Language and Literacy Education Commons^™

Language And Literacy Development For Young Toddlers, Tori Johnston

Graduate Teacher Education

Language and literacy development is tremendously important for young children in the first year of life. The purpose of this capstone is to discover strategies to foster emergent literacy and implement those strategies. Towell, Bartram, Murrow, & Brown, (2021) suggested several strategies to help educators foster literacy development including lap reading, reading aloud, reading to children from birth, dialogic reading, establishing routines, creating books with children, asking questions, and making comments. According to Dowling, Shanty, Sonnenschein, and Hussey-Gardner (2020), it is never too early to introduce language and literacy skills. Infants learn best through responsive, playful interaction that occur in …

Integrating Content, Culture, And Language For Portuguese Dual Language Immersion Learners, Aline Reis

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This portfolio is the result of the approaches to teaching I have learned through coursework, readings, class observations, and reflections during the Master of Second Language Teaching (MSLT) program. It contains my teaching philosophy, developed from my experiences in the elementary Dual Language Immersion (DLI) program and the Utah State University (USU) MSLT program, as well as examples of work produced in the MSLT program, both theoretical and practical. First, the professional environment piece provides context and background for reflections on my teaching experience and pedagogy. Second, the teaching philosophy statement (TPS) describes the main theoretical frameworks and approaches that …

Our Voices Matter: Engaging Middle Grades Hispanic Students In A Summer Literacy Program, Macy Christine James

All Dissertations

This study explored the literacy engagement of Hispanic rising seventh grade adolescents during a summer literacy program. Using a participatory social justice mixed methods design (Creswell & Plano-Clark, 2018), students’ voices were used to design and refine an instructional model proposed to increase their level of engagement in literacy tasks. Through a literacy motivation survey and focus group interviews, students’ perception of motivating and demotivating literacy experiences affecting their levels of engagement were gathered and analyzed. Following this exploration, a design-based approach was employed to create an initial model that would be refined by identifying the enhancing and inhibiting factors …

A Mixed Methods Study Of The Literacy Motivation Of Students With Intellectual Disability Labels, Hayley Jordan Hoover

All Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore the literacy motivation of individuals with intellectual disability labels and to develop an instrument that will support teachers in understanding their students’ literacy motivations. This participatory social justice approach was conducted through the lens of Situated Expectancy Value Theory (SEVT; Eccles & Wigfield, 2020) and Disability Studies in Education (DSE; Connor et al., 2008). The target population of this research was students with an intellectual disability label and their teachers. The research occurred in three phases.

In the first phase of the research, student interviews were conducted to explore what …

Page And Screen: Storybook Features That Promote Parent-Child Talk During Shared Reading, Gabrielle Strouse, Georgene Troseth, Zachary D. Stuckelman

School of Education Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to systematically vary the medium used for shared reading (digital versus print), the presence of an audio narration feature, and the inclusion of a character offering conversational prompts to identify their impact on parent-child language. In a randomized experimental design, 67 children (2.75-5.10 years old) shared a book with a parent twice. Built-in conversational prompts were effective in increasing the quantity and quality of extratextual language and conversation. There was no evidence that the book being digital in format nor having automatically-playing narration decreased language or conversation quality compared to reading the print version. …

Evaluating The Use Of A Specialised Technological Application On Students Learning Growth, Aya Khattab, Ayatalla Mahmoud Ibrahim Khattab, Amanda Alaa Alden Yousef, Paul M. Taylor

International Graduate Program for Educators Master's Projects

From experience, students usually drop in their achievement levels only when faced with a situation that is beyond their control. Situations that impact them are either physical, mental, or both, such as bullying, family sickness, or death. The global pandemic that swept the world was a situation that has globally affected all human beings. This impact was substantial not just from a humanistic perspective of well-being but also economically and academically. The economic and human impact was an experience that could be seen directly within the schools of Qatar. Large swathes of children were showing lower academic levels than was …

Evaluating The Use Of A Specialised Technological Application On Students Learning Growth, Amanda Alaa Aldin Yousef, Aya Khattab, Paul Taylor

International Graduate Program for Educators Master's Projects

From experience, students usually drop their achievement levels only when faced with a situation beyond their control. Situations that impact them are physical, mental, or both, such as bullying, family sickness, or death. The global pandemic that swept the world was a situation that has globally affected all human beings. This impact was substantial from a humanistic well-being perspective and economically and academically. The economic and human impact was an experience that could be seen directly within the schools of Qatar. Large swathes of children showed lower academic levels than predicted before the pandemic. When we returned from Covid, levels …

Use Of Vocabulary Strategies To Aid English Language Learners In A General Education Biology Classroom, Virginia Perry

All Dissertations

The demographics of the typical American classroom continue to present as a more diverse student population with the increase of English Language Learners (ELL) entering public schools. General education teachers on a secondary level are challenged with incorporating academic language instruction into content instruction for ELLs. Many of these teachers seek appropriate instructional strategies to teach ELLs academic language skills related to literacy to comprehend the specific content taught at the secondary level. A deeper understanding of language and skill acquisition within a secondary classroom can help guide future efforts in implementing effective literacy strategies to address ELLs’ academic language …

With Liberty And Justice For All? Examining The Role Of Hegemony Throughout U.S. History In Influencing Multilingual Discriminatory Practices Within Academic Policies And Legislation, Katie Olivia Wallen

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The discriminatory systems that multidialectal and multilingual users experience in the United States have historically influenced how educators and policymakers approach the construction of academic policies and curricula. These hegemonic systems shape and inform linguistic attitudes that have continually imparted prejudice against non-White language users, resulting in a gap of inclusivity for diverse student populations. Research aiming to address this gap has traditionally approached linguistic discrimination by specifically examining the use of dialects or non-English languages in the classroom rather than the underlying systems that affect both multidialectal and multilingual users similarly. Through the lens of policy and social construct …

Transforming Black Students’ Higher Education Experiences And Lives: A Proposal For The Csu, Don Lundy

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

For decades, a racial “achievement gap” has persisted in U.S. higher education. Specifically, White students have outperformed Black students on a number of indicators, including college admissions, standardized test scores, and graduation rates. This graduate project considers several explanations for this persistent inequity. The root of the problem, it argues, is U.S. higher education’s history of racism and exclusion and the oversaturation of whiteness in these institutions. In other words, U.S. higher education was built for and continues to serve White students at the expense of Black students. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) show us that when whiteness is …

The Economic Impact And Effects Of Learning A Second Language, Luke Newman

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

The modern world has never been more connected than it is now. However, in the United States of America, and many other countries, the growth of their economy is slowed by the reliance on monolingual communication. By implementing policies to invest in the foundation and future of the countries workforce, and increase the use of a second language, not only will the economy reap the benefits, but the workers who are being invested in will also personally benefit as well. The following study aims to investigate the economic impact and effects of learning a second language.

A Midsummer Night’S Dream: Integrating Research-Based-Instructional Strategies To Assess Student Learning, Jacob Garrett

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Abstract

This capstone project reports on the research based instructional strategies integrated into a unit on the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The capstone will look at the use of four instructional strategies used throughout the unit. The strategies were chosen to help students have a better understanding of the text throughout the readings and prepare them for the quizzes and writing assessments throughout the unit. The strategies also would help students interact with the text in different ways. The unit was taught over five weeks with nine lessons between their first reading quiz and their final assignment. I …

In Search Of Effective Second Language Arabic Vocabulary Teaching Strategies: Theory And Implementation, Asmaa Yazidi Alaoui

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This portfolio is the outcome of the author’s studies in the Masters of Second Language Teaching (MSLT) program at Utah State University (USU) as well as her experience as a graduate instructor of Arabic at the same university.

This work has two main parts. The first comprises the three major components that present the author’s perspectives as a teacher, such as professional environment, teaching philosophy statement and the teaching observation.

The second part demonstrated the author’s research interest that aligned with her teaching perspective as an Arabic teacher. It was a position paper that called for Arabic vocabulary teaching strategies …

Supporting English Language Learners In California K-12 Classrooms, Emma Borrelli

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

English Language Learners face struggles in the classroom that students who only speak English do not encounter. First I will highlight the problems and difficulties English Language students encounter in all aspects of their learning environment, using Ajay Srikanth’s essays on the equity of funding for English Learners. Then, I will propose solutions and strategies to help them based on thorough research and studies by Roselle Chartock in “Strategies and Lessons for Culturally Responsive Teaching : a Primer for k-12.” Chartock also talks about culturally responsive teaching in “Strategies and Lessons for Culturally Responsive Teaching : a Primer for k-12” …

Creating A Classroom Of Access: Learner Identity And Intercultural Communicative Competence, Kallen Brunson

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This portfolio represents the coursework, readings, writings, classroom observations, teaching experiences, and reflections during my time in the Utah State University Masters in Second Language Teaching program. It is composed of three main components: my teaching philosophy, reflections on a selection of classroom observations of other instructors, and a position paper on World Englishes and pragmatics. Additionally, this portfolio gives background on the professional environment of the author and looks forward to the future.

The main paper consists of a position paper regarding World Englishes and cultivating identity and intercultural communicative competence, supplemented by a paper on incorporating pragmatics into …

Defining And Transferring Digital Literacies: What Does This Mean For High School And College Educators?, Jocelyn Spoor

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis aims to create a digital literacies transfer framework through a discussion regarding current conversations on transfer and digital literacies in the English field, including synthesizing the two ideas to think about the transfer of digital literacies as a concept. This digital literacies framework is made up of five components: the functional skills, critical skills, and rhetorical skills found in digital literacies scholarship and the genre awareness and meta-cognitive ideas found in transfer literature. This digital literacies transfer framework is then used to analyze information gleaned from four college and five high school English educators. The key findings from …

Rainforests Of The Mind: Conceiving Transnational Composition From A Mobilities Perspective On Knowledge., Tobias Lee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research project stems from my experience teaching academic writing at the state university in Qatar. To investigate the factors overdetermining the deeply standardized curriculum there, I draw on scholarship in mobility studies, political economy, and the history both of Qatar and of composition instruction in the US, from which the curriculum is drawn. These explorations ultimately lead me to comment on the fraught enterprise of subjecting writing and language to commodification, which I identify as part of broader trends characterizing neoliberal economic globalization. To further develop this critique, I conduct a critical multi-sited autoethnographic study that questions preconceived notions …

"Our House There Is Ugly But Still We Happy": An Ethnographic Study With Women Navigating Displacement And Resettlement., Bridget Kearney

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In academic and public discourse, narratives surrounding refugee camps and the conditions within them typically depict experiences of sorrow and hardship. And, although the stories of struggle are certainly a part of the refugee experience, they are not the only part. This dissertation is a critical ethnographic study with a participatory research lens that focuses on the life experiences and storytelling practices of women in a resettled Sudanese family. It investigates the action of storytelling within displaced groups, the link between stories and community, and the importance of materiality and relationships in storytelling. This dissertation finds that storytelling can be …

Experienced Nonnative English-Speaking Teachers’ Nonnativeness-Related Challenges, Coping Strategies, And Identity Construction, Roseli Marqueti Matos Franco

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Kamhi-Stein (1999) declares that little is known about nonnative English-speaking teachers (NNEST) who work in ESL settings also known as Inner Circle countries. Twenty years later, Fan and de Jong (2019) have echoed that view by stating that traditionally research on NNESTs focuses on Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) international graduate students and that little is known about professional nonnative English-speaking teachers in English-dominant environments such as the U.S.A. Therefore, to try to help fill this gap in the literature, I investigated the lived experiences of English teachers who speak English as an additional language, often called …

The Utilization Of Recorded Read Alouds By Teachers In Kindergarten Through Sixth Grade, Kira Hart

Curriculum and Instruction Undergraduate Honors Theses

In March of 2020, schools in the United States turned to virtual instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Recorded read alouds flooded the internet during this time (Shedrow & Stoetzel, 2021). Now that school is back in person, the internet remains full of these recorded read alouds. The purpose of this study is to examine the utilization of recorded read alouds as an instructional practice by kindergarten through sixth grade teachers within in-person classrooms. This study also determines whether the use of a recorded read aloud by teachers has changed following COVID-19 and the purposes recorded read alouds serve. Research …

Building Academic Language Proficiency For English Learners, Abha Gupta

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

Academic language proficiency is essential for success in school, especially for English Learners (ELs). However, it is a skill which receives little attention. Many ELs frequently exit from language assistance programs because they perform well on social language tests and sound proficient in language interchange, due to strong basic interpersonal communication skills. However, they may still struggle in content areas due to poor academic language proficiency. This article’s main goals are to illustrate the value of academic language comprehension and offer teaching techniques that will help ELs develop this skill. These strategies, which play to English Learners’ strengths, incorporate cognates …

Stories In Motion: Integrating Creative Dance In A Language Arts Classroom, Amira Akam

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

As learning gaps have widened in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increased need for research-based strategies to improve student academic achievement and engagement. This study explored the integration of creative dance as a form of storytelling in a kindergarten language arts classroom. Students were introduced to an element of dance and used it to create short dance phrases in a unit on retelling. Both qualitative and quantitative data was collected using pre/post tests and student interviews measuring students’ engagement and enjoyment. Students involved in this study showed significant growth in their ability to orally retell …

Narrowing The Achievement Gap By Increasing Student Opportunities In An Outdoor Project-Based Learning Environment, Britney Christensen

Masters Projects

The nation’s lack of student achievement on standardized tests is a result of the insufficient number of opportunities a student has to interact with their environment. Research indicates racial and economic disparities limit the number of chances these groups have to build the wide range of background knowledge needed to support the academic demands in the classroom. As a result, their performances show a widening of the achievement gap. Therefore, this project speaks to perspectives centered around constructivism as a way to explain how students acquire knowledge over time. The author contends that reading diverse texts, writing for different purposes, …

Strategies To Aid Multilingual Learners In Academic Language Acquisition In Elementary Science And Mathematics Classes, Mikayla Grumbacher, Sophia Sladic

James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal (JMURJ)

This qualitative inquiry research study surveys academic language acquisition strategies for teachers of multilingual learners in elementary science and mathematics classes. We paired readings of recent peer-reviewed journal articles with video observations of three elementary school teachers and an interview with a Director of English as a Second Language for a county in Virginia. Thematic analysis helped us identify similar strategies across the different studies, classroom observations, and interview. Our findings suggest that utilizing sensory and interactive supports are especially helpful strategies for teachers seeking to help multilingual learners in academic language acquisition.

Writing And Reading Connections: Giving Value To Both Sides Of The Same Literacy Coin, Zoi A. Traga Philippakos, Penelope Wiese, Adalea Davis

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

The purpose of this article is to comment on ways that writing-reading connections can take place enhancing reading comprehension and composition. Drawing from a genre-based instructional approach, examples are provided to explain such connections in the process of (a) a rhetorical analysis conducted on writing prompts and prior to reading, (b) examination of writing purposes and genres for writing and reading, (c) read alouds for retelling and monitoring meaning making, and (d) of critical reading for reviewing purposes and determination of clarity of written ideas. The article concludes with guidelines for classroom teachers and recommendations for the implementation of the …

Explicit Instruction In A Second Grade Picturebook Author Study, Ted Kesler

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

Using the Learning by Design multiliteracies framework, writing workshop was transformed into composing workshop. The researcher worked with a team of four second grade teachers in an urban public elementary school to redesign their Kevin Henkes author study to equally value art and design, guiding their students in creating their own narrative picturebooks. The researcher addresses the following two research questions: 1. What explicit instructional practices did the teachers enact? 2. What influence did these explicit instructional practices have on the second graders’ composing work? The researcher applied cross-case analysis, first to create an inventory of explicit instructional practices, and …

Empathy Throughout The Curriculum: Using Picture Books To Promote Activism & Equity, Kathleen M. Olmstead, Peter Kalenda, Logan T. Rath, Jeffrey Xue, Jie Zhang

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

The authors—a panel of teacher educators, an education librarian, and a high school student activist, share classroom practices, recent research, and scholarship that centers on fostering empathy and activism through picture books as part of culturally relevant-sustaining practices. A variety of new children’s literature and practical ways to incorporate these inclusive picture books across the curriculum are shared. Useful strategies for teachers to locate culturally responsive & sustaining children’s literature and related resources for classroom use are also provided.

More Than Words: Using Children's Literature To Promote Self-Awareness In The Primary Grades, Vicki L. Luther

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

Children at the beginning of their formal educational experiences are developing cognitively, socially, and emotionally. However, due to the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic, many children are behind in these developmental areas. Self-awareness is a foundation of students’ understandings of themselves and the world around them. Without a greater perception of self-awareness, children learning to read in the primary grades might struggle in self-efficacy and motivation, and a lack of self-awareness can even affect students’ understandings of texts in later grades. This article focuses on how teachers can use children’s literature to discuss socioemotional components and to help students recognize …

Coaching Teachers Under Duress, Cathy A. Toll

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

At a time when teachers are feeling exceptional amounts of duress, literacy coaches often feel ineffective. However, coaches can be more important than ever when their collaborations increase teachers’ self-efficacy, resiliency, and success with students. This article provides six simple rules that literacy coaches can use to enhance their work and strengthen the effectiveness of their teacher partners: be realistic, respond to teachers, adjust the scale, keep eyes on the prize, make a difference, and stop the spiral. Rooted in theories of complex adaptive systems and research on the needs of teachers in times of stress, the suggestions herein provide …

Reflecting On And Embracing The Complexity Of Literacy Theories In Practice, Christine Lare, Katarina N. Silvestri

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

This paper responds to the need to support complexities of literacy instruction by identifying and illustrating teaching strategies used by a practicing special education teacher rooted in a multi-theoretical approach to teaching literacy. We argue the importance of teaching from multiple theoretical standpoints and utilizing student-centered, asset-based approaches to pedagogy, assessment, and learning relating to literacy. We share our multi-theoretical approach to understanding and teaching literacy, defining literacy and its complexities. Then, we illustrate several teaching practices including using growth mindset, implementing asset-based data collection, utilizing feedback, and integrating inquiry-based learning that ultimately supports the cultivation of empowered literacy learners …