<p> The purpose of this descriptive survey study was to (a) investigate the impact of ELL Shadowing on teachers' awareness of the academic language abilities and needs of Long-Term English Language Learners; (b) assess teacher-perceived proficiency in implementing Frayer Model and Think-Pair-Share Charting instructional strategies with English learners following specially designed professional development; (c) assess teacher self-efficacy to effectively address the academic language needs of English learners following specially designed professional development; and (d) investigate the academic language performance of Long-Term English Language Learners as a result of the Frayer Model and Think-Pair-Share Charting strategy implementation. </p><p> This study used an original survey created by the researcher consisting of 13 structured and 2 semi-structured questions that was administered after professional development on ELL Shadowing, the Frayer Model, and Think-Pair-Share Charting. The survey's 15 questions examined teacher self-efficacy in using the 2 instructional strategies to meet the needs of Long-Term English Language Learners, how ELL Shadowing impacted teachers' perspectives of English learners, and the impact of the 2 instructional strategies on English learners' performance following professional development. </p><p> The findings from this study indicated that: (a) the majority of teacher participants saw the benefit in ELL Shadowing increasing awareness of the academic needs of Long-Term English Language Learners and that these students often remain passively silent in the classroom; (b) teachers are slightly more comfortable using the Frayer Model than Think-Pair-Share Charting; (c) the majority of teacher participants saw the benefit in using the Frayer Model and Think-Pair-Share Charting to increase student talk, accountability, and Academic Language Development; and (d) in addition to professional development workshops, some teachers need ongoing support and coaching for full implementation of instructional strategies. </p><p> It was concluded that: (a) ELL Shadowing increases awareness of Long-Term English Language Learners; (b) English learner professional development can increase teacher efficacy for supporting English learners; (c) The Frayer Model and Think-Pair-Share Charting, when used in conjunction, increase academic language development for English learners; and (d) Effective professional development requires a systems approach in order to build teacher capacity and sustainability.</p>

<p> The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the perceived experience of Chinese students during their first year attending a Catholic co-educational boarding and day school in the United States. Data collection included semi-structured interviews of five current students, a faculty and staff questionnaire, and an analysis of the schedule of events for the new boarding student orientation. The data was analyzed using the inductive method for data analysis. The data showed that Chinese students face challenges in four key areas: 1) academic adjustment; 2) social adjustment; 3) emotional support; and 4) developing autonomy. Differences between Chinese culture and American culture provide challenges across the four key areas, leading culture to be best suited as a lens for analyzing the challenges faced by Chinese students transitioning to life at an American boarding school. There should be continuing research to identify the challenges faced by other ethnic and cultural groups in adjusting to life at boarding schools.</p>

<p> Immigrant and refugee students who have been entering the United States have a pressing challenge and that challenge is the learning and comprehension of the English language. School administration and faculty have struggled to meet the needs of immigrant and refugee students in urban schools. The purpose of the quantitative correlational study was to test the hypothesis that sixth, seventh, and eighth grade immigrant and refugee band students scored higher on the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) test than did junior high immigrant and refugee non-band students in the reading and comprehension of the English language, as assessed by the 2010 and 2011 reading and 2011 writing test scores of the AIMS. The target population consisted of the immigrant and refugee student population in three junior high schools in the A1 district, a Title 1 district in Phoenix, Arizona. The federal government created and developed Title 1 schools in the United States for students who were living at or near poverty and who may have been at risk of failure. The data clerks, faculty, and administrative members collected the reading and writing scores of the band and non-band sixth, seventh, and eighth graders of the three junior high schools from the Microsoft Excel&reg; program of the A1 District and the data were input into the Microsoft Excel program, then into the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences&reg; (SPSS) program and analyzed. Two-tailed <i>t</i>-tests were conducted to analyze differences in the reading and writing scores between the band and non-band students in three junior high schools in Central Phoenix. A statistically significant difference in reading and writing scores was found between those students who were band participants and those who were not.</p>

<p> This study examines how Chinese philosophical values and rhetorical traditions that contribute to coherence differ from those prevalent in English. It attempts to discover how six Chinese ESL undergraduate participants demonstrate coherence in their persuasive writing, and how their practice of, and views toward coherence in writing change over a semester during which they are exposed to an American college writing classroom.</p><p> Three types of essays were collected for qualitative analysis in this study: a diagnostic departmental pre-test essay at the beginning of the semester, a final essay given as a post-test, and two drafts of a CATW (CUNY Assessment Test in Writing) practice essay that were written for the advanced writing course. In addition, data were also collected from a background questionnaire, a classroom observation, and two rounds of interviews during the course of a semester.</p><p> The study explored the features of coherence at both local (sentence) and global (discourse) levels. The knowledge of cohesion and coherence was employed to investigate how the Chinese learners of English achieved coherence within and beyond the paragraph level. The study discussed how the participants struggled to learn the appropriate use of explicit transitions and patterns of development to create a logical flow of ideas, how their writing generally cohered around one controlling idea throughout the essay, and how they changed their perceptions of coherence in an American university setting. The findings suggest that the Chinese ESL learners' writing quality could be improved in the Western context through coherence-related classroom instruction, revision practice, and teacher-student writing conferences, all aimed at helping them to understand Western notions of coherence while continuing to value their own cultural traditions.</p><p> The study's goal is to help both writing instructors and students; it is hoped that the findings of the study will help instructors to design appropriate writing instruction for such students, as well as helping the students to become familiar with coherence, in the process allowing them to get the most out of their college education and their efforts to improve at writing.</p>

<p> The purpose of this holistic single-case study was to identify and to understand the child, the family, and the school interactions that influence the development of Brazilian students&rsquo; English fluency. The general research question was: What perceived influences act within and on the students&rsquo; language acquisition to acquire English fluency? A purposeful sample of seventeen participants evidenced the factors that influenced the seventh and the eighth grade Brazilian students&rsquo; English fluency. Data were collected through 17 interviews, tape-recordings, interview transcriptions, document analysis, and 17 member-check interviews. Data were coded and analyzed through the NVivo 10.0 for Mac Beta. The seven themes of external influences that emerged from the data of the factors that influenced Brazilian students&rsquo; English fluency included: English Lessons are Priority in Extracurricular Activities, Technology Use is Fundamental in English Fluency, Parents Participate in the Learning Experience, Contact with Culture and Native Speakers Advances English, Parents Set High Standards, the Curriculum, and Teachers&rsquo; Competency Influences English Fluency. One sub-theme resulted: Parents&rsquo; Motivate through Example. The two internal themes included: (1) Students are Naturally Interested in English, and (2) Students Enjoy Learning. The findings of this study supported the literature that ecological factors influence students&rsquo; learning, specifically the family, the school, and the community. Identifying and understanding the positive interactions that influenced the students&rsquo; learning of English in this case may benefit teachers and families, to improve the students&rsquo; learning a foreign language for success in the Brazilian context.</p>

<p> From a critical race theory perspective, this study examined how leaders in a California public school district support English language learners (ELLS) while implementing Proposition 227, a policy that strengthened the structures of inequality by imposing English as the language of instruction. The problem this study addressed was the effect Proposition 227 has had on school leaders' capacity to support the needs of ELLs. A qualitative multiple-case study, this study examined inconsistencies among tiers of leadership with regard to support systems for ELLs, irregular monitoring practices, and a lack of language resources. These findings also reveal a focus on oral and academic language development and outline professional development and review of ELLS' data as best practices.</p><p> This study employed nine semistructured interviews. Analysis is presented through a tiered leadership model that includes perceptions from board members, district administrators, and school principals. This study is vital to informing the literature on how leaders understand instruction for ELLs and implement support services in public schools.</p>

<p> Reading comprehension is an essential part in developing any language and literacy program. Many literacy programs have taken care to focus on improving reading comprehension instruction at different grade and ability levels, including English as a Second Language and English as a Foreign Language (ESL/EFL). Despite these efforts, there are classrooms that ignore the need for instruction in reading comprehension, and there seems to be little consensus on the best type of reading comprehension instruction. In fact, many educators continue to struggle to find the appropriate ways to effectively and explicitly teach comprehension strategies. </p><p> Consequently, this dissertation study is an attempt to elicit the general perceptions and experiences of English as a Foreign Language learners and their teachers toward one promising approach incorporating children's picture books to initiate explicit instructional practice with reading comprehension strategies. Two English language teachers and 40 students from the seventh and eighth grades at two different urban schools in Sabha City, Libya participated in this study. Participants' semi-structured interviews and classroom observations were implemented as primary data sources, while surveys and classroom documents were used as secondary sources during data collection. Based on holistic and in-depth firsthand analysis of the collected data, findings indicated that Libyan EFL students in the participating classrooms reacted positively toward the use of picture books to learn some reading comprehension strategies. Additionally, both Libyan EFL teachers affirmed that using children's picture books for explicit comprehension strategy instruction increased the students' abilities to understand what they were reading. Other specific findings demonstrated that Libyan EFL seventh and eighth graders were able to apply several types of comprehension strategies including cognitive and metacognitive strategies while reading picture books and the English language textbook sections. Students' preferences for reading some of the assigned picture books aligned with their preferences for using different types of reading comprehension strategies. Despite some concerns that were reported by the participants regarding time and vocabulary instruction, this study could contribute to enrich the body of research in the area of reading comprehension instruction, particularly in Libyan EFL classrooms.</p>

<p> This dissertation examined the educational outcomes of high school English learner (EL) students with limited or interrupted formal education (SLIFE) to evaluate theories that explain their educational resilience. School system data and survey results from 165 high school ELs were analyzed to determine the degree to which ELs' homeland schooling had influenced their academic outcomes in the U.S. Educational outcomes included English proficiency attainment and gains as well as scores on standardized tests of algebra, biology, and English language arts. Limited formal schooling (LFS) was operationalized with three indicators for students on arrival in the U.S.: (1) gaps in years of schooling relative to grade, (2) low self-reported first language schooling, and (3) beginner-level English proficiency. Bivariate and multivariate regression analyses were used to estimate the relationships between the LFS indicators and the educational outcomes as well as the degree to which school-based protective factors and personal risk factors had influenced the relationships. Protective factors included perceived pedagogical caring, social integration with non-immigrant peers, ESOL classes, out-of-school help, and extra-curricular activities. Risk factors included high social distance, past traumatic experiences, a lack of authoritative parental support, separations from loved ones, and hours spent working in employment. This study also examined the role students' academic self-concept played in mediating and moderating the influence of protective and risk factors in the resiliency process. The findings showed that SLIFE had lower achievement on the standardized tests, but that it was largely due to having lower English proficiency at the time of the test. Lower English proficiency at the time of the test was mainly attributed to arriving with lower English proficiency and lower first language literacy. ESOL classes appeared to help students acquire English faster. After controlling for differences in English proficiency, students' perceptions of social distance appeared to predict their academic achievement on standardized tests better than their academic self-concept and the other protective or risk factors. This study contributes to our understanding of risk and resilience among SLIFE and may help inform interventions to support them better.</p>

<p> Little is known about how engaging in the learning-oriented leadership model (Drago-Severson, 2004b, 2009, 2012a) can support educators to address the adaptive challenges they encounter in their day-to-day work teaching English learners. My qualitative study examined how 11 educators whose school leaders implement the learning-oriented leadership model described and understood the adaptive challenges they encountered teaching English learners; how they described and understood their experiences engaging in the pillar practices (i.e., teaming, assuming leadership roles, collegial inquiry, mentoring) of the learning-oriented leadership model; and in what ways, if any, these educators described and understood those experiences within the pillar practices as supportive to their efforts to meet their adaptive challenges. </p><p> I conducted three one-hour interviews with each of 11 participants (teachers and specialists) from a public elementary school (n=7) and a public charter elementary school (n=4). I selected sites based on the school leader's experience with and implementation of Drago-Severson's learning-oriented leadership model and the number of educators who taught English learners. Data analysis included: 1) writing analytic memos, 2) transcribing interviews verbatim, 3) coding, 4) crafting profiles, 5) categorization, 6) within-case and cross-case analysis, and 7) creating matrices. </p><p> I found that participants understood cultural proficiency, partnering with families, and English learner programming as adaptive challenges they encountered teaching English learners. Furthermore, all participants understood adaptive challenges involving English learners as opportunities for growth and development. The overwhelming majority of participants experienced the pillar practices as a holding environment for their growth and understood that building-level and district-level leaders played a pivotal role in creating an infrastructure for the pillar practices to support their growth. Key features of the holding environment participants described included: provision of information and access to expertise; time and space for reflective discussion and/or collaborative problem solving; and opportunities to pose questions, consider others' perspectives, and offer alternative perspectives. </p><p> Recommendations for principals, superintendents, and policymakers include: employing the pillar practices of the learning-oriented leadership model to support educators in their work with diverse learners, specifically English learners and providing financial and human resources to support educators and principals to gain expertise relating to English learners.</p>

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