coordinators as well as analysis of data provided by the state's education department. Districts used formal assessments and teacher and parent rating scales. They did not directly accommodate for Ells in identification, but did …

An Evaluation Of Physical Activity On The Reading Achievement Of Middle School Students, Christina N. Phillips

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

This study analyzed the relationship between reading achievement and the use of Exergames an intervention, to investigate the areas in which physical activity can improve reading achievement among struggling readers, and to understand the amount of minutes and levels of intensity of physically active adolescents that supports reading achievement. The need for an innovative reading intervention has become more urgent because of the lack of improved reading achievement in the United States. In addition, students should not lose access to physical activity in an attempt to increase reading achievement. Using a quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest, nonequivalent group design, this study attempted to …

Reading Horizons Vol. 53 No. 3

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

No abstract provided.

Summer 2014, Uni Literacy Clinic Anthology, University Of Northern Iowa

UNI Literacy Clinic Anthologies

The anthology contains the writings of children participating in the UNI Reading Clinic tutored by UNI students enrolled in the Advanced Literacy Practices course and the co-requisite Experience in Literacy: Tutoring course. As their literacy skills progress, each child contributes a written work to the anthology for their clinic.

Effects Of Poverty Funding On Literacy Achievement Over Time In Arkansas Schools, Rick Gales

College of Education Dissertations

This dissertation provides additional background to the limited research regarding the effectiveness of the use of state categorical money on literacy achievement measured by the Arkansas Literacy Benchmark Exam for a cohort of third through sixth grade students and a cohort of fifth through eighth grade students in Arkansas school districts. Using a non-experimental design, the researcher tested two hypotheses using a mixed factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA). The independent variables for the two hypotheses were change over time with two levels measured in school years (2008 versus 2009 versus 2010 versus 2011) and the two NSLA funding levels. The …

Pourquoi J’Écris En Français, Julien Kilanga Musinde

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

Why have I chosen to write in French? My personal engagement in front of French language, my profession of teacher and researcher in French linguistics, my quality as a writer and the years I worked as director of French at the International Organization of Francophonie have largely contributed to increase my link with this tongue. We say, the language belongs to his speakers and particularly to the people who use it as the place of expression of art and original thought.

One Approach For The Role Of Rhyming Dictionaries In Developing Children's Language Proficiency And The Multimedia Technologies, Mimoza Priku, Josef Bushati, Ardiana Sula, Ledia Kashahu

Jandrisevits Faculty Publications

In this study it will be addressed some matters concerning children's phonological development, focusing on the development of rhyming ability for the children. Speech means pure and clearly pronunciation. For linguistic development assistance of children it is need rhyming dictionaries. They help children as to the exact pronunciation spoken words by data phonemes related their composition, as well as to encourage them to recognize new close words, but not the same with them for the pronunciation. This method helps correct pronunciation on the one hand, while on the other hand promotes vocabulary enrichment. These dictionaries play a positive role in …

Spring 2014, Uni Literacy Clinic Anthology, University Of Northern Iowa

UNI Literacy Clinic Anthologies

The anthology contains the writings of children participating in the UNI Reading Clinic tutored by UNI students enrolled in the Advanced Literacy Practices course and the co-requisite Experience in Literacy: Tutoring course. As their literacy skills progress, each child contributes a written work to the anthology for their clinic.

Gjr Volume 37 Number 1 Spring 2014, Lina Soares, Christine Draper

The Georgia Journal of Reading Archive

The Georgia Journal of Reading's Spring 2014 issue includes:

Message from the Editors by Lina B. Soares and Christine A. Draper (pg. 4)

President’s Page by Loleta Sartin (pg. 5)

Quantum Shifts by Gerald Boyd (pg. 6)

Literacy Coaching: Providing Leadership and Support for the Next Generation of Teachers by Katie Stover and Crystal Glover (pg. 8)

Significance of Prior Knowledge Activation: A Close Look at a Bilingual Kindergarten Student’s Response to a Poem by Alma Stevenson (pg. 14)

The Effect of Explicit Instruction with Writing Conventions Among Preservice Teachers by Laurie A. Sharp (pg. 18)

Tacky and a Tambourine: …

The Impact Of Standards-Based Report Cards On Reading Achievement In The Third Grade, Terri L. Wyrosdick

Theses and Dissertations

School districts across the nation are transitioning away from traditional A-F letter grade report cards in favor of standards-based report cards (SBRC). Previous studies have indicated that many parents were confused by SBRC. The purpose of this study was to determine if a difference exists between the reading achievement of third-grade students using traditional A-F letter grade report cards and those students using SBRC. Pre-existing CRCT data of the pass/fail percentage of third graders from five school districts and 118 schools in 2009 and 2010, the year prior to and the year of implementation of SBRC, were analyzed. A chi …

The Predictive Validity Of Oral Reading Fluency Measures On The Louisiana Educational Assessment Program For Third And Fourth Grade Students, Tracy Elkins Bennett

Doctoral Dissertations

Good, Kaminski, Simmons and Kamenui (2001) declared a national awareness of the benefits of early reading success and the negative consequences of early reading failure. One method discussed for prevention of reading failure was the implementation of screening programs employed to measure reading skills, predict success of future reading success, and inform instruction that would hopefully eliminate reading failure. In the current study, the primary research question was to investigate the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) Oral Reading Fluency (DIBELS ORF) benchmark and screening program and its predictive abilities on reading comprehension achievement measured by the integrated …

Students' Perceptions Of Interaction In A Hybrid Foreign Language (L2) Arabic Course In Light Of Their Affective Domain, Hanan Elsayed Ahmed Eltayeb Youssef

Theses and Dissertations

Abstract Hybrid courses were developed to maintain the advantages associated with distance learning, while solving the problem of learner-instructor interaction. This would indicate that successful learner-instructor interaction is one of the core features of this type of class which enables it to best serve the learner. To verify the above, a descriptive, qualitative case study was designed to investigate students' perceptions of interaction (student-instructor and student-student) in a hybrid foreign language Arabic course, taking into account their affective domain. The structure of the hybrid course which was investigated consisted of a videoconferencing session conducted by the main teacher, followed by …

"The Poor Kid Finds The Pirate Treasure": Depictions Of Social Class In Newbery Medal And Honor Books 2004-2013, Danielle Eileen Forest

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

Background: Given events of recent years like the economic recession, issues related to social class are more important than ever before. Although educational scholars have devoted increasing attention to social class, it has not been widely studied in curricular materials like children's literature. Because books can influence children's views of the world, understanding what values and ideologies are communicated about class in literature is important.

Focus of Study: Grounded in the theoretical perspectives of critical literacy and the sociology of school knowledge, the purpose of this study was to deconstruct portrayals of social class in books earning the …

"That Doesn't Sound Like Me:" Student Perceptions Of Semiotic Resources In Written-Aural Remediation Practices, Jennifer Johnson Buckner

English Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation examines students' composing practices when working with unfamiliar modalities, attending to students' messy material and cognitive negotiations prior to their production of a polished multimodal project. Working from a conceptual vocabulary from composition studies and semiotics, I frame composing as an act of semiotic remediation, attending to students' repurposing and understanding of written and aural materials in composition and their impact on their learning. Specifically, this research uses a grounded theory methodology to examine the attitudes, experiences, and composing practices of first-year writing students enrolled in a composition II course at a private, liberal arts institution in the …

El Pasado Lingüístico Colonial Y Las Lenguas De Instrucción En La Educación Filipina, David Sánchez-Jiménez

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Fusing Language Learning And Leadership Development: Initial Approaches And Strategies, Sheri Spaine Long, Jean W. Leloup, Leann Derby, Ramsamooj J. Reyes

Dimensions

During a recent visiting professorship at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA), it became clear that language faculty— both military and civilians— stated that they included leadership while teaching foreign languages and cultures.2 However, many of the same educators could not explicitly spell out their approach to doing so. This gap launched a line of inquiry about the relationship between teaching languages and leadership development. Subsequently, it sparked a grassroots effort by the faculty of the USAFA Department of Foreign Languages (DFF), including the Office of International Programs (DFIP), to form a Faculty Learning Community (FLC) to focus explicitly …

Learning In Parallel: Using Parallel Corpora To Enhance Written Language Acquisition At The Beginning Level, Brody Bluemel

Dimensions

This article illustrates the pedagogical value of incorporating parallel corpora in foreign language education. It explores the development of a Chinese/English parallel corpus designed specifically for pedagogical application. The corpus tool was created to aid language learners in reading comprehension and writing development by making foreign language texts more accessible to them. The study follows the application of this parallel corpus in two beginning level high school Chinese classes and describes the experience of both instructor and students in implementing this technology. The positive learning outcomes observed through students improvement in comprehension and composition demonstrate the value of parallel corpora …

Student Attitudes And Perceptions Of Using Facebook For Language Learning, Craig Gamble, Michael Wilkins

Dimensions

This research provides insight into Japanese students’ perceptions and attitudes of participating in activities through Facebook for language learning. In addition, the authors discuss the overall implications of and potential uses for Facebook in the field of second language learning and teaching. Ninety-seven students from three private universities in Japan participated in this study. A 26-item quantitative questionnaire using a 7-point Likert scale and an open-ended qualitative questionnaire were used in this study. The results showed a small increase in positive attitudes toward most activities for language learning following the completion of the study compared to prior perceptions, but there …

Influencing Students’ Pronunciation And Willingness To Communicate Through Interpersonal Audio Discussions, Cindy E. Lepore

Dimensions

This article discusses a study that investigated pronunciation development in second language learners by monitoring willingness to communicate variables. Students (N = 37) in a second-semester, introductory French course participated in online interpersonal audio discussions with classmates through VoiceThread. Pronunciation development and willingness to communicate were monitored through self-assessment after completing each activity. Analysis revealed that participation in the activities combined with a feedback-supported environment resulted in an overall increase in perceived pronunciation abilities that positively correlated with willingness to communicate variables. Additionally, the pedagogical benefits of using audio discussions to improve pronunciation are presented.