Language and Literacy Education Commons^™

Teach 'Em To Write, Craig Jeppson

The Utah English Journal

One day I observed a teacher ask students to answer a question in writing and hand it in as an exit ticket, something we have all done, right? Here's the thing: the teacher had taught an engaging lesson, but the responses didn't give evidence of that. Instead, they were one or two sentences long, containing information vaguely related to the lesson. That experience prompted me to work up the following model for expository writing. The model isn't revolutionary, mostly what teachers in any content area will recognize.

Book Review: Somewhere Between Bitter And Sweet, Emily Brown

The Utah English Journal

Laekan Zea Lemp's debut novel, Somewhere Between Bitter and Sweet, is a story about dreams and fears in a vibrant Latinx community. Penelope Prado dreams of opening her own pasteleria next door to her father's restaurant, Nacho's Tacos, where she currently works. However, her parents have different plans for her life--plans that involve college and leaving their struggling family business behind to find greater opportunities. Now, she not only fears disappointing them but also fears her own weaknesses will keep her from ever realizing her dream. When she reveals a disappointing secret to her parents, Pen is immediately forced to …

Partnering With Your Local Public Library, Amy Banks

The Utah English Journal

School libraries are an excellent resource for English classes, often serving as a central hub for research and literacy. But it is not the only library schools can access: public libraries can also support English classrooms. After teaching English in junior high and high school, as well as teaching adjunct writing classes at Brigham Young University, I shifted into librarian work, where I now design after-school reading, writing, and social programs for teens and adults.

Book Review: Race Against Time, Amanda Burrows

The Utah English Journal

US Supreme Court, 1923. More than 50 years after the ratification of the 14th amendment and the end of the Civil War, the promise of" equal protection of the laws" was under attack. Moore vs Dempsey was the first case where the federal court overturned the ruling of a state court; more significantly, it was the first case to rule in favor of a black defendant. Four years earlier, in Elaine, Arkansas, a meeting of sharecroppers at a local church had been bombarded with gunfire. After a few days of rioting, -five white men and an uncounted number of black …

The Utah English Journal, Volume 50, 2022: Full Issue

The Utah English Journal

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Audiovisual And Written Interactivity On Teacher-Candidates' Application Of Instructional Support Practices For English Learners In An Online Tesol Course, Sophie Cuocci

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

With the increased number of English learners in the United States, teacher candidates need to be prepared to address their needs in their future classrooms. Teacher preparation programs around the nation are continuously exploring solutions to better develop teacher candidates' skills. Simultaneously, the rise in popularity of online education has pushed universities to identify and integrate technology tools which best promote students' learning. This study, connecting both challenges, aims to identify which type of interactivity promoted by technology, in an undergraduate online teaching English for speakers of other languages (TESOL) course, most benefits pre-service teachers in their ability to apply …

Book Review: Transformative Translanguaging Espacios: Latinx Students And Their Teachers Rompiendo Fronteras Sin Miedo, Katie Ward

Journal of Catholic Education

No abstract for a Book Review

The Emotions, Emotional Labor, And Identities Of Korean Teachers Of English, Emily Puckett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Despite being an emotionally charged profession, there is a paucity of research on the roles of emotions and emotional labor in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (Khong & Saito, 2014; Kocabas¸-Gedik & Hart, 2021; Schutz & Lee, 2014; Zembylas & Schutz, 2009). Furthermore, these concepts and their link to identity formation in nonnative English-speaking teachers (NNEST) have rarely been investigated in local contexts (Song, 2018; Zhang & Zhu, 2008). In order to help fill this gap in literature, this exploratory qualitative study was conducted in Korea with three NNESTs of English employed in private after-school academies. Semi-structured interviews …

Emergency Remote Teaching (Ert) Forced By The Covid-19 Pandemic: Efl Teachers' Practices And Perspectives Two Years Later, Eman Barri

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

When the Covid-19 pandemic first hit the world in March 2020, all aspects of life were drastically disrupted, and the education sector underwent radical changes. An almost overnight shift from traditional classrooms to delivering instruction online became an enforced necessity rather than an option to continue education during the pandemic, which required teachers around the world to adapt to the new reality on very short notice. Because little research has been undertaken to understand language teaching practices globally during the pandemic from the teachers' perspectives, shedding light on how English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers responded to the emergency …

Writing Centers, Enclaves, And Creating Spaces Of Change Within Universities, Bronwyn T. Williams

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Writing center scholarship often high-lights the ways in which their distinctive, less directive, nongraded, and individualized instruction can make them distinctive social and pedagogical spaces. There is a simultaneous argument, however, that writing centers are often institutionally vulnerable and may be unable to engage in or promote such differences within the larger college or university. Yet, despite their size and possible vulnerability, the daily practices and institutional positioning of writing centers can help change conversations and work toward a different vision, political approach, and institutional presence. Drawing on Victor Friedman’s concept of “enclaves of different practice” and Brian Massumi’s theories …

From The Field: Using A Simple Guide To Help Students Write Better Abstracts., Rochelle H. Holm, Anna Karin Roo

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) often write abstracts for research assignments but may not understand the purpose of an abstract. This paper presents the pilot of a simple guide for writing abstracts which gave student support to two undergraduate Malawian ELL students for their undergraduate research assignment. The two students and the instructor found the handout was helpful for the students to develop technical writing skills for the abstracts.

"Comic"Ally Calling For Cultural Competency: Using Graphic Narratives To Teach Social Justice In The Writing Classroom, Travis Moody

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Effectiveness Of A Caregiver Delivered Phonics Intervention For At-Risk Students, Iwalani Dela Paz-Miller

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Reading skills are important for students' academic success. Phonics specifically is a foundational skill which is necessary for reading fluency and overall reading proficiency. Additional support outside of the classroom can be beneficial for those struggling and at-risk. There are various strategies and interventions that can help students' gain important academic skills. In addition to various reading skills and interventions, parents and caregivers can help implement interventions within the home setting to support students in their academic growth. Overall, the research has documented the effectiveness of reading intervention delivered by parents and caregivers, but there is little research on caregiver …

The (Millennial) Times, They Are A’Changin’: Understanding Gen Z’S Expectations In The Classroom, Hayley C. Hoffman

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

Drawing from over a decade of research, it can be said with relative certainty what millennial learners expected of their instructors when they were in the college classroom. But what about the expectations and needs of our current group of students, Generation Z? Because few studies exist on Gen Z in higher education spaces, this dissertation establishes a baseline of what these students might need and expect from market and generational research on this group of students and establishes expectancy violations theory as a sound theoretical base for instructional research. This dissertation’s longitudinal, two-phase study, then, seeks to determine Gen …

Beyond Transactional Narratives Of Agency: Peer Consultants’ Antiracist Professionalization, Amy T. Cicchino, Katharine H. Brown, Christopher Basgier, Megan Haskins

The Writing Center Journal

Social justice movements, especially Black Lives Matter, inspired many writing center administrators to reflect on their commitments to antiracism and engage with antiracist professional development with their staff. However, there is continued need to study the impact antiracist professional development has on writing center consultants’ ability to practice antiracism in sessions. This article presents a predominantly white institution (PWI) writing center’s attempt to do this work, with a particular emphasis on how antiracist professional development complicates portrayals of consultant agency within the writing center. The study analyzes qualitative data collected from consultants’ reflective writing, survey, and interview responses. Results illustrate …

Writing Centers, Enclaves, And Creating Spaces Of Change Within Universities, Bronwyn T. Williams

The Writing Center Journal

Writing center scholarship often highlights the ways in which their distinctive, less directive, nongraded, and individualized instruction can make them distinctive social and pedagogical spaces. There is a simultaneous argument, however, that writing centers are often institutionally vulnerable and may be unable to engage in or promote such differences within the larger college or university. Yet, despite their size and possible vulnerability, the daily practices and institutional positioning of writing centers can help change conversations and work toward a different vision, political approach, and institutional presence. Drawing on Victor Friedman’s concept of “enclaves of different practice” and Brian Massumi’s theories …

Preschoolers’ Electrodermal Activity And Story Comprehension During Print And Digital Shared Reading, Gabrielle Strouse, Steven R. Chesnut, Lisa Newland, Daniel Mourlam, Danielle Hertel, Brandon Nutting

School of Education Faculty Publications

Digital picture books are increasingly available for shared reading but reports on how children engage with them differ depending on the type of measurement used. The purpose of this study was to compare pre-readers’ engagement during print and digital shared reading and test whether engagement mediated the relation between children’s preference, familiarity with the stories, and media experience and their comprehension of the story. Using a within-subjects design with order and book title randomly assigned, we captured electrodermal activity from 83 children aged 3 to 5 years during shared print and digital reading with a researcher. We also asked children …

Reading And Creating Visual Image, James Massa

Open Educational Resources

Students will learn how to read a visual image (a photo and a poster). Next, they will use the skills that they have learned to create a visual image that addresses audience, purpose, and medium.

Literacy And Covid-19 : Elementary Students' Reading Performance Through A Global Pandemic, Emmett Mcgregor Schweiger

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The critical area of literacy instruction has long relied on the use of measurement tools and the resulting data to identify at-risk readers and deliver needed supports. When the COVID-19 pandemic caused disruption to education, measurement practices were altered and there was limited existing research available to predict the potential impact of the pandemic on literacy development. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the reading performance of students in a Southern Tier New York elementary school before and during the pandemic, utilizing existing data from fall 2019 to spring 2021. Additionally, this study sought to evaluate the …

"We Are The Stories" : Narrative Competence And Cognitive Mapping As A Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy In The Education Of Emergent Bilinguals, Sepideh Yasrebi

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Much has been said about the drawbacks of “teaching to the test” in K-12 public education in the U.S. When it comes to English as a New Language (ENL), however, few studies have explored the ways in which ENL literacy and education is framed and conceptualized in the New York State Next Generation Learning Standards (NGLS), which, in turn, decisively shape ENL curriculum and instruction at schools. Considering the issues of deficits perspectives, context and pragmatics in Second Language Acquisition, mechanical approaches to writing, and narrative and agency, this study intends to reframe narrative writing around students’ lived experiences. In …

An Examination On Views On Teaching Practicum Held By Associate Teachers: A Qualitative Case Study, Gülten Koşar

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

: Seeing the significance of exploring associate teachers’ views about teaching practicum, this qualitative case study aims to seek answers to the questions of what the self-perceived roles of four Turkish associate teachers in teaching practicum are and what their perceptions concerning the adequacy of the length of teaching practicum in Turkey are. Additionally, the present research targets finding answers to the questions of whether teaching practicum contributed to the professional development of the last trainee teachers the associate teachers have mentored and if mentoring fosters their own professional development. The results indicated they considered offering professional and emotional support …

Understanding The Perspectives, Practices, And Expectations Of Korean American Parents Toward The Heritage Language Education Of Their Children, Yunhee Choi

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study, conducted with parents of a Bay Area Korean school, was to explore how Korean American parents perceive, practice, and expect from the heritage language education of their children. The parents shared their experiences as Korean immigrants in raising their children in two languages. First, a survey was distributed and collected to apprehend the demographics of 24 Korean American parents in a West Coast metropolitan area who sent their children to a Korean heritage language school on weekends. Then one-on-one in-depth interviews were conducted with seven of these parents. Seven themes emerged from the data: …

The Translanguaging Pedagogies Continuum, Marcela Ossa Parra, Patrick Proctor

Publications and Research

Translanguaging pedagogy is an approach to educational equity that harnesses multilingual learners’ communicative repertoires (e.g., home languages, non-standard varieties, gestures) by strategically incorporating them in the classroom to ensure students’ active participation and meaningful learning. This paper proposes a research-informed continuum that captures a range of possibilities for integrating translanguaging in language and literacy instruction. This continuum provides insight into how educators may make socially just instructional and curricular decisions that are based on recognizing multilingual students' languages, cultures, and ways of knowing as valuable assets in the classroom.

Methodology Of Augmented Reality Chinese Language Articulatory Pronunciation Practice: Game And Study Design, Daria Sinyagovskaya

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Learning a language can be hard. Learning a language that contains tones to convey meaning is even harder. This dissertation presents a novel methodology for creating a language practice using augmented reality that has never been used before. The design of a new app in AR and non-AR versions can evaluate the same practice methodology. This methodology was applied to new software and was examined in regard to the importance of this software. Although the study results are inconclusive, progress has been made in answering research questions on the effectiveness of AR versus non-AR and the reliability of peer assessment. …

Transforming Social Work Practice And Research: Examining Lived Experiences Of Black Male Veteran Students And Mental Health, Tay Robinson

DSW Capstone Projects

Mental health disparities amongst the African American/Black community are well documented in literature. Throughout history the African American/ Black community have dealt with unethical operating procedures and research studies. This capstone project looks at historical facts, the lack of Black male veteran specific research as it relates to mental health, lived experiences of Black male veteran students with mental health/treatment, and developing culturally appropriate approaches to increasing research and effective practices to better serve this community.

The second chapter and first product of this capstone project is a systematic literature review. This literature review focused on finding literature on African …

Generation(Al) Matters: Story, Lens, And Tone, Louise Weatherbee Phelps

English Faculty Publications

This essay tells a story of how “generation” came to matter in rhetoric and composition/writing studies; analyzes and advocates for “generation” as a lens through which to examine disciplinary studies and activities; and considers how we can productively engage in generational relations between individuals and groups. It adopts a framework of “hospitality” (adapted from Richard and Janis Haswell) to develop a concept of “cross-generational relations” as an aspirational category. An ethic of hospitality is proposed to facilitate respectful, productive relations among generational groups, which recognize and enact interdependence but allow for a wide range of stances and strategies of interaction …

The Element Of Cognates And Its Impact On Second Language Learners, Azimeh Kazemian

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

There are different factors associated with learning a second language such as English. Among the factors including motivation and socioeconomic is the element of cognates that may impact second language acquisition. Through exploring multiple studies, this secondary research paper aims to examine the impact of cognates on language acquisition among different participants with different language backgrounds. Through different research methodologies, the findings of each published study revealed that students whose mother tongues do share cognates with their second language have an advantage over speakers of languages that do not share cognates with a second language such as English. On the …

The Impact Of A Growth Mindset Intervention On Growth Mindset, Self-Efficacy, & Learning Behaviors Of Adult Esol Learners At A Technical College, Wei-Chun Stiskin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The purpose of this mixed study was to determine the impact of a growth mindset intervention on adult ESOL learners' growth mindset, self-efficacy, and learning behaviors at a technical college. This study adopted paired samples t test to analyze quantitative component part of the study, including pre and post Growth Mindset Surveys and Self-Efficacy Surveys. For the qualitative component of the study, participants' interview responses were recorded and analyzed to explore their perspectives on the quantitative part of the study. Quantitatively, the findings of the study showed that there was no significant difference between growth mindset intervention and adult ESOL …

Reading And Writing For High School Students' Writing Identity Construction, Marie Gentile

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This research case study was conducted to determine how, if at all, the purposeful pairing of reading and writing activities helped students construct a writer's identity. As reading and writing are both skills separately taught, it is useful to explore the outcomes when pairing them together. This research study addresses how students can transact with texts, build upon their own ideas through a sociocultural lens, to create written products that will foster their identity as a writer. This case study relies on pattern matching to examine the extent to which students from an honors level junior English course perceived themselves …

Micro-Credentialing Of English Learner Teaching Skills (Melts) Preparation: Teacher Candidates' Use Of Read-Alouds To Support Reading Comprehension For English Learners, Shayla Roberts

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Over the past decade, the population of students learning English as a second language in the United States has grown astronomically. Presently, the number of English learners (ELs) across the country has reached 4.8 million and is projected to rise in the coming years. Because of this steadily increasing metric, the demand for effective reading instruction as a critical component of overall academic achievement and learning success is crucial. As such, there is a great need for schools to address the language, literacy, and academic needs of ELs in mainstream classrooms. To address this concern, major responsibilities fall on teachers …