Language and Literacy Education Commons^™

An Exploration Into The Gender-Based Achievement Gap In Literacy: Deficiency, Difference, And Teacher, Researcher And Measurement Bias, Theresa Orlandi

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This paper provides a review of the research pertaining to various explanations and causes for boys' underachievement in literacy.

Towards A Constructivist Grammar Curriculum For The United States, Tyler Crafts Jennings

Graduate Student Independent Studies

The author argues that educators must forge an alternative method to teaching grammar: the explicit, constructivist teaching of grammar within the meaningful context of a writing curriculum.

La Teoría De Los Arquetipos De Northrop Frye, Otoño: Tragedia, Marcos O. Cabobianco

STEM for Success Resources

En esta presentación Marcos Cabobianco habla de la estructura narrativa de la caída del héroe

Impact Of A Freshman Academy Versus A Traditional High School On Academic Achievement In Mathematics And Literacy, Jim Buie

College of Education Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the impact of a freshman academy versus a traditional high school on the academic achievement in mathematics and literacy. The dissertation first outlined a brief history of school reform in the United States from colonial days to present. It then presented an extensive review of the literature related to the pivotal nature of the ninth-grade year and the use of freshman academies to improve student success during the ninth-grade year. The dissertation then outlined a study between two south-central Arkansas schools: a traditional high school with 151 participants, and a freshman academy …

Robo-Teaching? : Automated Essay Scoring And K-12 Writing Pedagogy, Swati Viren Chauhan

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This paper will examine the current state, and future, of AES in secondary literacy education through a review of current research in the topic. An analysis of the history of assessment will seek to explain why AES systems have gained such popularity within high-stakes assessment, and how the use of AES in secondary education, high-stakes testing affects pedagogy. This paper will also look into reliability and validity issues that are presented when using AES as a form of scoring essays. Finally, this paper explores some ways that AES can be used effectively within the K-12 writing classroom, rather than solely …

Collaborative Power: Graduate Students Creating And Implementing Faculty Development Workshops On Multilingual Writing, Brooke R. Schreiber, Dorothy Worden, Eunjeong Lee

Publications and Research

A description of how a group of graduate students was able to coordinate institutional resources and connections to put on faculty development sessions for working with multilingual writers (often called ESL students) across the curriculum.

Gjr Volume 38 Number 1 Spring 2015, Lina B. Soares, Christine A. Draper

The Georgia Journal of Reading Archive

The Georgia Journal of Reading's Spring 2015 issue includes:

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

President’s Page by Dr. Beth Pendergraft (pg.5) .

Middle School Literacy Coaches: Perceptions of Roles and Responsibilities by Dr. Katie Stover and Dr. Maryann Mraz (pg. 6)

An Analysis of Teachers’ Discourse and Their Perceptions Concerning the Use of Questioning and Feedback During Reading Instruction In Third-Grade Classrooms by Dr. Marie Holbein and Dr. Jennifer Farist (pg. 15)

Reading, Motivation, and the Power of Social Relationships: Learning from Middle School Students in a Title I …

Spring 2015, 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.

The Effects Of Incorporating Interactive Questioning During Shared Electronic Book Reading On Preschoolers' Comprehension, Lynda Gail Salmon

Theses and Dissertations in Early Childhood Education

The purpose of this study was to examine the potential effects of parental interactive questioning during shared electronic book reading on preschoolers' comprehension outcomes and secondly to assess the effects of parent training on post-intervention parental interactive behaviors during shared electronic book reading. Four parent-child dyads participated in this seven week multiple baseline study. Participants were recruited from a suburban preschool in southeastern Virginia and child participants' ages ranged from 48 to 68 months ( M = 55.75). Pre-intervention and post-intervention assessments evaluated the child participants' comprehension skills and the parent-child dyad's interactive behaviors during shared electronic book reading. Child …

The Integration Of Mobile Technology Into Remedial Literacy Classrooms And The Use Of School Stories To Provide Reflective Spaces For Preservice English Teachers, Dr. Jon Ostenson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Since the 1990s, efforts have been made in public schools to integrate technology into the classroom; from early initiatives to create educational software to efforts to improve access to technology through computer labs (static and mobile), this work has sought to bring the capabilities of technology and the access to information of advances like the Internet to students. With the rise of powerful mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, these initiatives have gained new momentum. However, while we understand the potential of these technologies to change education and the social importance of having students be competent in their uses, we …

Learning Language In Autism: Maternal Linguistic Input Contributes To Later Vocabulary, Janet Bang, Aparna Nadig

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

It is well established that children with typical development (TYP) exposed to more maternal linguistic input develop larger vocabularies. We know relatively little about the linguistic environment available to children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and whether input contributes to their later vocabulary. Children with ASD or TYP and their mothers from English and French-speaking families engaged in a 10 min free-play interaction. To compare input, children were matched on language ability, sex, and maternal education (ASD n = 20, TYP n = 20). Input was transcribed, and the number of word tokens and types, lexical diversity (D), mean length …

Leadership Development And Language Learning: A Foundational Framework, Sheri Spaine Long, Leanne Derby, Lauren Scharff, Jean W. Leloup, Daniel Uribe

Dimensions

The ACTFL 21st Century Skills Map (2011) proposes incorporating “leadership and responsibility” into language learning (LL). This study offers a foundational framework for combined LL and leadership development (LD) and contains a snapshot of the presence of LD in the language curriculum and observations and attitudes regarding LD in LL courses (using feedback forms and focus groups) at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) in 2012. Results suggest a two dimension structure to inform LL (a) generic vs. discipline-specific LD, and (b) implicit vs. explicit incorporation of LD. Lower frequency of explicit, discipline-specific types of LD led to a …

The Cultural Integration Experience Of Chinese Immigrant Teachers In The United States: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis, Andrew W. Hustad

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The focus of this phenomenological study was the cultural integration experience of Chinese immigrant language teachers into US culture in general, and more specifically how they navigated a new educational culture upon entering the classroom. The need to conduct this study emerged from the researcher’s involvement with the multi-year Nebraska Chinese Acquisition Project FLAP grant. A key element of this grant focused on summer residential professional development institutes for teachers of Chinese in an effort to further develop and expand Chinese language programs in Nebraska public schools. Data collected by the researcher identified vast differences between the educational cultures of …

Scolt History 1990s–2012, Lynne Mcclendon

Dimensions

SCOLT History 1990s–2012

Using Goal Setting And Task Analysis To Enhance Task-Based Language Learning And Teaching, Joan Rubin

Dimensions

This paper will focus on the contributions Goal Setting and Task Analysis can make to more effective Task-Based language learning and teaching. Task-Based Language Learning and Teaching has received sustained attention from teachers and researchers for over thirty years (Ellis, 2003; Leaver & Willis, 2004; Long, 1985; Loschky & Bley-Vroman, 1993; Nunan, 2006; Willis & Willis, 2007). It is a well-established pedagogy that includes the following characteristics: major focus on authentic and real-world tasks, choice of linguistic resources by learners, and a clearly defined non-linguistic outcome (Ellis, 2003). Important as a focus on real life tasks and authentic language is, …

Culture And Sustainability: Lessons From The Oyster And Other Metaphors, Vicki Galloway

Dimensions

The world is your oyster! proclaims a promotional poster for a study-abroad program, confirming that the oyster-as-world, like all good metaphors, has done some morphing since the days of Shakespeare’s Merry Wives of Windsor. Newer bands of shell material have repainted the mollusk metaphor, transforming it from ostracism, opportunism and exploitation to openness, opportunity and exploration, and thus an apt symbol for the intercultural experience. Indeed, Robinson’s (1988) definition of culture as “a system of symbols and meanings” seems to evoke the very image of the oyster’s constant production of shell layers: “past experience influences meaning, which in turn affects …

Study Abroad As Professional Development: Voices Of In-Service Spanish Teachers, Christopher J. Jochum, Jared R. Rawlings, Ana María Tejada

Dimensions

The purpose of this qualitative inquiry was to understand how four in-service Spanish teachers interpreted their participation in a summer study abroad program and how the experience contributed to their ongoing professional development and language proficiency. Using a multiple case design (Simons, 2009; Stake, 2005; Yin, 2009), the researchers conducted interviews, recorded field observations and collected participant journals. By analyzing these teachers’ voices, it was found that the experience revealed a newfound realization of their language proficiency and its impact on their professional practice. A salient finding of the study abroad experience was that these teachers expressed a commitment to …

Changes In Beliefs About Language Learning And Teaching By Foreign Language Teachers In An Applied Linguistics Course, Laurel Abreu

Dimensions

This article presents the results of a study on the language learning and teaching beliefs of graduate students enrolled in an applied linguistics course in a language teaching program. Ten participants completed a questionnaire at the start of the course and another at the end; their responses were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Following the course, changes were identified in the participants’ beliefs about the difficulty of learning a second language and their goals for their future students.

All That Glitters Is Scolt: 50 Years Of Language Teaching And Learning

Dimensions

SCOLT Dimensions Volume 50

Those Were Some Of The Hottest Days Of My Life: The Genesis Of Scolt, Pete Swanson

Dimensions

The following article recounts the creation and development of the Southern Conference on Language Teaching (SCOLT) through the words of one of its founders, Dr. Herman Bostick. The article is not intended to tell the entire history of the founding of the organization, nor the full story of Dr. Bostick’s contributions to the civil rights movement in the SCOLT region. Instead, readers will be privy to specific moments and thoughts surrounding a man and a movement that touch Southern language teachers and students to this day. Pieced together from interviews with Dr. Bostick, it shows the world house that he …

Ncssfl-Actfl Can-Do Statements: An Effective Tool For Improving Language Learning Within And Outside The Classroom, Aleidine J. Moeller, Fei Yu

Dimensions

This article explores the theoretical foundation of the NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements, developed by the National Council of State Supervisors for Languages (NCSSFL) and the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), describes why and how to use these progress indicators in language education and reveals the value and impact on student learning when effectively integrated in the language classroom. These Can-Do statements serve as learning targets to document what learners “can do” with languages and can provide teachers and language programs with learning objectives for curriculum and unit design that are userfriendly, learner-centered and promote reflection and self-regulation …

Exploring Homework Completion And Noncompletion In Post-Secondary Language Study, Carolyn Gascoigne

Dimensions

While homework is something that language professionals often assign, based on the paucity of research on the topic, it is clearly not something to which much attention is given in terms of professional discourse or research. In the following pages, the author reviews the limited available research and describes a case study that seeks to examine what students are doing, as well as not doing, in terms of written and online homework in beginning post-secondary foreign language courses. Results are examined through the lens of self-efficacy theory. Implications include allowing for student choice in homework options, particularly for those students …

Tradición Y Actualidad En La Enseñanza De La Escritura Académica En El Entorno Europeo (Reseña De Rethinking Academic Writing Pedagogy For The European University), David Sánchez-Jiménez

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

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 forty-eighth annual Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival held on the campus of The University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi in 2015.

Language Stimulation Techniques For Three-Year-Old And Four-Year-Old Children: Patterns Of Language Development, Hope Elisabeth Wilson, Jannah Walters Nerren, Carolyn D. Abel

Faculty Publications

One in 4 children in America ages 0-5 live in poverty (Federal Statistics, 2012); this group is far more likely to enter school as linguistically disadvantaged and the gap increases as they progress through school. This study investigates the effect of indirect language stimulation techniques on preschool children enrolled in Head Start programs in rural east Texas. The results from this study indicate differing patterns of language development between 3- and 4-year-old children, in response to their teacher’s use of indirect language stimulation techniques in normal day-to-day teaching. Specifically, the intervention using SPEAK techniques had a positive effect on the …

Queering The Teacher As A Text In The English Language Arts Classroom: Beyond Books, Identity Work And Teacher Preparation, Kate E. Kedley

College of Education Departmental Research

Classrooms reflect and contribute to normative sex, gender, and sexuality categories in school culture, rules, and rituals. Texts, materials, curriculum, and the discourse we employ as educators perpetuate the pervasiveness of these categories. This article explores the less visible ways sex and gender categories are constructed in English Language Arts (ELA) classrooms, and how institutionalized heteronormativity positions students within normative categories of sex, gender, and sexuality. These limiting conversations are difficult to identify and even more difficult to challenge. But it is precisely this dynamic – the subconscious reinforcing of sex and gender binaries – that upholds the dominance of …

The Role Of Passage Topic Knowledge In Typical And Poor Comprehenders' Recall, Chelsea E. Meenan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the role of topic knowledge (TK) in comprehension among typical readers and those with Specifically Poor Comprehension (SPC), i.e., those who demonstrate deficits in understanding what they read despite adequate decoding. Previous studies of poor comprehension have focused on weaknesses in specific skills, such as word decoding and inferencing ability, but this dissertation examined a different factor: whether deficits in availability and use of TK underlie poor comprehension. It is well known that TK tends to facilitate comprehension among typical readers, but its interaction with working memory and word decoding is unclear, particularly among participants with deficits …

Mentor Texts Squared: Helping Students Explore Voice Through Readings That Promote Critical Consciousness, Sarina Chugani Molina, Mark Manasse

School of Leadership and Education Sciences: Faculty Scholarship

Much research has been conducted documenting the reading and writing challenges students in precollege courses face (Crosby, 2007; Masterson, 2007). Some colleges label these courses “developmental,” “remedial,” or “basic skills” courses. Th ese “developmental” students comprise both US-born and immigrant pupils from culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse backgrounds (Roberge, Siegal, & Harklau, 2009) and are oft en institutionally marginalized (Blumenthal, 2002), leaving them oft en underprepared when matriculating into credit-bearing college-level courses (Roberge, 2009). In this article, we report on a case study where a community college ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) instructor and three faculty members at …

Orchestrating Literacies:Print Literacy Learning Opportunities Within Multimodal Intergenerational Ensembles, Lori Mckee, Rachel Heydon

Education Publications

This exploratory case study considered the opportunities for print literacy learning within multimodal ensembles that featured art, singing, and digital media within the context of an intergenerational program that brought together 13 kindergarten children (4 and 5 years) with 7 elder companions. Study questions concerned how reading and writing were practiced within multimodal ensembles and what learning opportunities were afforded the children while the participants worked through a chain of multimodal projects. Data were collected through ethnographic tools in the Rest Home where the projects were completed and in the children’s classroom where project content and tools were introduced and …

From One New Teacher To Another: How To Be A Hero Without Losing Yourself, Jade Weinheimer

The Utah English Journal

Whether new to the ranks or a seasoned veteran, it's hard to forget those first few years of your teaching career-mine have been burned into my memory like a brand on cattle. The policy information overloads, the crippling case of Imposter's Syndrome, the sleepless nights, the tower of essays to grade, the classroom management fiascos, the lesson plan flops, and meetings, meetings, meetings. These things can be the stuff of nightmares.