Limited English Proficiency students--Third grade (3rd grade)

Oral communication is a central aspect of language learning in EFL-classrooms all over the world. Therefore, problems arise when students are passive, or unwilling to communicate and participate. The aim of this study is to investigate what factors impact Swedish upper secondary students’ willingness to communicate using self-reported data. The data in the study is gathered from a questionnaire with 203 participants currently studying in Swedish upper secondary school. The data analysis comprised inferential statistics to investigate causal relationships between the concepts of foreign language anxiety (FLA), self-perceived communicative competence (SPCC), extramural English (EE), and willingness to communicate (WTC). The results of the study suggest a causal relationship between the concepts, thus contributing to previous studies on factors that impact and describe willingness to communicate. Also, the results indicate that students’ extramural English habits impact their behavior in oral communication. In conclusion, motivating the utility of the English language for real-world purposes, in combination with a positive classroom environment, and the improvement of students’ oral communication confidence are imperative tools for the stimulation of willingness to communicate in the EFL classroom.

Nedanstående systematiska litteraturstudie är en studie av forskning rörande hemmasittarproblematik i grundskolans senare skolår. Syftet för studien är att genom en systematisk litteraturstudie undersöka vilka arbetssätt och förhållningssätt som aktuell forskning lyfter fram som framgångsfaktorer för att bryta hemmasittarproblematik och främja närvaro och motivation hos elever i grundskolans senare år i riskzon för permanentad frånvaro och utebliven gymnasiebehörighet. Därtill är syftet att via en syntes av litteraturstudien visa på en möjlig arbetsgång för arbetet, inspirerad av relationell pedagogik och KASAM, med tonvikt på språklig tillgänglighet, samt att klargöra vilken roll specialläraren med inriktning språk-, läs och skrivutveckling kan ha i detta arbete, utifrån frågeställningen: Hur beskriver aktuell forskning beprövade tillvägagångssätt och framgångsfaktorer i arbetet med att bryta och/eller förebygga hemmasittarproblematik i grundskolans senare år? Hur förhåller sig dessa forskningsrön till KASAM? Hur kan en syntes av dessa rön och KASAM användas för att bidra till en helhetsförståelse av studerad problembild? Hur kan en sådan syntes sammanfattas i en möjlig arbetsgång? Hur kan speciallärare med inriktning språk-, skriv- och läsutveckling med utgångspunkt i dessa arbetssätt och framgångsfaktorer arbeta med motiverande, aktiverande och delaktighetsskapande insatser för att bryta och/eller förebygga hemmasittarproblematik, i en språkligt tillgänglig lärmiljö, där eleven uppmuntras att aktivt delta i samtalet kring sin utbildning? I analysen av 9 studier framkom sju olika teman i arbetet med vald elevgrupp. Dessa teman har analyserats utifrån en relationell ansats och infogats i en analysram, i form av KASAM, en teori kring hur tre kritiska faktorer, begriplighet, hanterbarhet och meningsfullhet, samverkar för att betinga individers resurser för att hantera svårigheter och utmaningar. Studiens mål är en analys av hur anpassningsarbete och stödinsatser kan arrangeras för att skapa optimala förutsättningar för skol-återgång och fungerande skolgång för studerad elevgrupp. Framkomna teman i analysen är: tidig kart-läggning, snabba insatser och samarbete med elevhälsan, fysisk lärmiljö, skolan som social mötesplats, språklig tillgänglighet och språklig inkludering, studie- och yrkesvägledarens roll, delaktighet, inflytande och individualisering, schemaläggning. I analysen påvisades en tydlig samverkan mellan olika teman i höjandet av KASAM, på ett sätt som tydliggör vikten av djupgående kunskaper om elevens helhetssituation och behov i skolmiljön, vikten av samarbete med elevhälsan och studie- och yrkesvägledare, vikten av arbetet med språklig tillgänglighet samt vikten av delaktighetsskapande samarbete med elev och vårdnads-havare. Tre teman löpte genom samtliga KASAM- faktorer, och framstod genomgående som centrala för höjandet av KASAM: tidig kartläggning, snabba insatser, samarbete med elevhälsan, delaktighet, inflytande och individualisering samt språklig tillgänglighet och språklig inkludering. Dessa teman, konstaterades det, kan ses som grundläggande vid arbetet med samordnade insatser för studerad elevgrupp. / Focus of current systematic review is on research regarding students with ESL (Early School Leaving) related problems in later years of elementary school. The aim is to, through a systematic review, examine research based working methods to counteract ESL and promote attendance and motivation in later years of elementary school, targeting permanent absence and risk of not achieving secondary competence. A further aim is to, through a synthesis of the results of the systematic review, propose a possible working procedure for this process, inspired by relational pedagogy and KASAM, emphasizing linguistic availability, describing the role of a remedial teacher with the specialized working field linguistic-, reading- and writing development in the process. How are proven methods and success factors in the halting/prevention of ESL in later years of elementary school described in research studied? How are these findings related to KASAM? How can a synthesis of research-based methods and success factors and KASAM contribute to an overall understanding of the problem studied? How can such a synthesis be summarized into a working procedure? How can a remedial teacher, with specialized working field linguistic-, reading- and writing development, work to motivate and activate students, increasing their involvement, identifying measures to halt or/and prevent protracted problematic absence in later years of elementary school, all in a linguistically available learning environment, encouraging the student to participate actively in a dialogue concerning her/his education? In the analysis of 9 studied works of research 7 themes were extracted. The themes were analyzed and merged into a theoretical frame, KASAM, a theory based on three critical factors: comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness, interacting in the creation of individual ability to cope with problems and challenges. The aim is an analysis of how the process of creating school adjustments and supportive structures could be outlined to create best possible conditions for return to and consistent attendance at school for the group of students studied. The themes presented are Early investigation of the students ́ needs, early support and cooperation with the student health group, Physical learning environment, Social interactions at school, Linguistic availability and linguistic participation, The role of the careers officer, Participation, influence and individualization, and Timetabling. The analysis concludes an intricate synergy between the themes, in theory raising the level of KASAM, highlighting the importance of thorough knowledge of the students ́ situation and needs, the significance of cooperation with the students ́ health group, the benefits of cooperation with a careers officer, and the importance of linguistic availability and close collaboration with student and legal guardian. Three themes emerged as especially important for all KASAM factors: Early investigation of the students ́ needs, early support and cooperation with the student health group, Linguistic availability and linguistic participation and Participation, influence and individualization. These themes are identified as crucial for support of the group of students studied.

The problem of this study was to examine the effect of text structure and signaling devices on immediate and delayed recalls of freshman Arabic-speaking students after reading a text. Subjects for the study were forty-five freshman Arabic-speaking students enrolled in three freshman English courses at a state university. All subjects were male students. The subjects-were chosen on a voluntary basis. The subjects were given the Reading Comprehension Section of the TOEFL. They were then divided into groups of good, average, and poor readers according to their performance on the TOEFL. Two well—organized passages of expository text with clearly identifiable top-level structure of problem/solution and appropriate reading levels were selected for the study. Two versions of each passage were adapted — one with the signaling devices included in the passage and the other with the signaling devices deleted. Each subject read one version of each of the two passages. The immediate and delayed recalls of the subjects were scored by an unbiased scorer. The scorer was an expert teacher of English to foreign students. Hypothesis I stated that good readers would be able to utilize the writer's rhetorical mode of the text at a significantly higher level than average and poor readers. This hypothesis was supported. The results of Chi square analysis was significant at the .03 level for immediate recall, and at the .01 level for the delayed recall. Hypothesis II stated that readers of each of the three groups who followed the original rhetorical mode of the text would recall significantly more information than those who failed to do so. This hypothesis was also supported. The results of the Two-way Analysis of Variance were significant at the .01 level for both immediate and delayed recalls. Hypothesis III stated that the students of all three groups would recall significantly more information from the passage with signaling devices than from the passage without signaling devices. This hypothesis was not supported. Signaling devices helped good and average readers to recall significantly more information, while the group of poor readers was not affected by the presence of these signaling devices. The findings suggest that training non-native speakers in identifying and utilizing different rhetorical structures might facilitate their reading comprehension. There is also a parallel need in writing instruction so that writers can . offer this facility to their readers.

No description available.

This thesis aims to explore how a critical reading of the novel Things Fall Apart (1958) can provide valuable perspective for educators and students when examining socio-economic issues in  a colonial context in the ESL classroom. The main issues being analysed are how the novel reveals and explores socio-economic forms of exploitation under colonialism, and how a critical reading of the novel can be used in teaching to inform and persuade learners about social injustices. To show this, the essay examines the novel from a marxist perspective, and more specifically by drawing on the concept of primitive accumulation to understand and explain the changes brought about by the introduction of colonial rule. The changes in this context include the Igbo community's relation to land, its socio-economic and cultural aspects as well as the introduction of trade. The discussion and analysis of the novel centre on social injustices due to land expropriation, breakdown of traditional values and customs, and economic changes brought about by the arrival of Europeans in the context of colonialism. Expanding on this, the essay also reflects on the pedagogical implications of its arguments by showing how a critical reading of Things Fall Apart might provide an opportunity for teachers to underline issues of social injustice, material, and economic forms of exploitation under colonialism and beyond. This literary analysis also discusses and reflects on the practical challenges and possibilities of teaching such issues in the ESL classroom by using the concept of critical literacy.

In South Africa, the topic of reading has been of great interest on the development of language since it has been estimated that 12 million learners will go through the education system per year. A key concern for all these learners is language. The majority of South African learners do not speak English as their home language, yet the dominant language of learning and teaching (LoLT) is English. It is important for these learners to become fluent in the LoLT as the future of education is dependent upon it. South Africa has been struggling since 2001 to implement a programme in schools that will improve the Literacy abilities of learners. An in-depth study was undertaken to determine whether the THRASS methodology would possibly improve the reading and spelling abilities of Grade 2 English second learners at an inner city school in Pretoria. The research explored the reading and spelling difficulties encountered by these learners. A profile of the Grade 2 English second language learner was compiled. An understanding of how the THRASS programme works has been included. The results from the research indicated that the reading abilities of the Grade 2 learners had improved, however, there was not a significant difference in their spelling abilities. / Inclusive Education / M. Ed. (Inclusive Education)

<p>This four-year study centers on identity research, exploring a two-year student success program in a midwestern school. The program follows a “school-within-a-school” model (Indiana Department of Education website, 2020) as it is housed on the same grounds as the main school but in a different building. The student-to-teacher ratio is lower than traditional schools and the English class covers less material, but in more depth, than parallel 9th and 10^th grade classes. The study follows two students as they progress through the two-year program and integrate into the main student body for 11^th and 12^th grade, to understand how they narrate their journey through high school. The 9th and 10th grade teachers provide a sense of the impact of teacher identity on the student participants. A narrative approach (Connelly & Clandinin, 1990) is used to examine individual’s perspectives- rooted in their experiences- to dig into my participants’ stories, framing them within an equity literacy context (Gorski, 2014). Using equity literacy allows for the exploration of biases and inequities that student participants may face in our education system. The findings of this dissertation study have three major implications: 1. Home identity has a significant effect on student identity. As such, an awareness of what high school students bring to the classroom and how this affects their thinking and motivation to participate in class is critical; 2. The importance of not only making lessons relevant to student lives, but also helpful. Both student participants appreciate being given space to write what they <i>want</i> to write, rather than being <i>told</i> what to write. As a result, writing becomes a means of processing events happening in their lives, and has a positive effect on self-efficacy; 3. Given the second implication, teacher educators need to provide space for preservice teachers to explore ways to make lessons helpful to their students by encouraging them to tell their own stories through discussions in a safe space, while modeling behaviors such as showing vulnerability in the classroom.</p>

By exploring previous research, this systematic literature review aims to shed light on the effectiveness of oral corrective feedback practices by teachers to students on oral proficiency with the focus on recasts and prompts. This systematic literature review also intends to shed light on the effectiveness of recasts and prompts compared with each other. This study reports on the results of 13 experimental or quasi-experimental studies that measured the effectiveness of prompts and recasts on language acquisition and the effectiveness of prompts and recasts compared with each other. In those studies, outcome measures such as grammaticality judgement tasks, oral production tasks, and written production tasks were utilized. The target structures of the included studies were different morpho-syntactical and phonological structures. The accounted findings of this study show that recasts are effective at increasing students’ oral proficiency in seven of thirteen studies and not effective in six of 13 studies. The reported results also demonstrate that prompts are effective at improving students’ oral proficiency in eight of ten studies and ineffective in two of ten studies. In eight of ten studies in which the effectiveness of prompts and recasts are compared with each other, prompts are more effective than recasts. However, recasts are more effective than prompts in two of ten studies. The reported findings indicate that the effectiveness of corrective feedback in general on language acquisition is uncertain and that prompts might be effective. In addition, the accounted results suggest that the effectiveness of recasts on improving students’ oral proficiency is doubtful. Moreover, the reported findings of this study also suggest the higher degree of efficacy of prompts over recasts.

As a result of the increase of digitalisation in today’s society, the Swedish school system requires a certain degree of digital competence amongst teachers, affecting the foundation of how their teaching practice is structured. Therefore, this study aims to investigate to what extent Swedish EFL/ESL teachers in the primary years incorporate digital tools in their teaching practice, and more specifically how – and why – they are used to facilitate learners’ vocabulary acquisition/learning. In this qualitative study, five Swedish EFL/ESL teachers in the primary years participated. The five participants work at five different schools, in three different municipalities. The empirical data was collected through semi-structured interviews. The results of these indicate that vocabulary drills, generally given as homework, are the primary method of teaching English vocabulary to the EFL/ESL learners, requiring them to learn consciously and intentionally. Moreover, the results imply that a variation of tasks and teaching tools, as well as a frequency in exposure of content, is necessary for beneficial vocabulary acquisition/learning. Further, it is evident that digital tools have a profitable effect on learners’ motivation and consequently their learning. Finally, it is clear that what matters when incorporating digital tools is how they are used, rather than that they are used.