The purpose of this study was multifold: it aimed to investigate similarities and differences between Chinese and English telephone conversations, to test the validity of the theoretical distinction between transactional talk and interactional talk, and to examine L2 learners' use of the target language. Comparisons along four dimensions were conducted: (1) across languages--Chinese and English, (2) across functions--transactional and interactional talk, (3) across settings--China and the U.S., (4) L1 vs. L2--English as native language and English as a second language. The data consist of natural telephone conversations in Chinese and in English recorded by eighteen female participants (native speakers of Chinese and native speakers of American English) and interviews with the participants. Four sets of data were analyzed: Chinese telephone conversations recorded in China, Chinese telephone conversations recorded in the U.S., English telephone conversations recorded in the U.S., and English telephone conversations recorded in the U.S. by native speakers of Chinese. The findings suggest that primary differences between Chinese and English telephone conversations occur in identification, phatic talk, and leave-taking. Transactional calls and interactional calls display variation in greeting, phatic talk, initiation of closing, and register. The comparison of the use of language between the two settings reveals differences predominantly in transactional calls. The examination of L2 discourse suggests that learners' communicative competence will be further enhanced with the promotion of sociolinguistic knowledge and pragmatic awareness of the communicative event.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the early childhood program at the Tucson Jewish Community Center in order to discover the program's role in reproducing or restructuring the social order existing in the wider society. The study examined events in which issues of race, gender, class, and physical or mental disabilities arose in centers, during teacher guided group activities, at lunch, on the playground, and during other special activities among the groups of three and four year old children in the Center's preschool. The research then reviewed how young children develop social cognition and how they construct an understanding of their identity while developing expectations about individual and group behavior. It went on to investigate the manner in which race, gender, class, and disabilities issues were expressed and lived out by the children and staff. The data indicated that all four topics had meaning for the children, but issues involving race and gender arose more frequently than issues involving class and disabilities. The main source of information for this study were vignettes recorded in the three and four year old classrooms. The vignettes revealed the extent of the anti-bias perspective guiding the actions of both the staff and children and provided the data to evaluate the effect of the anti-bias curriculum presently in use at the preschool. The findings indicated that while an anti-bias perspective guided the resolution of many issues, it was not pervasive among all the children and staff. The findings also illustrated when an anti-bias perspective was guiding the formal curriculum. The major focus of the research questions was to determine the need for further staff training in order to develop a pervasive anti-bias perspective among the staff and children. The data indicated that additional staff training would be beneficial. Additional staff training should address the anti- bias perspective of the participants and the children. It should also explore ways to expand this perspective within the formal curriculum so that the curriculum stresses a democratic multicultural perspective.

This study seeks to ascertain the potential influence of television closed-captioning on literacy among deaf and hard-of-hearing children. Television watching has become increasingly popular among deaf and hard-of-hearing children (Hobbs, 2005), and past studies show exciting potential for the use of closed-captioning as a literacy tool (Koskinen, Wilson & Jensema, 1985; Jensema, McCann & Ramsey, 1996). The study took place over 5 weeks and was conducted with 13 middle school students at a school for the deaf. As part of the study, the 13 students were shown 10 different 30-minute captioned video segments of different genres and interests. Prior to and after each showing, the students took pre-and-post tests containing five vocabulary words that appeared in the video shown. (Each post-test contained the same five words appearing in its corresponding pre-test.) In addition, after each showing, the students engaged in classroom discussions on the recently-viewed video program, which were observed and analyzed. The findings--and, in particular, the pre-and post-test scores--showed marked improvement in vocabulary scores after each captioned program viewing. The findings also potentially indicate that closed-captioning can expose deaf and hard-of-hearing children to new and unfamiliar words to which they otherwise would not be exposed. In addition, the post-viewing discussions indicated that, throughout the study, the students employed the tri-level literacy framework, using functional, cultural, and critical literacy. And, by discussing in American Sign Language (ASL) the recently-viewed captions, the students employed linguistic interdependence, or the use of dominant and secondary languages to reinforce development in both. Closed captioning also proved to be a useful source of "triggering" words, which generated experience and funds-of-knowledge recollection among the students. As a part of media literacy, closed-captioning is a motivating tool that teachers can use to activate prior knowledge among deaf students. In sum, this study shows that closed-captioning can positively impact literacy levels among deaf and hard-of-hearing students. Accordingly, closed-captioning can play a useful role in developing literacy, and parents and educators of deaf children should devise ways to incorporate closed-captioning as part of the deaf child's literacy environment.

The purpose of this research study is to analyze Colombian teachers' knowledge of literacy learning in Spanish and in English revealed in their narratives and in their practice through a teacher education program. The research questions addressed in this study aim to answer the following: (1) How do teachers in the literacy program perceive reading and writing as revealed through their personal literacy histories? (2) What knowledge of literacy learning in Spanish and in English do teachers in the literacy program reveal as presented in their self-selected classroom literacy project? (3) How is teachers' knowledge of literacy learning in Spanish and in English expressed in their practice? This study draws upon data collected during a year-long inquiry I conducted with public school teachers in Bogota, Colombia during March 1998 and April 1999. The 42 teachers who participated in this research project had an average of 10 years teaching. Their knowledge statements found in the data collected served as the unit of analysis from which six categories emerged. Additional information represented in classroom observation, interviews and videotapes was collected of three exemplar cases of elementary school teachers. The conclusions that I arrived at from the analysis of Colombian teachers' knowledge of literacy learning are the following: First, that writing and sharing the literacy histories contributed to transforming traditional pedagogical practices into innovative pedagogical practices of reading and writing. Second, the class sessions, readings, seminars attended, and the sharing of experiences with their peers permitted the generation of new knowledge on literacy learning by teachers. Third, the new knowledge of literacy learning generated by teachers was revealed in the innovations presented in their classroom literacy project. Finally, the conference on literacy contributed to exchanging knowledge and generating more questions for further investigation.

The purpose of this case study is to provide a working definition of effective language instruction consonant with the contemporary multicultural, university-level ESL classroom. Using a Grounded Theory methodology, it includes data from six months of teacher and student interviews, classroom observations, teacher evaluations, and questionnaires. Though attempts to categorize effective language instruction have been undertaken, previous taxonomies have been little more than altered models of teaching effectiveness from general education, offering little that is "new" or specific to the language teaching context. Furthermore, the shift from a teacher-centered to a student-centered classroom has not made great strides toward soliciting student input in the development of a contemporary definition of effectiveness. Thus, in approaching this working definition, I attempt to engage the fundamental principles of Critical Pedagogy to research by considering not only contemporary educational philosophy and the Communicative Approach to Language Teaching, but also students' needs and expectations based on their cultural and individual differences. Thus, the choice of pursuing a working definition rather than a definitive taxonomy emerges as a natural direction in the investigation. As it must be recognized that the microcontexts in the ESL classroom vary immensely in their makeup, the aim here is not to provide future second and foreign language teachers with a prescriptive formula, but rather a descriptive macroframework of domains which were abstracted and interpreted from the context of the ESL classroom. The qualitative, inductive case study approach used here enables teachers to identify elements derived from the organic data obtained in the classroom environment from its participants and apply it to their own situations. Thus, this framework can assist teachers in heightening their awareness and preparing them to participate effectively in a multicultural, university-level ESL classroom.

Nationally, teacher preparation programs are calling for an increased level of diversity awareness, and therefore teacher preparation programs have answered with various courses and integrated attempts to prepare preservice teachers to work effectively with an increasingly diverse student population. Although there are certain agreed upon elements of successful teacher preparation for diverse settings, much is unknown about teaching across cultures. There is also a need to document the process of preparing teachers for cultural diversity. In this study, qualitative case study methodology was used to understand the experiences of one preservice teacher as she considered and enacted culturally relevant teaching. The study took place in culturally diverse middle school classrooms located in an urban area in the Southwest. The participant in the sample was a white, female, secondary language arts student enrolled in her final year of a post-baccalaureate teacher certification program. The participant was enrolled in a cohort program that places students in carefully selected classrooms for a year of observation and student teaching. Data were collected over a six-month period using academic work, interviews, collaborative conversations, teaching cases, reflective journals, and observations designed to help examine cultural issues in the classroom. Constant comparison and analytic induction were used to analyze data. Major emerging themes in the data include the areas of interaction, opportunity, accommodation, and ownership. These characteristics support the work of Ladson-Billings (1984) and Nieto (1999) in that they were identified and described as elements necessary for culturally responsive teaching. Also of interest were the "simplification strategies" the participant employed to enact her beliefs of culturally relevant teaching. Implications for teacher education can be found for initial teacher preparation program, teacher educators, and those interested in curriculum and pedagogy as this intensive study of an instructive case offers insights into challenges preservice teachers encounter in moving their philosophy into practice.

This dissertation documents historical patterns of language planning activities in American deaf education during the 19th century from a sociolinguistic perspective. This comprehensive study begins in the early 1800s, prior to the opening of the first public school for the deaf in Connecticut, tracing and categorizing available literature related to the language of signs and English as the languages of instruction for the deaf through 1900. Borg and Gall's (1989) historical research methodology was employed to ensure that a consistent historical approach was maintained based upon adequate and/or primary references whenever possible. Utilizing Cooper's (1989) language planning framework, each article in this extensive historical collection was categorized according to one of three major types of language planning activities: status planning (SP), acquisition planning (AP), or corpus planning (CP). Until this time, a comprehensive study of this nature has never been pursued in the field of deaf education. As a result, language planning patterns were discovered and a number of myths based upon inaccurate historical evidence that have long misguided educators of the deaf as well as the Deaf community were revealed. More specifically, these myths are related to the belief that 19th century linguistic analysis and scientific descriptions of the language of signs were nonexistent, and that 19th century literature related to the role, use and structure of the language of signs in education was extremely limited. Additionally this study discovered myths related to the status and use of sign language in this country, the history of deaf education programs, the growth and development of oralism and its impact upon existing programs for the deaf and the employment of deaf teachers. It was also revealed that several terms used in the 19th century have been misinterpreted by educational practitioners today who mistakenly believe they are using strategies that were developed long ago. Therefore, this study attempts to 'correct the record' by using primary sources to bring to light a new understanding of the history of deaf education from a language planning perspective.

In this study the behaviors observed and the products created by Hispanic and Navajo children, ages four to five, are described. Each child participated in a performance-based assessment of problem solving designed to identify young children with gifts and talents. The assessment process entails careful observation of children's problem solving and resultant products to determine an individual's abilities and interests in each of the intelligences posited by Gardner (1983). All children were videotaped in the classroom while engaged in solving problems on the spatial activity of the assessment. An embedded, multiple case study design (Yin, 1994) was used as the formal research strategy to address the research questions posed. Case study methods and qualitative techniques were used. Thus, a total of eight single case studies were conducted. The primary purpose of the study was to describe in detail the behaviors that could be observed and the characteristics of the products created by young culturally diverse children on a problem solving task involving spatial abilities. A secondary purpose of the study was to determine if careful observation of the spatial problem solving behaviors exhibited by the children, combined with an evaluation of final products constructed, could clarify and extend the understanding of the spatial area of intelligence. The researcher delineated three broad categories of observed behaviors and three broad categories of characteristics of finished products. No sex-related differences were found between young female and male children. However, clear qualitative differences between young Navajo and Hispanic children were found in the spatial problem solving behaviors and in the ways that spatial representations were characterized. Similarly qualitative differences were found in the eye patterns and solution strategies used by young children who were characterized as highly able problem solvers on the spatial task. The behaviors noted and the characteristics of products created by the children in this study allowed the researchers to further define spatial intelligence children across the core capacities of the spatial domain.

This narrative study focuses on the stories of two bilingual elementary teachers. The teachers participated in a series of in-depth phenomenological interviews examining the relationship between their stories of becoming bilingual teachers and their current bilingual teaching practices. The stories were analyzed and represented in two ways, first in terms of story structure and second for themal coherence. The analysis of story structure was based on the work of William Labov (1972, 1982) and revealed ways in which these story tellers crafted complex narratives using specific, general, and hypothetical stories, as well as embedding stories Within stories. In addition, the stories were analyzed for themes that created threads of themal coherence (Agar & Hobbs, 1982, 1985) woven through all three interviews. The analysis of themal coherence revealed that issues that emerge in teachers' life stories also appear in their narratives of classroom practice. In addition, the study underscores the complexity of narrative research in terms of issues such as ownership, authority and representation.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of an intervention program, Reading Recovery, on the literacy achievement of black and white students. Through a battery of assessment, interviews, and analysis procedures, the researcher addressed the following questions: (1) Do black and white students, who were students in the intervention program, Reading Recovery, have similar levels of literacy achievement and share similar literacy characteristics? (2) Do black and white students who successfully complete the intervention program, Reading Recovery, maintain average scores for at least two years post intervention? (3) Do teachers of black and white students accurately evaluate their literacy ability two years post intervention? Twenty-seven third grade students were selected to participate in the study, based upon their successfully completing the Reading Recovery Program. Procedures included the students reading Three Narrative Passages written at different difficulty levels. One passage was written at a first grade level, the second passage was written at a third grade level, and the third passage was written at a fifth grade level. In addition to the Three Narrative Passages The San Diego Oral Reading Paragraph for grade three was administered. An interview with the students' teachers included the teachers completing a questionnaire, The Teacher Evaluation of Students' Literacy Ability. The students were given The Elementary Reading Attitude Survey to measure their attitude about reading. Finally a written sample of the students' writing was obtained. Results showed no significant differences between the black and the white students on any of the assessments. There was no significance difference found in the teachers' evaluation of the black and white students' literacy ability. Both black and white students maintained average literacy scores two years post intervention.