This dissertation examined the relationship between Hispanic population proportion (HPROP) and an index variable indicating the provision of library services to the Spanish-speaking in the State of Arizona (PLSS). Mailed in the summer of 1999 to 169 public library facilities, a survey collected information on libraries' provision of Spanish-speaking personnel, Spanish-language materials, and Spanish-format library services. Regression analysis indicated that HPROP has a significant effect upon PLSS (B = .600, p < .0001). An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) procedure indicated that libraries in metropolitan areas were more likely than non-metropolitan libraries to provide service to Spanish-speakers (F = 106.72, p < .0001). Another ANCOVA found that libraries closer to the Mexican border were not significantly more likely to provide PLSS than libraries farther away from the border (F = 68.33, p > .0001); and a t-test revealed that libraries which maintained interaction with bilingual or ESL teachers were more likely to provide PLSS for Spanish-speaking children than libraries that did not interact with bilingual or ESL teachers ( t = -4.6351, p < .0001). Conclusions reached in this dissertation are that libraries plan their services and collections based on local demographics and community needs; that rural libraries are often unable to provide PLSS, possibly due to financial constraints; and that proximity to a political boundary does not always influence libraries on one side of that boundary.

This study examined the acculturation level of 88 Chinese-American students at UCLA, and whether there was any relationship between their acculturation level and academic performance of the same persons. The Cultural Life Style Inventory developed by Mendoza for Mexican-Americans was adapted as the primary measurement for this research. The difference of cultural shift score between the U.S. born group and the immigrant group was not significant. However, a repeated measures t test on the difference between cultural resistance and cultural shift in the U.S. born group showed significance. In addition, a t test on two sample independent groups showed the differences between cultural resistance and cultural shift were not the same in the U.S. born group and the immigrant group. No dominant cultural life style tendency was found in these subjects. The differences of acculturation level between being in the U.S. for 6-10 year group and 16-20 year group, between 11-15 year group and 16-20 year group were significant. This indicated that acculturation takes a considerable amount of time. There were no significant differences between acculturation level and college grade point average among these subjects. Nor did neighborhood or work environment affect their acculturation level. Since the versions of the Cultural Life Style Inventory are now available in English, Spanish, and Chinese, cross-cultural comparisons between the Hispanic and the Asian could be designed in a single study in the future.

The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the processes fourth grade bilinguals use as they read in Spanish and English. Through miscue analysis, eye movement analysis and the integration of the two, EMMA, this study contributes to the field of biliteracy by expanding on what is already known about the reading processes of young bilinguals who are developing literacy in two languages. There are no known eye movement miscue analysis studies of bilingual elementary students. Four fourth grade bilingual participants read and retold the first two chapters of a short novel. The participants read the first chapter from the English version of the story and the second chapter from the Spanish version. The participants' oral readings and eye movements were recorded and analyzed for each reading. The analysis tools used were miscue analysis, eye movement analysis, and the integration of the two, Eye Movement Miscue Analysis (EMMA). Differences and similarities between the two languages and among the four readers were explored in order to answer the research question: What do miscue analysis, eye movement analysis, and Eye Movement Miscue Analysis (EMMA) reveal about differences and similarities of the reading in Spanish and English of fourth grade biliterate readers? The findings of this dissertation show that the four bilingual readers use similar strategies in each language to make sense of text. They make miscues in both languages which show that the readers integrate their knowledge of syntax, semantics and graphophonics in both their English and Spanish reading. The data from the reader's eye movements reveal that the readers sample text selectively as they read each language. The miscues, eye movements, and the patterns of eye movements around miscued words for each reader reveal that they are somewhat more efficient and effective reading their primary language, Spanish. The research also shows that the strategies these biliterate readers use to make sense of text in their primary language influences the reading of their second language, English. Thus, this dissertation provides further support for a universal, transactional socio-psycholinguistic model of the reading process.

The purpose of this inquiry was to investigate the development, implementation, and sustainability of collaborative educational practices among special educators, general educators, and members of a university community. Defining characteristics of collaboration in schools, sustained practices, and a rubric developed from features of Vygotsky's (1978) zone of proximal development (ZPD), create an integrated framework that informs the study. The ultimate outcome goals of the study were to determine: (a) how collaboration functioned during the time of initial intensive support, (b) how collaboration was sustained after initial intensive supports were removed and (c) ways in which the ZPD informed and sustained collaboration throughout the study. A two-phase case study design was utilized for this study. In Phase I educators participated in a four-month long collaboration project with the goal of integrating students from a Kindergarten--1st grade bilingual cross-categorical special education classroom into a bilingual 1st grade classroom. During this period, the teachers, specialists, paraprofessionals, administrators, and university collaborators provided collaboration and support to one another. Phase II consisted of a three year follow-up period investigating the classroom, in which intensive formal support from the original collaborators was no longer directly provided Research methodology utilized for this study was qualitative. Data sources used to obtain information for the analyses included: Phase I, focus group interviews, teacher journal entries, observations, and teacher lesson plans; Phase II: follow-up interviews, classroom observations, and supporting documents. Analysis of the data revealed that during the implementation phase novice teachers were provided with a support network, there were cross-training opportunities for all participants, focus group interviews fostered participant collaboration, teacher resources were reallocated, and power differentials among participants were redistributed. Findings for the second phase of the study indicate that although collaboration was sustained after the initial four-month intervention for more than three years, it varied from the onset of the original intervention. Formal and informal partnerships among the participants sustained collaboration, especially those linking the university to the classroom. Based upon the ZPD rubric developed, there are implications for integrating sociocultural theory into future research studies that involve special and general educators and learners in culturally and linguistically diverse learning environments.

Deaf children often lack signed language competence due to a lack of a rich linguistic environment in their homes during the critical language acquisition period. In order to facilitate language development in deaf children, signed language development programs should be staffed with appropriate personnel with a background in ASL acquisition. The American Sign Language (ASL) Specialist model has been proposed to meet the linguistic needs of deaf children. Results of the survey indicate that there are some positions in American deaf education that partially meet the proposed model. The objectives and responsibilities of those positions need to be refined so that the focus of the position is to facilitate linguistic, cognitive, social, and emotional development in deaf children prior to their learning English as a second language. This thesis also explores the possibility of establishing standards for a new profession of ASL Specialist.

The dismal national statistics of academic achievement by Native American students in the Anglo-American educational system has long been a source of federal and academic concern. Studies and literature suggest that Native American culture and language highly influence academic achievement. This thesis investigates this influence by analyzing Hopi Indian experiences within the Anglo-American educational system to understand the larger processes of how federal Indian policy has impacted Indian people. Parents and teachers in Hopi Reservation schools were interviewed about their personal educational experiences and perceptions of present Hopi education. The interviews focused on the unique educational situation Hopi students are placed in as a result of their culture and language. The findings confirm the influential role of culture, yet it continues to be tragically undermined and overshadowed by how the bureaucratic processes of the educational system and institutions continue to operate in educating Hopi and other Indian children.

<p> This study is aimed at analyzing how contemporary urban Aymara youth hip hoppers and bloggers are creating their identities and are producing discourses in texts and lyrics to contest racist and colonial discourses. The research is situated in Bolivia, which is currently engaged in a cultural and political revolution supported by Indigenous movements. Theoretically the study is framed by a multi-perspective conceptual framework based on subaltern studies, coloniality of power, coloniality of knowledge, interculturality and decolonial theory. Aymara young people illustrate the possibility of preserving Indigenous identities, language, and knowledge while maximizing the benefits of urban society. This challenges the colonial ideology that has essentialized the rural origin of Indigenous identities. Moreover, this research argues that the health of Indigenous languages is interconnected with the health of the self-esteem of Indigenous people. Additionally, this study provides information about the relation of youth to the power of oral tradition, language policies, and the use of technology.</p>

<p> When searching for pluralistic models of bilingual education, looking globally for examples is beneficial. The overarching global perspective toward bilingual and multilingual education supports literacy in the student's first, second, and including the possibility of a third or more languages to attain socio-political pluralism. This dissertation project will specifically examine the voices of stakeholders in the local community of Flowers Bay, Roatan, Honduras where the mission of bilingual education is a pluralistic society. The goal of the research study is to examine the perspectives and experiences around language learning within the lens of language as a problem, a right, and a resource of stakeholders in their local community. Chapter I of this dissertation includes the problem statement of the research project, a historical and contextual explanation of the land, people, and social movement toward multilingual education on the Bay Islands of Honduras. Chapter II is a review of the literature surrounding the two frameworks in the research project. The first framework I utilize is the public sphere to describe who is or is not included in the conversations of multilingual education within the community of Flowers Bay, Roatan, Honduras. The second framework I utilize is language as a problem, a right, and a resource to describe and analyze the data collected from national policies, field observations, and stakeholders. Chapter III is an in-depth description of the research design, the demographics of the stakeholders in Flowers Bay, the method data collected and analysis of the data. Chapter IV features the findings from the data analysis using the two frameworks outlined in Chapter II. Chapter V offers a discussion of the frameworks and further research projects inspired by this dissertation project. Three themes emerged from framework of language as a right and resource of stakeholder voices from Flowers Bay, Roatan, Honduras: <i>access, economy,</i> and <i>identity.</i> Two themes emerged from the stakeholder voices not represented in the frameworks: <i>resources needed </i> and <i>parent engagement.</i></p>

This study combines qualitative and quantitative methodological approaches in a microanalytic examination of discourse features found in the instructional interactions of six Inuit first language, two Inuit second language, and six non-Inuit second language teachers of Inuit children in northern Quebec. In particular, the study analyzes the discourse features that contribute to the formulation of differing forms of communicative competence required for successful performance in the classrooms of Inuit versus non-Inuit teachers as well as the potential effects of these differences on the classroom participation of Inuit students. The quantitative results are integrated with findings taken from participant observation and ethnographic interviews conducted with all teacher participants. The study attempts to separate those effects that might be due to second language pedagogy from those likely to be the result of underlying cultural differences. Variation in discourse organization due to teaching experience is also examined. The study is situated within a dialogical framework of discourse organization whereby participants socially construct meanings and interpretations of talk through communicative interaction. Results of the study have implications for theories of syncretism and adapted pedagogy in minority educational contexts, demonstrating how instructional interactions can be influenced by and adapted toward the learner, resulting in teaching practices that reflect an amalgamation of cultures.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Language Education, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-07, Section: A, page: 2859. Adviser: Martha Nyikos. Title from dissertation home page (viewed Apr. 9, 2008).