<p> A disproportionate number of high school dropouts are Latino immigrant students with emergent English language skills. Statistically, students that meet these demographic characteristics are more likely to drop out of high school before receiving their diploma. Thus, these same students will then enter the workforce ill equipped for job advancement or the requirements of postsecondary education. </p><p> A set of negative experiences, referred to as the process of marginalization, may occur in high school, leaving these students alienated and less confident of success than their English-speaking peers. This study used a qualitative research method approach to investigate the factors that lead some high school students to drop out and others to persevere and to become academically successful. This situation was explored by trying to understand Mexican and Central American immigrant students' perceptions of and reactions to possible high school marginalization processes and how this process effects their academic success in 11th and 12th grades. </p><p> More specifically, this dissertation study employed a qualitative design to develop a case study of students and a school and community profile. Several instruments used in the study included a sampling and eligibility questionnaire, a semistructured questionnaire, and an open-ended Interview with high school Latino immigrant youth to examine their perceptions of the process of marginalization and the resiliency factors that they used to overcome them. Based on the study's results, several recommendations are made for schools to reform the negative impact of marginalization and increase feelings of empowerment and inclusion for this group</p>

<p> Providing students at risk of becoming long-term English learners (LTELs) with the instruction and support they need to reclassify as fluent English proficient before entering high school increases their access to grade-level or advanced placement curriculum that will satisfy college entrance requirements and, presumably, postsecondary academic success. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the support provided through College Success Path by the Students First Unified School District (a pseudonym) to its seventhand eighthgradersat risk of becoming LTELs has the potential to lead to university matriculation.</p><p> Descriptive (mean, median, mode, and standard deviation) and inferential (independent measure <i>t</i>-test) statistical analyses of student learning outcomes revealed nonsignificant results at the .05 level.</p><p> Notable findings emerged after looking at score distributions and frequencies (cross-tabulations) for the District Writing Assessments and California Standardized Tests, English Language Arts learning outcomes. The treatment group experienced greater numbers of students moving from lower proficiency levels to higher proficiency levels in terms of the posttests than the control group did. </p><p> Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses of identified student learning outcomes did not yield significant results at the .05 level. Cross-tabulations conducted to analyze score distributions on the same student learning outcomes revealed results in favor of the treatment group. However, A-G completion rates and academic GPA data revealed results in favor of the control group. </p><p> The reality regarding the English learner (EL) population in California is changing as the number of LTELs increases in our public schools. In light of current state legislation, providing equal educational opportunities for ELs, especially LTELs, is vital to their success. This relates to the theoretical foundation of this study because it hearkens back to Paulo Freire's idea of actively participating in one's current reality and working to transform rather than conform to the world around them.</p>

<p> This research study was situated in the policy context of the internationalization of higher education, motivated by the increased presence of culturally and linguistically diverse students in U.S. educational settings and elevated discourses related to student global engagement. It explored the lived experience of 10 second-language (L2) speaking international students enrolled in a mainstream required writing course at a private, urban university in Washington, DC. This study investigated how participants experienced and understood being a part of this required writing course, and more specifically how the thematic nature of the course mediated their experience. This research conceived of a classroom as a socioacademic space, a shared environment where course content and formal academic tasks are combined with mediated social interactions among members of the classroom community. It engaged a hermeneutic phenomenological research approach to tap into both the details of the lived experience and how it was made sense of by the participants who experienced it. Through a series of three interviews, at the beginning, middle, and end of the semester, participants revealed their sociocultural histories, the arc of the lived experience over time, and their reflection on the experience at the end of the semester. </p><p> Findings for this study were organized along four major themes: The context for mobility; Entering the first-year writing course: Hopeful but unsure; The negotiation of the FYW experience: Interactions; Reflection on the lived experience: You get what you put in. Findings highlighted the significance of interactions in socioacademic settings, as well as the strategic ways L2 students responded to both the classroom environment and the tasks it required. The course topic was also found to have a strong influence over participants' experiences, though writing clearly occupied more of their attention during the second half of the semester. The findings of this study add dimension to our understanding of this phenomenon; further develop the literature bases of the internationalization of higher education, second-language writing, and first-year writing; and have implications for future research, institutional arrangements and attitudes, and curricular and pedagogical approaches. </p>

<p> This project explored aspects of English-related out-of-class time use by Japanese university students. The aim was to identify the salient temporal and motivational features of the episodes.</p><p> Two sets of time use and interview data were collected longitudinally (one semester per dataset) through Longitudinal Study 1 (<i>n_initial</i> = 66, <i>n_final</i> = 15), which included participants from three universities in Western Japan, followed by Longitudinal Study 2 (<i>n_initial</i> = 59, <i>n_final</i> = 25), which included participants from two universities in Western Japan. Interviews were with participants from these studies. Participants maintained a record of their out-of-class English-related time use during the semester. These data provide an overview of the out-of-class time use of Japanese university students during a full Japanese academic year. Longitudinal Study 1 data were collected during the fall semester, the second term at Japanese universities. Longitudinal Study 2 data were collected during the spring term, the initial term. Longitudinal Study 1 participants reported 2,529 episodes and Longitudinal Study 2 participants reported 3,322 episodes of out-of-class English access during the study period. One interview was held with the Longitudinal Study 1 participants (<i>n</i> = 15), at the end of fall semester. Two interviews were held with Longitudinal Study 2 participants (<i>n</i> = 25), one during the term and one following summer holiday. Data were examined for their temporal patterns and the contextual and affective features of the time use episodes. The cross-sectional component collected data from participants (<i>n</i> = 1,399) at 11 universities in Western Japan. These participants provided data for the motivational survey (<i>n</i> = 1,399) and at least one week of out-of-class English time use (<i>n</i> = 642) data. The participants in the cross-sectional study reported 2,987 out-of-class English access episodes.</p><p> Episode data for all three components (<i>K</i> = 8,838) and the motivational survey data (<i>n</i> = 1,399) were analyzed at the person, group, and amalgamated episode levels for the patterns of participants' time use using ANOVA and nonparametric procedures. The data were also examined using nonparametric procedures to exam the affective variables by the contextual variables of that time use. The episode data regarding participants' (<i> n</i> = 1,399) time use and motivational survey data were analyzed using ANOVA, factor, Rasch, multiple regression analyses, and structural equation modeling. The analyses of the time use data considered the temporal features of the episodes, the contextual features of the episodes, and the affective features of the time use. The analyses of the motivational data considered two models of the L2 motivational self system, an intention to learn model (ILM) and a time use model (TUM).</p><p> Time use results from all three components of this study indicated most out-of-class episodes occur when the participant is alone at home either studying or listening to English music. The most typical episode was listening to music, either alone at home or while commuting. A similar pattern of out-of-class English access was found for participants in all three components of this study. Study-related episodes were not considered enjoyable but also were not seen as causing anxiety. The amount of out-of-class time varied widely between participants, with one longitudinal study participant devoting 40 hours per week to English outside of class.</p><p> For longitudinal study participants, the time use episode data, along with interviews, indicated that habit was a primary driver of out-of-class English access, with participants showing stable patterns of time use, whether for enjoyment or study, during the term. For the most part, once participants in the longitudinal components for this project had established a routine it remained fairly consistent during the term.</p><p> Moreover, results from the three components showed that none of the participants met the time requirements of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Sports, Technology and Culture (MEXT, 2002, 2009b) for out-of-class time allocated to study for their English courses, a 2:1 ration, for every week that they participated in the study. Only a few of the participants met this requirement for out-of-class English access during any week of the study and only if all purposes, including enjoyment, were considered.</p><p> This study also addresses the call that D&ouml;rnyei (2000) made for research examining the links between motivation and behavior in L2 learning. One unique aspect of this study is the use of a behavioral variable, Time Use, in addition to the survey-assessed latent trait, Intention to Learn, to explore the links between motivational profile and actual behavior. </p><p> Participants who rated highly on their Ideal L2 Self rated highly on the Intention to Learn, but not nearly as highly on actual time use on English. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)</p>

<p> This study researched the preparedness of English as a Second Language directors in school corporations in Indiana to determine their background experiences, awareness of second language acquisition research, levels of qualification, attitudes towards English learners (ELs), efficacy for leading ESL programs, and to gain an understanding of how to provide guidance and support to this group of individuals. Furthermore, the study investigated relationships between these factors to gain insight into how they impact each other and program implementation. The study endeavored to provide useful information towards policy making and support of ESL leaders. The research was quantitative and utilized a tailored design Internet survey to collect data. Descriptive data was analyzed using analysis of frequency (distribution, central tendency and dispersion of individual variables), while relationships between elements were analyzed using a combination of ANOVA, and Pearson's Product Moment correlational analysis, followed by post hoc analysis and regression analysis. Findings indicated that having experience with English learners and teaching certification for working with English learners were significant factors in the areas of knowledge, attitude, and efficacy. An exploratory model of ESL program leadership, developed by the researcher, concluded that when EL directors are certified and bring experience of working with ELs to their positions, it is more likely that their programs will be successfully implemented. Finally, the interplay of variables showed that these directors' levels of knowledge of second language acquisition principles and efficacy for leading the ESL program had highly significant effects on attitude, program implementation and each other. The implications of this study include directions for policy, training programs, and further research.</p>

<p> The goal of this study was to examine how educational expectation, academic self-efficacy of Math and English, parental expectation, and parental involvement affect ELL students' educational attainment. Given the large and growing percentage of the ELL population in U.S. schools, the status of ELL students' educational attainment is cause for concern. Research on educational attainment for this specific population is scarce; let alone the investigation of predictors of ELL students' educational attainment. </p><p> This study used a nationally representative sample from Educational Longitudinal Study: 2002/2006. Path analysis and structural equation modeling were used to test four models depicting the relation between educational expectation, academic self-efficacy of Math and English, parental expectation, parental involvement and ELL students' high school completion and postsecondary institution enrollment. The results showed that all four models fit the data very well. Statistically significant direct effects were found from students' educational expectation at time 2 to high school graduation and also postsecondary institution enrollment. Statistically significant indirect effects were found from students' educational expectation at time 1 to high school graduation and also postsecondary institution enrollment. Both the measurement and structural models of Model 3 and Model 4 fit the data well. Statistically significant direct effects were found from parental expectation and parental involvement at time 1 to high school graduation and postsecondary institution enrollment. Comparison analysis was conducted between Asian-language speakers and Spanish speakers. Model 1&amp; 2 fit Asian-language speakers well but not for Spanish speakers. Model 3 and 4 fit both Spanish speakers and Asian-language speakers, but the models explained more variances in the outcome variables for Spanish speakers. The findings of this study had implications for educational policies targeting ELL students. Limitations and future research recommendations were discussed. </p>

<p> This dissertation emerged at the intersection of collaboration, immigration issues, and language practices. Third-grade students started the school year with much difficulty to engage in academic content and language learning, mainly due to a lack of self-regulation which greatly affected the classroom dynamics. Drawing from Freire (1970, 1993), I believe in the importance of the process of conscientization, which is the critical understanding of the context around us and growing in awareness through reflection and transformative action, and the notion of critical literacy as the "reading of the word and the world" (Freire &amp; Macedo, 1987). The purpose of the study was to set conditions for students to engage in language learning in a collaborative participatory democracy classroom environment. The following general question guided but did not limit my study: How can I, as a teacher-researcher, and my third-grade students work so students become biliterate through collaboration and translanguaging practices? Participatory Action Research (PAR)/Research As Praxis (RAP) philosophy was both the methodology of the study and a fundamental part of my pedagogy. Two transformations: responsibility `<i>conciencia </i>' (consciousness) and language events progressed in three stages: the beginning-of-the-year stage; the settling-in-and-soaking-in stage; and the common-motto-and-`<i>mismo-barco</i>' (in the same boat) stage. As a result, both students and I were transformed. Students advanced in behavioral and emotional self-awareness, guiding dialogue, making group decisions, and solving conflicts. In their process of becoming biliterate, students stopped making translations and overcame the fear of speaking in English. They started using English and translanguaging practices as an authentic type of communication using their whole linguistic repertoire. I stood up for a symmetrical students-teacher relationship by democratically promoting participation without guiding and consciously balancing power relations permitting a more student-led classroom assembly time and conflicts solved by students. Some lessons I learned were: overcoming an initial na&iuml;ve thinking about participation, transforming to create the conditions for student participation in conflict resolution and decision-making, how I released myself from being the power figure and educated to make a good use of the power to participate democratically in conflict resolution and decision-making, the process of civic education, and biliteracy and translanguaging.</p><p>

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In this study, I establish that language textbooks are sites of discursive struggle through which nationalist imagined communities are reproduced. I use critical discourse analysis to analyze how these textbooks construct Canadian identities that position students in relation to an imagined community of Canada. I analyze twenty-four textbooks and three Citizenship and Immigration Canada publications used in government-funded language instruction in Ontario. Representations of Canada and Canadianness in the texts examined include and exclude student readers, participate in banal nationalism, and legitimate particular understandings of Canada. The identified textbooks mark nationality through flags, maps, references to nation, and the use of nation as a frame of reference. The textbooks also make claims about how 'Canadians' think and behave. This banal nationalism naturalizes and essentializes imaginings of 'Canada' and 'Canadianness' supporting particular and interested constructions and positive evaluations of 'Canadian' identity. Both government produced publications and identified textbooks legitimate constructions of Canadian identity through repeated positive representations of Canadianness; the marginalising inclusions of 'others'; the subordination of gendered, racialised, and classed social positions to nation; and by maintaining a low level of dialogicality overall.