Language and Literacy Education Commons^™

Investigating Teacher Practice In Designing Educational Digital Games To Improve L2 Chinese Word Recognition Skills, Shutan Dong

Educational Studies Dissertations

This study explores the design strategies and pedagogical principles that shape digital games for developing second-language (L2) Chinese word recognition skills. Drawing on design documents, reflective journals, and design notes, it analyzes the game development process, the reasoning behind design choices, and their perceived effectiveness and challenges. The analysis is grounded in established game-based learning frameworks and second language acquisition theories. Findings reveal that the practitioner employs five design strategies: learning alignment, cultural contextualization, achievement mechanics, user-centric navigation, and functional aesthetics. These strategies are shaped by pedagogical principles, including scaffolding, multimodal learning, active learning and immediate feedback, as well as …

Pre-Kindergarten Teachers' Perceptions Of Teaching Early Literacy Skills Incorporating The Science Of Reading, Sarah Dunn Cheek

Ed.D. Dissertations

Since every student has the right to receive a high-quality education that fosters reading proficiency, researchers have conducted considerable research on the most effective ways to teach students to read for many years. Researchers highlighted the importance of literacy instruction based on the science of reading. Still, there was a gap in the research on this type of instruction in pre-kindergarten classrooms. The purpose of my qualitative, interpretive study was to explore East Tennessee pre-kindergarten teachers’ perceptions of their abilities to implement science of reading-based literacy instruction and how these teachers were implementing this instruction in their classrooms. After collecting …

Kindergarten Through Third-Grade Teachers’ Understanding Of Dyslexia And Their Preparedness To Teach Students With Potential Dyslexia, Including English Speakers Of Other Languages (Esol) Students, Carrie Madden

Curriculum and Instruction (Ed.D.) Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate kindergarten through third grade teachers’ understanding of dyslexia and their preparedness to teach students with potential dyslexia, including ESOL students in a city school district by using questionnaires and focus groups. This study yielded three main findings: (a) teachers define dyslexia using similar terms and wording, but do not use a formal definition; (b) continuous opportunities for targeted professional development is crucial to understanding potential dyslexia in students, including ESOL students; (c) tailored supports, interventions, and screenings are paramount to ensure preparation of teachers to have effective instructional practices for …

Comparing Fastbridge Reading Assessment Scores: Reading Interventionist Vs. Lexia Powerup For Sixth-Grade Students, Amanda K. Boss

Education Doctorate Dissertations

This study investigates the differences in FastBridge reading assessment scores among sixth-grade students at a middle school in Southeast Minnesota. A sample of 266 sixth graders participated in the technology-based intervention program, Lexia PowerUp, while 35 students received additional support from a reading interventionist using the UFLI (University of Florida Literacy Initiative) Foundations curriculum. Employing a quantitative, non-experimental post hoc analysis, the research revealed that both Lexia PowerUp and UFLI: Foundations enhanced FastBridge AUTOreading scores; however, FastBridge aReading scores showed no significant changes for either program. Notably, students utilizing Lexia PowerUp consistently improved throughout the year, whereas those in the …

Sprachlerner Aufbauen, Eine Studie Zu Us-Amerikanischen Und Deutschen Lehrplänen, Kyley Bishop

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Das Sprachenlernen ist eine Fähigkeit, die nicht nur dabei hilft, das Gedächtnis, die Aufmerksamkeit und die Entscheidungsfähigkeit zu verbessern, sondern auch Türen zu einer Vielzahl von Karrierewegen und Lebenserfahrungen öffnet. Das Nutzen des Sprachenlernens wird seit Jahren als eine entscheidende Lebenskompetenz von Wissenschaftlern unterstützt. Der Wert des Sprachenlernens wird im Lehrplan der US-Schulen jedoch nicht berücksichtigt. Die Frage ist: wie können Länder mehrsprachige Menschen erziehen? Wie unterscheiden sich diese Lehrpläne von denen in den USA? Wie kann das US-Bildungssystem das Fremdsprachenlernen besser fördern? Deutschland gehört zu den Ländern, die durch ihre Bildung zwei- und mehrsprachige Menschen ausbilden. Durch die Untersuchung …

Literary Postcritique And American Transcendentalism: Helping Students Practice Community-Building By Rewilding Literature In The Classroom, Tate Aldrich

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Literary postcritique is an emergent theoretical approach to literature that has elicited skepticism among many in academia because of its central claim that their unchecked overreliance on suspicious and symptomatic reading styles is diminishing the pedagogical potential of our reading together. To restore this potential, Rita Felski, a champion of literary postcritique, suggests adopting an aesthetic reading style, a mid-level interpretation that neither indulges in the formalists’ habits of close scrutiny nor in the cultural critics’ wider lens of political and social contexts. In The Limits of Critique and Hooked, Felski argues that an aesthetic reading style can develop …

Treading Lightly: The Ethics Of Instructor Il/Legibility And Neutrality In The Classroom, Marcus A. Woodman

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Instructors in the classroom often describe their experiences teaching as being a performance, which often combines authenticity with boundaries to keep certain aspects of the instructor’s life out of the classroom. For queer instructors, their performance may be especially complicated; since queer identity is less visible than other types of identities, instructors must also weigh whether or not to come out to their students. In our current political moment, where queerness has yet again become a scrutinized topic (especially when in proximity to youth), teachers have an even more difficult decision to make.

This thesis uses queer theory and queer …

James Baldwin's Classroom And What He Can Teach Educators About Queer Representation, Matthew Callahan

Honors College Theses

This is an extended analysis of James Baldwin's "A Talk to Teachers" about how to bring representation into the classroom. I use Baldwin's other essays and fiction along with educational research to look into the way Baldwin understands education and the importance of bringing healthy queer representation into the classroom. I provide both theoretical observations along with practical implications of what this means for educators in the classroom and what they can do to help all their students feel seen, represented, and welcome in the classroom.

Impact Of Private Early Childhood Education On Academic And Social Preparedness Of Preschoolers, Destiny E. Rizo

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Early childhood education plays a crucial role in shaping a child's academic and social development. This senior capstone examines how private preschool programs influence kindergarten readiness in both academic and social domains. Through a literature review and interviews with early childhood educators, this project explores the specific practices within private programs that contribute to children's preparedness. The result findings indicated that smaller class size, individualized instruction, and enriched learning environments are the key factors that could really support early learning success for children. As a future educator, this research highlights the value of incorporating these strategies into public school curriculum …

How A Garden Hoe Changed My Literacy Life: A Story Of Teaching, Coaching, And Becoming, Kelsey J. Walker

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Theses and Other Student Research

In this dissertation, I explore how personal practical experiences teaching reading intervention impacted my own understanding of the role of a secondary literacy coach. Drawing on the concepts of dialogism and adult learning theory, I leveraged learning conversations to grow my own body of knowledge. The methodology of this study was done using narrative inquiry and autoethnography. This methodological blend allowed me to closely study myself as the primary participant with a unique positionality as a scholarly practitioner. I unpack the complexities, contradictions, and tensions of my lived experience through stories and vignettes set in a rural midwestern public school …

Non-Esl High School Teachers’ Instructional Training And Professional Development Needs And Their Emergent Bilingual Student Classrooms, Brynn Erin Caddell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The U.S. emergent bilingual student population continues to grow and is projected to increase nationwide. The growing population of students has specific academic and social needs that need to be addressed and provided for emergent bilingual students to be successful. This qualitative case study examined the instructional needs of high school non-English as a second language (ESL) teachers who serve emergent bilingual students and how the district can support the instructional practices of high school teachers in an urban school district in Texas. The problem addressed in this study was the lack of instructional training and professional development for secondary …

Deconstructing The Cradle Of Literature: An Application Of Pierre Bourdieu’S “Field” Theory To The Studies Of Literary Subjectivity And Local Creative Writing, Gabriel F. Y. Tsang

Journal of Creative Writing Studies

Different from Northrop Frye, who intends to terminate literary discussions by stressing archetypical analysis, Pierre Bourdieu attracts many interdisciplinary attempts upon his scientific methodology. Although he rarely centralizes the internal value of literature, as he did in an exceptional commentary on Guillaume’s poetry by adopting conventional judgments (descriptive, rhetoric, narrative, and stylistic), his sociological delineation of the objective and habitual mechanism of the literary field and the possibility of change oriented by personal dispositions strikingly reveals a new integrative way to understand the dynamic process of literary formation. Adding Merleau-Ponty phenomenology of perception and perspective of communicative externalization to Bourdieu’s …

"Integrating The Seven Stages Of Conocimiento With Nahuatl And Ralámuri Wisdom In Kosmic Feminism: My Creative Writer Identity.", Hilda Yaneth Sotelo Dr

Journal of Creative Writing Studies

This paper explores the intersection of Kosmic Feminism and the seven stages of conocimiento as outlined by Gloria Anzaldúa, integrating Indigenous wisdom from Nahuatl and Ralámuri traditions. It examines how decolonial thought, feminist theory, and creative writing can be transformative tools for personal and communal healing. Drawing on personal experiences rooted in the borderlands of Ciudad Juárez-El Paso and Rarámuri heritage, the author blends Anzaldúa’s framework of conocimiento with Indigenous perspectives to offer a critique of patriarchal systems and a vision of holistic, cosmic resistance. The seven stages of conocimiento—awakening (El Arrebato), liminality (La Nepantla), commitment (El Compromiso), healing (La …

Effective Elementary Vocabulary Instructional Strategies, Staci A. Brown

Masters Projects

Vocabulary knowledge upon entering school is a known predictor of literacy success (Moody et al., 2018; NPR, 2000). However, students enter school with various levels of vocabulary knowledge, creating gaps in literacy skills. Teachers must be equipped with the most efficient and effective vocabulary instructional strategies to compensate for these deficits in vocabulary and help all students become successful readers (Moody et al., 2018). This project seeks to research the most successful methods of structuring and implementing vocabulary instruction and provide this knowledge to kindergarten and second-grade teachers through professional development (PD). The PD will consist of several workshops introducing …

Equipping Teachers To Support Comic Literacy: An Analysis Of The Educational Potential Of Toon Book, Kayla Whitlock, Jewel Yoder Kuhns, Sara Kersten-Parrish Dr.

SANE journal: Sequential Art Narrative in Education

Teachers frequently reach for leveled readers to help facilitate their guided reading groups; however, there can be limits in using these leveled readers. One such limit relates to enjoyment and engagement. An answer to this is using TOON books during guided reading time. TOON books are graphic novel leveled readers and were created in response to a need for high quality books for readers of all levels. However, in reading these books teachers need to be aware of the comics form and how those features impact the reading process. In this article, we outline the features common in graphic novels …

Using Social Emotional Learning To Connect Social Awareness And Classic Literature, Erin Anderson

Honors Projects

The following case study explores how social-emotional learning (SEL) teaching strategies enhance seventh-grade students’ engagement with classic literature during English Language Arts (ELA) class. Using S.E. Hinton’s classic novella The Outsiders as a foundation for this research, this study examines whether SEL-based lesson plans help adolescents make deeper connections between literature and their own lives. Two groups of students were compared in the study: one group received traditional, comprehension-based instruction, while the other participated in SEL-based assessments, encouraging perspective-taking and personal reflection. This study utilizes qualitative assessments like character analysis, reflection, and surveys to affirm that students who are exposed …

From Page To Perspective: Book Clubs & Book Reviews Enhance Learning In The College Classroom, Kim Nehls

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

Incorporating book clubs and book reviews into my International Business Capstone course (UNLV BUS 498) offered a dynamic and fun learning experience that enhanced both academic development and personal growth. Following this assignment, students demonstrated strengthened skills in critical thinking, collaboration, and global awareness.

Increasing Parental Involvement Of Low Socioeconomic Status Families, To Help Increase Student Reading Achievement, Jean M. Routley Robinson

Masters Projects

There is a gap in reading achievement for children from low socioeconomic status families despite efforts to the contrary. A major factor contributing to achievement in reading is parental involvement. This involvement is important for all children, but is especially important when it comes to raising the reading abilities of children from low socioeconomic backgrounds. A focus on Pierre Bourdieu and his theories around social and cultural capital shape the framework for understanding why a lack of involvement can exist, as well as what can be done to increase it. Four main themes emerged to improve participation. They are: shifting …

Writing Skills: The Essentials, Gina Braun

Essays in Developmental Psychology

Writing Skills are an essential component of communicating and develop over time. It does not matter the intention of writing, it is a skill used daily, and we must prepare our students to have the adequate skills they will need to function as writers. Writing skills taught in school are focused on academic writing, which should transfer and generalize across settings. Writing skills take on different forms with a variety of levels of importance. The necessary writing skills needed include; the writing process, which is supported by, mechanics, writing for a variety of purposes, and finally, building technological skills.

A Comparison Of The Relationship Between Campus Writing Centers And Developmental Writing Programs At Two- And Four-Year Institutions, Kiley Truex

English Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity

Throughout the history of American composition instruction in higher education, the question of how best to support students who struggle with or come into college unprepared for academic writing has been a debated one. Two of the most commonplace models for additional student writing support are basic writing courses and writing centers, and institutions often have both. Furthermore, there is also a distinction between writing education at the four-year college level and writing education at the two-year college level, and this distinction comes into particularly sharp focus when it comes to examining both basic writing pedagogies and well as the …

Beyond Convenience: A Mixed-Methods Study Of Asynchronous Multimodal Tutoring And Its Impact On Understanding And Connection, Sohui Lee, Abigail Michelini

The Writing Center Journal

Although traditional asynchronous tutoring is associated with text-based communication, writing centers are beginning to experiment with asynchronous multimodal tutoring with the assistance of accessible and interactive multimedia technologies and instructional platforms like VoiceThread. Using a mixed-methods approach of surveys and interviews of undergraduate students at a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), this study explores the potential benefits of asynchronous multimodal tutoring beyond access and convenience: We examine why students choose to submit their papers for asynchronous multimodal feedback, and whether they perceive that the multimodal aspect of the feedback improves their understanding and enhances their connection with tutors.

Central Habits Of Highly Effective Tutors: Hospitable Practice, Rhetorical Listening, And Emotional Validation In The Writing Center, Edward A. English

The Writing Center Journal

This article explores hospitality as a theoretical framework for valuing emotional engagement and rhetorical listening in writing center consultations, challenging traditional views that prioritize rationality and detachment. Anchored in a university writing center, the study investigates how writing tutors engage with writers, adopting hospitality as a core principle. Semi-structured postconsultation interviews and a focus group allowed tutors to reflect collaboratively on their application of the hospitality framework. Thematic analysis with in vivo coding ensured participants’ voices remained central to the findings. By examining the lived experiences of tutors, the study highlights the dynamic relationship between emotional and rational responses in …

Front Matter, Harry Denny

The Writing Center Journal

Front matter and editors' introduction to The Writing Center Journal 43:1 (2025).

Writing Confidence: Tutoring, Identity, And Race—A Mixed-Methods Approach, Daniel Messier, Hadi Riad Banat

The Writing Center Journal

This mixed-methods study sought to better understand how confidence in writing and race interact as factors within writing centers. Students utilizing our writing center were asked to provide data about racial identity and writing confidence both when registering with the writing center and when completing postsession surveys. From this data, we interviewed a racially representative pool of respondents to better understand their definitions of confidence and the identity factors that have shaped their confidence in writing. Our survey data showed that students’ confidence increased significantly as a result of a writing center session, replicating previous writing center research. Furthermore, we …

Somewhere In The Middle: Assistant Directors’ Leadership, Labor, And Power In Writing Centers, Keri L. Carter, John L. Carter

The Writing Center Journal

The position of writing center assistant director resides in the middle of the often blurry lines of hierarchy. While many writing centers advocate for team leadership, the fact remains that universities are steeped in bureaucratic tradition familiar to university leaders, students, and tutors. Assistant directors accomplish tasks that keep the day-to- day center functioning, yet these tasks equate to sometimes invisible work in the center and often invisible work in the university as a whole. Furthermore, research on assistant directors’ roles, labor, and identities is exceedingly limited. Thus, the purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study is to understand how hierarchies …

English Writing Centers In China: Opportunities, Challenges, And Paths Forward, Bradley Hughes, Jingtian Zhang

The Writing Center Journal

English writing centers at Chinese universities present a fascinating paradox. On one hand, the number of universities with writing centers and the professional interest in writing centers in China have grown steadily over the past two decades. But on the other, the number of centers is still modest and only a few centers have had a significant influence on the culture of writing on their campuses, which is surprising given the vast number of universities in China and the documented need for strengthening and expanding writing instruction in English. This international research study explores the current state of English writing …

We Should Promote Genai Writing Tools For Linguistic Equity, Nathan Lindberg

The Writing Center Journal

In this essay, I suggest that we should embrace generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) writing tools, particularly chatbots (e.g., ChatGPT, Copilot, Claude), because they can enable linguistic equity by leveling the academic playing field for English as an additional language students. As writing experts, we can find ways to use this technology to enhance learning, and, since we know both student and faculty positions, we can help develop policies so such tools can be used effectively and ethically. Alternatively, we can ignore them and risk becoming irrelevant.

Spanish Education: Teaching Philosophy Learned From Best Practice And Student And Teacher Engagement., Olivia Anderson

Honors Theses

This honors thesis investigates best practices for teaching Spanish in K–12 settings by conducting qualitative interviews with Spanish teachers at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. The study focuses on identifying effective strategies and classroom activities that promote student engagement and language proficiency while examining how teachers continue to develop professionally. Conscious of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages’ (ACTFL) Five C’s—Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities—the research highlights communication as the central pillar of language learning. Through detailed classroom examples, such as “Mapa del Martes,” student-created cooking videos, and Kagan Strategies, the thesis illustrates how …

Promoting College And Career Ready Readers And Writers: A Guide For English, Science, And Social Studies Teachers To Support Instruction Of Sat Reading And Writing Skills, David Fitzpatrick

Masters Projects

In Michigan and across the United States, student scores on the Evidence Based Reading and Writing section of the SAT have been steadily declining. This project responds to this decline by developing a set of resources for skills-based literacy instruction that English language arts, social studies, and science teachers can use to revise their approaches to teaching literacy skills. Highly effective curriculum design and literacy instruction strategies were reviewed to design guides, templates, and models for practicing high school teachers at all grade levels to adapt in order to improve literacy instruction in their classrooms. By scaffolding literacy skills across …

Teacher Training: An Investment In The Future Of Literacy Education, Kellie J. Hooper-Bressler

Wellspring: A Practitioner-Oriented Journal of Literacy and Language Education

One teacher's reflection on the professional development afforded by Reading Recovery coursework received thirty years ago in comparison to current explicit training in Science of Reading leads to conclusions about teacher training practices. The paper suggests not only is explicit foundational reading instruction essential for all new teachers, but continued investment at the school level improves the capacity of the district to meet the needs of students, including struggling readers, while also retaining future educators.