Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Language Education, 2006. / "Title from dissertation home page (viewed July 5, 2007)." Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-08, Section: A, page: 2856. Adviser: Larry Mikulecky.

Learning how to interact with others of diverse backgrounds is essential to effective participation in a globalized world and is a key goal of two-way language immersion programs, which bring together students from different language backgrounds to learn in both languages. These programs are frequently lauded for their success in promoting academic achievement and bilingualism, as well as for their potential to promote cross-cultural learning. However, limited research in this area shows that while students develop positive attitudes and cross-cultural friendships, the unequal status of the two languages and the marginalization of African-American students are concerns. Few studies have looked at the process of cross-cultural learning in these programs to see how interactions between students, teachers, and resources like curricula may influence students’ cross-cultural educación (Valenzuela, 1999). This comparative case study examines the question “What does cross-cultural educación look like in two-way immersion programs, and what factors influence that process?” at two schools, using observations of classes and schoolwide events, semi-structured interviews with teachers, document review, and a student picture sort activity. Using contact theory, I find that the two schools have different strengths in regards to cross-cultural educación, with one providing institutional support structures for explicit cross-cultural learning and another providing more opportunities for informal learning through its socioeconomically- and ethnically-diverse student and teacher population. There are also distinct ways of talking about difference at the two-schools, with one favoring a discourse focused on commonalities and the other a more dissonant discourse that recognizes differences. Nevertheless, the schools share important characteristics associated with their shared context, the rapidly globalizing state of North Carolina; these include pressure to integrate cross-cultural learning with Common Core literacy standards and a focus on the cultures of foreign countries. I argue that two-way immersion programs need to emphasize equity for not only speakers of non-English languages, but also diverse ethnic and socioeconomic groups, through broadening considerations for choosing program models, diversifying student and teacher populations, and teaching students to both learn about and care for different cultures in their local communities. / Culture, Communities, and Education

Across the country, community organizing has emerged as a strategy for engaging low-incoming communities and communities of color in school transformation. There is increasing recognition that this approach can be used to develop relationships, leadership, and political power to support systemic and long-lasting educational change. Oakland has a rich history of community-driven school reform. In the early 2000s, the mobilization of thousands of families across the city led to the passage of a new small autonomous school policy and the creation of over 30 new district schools through community-based design teams. However, since 2007, no new district schools have been authorized. Like many other urban districts, the charter sector has expanded, enrollment has declined, and the school district has turned to closing and consolidating schools, rather than opening new ones. This strategic leadership project sought to combine community organizing and design thinking frameworks to develop institutional and community support for a new dual language middle school as part of a PK-12 multilingual pathway of schools in the Oakland Unified School District. Throughout the capstone, I use Mark Moore’s strategic triangle framework (public value, operational capacity, and institutional support) to organize my research and analysis of this strategic project. I describe my leadership of the design team and some of the complexities that arose in our authorizing environment when we attempted to develop the new school through an existing district transformation process. The analysis includes implications for both new school design and school transformation work, and includes recommendations for how Oakland and other districts can more effectively facilitate communities to take leadership in school transformation.

Cross-cultural learning and identity formation are an under-theorized but fundamental aspect of dual language bilingual schools, where heritage speakers and English-only learners of a foreign language are educated together through immersion in both languages (Parkes, Ruth, Anberg-Espinoza & de Jong, 2009; Reyes & Vallone, 2007). Previous research on dual language programs has shown that despite careful program designs to treat each language equally, asymmetries between Spanish and English still play out even in well-implemented programs (Palmer, 2004; Potowski, 2005). Observation of such inequalities at the Espada School, a highly successful Spanish/English dual language school, spurred the current study, which seeks to explore in greater depth the language ideologies held by youth in such a setting. In-depth interviews and group discussions were conducted with six middle school students who had attended the school for eight years. Drawing on Foucauldian discourse analysis and sociocultural linguistics (Bucholtz & Hall, 2005; Willig, 2009), the study sought to answer the following questions: 1) What discourses do bilingual youth at a dual language middle school draw on to talk about Spanish and English, and about speakers of each language? 2) How do they deploy these discourses of language for identity-building and world-building? Three discourses of language were identified. The first, language as utilitarian, emphasizes the functional or practical use of language as a resource or tool. The second, language as internal, constructs language as a skill, proficiency, quality or accomplishment that is located inside the individual person. The last, language as connecting or excluding, treats language as a means of relationship-building and understanding or as leading to division between people. Analysis reveals the ways that these discourses were deployed in different ways by each participant to construct their own identities with respect to their future, their everyday language interactions and their perceptions of the relationship between language and ethnicity. The study contributes to a theoretical understanding of ethnolinguistic and sociocultural identity formation from a youth perspective. Recommendations are also made for dual language educators interested in expanding the discourses of language available to students as one way of countering the lower status of Spanish.

This doctoral study deals with communication issues of MBA students from China at Eastern Canada University (pseudonym). The author investigates how Chinese cultural presuppositions can lead to miscommunication and misunderstanding in the Canadian academic and social context. The main research questions are: What is the nature of Chinese/Canadian cross-cultural miscommunication and misunderstanding? What are the reasons for such miscommunication and misunderstanding? What are the consequences of such miscommunication and misunderstanding? What are the strategies for dealing/coping with miscommunication and misunderstanding? In examining communication issues in non-instructional, real-life settings, the emphasis of the present study is on communicative competence (Hymes, 1971, 1972) and language socialization (Lazaraton, 1995). Firth & Wagner (1997) lament that although second and foreign language interactions in non-instructional settings are everyday occurrences, such as in the workplace, they have not yet attracted the attention of second language acquisition researchers. The present study addresses this gap. Johnson (1992) encourages ethnographic research, by saying that we can gain new insights by employing ethnographic approaches to understanding second and foreign language learners in schools and varied adult educational and workplace settings. The present study is a naturalistic inquiry employing ethnographic methods; data are collected through (1) observation of the participants, (2) in-depth interviews with key informants, (3) interviews with background informants, and (4) a questionnaire. Data analysis and interpretation follow the qualitative paradigms of phenomenology and hermeneutics (Tesch, 1990). Further, Spindler's (1997) concept of transcultural sensitization has inspired the present study towards a better understanding of the phenomena and concepts involved in learning an additional language and culture. Through its ethnographic approach, the present study shows that cultural factors significantly influenced the Chinese MBA students' sojourn in Canada and played a crucial role in various aspects of their academic work, their off-campus social interaction, their on-campus study-related interaction, and their relationships with Canadians. The present study is expected to contribute to a better understanding of language socialization in cross-cultural contexts and facilitate efficient language and professional training programs. With its emphasis on cross-cultural understanding on the conceptual level, it is further expected to contribute to the theory of language learning and language use in international settings.

Dans le domaine de la formation interculturelle pour des personnes qui vont vivre et travailler dans une autre culture, il y a des questionnements sur la veritable nature des formations. Sont-elles des sessions de preparation et d'orientation fournissant de l'information sur le pays et la culture hotes, ou sont-elles des sessions de formation developpant des habiletes et des capacites d'interagir efficacement avec les individus de l'autre culture? Cette recherche descriptive, de nature evaluative, utilisant une approche d'analyse documentaire, analyse les objectifs d'apprentissage de sessions de formation pour conseillers techniques canadiens avant leur affectation outre-mer dans le cadre de projet de cooperation internationale. Partant de la notion de l'efficacite interculturelle, des qualites requises d'un conseiller technique efficace et du continuum du developpement de la sensibilite culturelle de Milton Bennett, un outil d'analyse est developpe. La demarche comprend un survol du developpement international ainsi que certaines perspectives des efforts de cooperation internationale d'agences et d'organismes impliques dans ce milieu. Un des moyens privilegie de la cooperation internationale, la cooperation technique est decrite et un bilan, tire de la litterature, est degage. La notion de l'efficacite interculturelle et les qualites requises d'un conseiller technique efficace interculturellement sont exposees et un continuum de sensibilite culturelle est explique. Une grille est developpee afin de pouvoir analyser les objectifs d'apprentissage de sessions de formation interculturelle. Une correlation, decoulant de l'analyse des objectifs d'apprentissage, est faite entre l'efficacite interculturelle, le developpement de la sensibilite culturelle et la formation interculturelle.

La societe quebecoise passe d'un regime unanime des valeurs a une conception pluraliste: elle reconnai t comme legitime et presente comme souhaitable le fait de la diversite. Pourtant, avec les annees 1990, on commence a se demander ou mene cette diversite. On peut dire que depuis la periode qu'on s'entend a appeler la Revolution tranquille, le discours du ministere de l'Education du Quebec au sujet du projet educatif quebecois donne une impression d'ambiguite et de confusion. Les recherches des Kohlberg, Perry, Fowler, de l'Ecole de psychologie de l'Universite Harvard permettent de voir la confusion et l'incoherence comme faisant partie d'un processus de croissance. Il serait plausible de considerer que les cultures connaissent d'abord une periode de conformisme des valeurs, puis, au cours de leur developpement, traversent des moments de desorientation, de profonde remise en question, ou de crise d'identite, pour enfin, avec la maturite, reinvestir le meilleur de leur passe dans un projet d'avenir ou ils elaborent leur nouvelle identite. Ainsi, la confusion que l'on trouve dans les documents du ministere de l'Education ou il est question des fins de l'education exprimeraient l'etape d'indecision, d'hesitation et de tatonnement que traverse la culture quebecoise dans son cheminement vers la maturite. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Dans la présente recherche, nous cherchons à comprendre ce qui distingue un apprenant qui réussit à communiquer en situations de tous les jours de celui qui n'atteint pas un niveau satisfaisant de fluidité. Le problème des difficultés de communication d'apprenants d'une langue seconde est examiné dans une perspective ethnométhodologique (Garfinkel, 1967) qui favorise une compréhension de la contextualisation, c'est-à-dire des moyens mis en oeuvre par les participantes pour construire un message. Nous voulons particulièrement savoir comment des indices prosodiques (Gumperz, 1982, 1992) tels que la pause, l'hésitation et l'intonation permettent à l'échange verbal de se réaliser. Ainsi la question de recherche posée est la suivante: "Quelles sont la nature et la fonction des indices de contextualisation qui contribuent à la réalisation de l'échange verbal entre une locutrice native et une locutrice non native de français?". La méthodologie employée prévoit l'enregistrement sur cassette vidéo de six conversations entre une enseignante et ses étudiantes. Les participantes sont ensuite interviewées individuellement dans le cadre d'une séance de rappel stimulé afin de mieux comprendre la signification des indices de contextualisation relevés. Les résultats montrent que l'étudiante s'attend à ce que l'enseignante l'aide, et le lui signale par l'intonation ascendante, et que l'enseignante reconnaît ce besoin, et fait preuve d'encouragement par l'affirmation verbale ou non verbale. La réaction de l'enseignante en réponse à l'intonation ascendante constitue en fait une aide à la construction des tours de parole. La demande d'aide et la réponse de l'interlocutrice font partie dun pattern d'interaction qui contribue à la construction conjointe d'un message. L'interprétation des données permet d'élargir la notion de contextualisation, à savoir les moyens utilisés Par les participantes pour communiquer. Outre les indices de contextualisation dont fait état la théorie de Gumperz (1992), nous observons dans les données l'émergence de deux notions théoriques, soit la médiation (Vygotsky, 1978) et l'atteinte de terrain commun (Clark, 1996a). En fait ces deux notions semblent contribuer non seulement au maintien de la conversation mais surtout à la résolution de bris en favorisant une construction de sens qui passe par les indices de contextualisation. Une mise en pratique de ces propos théoriques, nous espérons, pourra profiter autant aux éducateurs qu'aux apprenants dans le domaine de la didactique des langues secondes mais également en éducation en général. Au cours de la cueillette de données, nous avons noté une sensibilisation chez les participantes à certains aspects de la contextualisation qu'elles avaient jusque-là ignorés. Il serait donc possible de susciter une prise de conscience chez des apprenantes et leur enseignante de ces aspects d'une situation de communication. Dès lors, la tâche de l'enseignante serait de faciliter chez les apprenants la maîtrise des outils nécessaires pour contextualiser ses propos et ce faisant, réussir à communiquer en situations de tous les jours.

De nos jours, la recherche en langue seconde (L2) s'intéresse de plus en plus aux processus qui sous-tendent l'apprentissage d'une langue, ce qui donne lieu à un questionnement des facteurs influençant la réussite d'un apprenant. Les stratégies méritent d'être étudiées, puisqu'elles sont de plus en plus reconnues comme étant des concepts clés dans le processus d'apprentissage d'une langue. Comme il reste un grand nombre d'aspects à cerner et à évaluer dans ce domaine, la présente étude, de nature exploratoire, contribue à combler ces lacunes, par un examen des stratégies de compréhension auditive, à partir d'un portrait détaillé du processus de compréhension qui repose sur une description donnée par l'élève, non seulement de ce qu'il a compris, mais aussi des moyens mis en oeuvre pour y parvenir. L'utilisation de la technique de protocole à voix haute a permis de décrire et d'analyser le phénomène des stratégies de compréhension auditive chez une population d'élèves de cinquième année du primaire inscrits dans un programme intensif, le Bain linguistique (BL). Les protocoles ont été recueillis à tous les mois pendant une année scolaire et analysés d'une manière qualitative à l'aide d'une grille d'analyse adaptée de la taxonomie de Vandergrift (1992, 1997a, 1997b, 1998). Il se dégage de l'analyse plusieurs constatations. Plus particulièrement, les stratégies les plus employées par les élèves du BL sont celles de nature cognitive, suivies des stratégies métacognitives et socio-affectives. Il semble que le niveau de connaissances linguistiques des élèves soient en lien direct avec le type de stratégies utilisées. De plus, les résultats, interprétés en fonction des trois phases de Anderson (1983), indiquent que certaines stratégies cognitives et métacognitives sont plus utilisées lors de la phase cognitive initiale, alors qu'une plus grande variété de stratégies apparaissent au fur et à mesure que les connaissances des élèves augmentent. En effet, les stratégies dites de surface, plus faciles à traiter, servent fréquemment à tous les élèves alors que les élèves plus habiles se préoccupent aussi du processus de la compréhension et utilisent des stratégies métacognitives, stratégies dites profondes. Il y a vraisemblablement un continuum de stratégies qui varie selon chaque élève, puisque chacun dispose de ses propres forces et faiblesses, de connaissances linguistiques différentes et d'un style d'apprentissage particulier. À l'aide du modèle de Nagle et Sanders (1986), ces tendances permettent de former un portrait plus exhaustif du processus de compréhension auditive par le fait d'y incorporer les stratégies de compréhension. Une tentative de modèle est proposée afin de situer les stratégies de compréhension auditive à travers différentes étapes du processus de compréhension. La présente étude contribue au domaine de la compréhension auditive en langue seconde en identifiant pour la première fois les stratégies de compréhension auditive chez des élèves du primaire. De plus, elle donne des pistes de recherche en ce qui a trait à la relation entre l'utilisation des stratégies de compréhension auditive et l'effet du type d'activités de compréhension auditive utilisé pour la collecte de données. Enfin, elle informe sur le développement des stratégies de compréhension auditive au cours d'une année scolaire.

This study is a three-year longitudinal research project on the linguistic, pedagogical, cultural, emotional and career needs and adjustments of seven foreign-trained teachers who struggled to reconstruct professional identities as teachers in Ontario schools after they had received additional training and qualifications as required by Canadian standards and had become Ontario certified teachers. A co-constructive perspective on identity formation was employed, which allowed data collection by various methods such as analysis of written materials, individual interviews, and group discussions. The research data strongly suggest that these teachers' professional identity in Ontario schools should be understood as a site of joint collaboration between them and significant others in their environment. Due to their culturally and racially different backgrounds from those of the mainstream teachers, these teachers were often placed in a position of having to manage their differences in accents, acts and appearance. This difference-managing process reflected the fact that their professional identity was also ethnically and linguistically defined. Furthermore, given that they were subject to constant subjective outside evaluations of their competencies at a variety of school sites which could not be defined at static points, their professional identities are interpreted as conflictually multiple and constantly changing. The researcher concludes that it is possible for foreign-trained teachers to be accepted within a school system and to be symbolically visible in some positions in schools, but it is very unlikely for them to be visible in classrooms, teaching. The progress of their integration into a school system is effectively impeded by various barriers which reflect just some of today's social ills. Drawing insights from the notion of co-construction of a given identity (Ochs 1993; He 1995), the analysis of opportunity and social identity (Peirce 1994), and the concept of negotiation and professional identity (Thiessen, Bascia & Goodson 1996) in relation to the seven foreign-trained teachers' experiences in Ontario schools, the researcher recommends that serious research attention should be given to the opportunity structure in North America, which, according to Cherryholme's (1988) description of power operations, should be destructured.