Language and Literacy Education Commons^™

Extending The Classroom: Digital Micronarratives For Novice Language Learners, Felix A. Kronenberg

Dimensions

Digital Storytelling offers many advantages for language learning, especially within a project-based framework. In this article, the use of Digital Micro-Narratives is proposed as particularly useful for second language learners at the novice level. As a sub-genre of Digital Storytelling, Digital Micro-Narratives focus more on frequently updated content and continuous feedback and less on crafting a flawless final product, as is the case with more traditional Digital Storytelling. The value of Digital Micro-Narratives lies within a procedural framework that fosters agency, authenticity, the use of multiple modes and media, and which addresses individual learner differences and inspires identity formation.

The Early Grade Reading Assessment: Assessing Children's Acquisition Of Basic Literacy Skills In Developing Countries (Superseded Version), Australian Council For Educational Research

Assessment GEMS

The Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA), administered individually in about 15 minutes, measures the most basic foundation skills for literacy acquisition in the early grades. The assessment was developed by the Research Triangle Institute (RTI) through funding provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Bank (Gove & Wetterberg, 2011), in addition to resources provided by RTI. The EGRA was developed to provide a battery of assessments of basic reading skills for developing countries to monitor the status of early reading in primary schools. The assessment tool was first implemented in The Gambia and Senegal …

Perception Of A Regional Spanish Sound: The Case Of /S/-Weakening, Angela George

Dimensions

While taking foreign language classes or interacting in the target language community, language learners will be exposed to dialectal differences. This paper addresses how adult learners of Spanish in beginning, intermediate, and advanced Spanish courses at a large US university perceived a common sociolinguistic feature of Spanish, /s/-weakening, which can vary for stylistic, gender, and geographical reasons. The implications for teaching and learning foreign languages will be addressed, noting the importance of teaching common sociolinguistic features that are salient to native speakers but less salient to second language learners.

Skype Videoconferencing For Less Commonly Taught Languages: Examining The Effects On Students’ Foreign Language Anxiety, Joe Terantino

Dimensions

This study compared students’ foreign language anxiety levels while completing oral assessments administered face-to-face (F2F) and via Skype videoconferencing for university courses delivered under the self-instructional language program (SILP) model (Dunkel, Brill, & Kohl, 2002). Data were gathered by administering a modified Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) survey (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986) and conducting subsequent interviews with the students. Results indicate that there was not a significant difference in anxiety levels or changes in anxiety between the two delivery methods. These findings suggest that Skype videoconferencing may be a viable alternative to F2F interviews, because it did not …

Mutually Beneficial Service Learning: Language Teacher Candidates In A Local Community Center, Susan A. Hildebrandt

Dimensions

This article reports on a project designed to provide mutually beneficial solutions to challenges faced by world language teacher candidates, their preparation program, and a local community center. The project provided opportunities for teacher candidates enrolled in a world language (WL) teacher education course to complete clinical experiences through a service learning experience at the center. Teaching Spanish to children from low-income families provided candidates valuable classroom experiences with younger learners. This article explores benefits and challenges of WL teacher candidates teaching Spanish in a local community center.

Uniting The Corps: Uniting The Core

Dimensions

SCOLT Dimensions Volume 49

Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival, Karen Rowell, The University Of Southern Mississippi, The University Of Southern Mississippi's School Of Library And Information Science

Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival Programs

The program for the fourty-seventh annual Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival held on the campus of The University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi in 2014.

International Internet Access Levels And Student Implications, Eric Youn

2010-2016 Archived Posters

International students may face challenges in performance and in participation if Internet access levels in their country of residence are low. Using the viewpoint of the Internet as a utility, the study reviewed historical utility provisions to developing countries. This information will be further analyzed to create proposals to increase Internet access for international students and their communities.

Project-Based Learning For English Learners: Promises And Challenges, Gisela O’ Brien, Ph.D., Magaly Lavadenz, Ph.D., Elvira G. Armas, Ed.D.

Practitioner Journal Articles

In this article the authors explore project-based learning (PBL) as an avenue for meeting the needs of English learners against the backdrop of both the 2010 California Common Core State Standards and the 2012 English Language Development Standards. They begin with a definition and brief history of PBL. The authors then propose and expanded version of PBL that considers the unique linguistic needs of ELs and conclude with two promising examples from two California school districts.

Ua1c11/23 Wku Libraries Photo Collection, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

WKU University Libraries photograph albums.

The Logogenesis Of Writing To Learn: A Systemic Functional Perspective., Perry Klein, Len Unsworth

Education Publications

Writing to learn has become an important practice in science education. How is scientific knowledge constructed during writing? To investigate this question, we examined the process through which four university students constructed written explanations of either projectile motion or buoyancy. The analysis, informed by systemic functional linguistics, focused on the mapping of semantic elements to grammatical choices, and the way in which this mapping unfolded throughout the course of each text. The texts began largely congruently; grammar mapped closely to experience. Gradually, each text shifted toward greater use of grammatical metaphor. Nominalization allowed propositions and sequences of events to serve …

International Collaborations In Literacy Research And Practice., Cynthia B. Leung, Janet C. Richards, Cynthia A. Lassonde

Faculty Books

Literacy researchers and educators are currently involved in exciting international literacy projects. However, many in the field are not aware of these initiatives. In compiling this edited volume, our intent is to provide a resource book for university instructors and research faculty with examples of international literacy projects and what was learned from the projects. Chapter contributors offer stories of real people who collaborate across nations to exchange ideas, promote literacy development, and increase global understandings. The literacy initiatives presented in this book show how literacy colleagues have provided opportunities for students and educators of different countries to communicate in …

The Effect Of Physical Activity On Fourth-Grade Students' Reading Achievement In One Elementary School, Donna Lynn Bush

Doctoral Dissertations

There is a critical need to improve students' reading and comprehending ability. In 2011, Louisiana's students scored well below the national average in reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Research suggests there is a connection between physical activity and students' ability to focus and comprehend during reading class, therefore improving reading comprehension. However, many school districts are cutting back physical activity time in favor of more academic time.

The purpose of this 12-week study was to examine the effect of physical activity on fourth-grade students' achievement in reading. A quasi-experimental design was used to study 108 fourth-grade …

A Practice-Oriented Definition Of Post-Process Second Language Writing Theory, Amir Kalan

English Faculty Publications

ENGLISH:

This article is a synthesis of the scholarly literature on the post-process approach to teaching second language (L2) writing, particularly college and university composition in English as an additional language. This synthesis aims to offer a definition of post-process L2 writing that can readily lend itself to practice and be more accessible to practitioners. All the publications that had either substantially or marginally discussed post-process theory since 1990 were systematically reviewed in order to answer the following question: What is a definition of post-process L2 writing theory that can readily lend itself to pedagogy and actual practice for helping …

Reading Poetry In Standardized Efl Test Preparation To Increase Meaningful Literacy Engagement, Amir Kalan

English Faculty Publications

This article reports the process of an action research project on the impact of reading poetry on student literacy engagement in an EFL standardized test preparation course. This research project was conducted in a class of eight female Iranian adult professionals preparing for the First Certificate of English (FCE) examination, provided by Cambridge English Language Assessment. Standardized tests are believed to narrow the curriculum, to reduce emphasis on complex thinking, and to have “washback” effect on the quality of teaching. In this project, in order to improve the quality of the students’ literacy engagement two particular measures were taken. In …

Teaching Writing To East Asian Esl Adolescents : Case Studies Of Esl And Ela Teachers, Ae Lee Lee

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study aims to identify practices of teaching writing that are most helpful for East Asian ESL adolescents. Although prior research has examined practices of ESL writing instruction for adolescent students in general or for East Asian ESL students at the college level, to date no empirical research has been conducted on writing pedagogy specifically for East Asian students at the secondary level. This study aims to bridge that research gap.

Two Approaches To Measuring The Effect Of The Interactive Strategies Approach-Extended On Student Reading Motivation, Lindsey M. Rosecrans

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The Interactive Strategy Approach -Extended (ISA-X) reading intervention was provided to 3rd and 4th grade struggling readers in three school districts. A first question was to determine if students participating in the intervention showed greater reading motivation than those in a control group. A total of 103 students had been assessed for reading accuracy and comprehension as well as reading motivation using the Reading Engagement Index (REI). An experimental approach to analysis was used. January motivation scores were examined in order to compare a control group (students receiving supplementary AIS instruction) and treatment group (students receiving ISA-X intervention). Although the …

Toward An Early Start For Head Start Children : Evidence From An Academic-Enriched Literacy Initiative, Haiyan Zhang

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The purpose of this study was to address the question of whether it is developmentally appropriate to expose preschool children to a comprehensive instructional program designed to facilitate the acquisition of early literacy skills. The primary means of addressing this question was to assess the development of emergent literacy skills in four-year-old children enrolled in a literacy-enriched Head Start program for a period of one year, as compared with those of four-year-old children who entered at age three and enrolled in the program for two years. Related questions of special interests are to what extent the three and four-year-old children …

When Every Teacher Is A Language Teacher : A Case Study Of High School Math And Science Instructors' Use Of Multimodal Accommodations With Els, Karen Marie Gregory

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This case study investigated the multimodal accommodations that content teachers make in order to dually support linguistic and conceptual development for English language learning students. Data from digitally recorded classroom observations, teacher interviews, student work, and questionnaires were collected from the participating math and science teachers. The data were analyzed from the theoretical framework of an ecological -semiotic perspective of language teaching and learning (van Lier, 2004), and is theoretically tied to communication accommodation theory and multimodal communication theory as well.

Bilingual Narrative Assessment: Evaluation Of The Kindergarten Language Benchmark Assessment In Native Spanish-Speaking Children, Rebecca Hunt

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Kindergarten Language Benchmark Assessment (KLBA) (Preschern & Konikoff, 2013) in identifying at risk narrative abilities in English Language Learners (ELLs) whose primary language is Spanish, as well as in monolingual English speakers. In addition, the study compared the effectiveness of the KLBA scoring system with the established measure of high point analysis for Spanish ELLs, and examined the performance of English monolinguals on the same assessment. The KLBA was administered in September, and again in January. The children's narratives were scored using the KLBA measure, transcribed, and …

Generative Learning Strategy Use And Self-Regulatory Prompting In Digital Text, Alan J. Reid, Gary R. Morrison

STEMPS Faculty Publications

The digital revolution is shifting print-based textbooks to digital text, and it has afforded the opportunity to incorporate meaningful learning strategies and otherwise separate metacognitive activities directly into these texts as embedded support. A sample of 89 undergraduates read a digital, expository text on the basics of photography. The treatment prompted the reader with selfregulatory questions and embedded a generative strategy, paraphrasing, and confirmed previous research on the relationships between prior knowledge and level of self-regulation on reading comprehension.

A one-way between subjects ANOVA revealed significance for the level of self-regulation on comprehension-level items and for the level of prior …

A Study Of The 8th Grade Technology Literacy Of A Michigan Charter School, James Edward Spruill

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

As states adopt the common core state standards and next generation assessments for the 2014 - 2015 school year, the importance of students' technology literacy will increase Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium. The next generation assessments will require students to complete technology performance tasks. For the first time in mandatory testing, students' technology literacy will directly impact a school's Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) rating. Technology literacy is defined as the ability to operate hardware and software (computer literacy), conduct effective research for and then evaluate digital content for accuracy and merit (internet and information literacy), and digitally communicate effectively(digital media literacy). …

Leading Between The Lines: Exploring The Development Of Identity Among Literacy Specialists, Peter Joseph Lancia

Educational Studies Dissertations

This dissertation study addresses the phenomenon of literacy leadership through a multiple case study of four practicing veteran literacy specialists in elementary schools in different New England cities. Using qualitative methods of data collection and analysis, namely extensive interviews and the Voice Centered Relational Method, respectively, narrative portraits were created that suggest themes related to their role, preparation, and ongoing development as well as models of leadership in their schools. In addition, the portraits suggested how the social context of their schools impacted the development of their identity, particularly in the relationships they built among colleagues and principals. With a …

The Experience Of Emerging Adults In An Entry-Level College Hebrew Course, Sarit Moskowitz

Educational Studies Dissertations

Most colleges require students to take at least one foreign language course in order to graduate. Some students tend to put this requirement off to the end of their program due to language learning anxiety, and attrition rates in these courses are high. This study asks the following question: How do emerging adult students in an entry-level college Hebrew class describe their experience? Do factors such as awareness of peers and languagelearning anxiety affect their self-reported learning experience? The findings are important to the field of language learning because there are no studies available that specifically evaluate the experience of …

Americans Teaching English: Reflections On Experience As Sojourners In Another Country, Catherine Nameth

Educational Studies Dissertations

Sojourners are visitors to another country for a defined period of time where occupation is the primary reason for the visit. Study participants spent at least one academic year teaching English as a Foreign Language at a university in another country. Working in the context of a university in another country means teaching in a system predicated upon the local culture’s values and assumptions. Though all returned sojourners in this study attended a pre-departure orientation which included information about teaching in the assigned host culture, this kind of pre-departure preparation does not mean sojourner adjustment to the host culture will …

Digital Storytelling : The Impact On Student Engagement, Motivation And Academic Learning, Mindy Foelske

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this literature review was to examine the effects of storytelling on student engagement and motivation, literacy skills, and content knowledge across curriculum areas. In this review, over thirty purposefully selected peer-reviewed journal articles about the effects of digital storytelling on students' learning in the classroom were critically analyzed and evaluated. The research evidence showed that digital storytelling increases student motivation and engagement in student-centered projects. It had a positive effect on the improvement of literacy skills, other content knowledge and the 21st century skills both for the normal students and the students who normally struggle with writing …

A Review Of The Effects Of Computer-Based Reading Programs On Middle School Students, Ann Hansen

Graduate Research Papers

With increases in the availability of technology in the classroom many educators are looking to computer-based reading programs to help close the gap in student reading achievement. The purpose of this review is to examine research on computer-based reading programs meant to improve reading achievement in middle school students in grades 6-8. Over thirty peer-reviewed journal articles and professional papers within the last 10 years were critically analyzed. The research evidence showed inconsistency about the effects of Accelerated Reader on middle school students, the mixed results of computer-based reading programs on at-risk students, and the positive results of a balanced …

The Effects Of Interactive Videoconferencing On Elementary Literacy : Collaborative Learning Environment, Heather A. Klenke

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this literature review is to examine the effectiveness of videoconferencing on elementary students' literacy learning process. Over thirty peer-reviewed journal articles published within the last ten years are critically analyzed and evaluated. The findings suggest that videoconferencing can embrace elementary students' literacy learning by motivating them to learn, engaging them in diverse activities for collaboration, and enhancing their communication skills development and academic achievement, if appropriate and meaningful learning and teaching strategies are adopted. This review also identifies benefits of using videoconferencing for teacher professional development.

The Impact Of Blogging On K-12 Student Learning: Engagement, Self-Expression, And Higher-Order Thinking, Brian Mcgurk

Graduate Research Papers

Blogging has become an increasingly important instructional tool in education. The purpose of this literature review is to explore the impact of blogging on K-12 student learning with special emphasis on engagement, self-expression, and higher-order thinking. The review analyzed thirty scholarly articles that incorporated perspectives on best practices associated with blogging. Special attention was given to empirical research with sound research design, and the scope was limited to sources published between 2004 and 2014. The results of the review find that blogging can increase student engagement by cultivating a student-centered online environment that motivates students to write for an audience. …

An Investigation Of Adolescent Boys' Dispositions Toward Leisure Reading, Julie Barnett

Graduate Research Papers

When children are very young, they seem to enjoy books. However, as they grow older, those positive feelings about books and reading begin to change for some students. Some studies agree that it is in middle school or adolescence that this change often occurs, and it most often occurs in boys. This study had two purposes: to investigate the factors that may influence adolescent boys' attitudes toward books and reading and their changes from elementary to middle school and to identify activities or events that evoke a positive response toward reading among adolescent boys.

This qualitative descriptive study gathered data …