Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Thomas Vontz / Offering a high-quality education to English language learners (ELLs) is a challenge in schools across the United States. Yet, few studies have been conducted to investigate high school English as a second language (ESL) programs. This study provides insights into how a Kansas urban high school ESL program promotes access to the curriculum for ELLs by providing for their social, affective, linguistic, and academic needs. The purpose of this dissertation is to use the premise of educational equity and Catherine Walsh’s (1991) educational needs for ELL school success to explore how structural components of the ESL program in this study promote the access of ELLs to the curriculum. This study offers (1) insights into how urban school districts with high ELL populations might address the issue of access to the curriculum, (2) insights into various perceptions of participant groups—administrators, teachers, and students, and (3) insights into how ESL program components address the educational needs for ELLs to gain access to the curriculum. More specifically, this study emphasizes the following four structural components of the ESL program: (1) student placement, (2) sheltered content courses, (3) teaming, and (4) Spanish for native speakers courses. These structural components are used as a lens to view how social, affective, linguistic, and academic needs of ELLs are addressed. Although the results of this study cannot be generalized to other schools or districts, this study may help other districts, schools, and individual teachers make informed decisions. By demonstrating how four structural ESL program components meet the needs of ELLs in a high school setting, other educators might replicate components on their journey for educational equity within their own venues.

Master of Arts / Department of Modern Languages / Earl Brown / This report studies ESL tutoring feedback to Chinese and Saudi students. The objective is to research the reasons of feedback differences and similarities, which include previous and current English learning styles, habits, purposes for receiving tutoring, and evaluations of tutors. Faced with L2 learners who come from different cultural backgrounds, it is helpful for instructors and tutors to know L2 students’ previous English learning experiences in their home countries so that instructors and tutors can adjust teaching or tutoring for each student. In addition, students who speak the same L1 have common problems of English learning due to their L1. In this way, ESL tutors not only tutor English skills, but also promote cultural awareness. Meanwhile, knowing students’ cultural background is necessary to give tutoring for each L2 learner. The present study aims to explore L2 learners’ feedback from previous and current English learning experiences and will help L2 instructors and tutors to know some basic knowledge about two different language groups.

This dissertation investigated the acquisition and processing of anaphora by learners of English, using both "offline" methods such as paper-and-pencil written tests and "online" methods such as self-paced reading-for-comprehension. Three experiments were conducted. The first two experiments tested advanced Chinese ESL learners' knowledge and processing of anaphora. The focus of the first experiment was on whether participants automatically use gender and number cues, and verb information to interpret pronouns and reflexives during online processing. The second experiment manipulated gender and pragmatic cues to test whether participants have acquired knowledge of structural constraints on reflexive interpretation (i.e., the binding principles). The third experiment, using a pretest-treatment-posttest design, investigated the efficacy of computer-delivered Processing Instruction (PI) on the acquisition of structural constraints and the use of those constraints during reading. During the pretest, subjects completed a self-paced reading task and a written test. For the treatment, participants learned the grammatical constraints on reflexives through interaction with a computer program. Posttest assessment included one interpretation test, one sentence completion task, and one self-paced reading task. The role of feedback in Computer Assisted Language Learning was also examined. Results showed the following: (1) Advanced L2 learners were more sensitive to certain types of agreement information (gender) than others (number). (2) PI improved L2 learners' knowledge about constraints on reflexives as measured by offline tests. (3) PI led to improvement in learners' processing strategies as measured by online tasks. (4) No significant difference was found between the implicit feedback group and the explicit feedback group in the third experiment. Overall, this research highlights the importance of multiple types of assessment that tap the acquisition of grammatical knowledge as well as the proficiency with which learners use that knowledge during reading comprehension tasks.

In recent years, video games have exploded in popularity and the sales of many popular video games now rival Hollywood blockbusters for revenue. While traditionally used as a medium for entertainment, researchers have also recently begun to explore their potential as learning resources. Many educational games have been created in an attempt to combine entertainment with education, but very little research has been done exploring the potential benefits that commercial online video games can have on language learning. This descriptive study is designed to examine whether or not an off-the-shelf (OTS) Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG) - World of Warcraft, can act as a medium for language acquisition. Specifically, it examines whether intermediate-level English language learners’ written accuracy, fluency, and lexical complexity can increase through its play, and what the participants’ perceptions of using an MMOG as a language learning resource are. Participants consisted of four intermediate-level adult English language learners and four English as first language (EL1) speakers. Each English language learner was randomly paired with an EL1 speaker and played the MMOG World of Warcraft over a span of four weeks. The participants’ chat transcripts, along with semi-structured questionnaires, and interviews, were used to gather in-depth data from the participants. The participants’ chat logs were analyzed for improvement in the areas of accuracy, fluency, and lexical complexity by comparing the first and last 25% of their exchanges with the EL1 speakers. Two of the four participants showed some improvement in all three areas that were analyzed, while the remaining two participants showed some improvement in one or two of the three language areas. Results from the questionnaires and interviews indicated that all of the participants felt that playing the game with the EL1 speaker contributed positively to their English language skills and provided a positive learning environment. These results contribute to the growing body of research on MMOGs and give credence to the argument that video games do not have to be solely considered as a source of entertainment, but that they can also be useful as pedagogical tools. / Graduate

The Ministry of Education in Abu Dhabi launched an extensive reform initiative developed by the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) in partnership with international operators. The reform has introduced innovative teaching methodologies, modern books, a new curriculum and the use of English as a medium of instruction (EMI) in mathematics and science classes. The research carried out for this thesis investigated 11 Emirati female teachers. The data was collected from interviews and several informal observations carried out in a public middle school in a town outside Abu Dhabi city, UAE. The rationale for this study is to critically investigate the effects that rapid reform is having on the performance of the female teachers in the classroom and the impact of this speedy reform on their professional and personal lives so as to highlight differences between reform theory and practice. This study is significant because few studies on female teachers in a Gulf educational reform environment have been undertaken and it is essential to uncover the foreign and non-egalitarian nature of the reform programme. Therefore, the study’s aims are to highlight teacher perspectives and teacher marginalization, EMI and consider whether the reform is being implemented successfully at the classroom level. Of course, an important aim of this critical study has also been to raise the consciousness of those participating in the reform. This study has revealed mostly negative perceptions regarding the Abu Dhabi education reform programme, in particular with teachers’ perceptions of the work environment and the new pedagogy. It has also disclosed several instances of teacher marginalization as the result of a top-down reform and has exposed a prevailing sentiment of teacher disempowerment because of the presence of foreigners operating in the country. Teacher perceptions regarding EMI have been numerous in particular with cultural issues relating to the use of EMI in mathematics and science classes. Surprisingly, the study revealed a few unexpected positive findings with certain aspects of reform.

The aim of this essay is to test how a teacher can use a pre-reading strategy in the ESL classroom. The pre-reading strategy will be used with song lyrics instead of the usual classroom textbooks. The reaserch questions for this essay are Does the pre-reading strategy “THIEVES” give any results when teaching English as a second language in the classroom? Can any results be discerned after six weeks of working with this pre-reading strategy in a Swedish ESL classroom context? Do students find it easier to work with song lyrics rather than other types of texts?

The purpose of this study was to develop vocabulary materials to aid non-native English speakers, specifically Russian speaking test-takers, in their preparation for the mathematical sections of the General Record Examination (GRE) and the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) in terms of English mathematical vocabulary. GRE and GMAT preparation materials and practice tests published by the Educational Testing Service, Kaplan, and Barron's were analyzed with the help of computer software. This data was then used to determine which key words to include in the vocabulary tool, which is now available on Quizlet (www.quizlet.com). The developed materials were further proofread by competent mathematics and English language professionals and assessed with the help of a questionnaire administered to them. The rationale of the materials development and the procedures used for the process are described in detail in this thesis project.

Over the last 50 years, research has explored the writing assignment types and purposes found in undergraduate courses, including discipline-specific writing for the business major, which is one of the most popular fields of study for international students in the U.S. Many studies have explored faculty perceptions of writing challenges students exhibit when writing for business; however, few studies have compared both faculty and student perceptions of student writing challenges. The purpose of this study was to investigate business faculty perceptions of the writing challenges exhibited by students for whom English is a second or additional language (EAL) compared to EAL perceptions of their own writing challenges. This study utilized parallel surveys distributed to faculty and students in Accounting, Finance, and Management in one undergraduate business school. Students self-selected as being a native English speaker (NES), an EAL, or having more than one primary language (multilingual or ML). Results of the study indicated statistically significant differences across faculty, EAL, and ML perceptions of developing arguments as an important purpose of business writing. No statistically significant differences were found, however, across all three populations in regards to perceptions of the student challenges of business writing.

This purpose of this thesis is to explore the relationship between idiomatic knowledge and second language proficiency. As the amount of research directly related to this topic is sparse, an in-depth discussion of relevant research and definitions comprises the first part of this paper. Two studies are then presented here that test the relationship between idiomatic knowledge and second language proficiency. A new definition for idioms proposes that all non-compositional phrases, popularized by usage, that is stored, retrieved, and employed as a single lexical unit. The results from more than 400 participants across two studies indicate that the two constructs are strongly correlated, but that the observable relationship between them is only modest. Additional results from the two studies also indicate that idiomatic knowledge is more strongly correlated with speaking skill than with writing or reading skills. The impacts of this study on existing research are discussed and directions for new research is suggested.

This study traces the relationship between language policy activity and multilingual social identity development through schools and homes in a public school district implementing an English Language Learner (ELL) program. The social impacts of language policies cannot be fully understood without consideration of how they impact social identities and opportunity for the populations they affect (Johnson, 2013; Shohamy, 2006; Tollefson, 1991). Power in language policy processes is seen as multi-layered (Ricento & Hornberger, 1996), with teachers at the heart. However, there has been little attention to the powerful role of those whose language practices policy is meant to regulate: students and parents. Using data gathered in the schools, homes, and communities of multilingual students over the course of two years, this critical ethnographic study provides ethnographic understanding of language policy, language use, literacy learning, and policy negotiation on the part of parents as they relate to social identity development. Ultimately, the work extends exploration of the layers of policy activity to the homes and communities of multilingual students and their families, uncovering implications about the role of language policies in shaping equitable educational opportunity. Findings show how multilingual parents can and should be positioned as powerful negotiators in language policy processes, leading to implications for transformation in theory and practice.