First and Second Language Acquisition Commons^™

Co-Teaching And Reciprocal Teaching For English-As-A-Foreign-Language Reading, Pei-Ying Chou

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this project is to help promote elementary English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) students' reading comprehension. The project investigates the co-teaching model and its implementation in the Taiwanese English class. Curriculum and lesson plans are included.

Code Switching: ¿Y Qué?, Helen Zamarripa

Theses Digitization Project

The project examined the pros and cons regarding the use code of switching across social contexts both in oral and written language. It argues that code switching is a viable mediating tool for teaching students the values of their language(s), culture(s), and identity. The researcher uses Vygotsky's concept of the Zone of Proximal Development to show that children often use code switching as a means to accommodate gaps in their English language skills. Teachers who recognize this can assist students by using social interaction and language as a tool to bridge the level of actual performance and the learning potential …

Awakening The Muse In The Land Of The Morning Calm: Guidelines For New And Future Teachers Bound For South Korea, Lauren Jennifer Gerken

MA TESOL Collection

How is it to teach English in South Korea? What are the students like? How are the schools? What kind of education system do they have? How proficient are Korean students when speaking English? What types of learning styles do they have? What are their strengths and weaknesses? How can a new teacher prepare her/himself best for an English teaching position at a school or university in South Korea? Where is the best place to teach? What methods and strategies work best in the South Korean EFL classroom? Based on my experience of teaching English for thirteen years in the …

Activity Theory As A Basis For Negotiation Training In Adult English-As-A-Foreign-Language Instruction, Cheng-Wei Lu

Theses Digitization Project

The project offers Taiwanese teachers who work with adults a new concept of teaching crosscultural negotiation skills as part of their EFL instruction. It also presents Taiwanese teachers with a method of analyzing their educational practice to encourage more active and engaged teaching with a useful curriculum and its corresponding assessment.

Balance In Language Teaching And Learning: Honoring Tradition And Celebrating Innovation, Natalia Tsarikova

MA TESOL Collection

This paper presents a study aimed at finding a flexible approach to teaching that is responsive to learner needs and preferences whilst at the same time utilizing communicative language teaching and form-focused instruction. In other words, the author aims to find a balance between CLT (learner centered approaches) advocated by many trainers and teachers in Uzbekistan and the Grammar Translation method (teacher centered approaches) that has been widely practiced as well. The author’s primary purpose is to find an approach which is centered principally on learning rather than on the teacher or the learner. The author maintains that teaching is …

Peer Interaction In The Haitian Public School Context, Fenel Pierre

MA TESOL Collection

The purpose of this paper is to define peer interaction and its major components. It identifies and examines the major challenges that language teachers in Haiti will face in incorporating peer interaction within the Haitian public school context. It explains the advantages of using peer interaction as a way to generate knowledge. The author concludes by providing practical guidelines and strategies of how to cope with these challenges and describing what he has learned from his research.

Since language is learned mainly through interaction with other learners and speakers of that language, this paper aims at persuading Haitian language teachers …

A Framework For Teaching A Foreign Language Class Based On The Principles Of Chaos/Complexity Theory, Michael Kozden

MA TESOL Collection

Chaos/complexity theory first emerged in the study of the natural sciences over thirty years ago. Through the years, experts from a variety of fields have held this theory up as a new way in which to view the world around us, including its applications to the study of second language acquisition. The language classroom, like the natural world, can also be observed from this perspective because it exhibits many features of chaotic/complex systems. Language instruction in a classroom setting not only produces strange attractors and fractals, but is dynamic, complex, nonlinear, chaotic, self-organizing, unpredictable, sensitive to initial conditions, open, feedback …

Using Music And Song In The Second Language Classroom: A Description Of The Many Ways Music And Song Can Enhance The Teaching Of French, Christine Geueke

MA TESOL Collection

No abstract provided.

Tasks In Tbl: What Kinds Of Tasks Promote Meaningful Communication?, Anna Fatneva

MA TESOL Collection

This paper examines the process of developing and implementing TBL tasks in the EFL classroom. A title page is included. A non-specific abstract was created and included. The structure of this IPP is outlined in the Table of Contents. Teaching context as well as the reasons for my choice of the topic are described in the introduction. Research into ESL/EFL source literature on the topic is illuminated in Chapter 1. Classroom Observations based on the teaching journal kept throughout the project are depicted in Chapter 2. Implications for the use of this paper are considered in terms of advantages for …

Integrating Writing Within The Foreign Language Classroom: Shifting Dynamics, Not The Task, Patricia Ann Evans

MA TESOL Collection

This classroom based research project considers the following questions: Why should my foreign language students write? From Pedagogy to Purpose; what happens when students use technology with their writing; what transitions take place with regard to the role as teacher when integrating writing into the Spanish language classroom? This project follows the shift from writing , disconnected activities to writing. How a student-centered writing process and technology support the shift away from the perception that good writing is voiceless and mechanical. It traces the shift from learning to write to writing to learn. The project studies the shift that occurs …

Exploring The Teen Efl Classroom: The Students, Their Teachers, And The Tangles Of Dealing With Discipline And Motivation, Anna Burbridge

MA TESOL Collection

This paper discusses specific elements of teaching teens in an EFL context, in particular the areas of teen motivation and discipline. This was a teacher’s development project involving six teachers (including the writer), and lasting for one semester in a Brazilian bi-national language institute. The project was built on videotaped class observations, readings, group meetings, and journal writings. The result was a deeper reflection into the developmental stage dubbed “teenhood”, followed by subsequent considerations of motivation and discipline of teen groups, the role of the teen teacher, the importance of knowing and connecting with the inner teacher, and practical implications …

Neurolinguistic Programming As Observational And Mediational Strategies In Teaching Primary-Level English As A Second Language, Amber Lee Hishmeh

Theses Digitization Project

This project serves as a resource for kindergarten ESL educators to explore more creative multisensory teaching strategies. The five methodologies presented are Neurolinguistic Programming, Suggestopedia, music, storytelling and Total Physical Response.

The Role Of Native Target Cultures In The High School English-As-A-Foreign-Language Classroom, Gwendolyne Claudine Mamanua

Theses Digitization Project

The goal of this project is to provide a curriculum that allows EFL students to learn through various social settings. Learning English through various classroom activities also enables the learner to apply the knowledge outside of the classroom setting.

The Role Of Corpus Linguistics In A Lexical Approach To College Level English-As-A-Foreign-Language Pedagogy, Adamantia Hadjioannou

Theses Digitization Project

This project offers methods for English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) undergraduate students to improve their English skills following a lexical approach to language incorporating the methodology of corpus linguistics research.

A Study Of The Interlanguage Of Apology By Taiwanese English-Language Learners, Ching-Yi Shih

Theses Digitization Project

This thesis presents a study of the interlanguage of the speech act of apology by Taiwanese learners of English. It compares the way Taiwanese learners apoologize in English and how they apologize in Mandarin Chinese, as well as how native speakers of American English apologize.

When English As A Second Language Students Meet Text-Responsible Writing, Miso Jung

Theses Digitization Project

This thesis follows two international freshman students in an English composition class at California State University, San Bernardino. The results indicate that the students generally experienced feeling challenged and overwhelmed about the unfamiliar topic, but detailed assignment guidelines played a key role for students to progress in understanding the assignment.

Constructivism And Mediated Learning In Designing English-As-A Foreign-Language Instruction, Chun-Hsiu Chen

Theses Digitization Project

Social interaction is the foundation of knowledge construction in a constructivist classroom. This project proposes a mediated instruction that is based on the theory of constructivism and social interaction to help new adult immigrants successfully achieve English competence and adapt quickly to the culture of the United States.

Learning By Heart: Using An Interactive Tutorial On Idioms To Model Acquisition Strategies And Tools, Andrianna Kirsten Jobin

Theses Digitization Project

This project is an interactive tutorial on idioms for a unit in a multi-level English as a second language (ESL) class. The purpose of the tutorial was to develop a resource to consolidate various aspects of idiom learning (e.g., pronunciation, definitions, and usage) into a few easily referenced pages and practice exercises which students can go over at their own pace.

Constructivism For The English-As-A-Second-Language Learning Environment And Professional Development, Starley Beatrix Dullien

Theses Digitization Project

This project addresses the needs of the adult learner. The adult learner referred to in; this project comes from two distinguishable groups. One group of adult learners consists of the ESL students who attend adult school or community-based English programs. The other group of adult learners consists of the teachers within adult education ESL programs who themselves are students as they participate in professional development workshops.

Promoting Metalinguistic Awareness Through Peer Response In Writing In Elementary English As A Foreign Language, Kuan-Ting Liu

Theses Digitization Project

This project serves as a resource to help teachers understand and meet the educational needs of second-language learners by promoting their metalinguistic awareness through peer response in writing in elementary English as a foreign language.

Reading Fluency Instruction In Upper Elementary International School Classrooms, Jinky Lunaspe Dagoon

Theses Digitization Project

This project focuses on the importance of reading fluency, emphasizing its role in the construction of meaning and aiding in the overall comprehension process. Its components: accuracy, automaticity, and prosody are examined in relation to various activities that enhance each component. A sample curriculum is discussed.

Empowering Pre-Adolescent Second-Language Learners In The Middle School Years, Robert Charles Quintana

Theses Digitization Project

The thesis explores sociolinguistic issues facing pre-adolescent English-as-second-language learners. Topics covered include literacy issues, communicative competence issues at the intermediate and advanced English language development (ELD) levels, language and power relationships that affect pre-adolescent English language learners, politeness as a sociolinguistic tool, and the benefits of students acquiring the language of cooperative learning. The implications of these topics culminate in the development of a social studies curriculum unit designed for the middle-school classroom.

Mending The Broken Windows: A Curriculum Development Project Using Cooperative Learning Methods To Teach The Concepts Of Short Stories While Building A Community In The Classroom, Nicole Meltzer

MA TESOL Collection

This paper examines the purpose, process and results of using Cooperative Learning methods to study the elements of short stories in an intermediate English as a Second or Other Language high school class. The goal of this project was to create and build community in the classroom to alleviate the pressures felt by at-risk and immigrant students, while also meeting their academic needs. The project was conducted over three months time and was assessed through qualitative and quantitative methods.

Maintaining And Nurturing The Language And Culture Of Heritage Spanish-Speakers At The Elementary Level, Amanda Amarotico

MA TESOL Collection

In many schools across the United States native Spanish-speakers are enrolled in Spanish foreign language classes in order to fulfill a foreign language requirement. The Spanish foreign language class is inappropriate for the native Spanish-speaker’s needs. It is essential that these students be given opportunities to expand their linguistic skills to become fully bilingual and biliterate. Spanish classes for native Spanish-speakers exist at the high school level in many parts of the country, but elementary students are rarely given such opportunities.

The author of this professional paper and report on the creation of an after school Spanish Club discusses the …

Electronic Dictionaries In The Esl Composition Class, Rebecca Lynn Rudd

Theses Digitization Project

This thesis examines the use of electronic dictionaries by ESL students. In particular, it considers how, when and why students use electronic dictionaries in their writing processes. It also explores the extent to which students use words found in an electronic dictionary appropriately in their texts and whether electronic dictionary use influences their long-term acquisition of vocabulary.

What Is New In The New Toefl-Ibt 2006 Test Format?, Alla Zareva

English Faculty Publications

In recent years TOEFL has become one of the most popular high-stakes tests affecting not only what and how English language teachers teach but also what and how students learn (e.g. Johnson, Jordan, & Poehner, 2005; Alderson & Wall, 1993). The new 2006 TOEFL–iBT exam is on its way; yet, until now, information about the new test format and test preparation materials is scarce. Above and beyond interest in the test alone, the burning question is what demanded the revision of the current test, given that the latest computer-based TOEFL was introduced fairly recently worldwide. The paper elaborates on some …

The Role Of Identity In Language Acquisition: A Cross- Generational Perspective., Darlene Annette Snider

MA TESOL Collection

In this paper I will reflect on the role of identity as it relates to second language acquisition. My hypothesis is that second language acquisition can be slowed or even halted when students cannot adapt to the culture of the language they are studying. Student’s facing cultural conflict tend to distance themselves from the community thereby creating barriers in the learning process. This hypothesis is based upon my own experience as a third generation Canadian. I believe the effective classroom will work to reduce cultural conflict by affirming the learner’s cultural identity and sense of self as they explore the …

A Teacher’S Journal: An Account Of My Choice And Implementation Of Total Physical Response Storytelling As An Approach To Teaching Beginning Level French, Melinda Heins

MA TESOL Collection

This paper is about choosing an approach to teaching a foreign language that is appropriate for me in my teaching context – public high school French classes – and my attempts to become as proficient as possible in the approach I chose called Total Physical Response Storytelling (TPRS). For eighteen weeks I taught French I grades nine through twelve and kept a detailed teacher’s journal of the experience.

Integrating The Six Skills In Every Esl/ Efl Class, Monica M. Catramado

MA TESOL Collection

The main purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of integrating listening, speaking, reading, writing, grammaring and vocabulary in the ESL/EFL classroom.

Through this paper, not only will the reader gain an understanding of how to design a theme or content-based syllabus, which integrates all six skills, but also he/she will find numerous activities that will help develop those skills in every student.

Readers will also be shown how students can learn another language and develop these skills through practical every day topics and different materials, which depend on the students’ developmental stage of learning, stage of knowledge …

Promoting Language And Culture Learning In An Efl Context, Laura Anne Battles

MA TESOL Collection

This Independent Professional Paper (IPP) describes the intercultural communication project I undertook during my Interim Year Teaching Practicum (IYTP) in Granada, Spain. Throughout the academic year of 1998-1999, English-speaking students enrolled in the University of Granada’s Spanish Language and Culture Courses were invited to participate as volunteer language and culture exchange partners with my Spanish-speaking, intermediate-level English as a Foreign Language students. These classroom experiences, designed to enrich the course’s speaking, reading, writing, and listening curriculum, were intended to stimulate authentic communication and to heighten personal and intercultural awareness among the participants.

The argument presented in this paper is that …