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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Examining Rater Bias In Elicited Imitation Scoring: Influence Of Rater's L1 And L2 Background To The Ratings, Min Hye Son Jul 2010

Examining Rater Bias In Elicited Imitation Scoring: Influence Of Rater's L1 And L2 Background To The Ratings, Min Hye Son

Theses and Dissertations

Elicited Imitation (EI), which is a way of assessing language learners' speaking, has been used for years. Furthermore, there have been many studies done showing rater bias (variance in test ratings associated with a specific rater and attributable to the attributes of a test taker) in language assessment. In this project, I evaluated possible rater bias, focusing mostly on bias attributable to raters' and test takers' language backgrounds, as seen in EI ratings. I reviewed literature on test rater bias, participated in a study of language background and rater bias, and produced recommendations for reducing bias in EI administration. Also, …

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Adolescents' Perceptions Of Bullying Involving Male Relational Aggression: Implications For Prevention And Intervention, Brian C. Johnson Jul 2010

Adolescents' Perceptions Of Bullying Involving Male Relational Aggression: Implications For Prevention And Intervention, Brian C. Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Recent bullying research contradicts the stereotypes that only females use relational bullying and confirms that males use this type of bullying equally or more than females. No existing research could be found which examined differences in how each gender interprets relational bullying. Using a survey adapted from research on the rape myth and four video clips, researchers sought to examine gendered difference in the perception of relational bullying by males among adolescents. Two video clips depict scenes of cross-gender bullying and two clips depict scenes of male to male bullying. In total, 314 students in grades 8-12 participated in the …

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Social Validity Of A Behavioral Support Model, Nancy Yanette Miramontes Jul 2010

Social Validity Of A Behavioral Support Model, Nancy Yanette Miramontes

Theses and Dissertations

As more schools turn to School-Wide Positive Behavior Supports (SWPBS) for help with academic and problem behaviors in their schools, the need to adequately evaluate these programs on a socially relevant level increases. The present study employs social validation measures to evaluate Utah's Academic, Behavioral & Coaching Initiative (ABC-UBI), a Positive Behavior Support (PBS) initiative, on socially relevant issues. Participants from across the state of Utah who were active consumers of ABC-UBI's program, were polled for their opinion on the acceptability of the treatment goals, procedures and outcomes of the program. The results outlined several areas of much needed improvement …

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Kindergarten And First Grade Teachers' Perceptions Of Bystander Bullying: Resolution Strategies In Selected Picture Books, Mary Lane Newman Jul 2010

Kindergarten And First Grade Teachers' Perceptions Of Bystander Bullying: Resolution Strategies In Selected Picture Books, Mary Lane Newman

Theses and Dissertations

Previous research suggests that most incidents of bullying occur in school settings. However, teachers are not always aware of bullying incidences and often do not intervene. As bullying has negative long-term consequences for the bully, victim, and bystander, it is important to identify effective ways to reduce this problem. Responding to incidents of bullying at school, bibliotherapy is a cost effective way to support students and teach coping strategies. Numerous bully-themed books model a variety of strategies to deter bullying. Because of their busy schedule and limited opportunities to review books, teachers may need assistance in identifying books that promote …

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Parenting Dimensions And Adolescent Sharing And Concealment, Chelom Eastwood Leavitt Jul 2010

Parenting Dimensions And Adolescent Sharing And Concealment, Chelom Eastwood Leavitt

Theses and Dissertations

Given potential risk factors in the lives of adolescents, parents are usually motivated to monitor and protect their adolescents. There is a need to better understand what combinations of parental dimensions and practice best influence an adolescent's propensity to disclose or conceal personal information with their parents. This paper examines how parenting dimensions (warmth, psychological control, and harsh punishment) and the parenting practice of solicitation influence an adolescent's propensity to disclose or conceal information. Adolescents in 106 families (53 females; predominantly Caucasian) reported on their mothers' and fathers' parenting dimensions as well as their parents' effort to solicit information. Factor …

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An Introduction To Major University English Tests And English Language Teaching In China, Caiping Sun Jul 2010

An Introduction To Major University English Tests And English Language Teaching In China, Caiping Sun

Theses and Dissertations

The purposes of this project were to introduce (1) the four main college level English tests used in the People's Republic of China to expatriate English language educators, researchers, curriculum developers, and program designers; and (2) the college English language teaching situation in China to expatriates and give them information on where and how to apply for teaching positions there. The project produced two products to fulfill these goals. First, a paper titled an introduction to major university English tests in China: Their nature, development and importance is now ready to submit for publication. It is a paper that introduces …

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Parent Perceptions Of The Effectiveness Of Interventions For Sleep Problems In Children With Autism, Sarah Lynn Lemmons Jul 2010

Parent Perceptions Of The Effectiveness Of Interventions For Sleep Problems In Children With Autism, Sarah Lynn Lemmons

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to learn what interventions have been effective in alleviating sleep problems among children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) according to parent report. This study also investigated resources from which parents received information regarding possible interventions and to what degree these resources were helpful. The participants in this study were 48 parents and caregivers of children with ASD from both the United States and Canada. Background information was attained from participants regarding themselves and their child with ASD. Participants then answered likert-type and open-ended questions regarding their child's sleep problem(s) and the resources they have …

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Positive Versus Negative Neuroimaging In Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Outcome: A Meta-Analysis, Thomas Jeffrey Farrer Jul 2010

Positive Versus Negative Neuroimaging In Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Outcome: A Meta-Analysis, Thomas Jeffrey Farrer

Theses and Dissertations

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) can be broken into two categories; complicated and uncomplicated. These categories are based on structural imaging scans during the assessment of the injury. If abnormalities appear in the scan, we refer to it as complicated. The present research aims at determining whether there are differences in the neuropsychological deficits in the presences of positive neuroimaging as opposed to negative neuroimaging. This was accomplished with meta-analytic techniques. It was found that neuroimaging does not predict neuropsychological functioning in the chronic state of mTBI.

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Age Differences In Marriage: Exploring Predictors Of Marital Quality In Husband-Older, Wife-Older, And Same-Age Marriages, Brandan E. Wheeler Jul 2010

Age Differences In Marriage: Exploring Predictors Of Marital Quality In Husband-Older, Wife-Older, And Same-Age Marriages, Brandan E. Wheeler

Theses and Dissertations

Using data from a nationally representative sample of 723 married adults, this study explored the association of age differences between spouses at the time of marriage on various aspects of marital quality years into the marriage. Four groups (full sample, husband-older, wife-older, and same-age marriages) were compared to see how marital quality was affected by age difference and several other moderating variables. Spousal interactions increased among wife-older marriages, but not among the other groups. An increased level of husband participation in household labor was linked with an increase in marital happiness and a decrease in marital problems for wife-older marriages. …

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Gender Differences And Similarities In Perceptions And Experiences Of Secondary Public School Safety, Bryan K. Young Jul 2010

Gender Differences And Similarities In Perceptions And Experiences Of Secondary Public School Safety, Bryan K. Young

Theses and Dissertations

This study is a description of male and female secondary students' experiences of safety in public schools. Gender differences in reported victimization and perceptions of school safety have been noted. The National Center for Educational Statistics ([NCES], 2006) reported that boys were the victims of violent acts in the schools more often than girls. Many studies have reported different results relating to how safe students perceive their schools to be (Addington et al., 2002; Office of Educational Research and Improvement, 1997). This study considered gender differences and similarities in students' perceptions of school safety. The study utilized a qualitative research …

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Parents' Perceptions Of Bullying Prevalence, Type, And Intervention Efforts In Utah Schools, Brittney Roberts Warburton Jul 2010

Parents' Perceptions Of Bullying Prevalence, Type, And Intervention Efforts In Utah Schools, Brittney Roberts Warburton

Theses and Dissertations

Bullying is a pervasive and disruptive issue in the schools (Stockdale, Hanguduambo, Duys, Larson, & Sarvela, 2002). It has been shown to have serious negative consequences for students who are frequently targeted, including lower academic achievement, lower self-esteem, and more interpersonal problems in adulthood compared to their non-targeted peers (Eisenberg & Aalsma, 2005; Olweus & Limber, 1999; Rigby, 2003; Smokowski & Kopasz, 2005; Yoneyama & Rigby, 2006). However, when parents are engaged as active members of the school community, significant benefits accrue for children, educators, and parents. Such benefits include improved grades and test scores for students, greater job satisfaction …

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Levinas, Meaning, And Philosophy Of Social Science: From Ethical Metaphysics To Ontology And Epistemology, Samuel David Downs Jul 2010

Levinas, Meaning, And Philosophy Of Social Science: From Ethical Metaphysics To Ontology And Epistemology, Samuel David Downs

Theses and Dissertations

The current approach to science for mainstream psychology relies on the philosophical foundation of positivism that cannot account for meaning as humans experience it. Phenomenology provides an alternative scientific approach in which meaning is constituted by acting toward objects in the world that is more consistent with how humans experience meaning. Immanuel Levinas argues that the phenomenological approach, while more consistent with human experience, does not provide a grounding for meaning. Rather, Levinas argues that meaning is grounded in the ethical encounter with the Other, or other person, such that meaning is given by the Other in rupture. For Levinas, …

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Developing Cued Pronunciation Readings For Latter-Day Saint Missionaries Learning English, Holly A. Mueller Jul 2010

Developing Cued Pronunciation Readings For Latter-Day Saint Missionaries Learning English, Holly A. Mueller

Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this project was to develop self-directed pronunciation materials for a specialized group of English as a second language (ESL) learners—missionaries at the Provo Missionary Training Center (MTC) of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A set of six Cued Pronunciation Readings (CPRs) were developed. CPRs are computer-based, self-directed pronunciation materials designed to help students perceive pausing, word stress, and sentence-final intonation in spoken English and practice these features through a sequence of oral reading tasks. The CPRs developed in this project were based on essential missionary communicative tasks and utilized high-frequency gospel vocabulary. These tasks …

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Factors Contributing To Premature Maternal Rejection And Its Effects On Offspring, Ashley Mariah Sproul Bassett Jul 2010

Factors Contributing To Premature Maternal Rejection And Its Effects On Offspring, Ashley Mariah Sproul Bassett

Theses and Dissertations

Typically, rhesus mothers begin rejecting their infants' attempts to nurse when the infants are approximately three months of age in order to begin the process of weaning. A small subgroup of mothers begin rejecting their infants earlier, at one or two months of age, typically before infants seek and maintain independence from their mother. The effects of this early maternal rejection on the development of infants and some potential factors that contribute to premature maternal rejection were explored in this study. Infants who were rejected early were hypothesized to subsequently spend less time in positive contact with their mother, have …

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Parent Adolescent Attachment As A Mediator Of Relations Between Parenting And Adolescent Social Behavior And Well Being In China, Mengfei Cai Jul 2010

Parent Adolescent Attachment As A Mediator Of Relations Between Parenting And Adolescent Social Behavior And Well Being In China, Mengfei Cai

Theses and Dissertations

Attachment is an important aspect of parent-adolescent relationships, and thus it may play a key role in predicting adolescents' behavioral outcomes and well-being. This study examined how parenting dimensions (authoritative, psychological control, and over-protecting) relate to youth outcomes (self-esteem, autonomy, and friend attachment) by way of parent-adolescent attachment, among Chinese families. The sample included 298 Chinese adolescents ages 15-18 years (M age = 16.36, SD =.678 ; 60% female). A series of structural equation models was estimated to examine the hypothesis that authoritative parenting, psychological control, and over-protecting would predict adolescent outcomes as mediated by attachment. The best fitting model …

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The Roles Of Shame And Guilt In Hypersexual Behavior, Randy Gilliland Jul 2010

The Roles Of Shame And Guilt In Hypersexual Behavior, Randy Gilliland

Theses and Dissertations

Studies among people struggling with hypersexual behavior commonly report that shame needs to be addressed when treating this population. These studies theoretically distinguish that it is shame and not guilt that exacerbates hypersexual behavior, yet no study to date has demonstrated this difference empirically. This observation led to the current investigation in which a sample (N = 177) of people seeking treatment for pornography use anonymously filledout measures of hypersexuality, shame-proneness, guilt-proneness, and motivation to change unwanted behavior. A hypothetical path model of the constructs was analyzed yielding significant positive relationships between shame-proneness and hypersexuality as well as guiltproneness and …

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Does Electroacupuncture Affect Ethanol Modulation Of Mesolimbic Neurons?, Jung Jae Park Jul 2010

Does Electroacupuncture Affect Ethanol Modulation Of Mesolimbic Neurons?, Jung Jae Park

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project was to investigate the mechanism of action of acupuncture on a critical neural substrate involved in alcoholism. Specifically, this study evaluated the effects of stimulation of the acupuncture Shenmen (HT7) point on inhibitory GABA neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), a midbrain structure implicated in drug and alcohol abuse, and ethanol self-administration. In addition, the role of opioid receptors (ORs) in ethanol and acupuncture effects was explored. Using electrophysiological methods in mature rats, we evaluated the effects of HT7 stimulation and opioid antagonists on the VTA GABA neuron firing rate. With behavioral paradigms, we …

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Praise Notes: A Gender Study, Jennifer Berger Jul 2010

Praise Notes: A Gender Study, Jennifer Berger

Theses and Dissertations

Praise has been found to be an effective promoter of positive school and classroom environments and is used commonly by school adults to promote positive behavior among students. Praise can be given using many different methods; the method studied in this research project was praise notes. As part of a school-wide Positive Behavior Support program, faculty and staff from an elementary school were encouraged to write praise notes to students, identifying targeted positive behaviors. Over a 2-year time period, 2,839 notes were collected, examined for the content of the praise, and further examined according to recipient's gender. This study of …

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Empirical Study Of Information Design: Four Experiments, Noel Teresa Alton Jul 2010

Empirical Study Of Information Design: Four Experiments, Noel Teresa Alton

Theses and Dissertations

Current design theory sets out many rules and guidelines for designers, but good design is still difficult to replicate. Often the design principles found in the manuals are misapplied, resulting in designs that (1) do not fulfill their purpose and (2) disrupt the clarity of information. This thesis will review and provide experimental data supporting a model of visual form/visual purpose connections based on the semiotic of C.S. Peirce. This model was first used by Amare and Manning (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009) to evaluate and explain both effective and ineffective visual information design. This thesis will extend their approach, …

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Classifying Symptom Change In Eating Disorders: Clinical Significance Metrics For The Change In Eating Disorder Symptoms Scale, Anthony D. Hwang Jul 2010

Classifying Symptom Change In Eating Disorders: Clinical Significance Metrics For The Change In Eating Disorder Symptoms Scale, Anthony D. Hwang

Theses and Dissertations

Despite well-established diagnostic measures and measures of specific dimensions of eating disorder symptomatology, little work has been done to develop a brief, comprehensive, and valid measure for assessing change in eating disorder symptoms. Further, empirically-supported change indices to assess treatment progression and outcome have not yet been developed. The Change in Eating Disorder Symptoms Scale (CHEDS) is a new comprehensive measure designed to assess progress and change during treatment in persons with diagnoses on the eating disorder spectrum. Previous studies have demonstrated the subscale structure, reliability, and validity of the CHEDS. This study determined clinically significant change criteria for the …

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The Process Of Reintegration: A Qualitative Exploration Of The Realvictory Program And Criminogenic Factors, Celeste Marie Davis Jul 2010

The Process Of Reintegration: A Qualitative Exploration Of The Realvictory Program And Criminogenic Factors, Celeste Marie Davis

Theses and Dissertations

With prison populations on the rise, it is imperative to find re-entry programs that effectively decrease recidivism. Understanding the experiences of participants and the criminogenic factors that provoke and prohibit their successful reintegration is a vital aspect of evaluating re-entry programs. With sixteen in-depth interviews, this study evaluates the pilot re-entry program, RealVictory, by exploring the opinions and experiences of its participants including the key criminogenic factors affecting their successes and failures during the reintegration process. The two most pervasive criminogenic factors affecting recidivism for participants of this study were support systems and desire to change. While both the control …

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A Different Voice: Nonadopted White Siblings Talk About Their Experiences Growing Up With Black Siblings, Andrea Genice Hardeman Jul 2010

A Different Voice: Nonadopted White Siblings Talk About Their Experiences Growing Up With Black Siblings, Andrea Genice Hardeman

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the notion of racial empathy and whether or not the nonadopted white siblings in transracially adoptive families develop the ability to empathize within the context of race. Specifically, I look at the following three questions: Do white siblings who have black adopted siblings develop racial empathy – the ability for one to personally identify with racially sensitive issues that affect persons of a separate racial category – toward blacks outside of their family by virtue of their interactions with the adoptee? What are the different dimensions of racial empathy? How is racial empathy displayed at each dimension? …

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Characterization: A Content Analysis Of Pulitzer-Awarded And Traditional Features, Linda Janet Tobler Jul 2010

Characterization: A Content Analysis Of Pulitzer-Awarded And Traditional Features, Linda Janet Tobler

Theses and Dissertations

Characterization in Pulitzer-awarded features and traditional features was measured using a characterization typology developed by the author. Although some of the results were statistically constrained by a small n, those results which were statistically significant reflect that what separates Pulitzer-winning features from regular features are those elements of characterization particular to scene: a character's distinctive physical characteristics, clothing and possessions; the setting and environment as it defines a character; a physical description of character that is not lineament nor habitual posture or expression but bodily appearance in the immediate moment; a character's movements and actions, facial expressions, words, and …

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Comparison Of Adoptive Vs. Biological Mother-Infant Relationships In Nonhuman Primates, Rachel Ann Bogh Jul 2010

Comparison Of Adoptive Vs. Biological Mother-Infant Relationships In Nonhuman Primates, Rachel Ann Bogh

Theses and Dissertations

Studies suggest that adoptees are at risk for a number of psychopathological behaviors. To understand the etiology of this risk, 150 socially housed rhesus macaques were studied, including 107 infants reared with their biological mothers and 43 infants reared with unrelated adoptive mothers. Mother-infant behaviors were recorded across the first 6 months of life. Analyses were performed using a hierarchical linear mixed model. All reported results were tested at p<0.05. Adopted infants were observed on average to approach and leave their mothers more frequently, explore the environment and locomote longer, exhibit more anxiety-like behavior, spend less time being held to their mother's breast, and were rejected by their mothers more when compared to nonadopted infants, indicating they are more likely responsible for maintaining the relationship. They also direct and receive more noncontact aggression on average to other social group members, and showed evidence of higher anxiety exhibiting high levels of anxiety-like self-directed behavior when compared to nonadopted infants. Also, results indicate that adopted infants have significantly lower levels of the CSF serotonin metabolites 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid when compared to nonadopted infants.

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The Effects Of Client Therapist Racial And Ethnic Matching: A Meta Analytic Review Of Empirical Research, Raquel Cabral Bowman Jul 2010

The Effects Of Client Therapist Racial And Ethnic Matching: A Meta Analytic Review Of Empirical Research, Raquel Cabral Bowman

Theses and Dissertations

In a widely cited 2003 report, the U.S. Surgeon General criticized mental health and social services within the United States for failing to adequately serve the needs of clients of color. The report highlighted the fact that therapists often do not adequately account for cultural variables in their evaluations or interventions. Clients of color are rarely seen by therapists who adequately understand their cultural values and backgrounds. To address this discrepancy, researchers have explored a variety of therapy process and outcome variables across clients seen by therapists of their same race vs. another race (often called "ethnic matching"). Over 200 …

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The Relationship Between Couple Attachment And Sexual Satisfaction With Covert Relational Aggression As A Mediator: A Longitudinal Study, Anthony Allen Hughes Jul 2010

The Relationship Between Couple Attachment And Sexual Satisfaction With Covert Relational Aggression As A Mediator: A Longitudinal Study, Anthony Allen Hughes

Theses and Dissertations

Using questionnaires, self report, and partner report of spouse, this longitudinal investigation examined the relationship between couple insecure attachment, covert relational aggression, and sexual satisfaction of each partner one year after their initial assessment, while controlling for sexual satisfaction at the time of our initial assessment. Findings showed that wives were more impacted by both actor and partner effects of covert relational aggression. Wives' sexual satisfaction was predicted by the increase in insecure attachment of both self and spouse through covert relational aggression. Wives insecure attachment did not cause a significant decrease in husbands' sexual satisfaction at time 2. Husbands …

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A Curriculum For General Academic Preparation, Teresa Ann Martin Jul 2010

A Curriculum For General Academic Preparation, Teresa Ann Martin

Theses and Dissertations

The curriculum at the English Language Center (ELC) at Brigham Young University (BYU) currently has two programs: Foundations and Academic. In order for students to progress from Foundations to the Academic Program, they must pass their Level Achievement Tests (LATs), which are administered as final exams. Each semester there are students who do not pass their LATs. The question then is what should happen to these students? Should they be asked to leave the ELC, should they have to repeat the same level until they pass, or should they be promoted without passing their LATs? This project presents an alternative …

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State Regulation Of Assisted Reproductive Technology, Jonathan J. Morgan Jul 2010

State Regulation Of Assisted Reproductive Technology, Jonathan J. Morgan

Theses and Dissertations

State regulation of assisted reproductive technology (ART) has been occurring since the inception of earlier technological advances such as artificial insemination to aid human reproduction. I provide a brief overview of the current regulation of ART in the U.S. and the literature on state regulation. Unlike previous studies of ART regulation which use content analysis or case studies of individual state laws I estimate ART regulation for the entire U.S. by using a series of random effects logistic regression models for the time period 1995-2006. To my knowledge this is the first quantitative analysis of ART regulation. I test the …

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Evaluating The Usefulness Of An Aural Gapped Listening Summary As A Measure Of Academic Listening Proficiency, Sarah Elizabeth Mottaghinejad Jul 2010

Evaluating The Usefulness Of An Aural Gapped Listening Summary As A Measure Of Academic Listening Proficiency, Sarah Elizabeth Mottaghinejad

Theses and Dissertations

For this project I sought to find a more effective means of evaluating academic listening comprehension. This involved doing an in-depth investigation of academic listening, the constructs involved in listening comprehension, and of methods of assessing listening comprehension. It also included a study of the concept of test usefulness (Bachman and Palmer, 1996), which consists of reliability, construct validity, authenticity, interactiveness, impact, and practicality, and is used to help select the most effective methods of assessing language abilities. Based on my review of listening comprehension testing methods, I created a method of assessing academic listening comprehension, Aural Gapped Listening Summaries …

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An Evaluation Of The Learning Outcomes And The Curricular Organization Of The Brigham Young University Undergraduate Tesol Internship Course, Marisa Irene Ontiveros Jul 2010

An Evaluation Of The Learning Outcomes And The Curricular Organization Of The Brigham Young University Undergraduate Tesol Internship Course, Marisa Irene Ontiveros

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents two research problems regarding the evaluation of the learning outcomes and the curricular organization of the TESOL minor internship course at Brigham Young University. First, the course learning outcomes have not been revisited after their initial design which demands the need for assessment. Additionally, the current curricular organization of the course does not allow for all learning outcomes to apply to students enrolled in the course, as some of the students do their internships internationally which prevents them from participating in the sessions held locally during their internship. In an effort to find solutions to these two …

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