This paper concentrates on the viability of using metaphor as a teaching tool in the English as a Second Language classroom. In doing so, a semantically-based theory of metaphor, like that presented by Lakoff and Johnson (1980), is employed as a base for the examination. Such a theory of metaphor presents a dramatic shift from theories, especially Aristotle's, of the past. The theory of metaphor proposed by Lakoff and Johnson contends that language is essentially metaphorical and that much of our 'commonsense' knowledge about the world is derived from interpretations of reality and is manifested in metaphors central to a culture and its language. If this theory is true, then it stands to reason that a student attempting to learn English as a Second Language could profit greatly from metaphor instruction because such instruction would aid all areas of the language acquisition process.

This dissertation examines the question how do ESL teachers perceive the prereferral process for identifying adolescent Latino English language learners with specific learning disabilities? The study fits within the Latino Critical Race Theory framework and employs an interpretive phenomenological qualitative research approach. Participants were six secondary-level ESL teachers from two school districts with small ELL populations. Data consisted of in-depth interviews, researcher notes, and analytical memos. Phenomenological data analysis procedures followed recommendations by Colaizzi (1978) and Smith, Flowers, and Larkin (2009). Data validity measures included second-researcher review and member-checking. Results of the study are presented as descriptions of how participants perceived the prereferral processes for identifying adolescent Latino English language learners with suspected specific learning disabilities. Nine categories emerged from the interviews: (a) Characteristics and behaviors; (b) instructional supports and interventions; (c) progress-monitoring; (d) use of RTI; (e) prereferral outcomes; (f) parental participation; (g) special education department response; (h) identification challenges; and (i) recommendations. Implications of the study findings for policy, research, and educator practice are noted.

The goal of this study was to improve English language proficiency of undergraduate second-language learners (SLLs) through the use of literacy-based assistive technology (AT). Both current literature and the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) model suggest that literacy-based AT, while traditionally designed to assist students with learning disabilities, can benefit learners studying in a second language. This study adapted the Times Series Concurrent Differential (TSCD) research methodology to test the efficacy of AT for second language learners. TSCD involves the collection of a series of participant performance measurements both with and without the aid of AT. The difference between the two sets of measurements represents the impact of the AT. Fifty-four participants (32 SLL, 22 non-SLL) enrolled in a cross-section of Cape Breton University's Shannon School of Business courses participated. The adapted TSCD model was applied through a series of structured reading exercises that alternated use of AT with traditional reading over a full academic term. The reading assignments were drawn from course material and accounted for a small percentage of the class mark. In non-intervention exercises, participants read and reviewed assignments directly from printed course material. In intervention exercises, participants read and reviewed digital copies of the required material with the aid of PDF Equalizer. A secure Moodle site facilitated digital material access, performance measurement, and data management. A multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) determined a significant effect (9%) of the use of screen-reading software on academic performance of SLLs and a positive but insignificant effect (3%) of the use of screen-reading assistive technology on academic performance of non-SLLs. In addition, more SLL participants reported that the use of screen-reading software improved their reading (84%), listening (75%), and writing (56%) skills as compared to their non-SLL counterparts (36%, 41%, and 27% respectively). The majority of SLLs also reported that the use of the screen-reader had a positive effect on their academic performance (84%), improved their study skills (84%), and increased their confidence (78%) in their English language skills.

Student Number : 8801261D - MA research report - School of Human and Community Development - Faculty of Humanities / The ability to achieve academic success is dependent on the acquisition of academic language proficiency, basic to which is the ability to decode and comprehend relevant academic content, with limited contextual support. Research indicates that English Second Language (ESL) learners at primary and tertiary educational institutions in South Africa lack the skills necessary for academic success. This study investigated firstly, the relationship between academic achievement of Grade 8 learners and their decoding and spelling ability and secondly, the impact of a peer mentoring paired reading programme on reading and spelling skills of Grade 8 ESL learners. Results confirm a strong positive relationship between reading and spelling skills of learners and their academic achievement and suggests that the lack of reading skills is not confined to second language English learners only. The reading programme had a significant impact on the on the decoding skills of ESL learners and a small nonsignificant impact on spelling and comprehension skills.

The purpose of this qualitative case study is to explore the literacy practices of marginalized adolescent youth in India and the relationship of these practices to imagination and identity construction. More than just tools for communication, language and literacy practices allow individuals to express their selves and identities as they voice their thoughts, negotiate meaning (Dyson & Genishi, 2005; Gee, 2003), and enact themselves within society (Janks, 2010; New London Group, 1996). This qualitative case study took place in Lucknow, India; the subjects were a group of adolescent girls at a nonprofit all-girls school in a seventh-grade classroom. Using discourse analysis, the data revealed the ways in which the girls used literacy to agentively position themselves as actual selves in their societies, as imagined social selves and others, in relationship to social others, and in imagined events.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the phonetic production of fricatives across differing word positions and task types. Further knowledge about the fricative production of second language learners of English would potentially improve the ability to teach correct pronunciation and improve the productivity of second language programs. All participants in this study were native speakers of Mandarin Chinese with English as their second language. A total of 12 subjects participated, all of whom had English proficiency ratings ranging from novice to advanced. The speakers were between 21-51 years of age, with each speaker having between 2 to 6 years of experience learning English in their country of origin. Using acoustic and spectral moment analyses, the acoustic nature of four types of fricative productions (/f/, /θ/, /s/, and /ʃ/) were analyzed as a function of linguistic task type and word position. Although a number of measures were found to differ significantly as a function of word position and task type, the majority of statistical analyses were not found to be significant. This lack of significance may be due to the specific methodology used, the speakers’ atypical voicing patterns, and/or decreased length of sound productions. Findings of this study may indicate that second language learners’ production of fricatives vary minimally across differing word positions and task types.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD (Linguistics, Language and Communication) / At independence, Namibia chose English as its official language and therefore its language of learning and teaching (LOLT). This decision has been well supported and therefore there has been an expectation among Namibians that learning English as early as possible is important because it will open many doors to the future (Harris, 2011). However, since the introduction of English as LOLT, government documents and other relevant literature have revealed poor performance of learners and falling standards of teaching (Iipinge, 2013). Despite this revelation, no study has been done in Namibia to investigate the effects of the current Language in Education Policy (LEP) on the teaching and learning of different school subjects. Therefore, this study focuses on critical questions regarding the effects of the current Namibian LEP on the teaching and learning of English Second Language (ESL) in Northern Namibia, with a special focus on one of the most demanding skills in second language learning: essay writing. Besides this, the study looks at the writing problems of learners and the intervention strategies that teachers are using to help learners overcome or reduce writing problems.

While Deaf students are not typically classified as English as a second language (ESL) students, the majority of deaf students first become fluent in a signed language, making them ideal candidates for ESL research. This case study has been designed to explore the ways in which one method of ESL reading instruction, known as modified guided reading (MGR), affects the language acquisition process, and resulting reading comprehension level, of a deaf student over eleven weeks. The study documented the student’s language acquisition development both in American Sign Language (ASL) and in English, as well as tracked the student’s growth in reading comprehension, metalinguistic awareness, and visual attention skills. The Accelerated Reader (AR) program, benchmark testing, and daily observations were used to measure growth. Findings of the study suggest that the ESL methods implemented through MGR positively impacted the student’s language acquisition process, reading comprehension level, metalinguistic awareness, and visual attention skills. Results showed an increase in all three of the student’s AR scores as follows: 31% in reading level, 13.1% in number of words read, and 13.2 % in comprehension test scores. Observations and benchmark testing revealed increased metalinguistic knowledge in word, syntactic, and pragmatic awareness. Visual attention skills were found to be the key element in allowing reading comprehension to take place and strategies for improving these skills were found to be a necessary part of the MGR process.

There are many pieces of flight deck research on general use of written English language technical information and problem solving using technical documentation. Contributory causes of aircraft accidents have been due to misunderstandings of crew alerts and procedural divergence by English as-a-second language flight crewmembers (ESL). Research was conducted to understand impact of written English language technical information on ESL flight crewmembers’ performance. Two types of systems were evaluated, technical documentation and crew alerting systems that contain technical information, with respect to their impact on ESL flight crewmember performance. Preliminary analysis results indicated written English language technical information can be confusing, difficult to read and interpret, and leads to misunderstandings by ESL flight crewmembers during aircraft nonnormal conditions. English as-a-second language flight crewmembers indicated they often experience problems executing written English language technical procedures after outset of crew alerts. Conversely, experimental trials revealed ESL flight crewmembers did not experience many cognitive performance issues with use of crew alerting systems and technical information designed with an English language emphasis. English as-a second language flight crewmembers’ English language proficiency, background knowledge, and use of use of metacognitive strategies to read and comprehend written English language on crew alerting and information systems, indicated they utilized written English technical information with ease. Particularly, ESL flight crewmembers’ workload was low, they had fast response times to system faults, and they experienced minimal procedural deviations. On the contrary, when ESL flight crewmembers utilized written English language technical procedures translated into their native language during non-normal conditions, they experienced several cognitive performance challenges. English as-a second language flight crewmembers’ background knowledge of written English language technical information translated into their native language, use of metacognitive strategies to read and comprehend written English language translated into their native language, indicated they experienced difficulties with reading and comprehending translated technical information on information systems. Particularly, ESL flight crewmembers were challenged cognitively when they responded to crew alerts through execution of decision-making processes. They indicated translation of written English language technical information into their native language was a pre-cursor to procedural deviation, long response times to system issues, as well as high workload during experimental trials. It is recommended that further research focus on design and use of written English language technical documentation by ESL flight crewmembers during non-normal conditions. It is also recommended that if deemed practical by the aviation industry, further research should focus on design, integration, and utilization of technical documentation in a language(s) other than English, and measurement of ESL flight crewmembers performance on the flight deck.

The video game industry is one of the fastest growing markets in the world today. The fact that playing video games has become such a popular recreational activity among youths and adolescents has created a need for research investigating the effects of video game playing. Because of the role of the English language as a global lingua franca, most video games are released in English. Since most video games are released in English, many believe that the utilization of video games can help learners of English to improve their knowledge of how to utilize the English language. The aim of this study is to investigate whether video game playing does positively influence the English receptive vocabulary level of ESL learners. In addition, the present study also investigated the influence of other factors, such as the utilization of online communication tools, the average time spent playing video games, and the type of video games played, on English receptive vocabulary level. The study was conducted using quantitative research methods. Since the aim of the study was to investigate the relation between two separate aspects, the study had to utilize two separate elicitation methods for the data collection: one questionnaire (that was supposed to determine each informant’s video game habits) and one vocabulary test (that was supposed to get an approximation of each informant’s receptive vocabulary level). When the data had been collected, the tests were corrected, and the participants were categorized according to the previously mentioned variables. The mean scores of the categories were later examined and compared to each other. Differences between groups that were of high importance were further examined, with a t-test, to determine whether the difference was statistically significant or not. The results of the study show that the vocabulary level difference between ESL learners that do play video games and ESL learner that do not play video game is insignificant. The results further show that the utilization of online communication tools while playing video games positively influences vocabulary level, as the mean score difference on the vocabulary test between OCT users and OCT non-users was revealed to be significant by the t-test. The analysed data thus show that the influence of the utilization of online communication tools on English receptive vocabulary level are more significant that the influence of playing video games.