There is a piece missing from the composition discussions about voice and that is the knowledge which evolves from learning through a dynamic group experience. Voice is recognized by most scholars as having a social component, yet there is little research about voice in writing which has occurred in a social context that is purposefully designed to allow the participants to set their own parameters, ergo exercise their own voices. Through telling stories about voice and having participants choose a means to respond to those personal stories, this dissertation provides a methodology for the emergence of personal voice both physically and metaphorically. From the stories told and the responses to them, it became apparent that voice in writing operates in a much larger context than that of the word on the page. Acute to the emergence of personal voice are issues of vulnerability and personal safety. To hear each other's stories in a secure setting and be guaranteed a response creates a sense of comfort and a willingness to break barriers. Even though there is no universally accepted definition of voice, the term is used facilely and with intention by many people. Because of this it is possible to ask someone to tell a story about his or her personal experience with voice, without defining the word. These stories shed light on how the term is internalized and personally applied. Such storytelling allows a place for each person to be voiceful, whereas a strict or limiting definition of voice can rule some people out. As a pool, individual stories about voice form a field of possibilities. What is told as possible within a group then becomes the socially created parameter for voice. In this way, using the loose group framework presented in this dissertation permits fluidity as well as structure. While voice in writing is certainly framed by social contexts, it is at the same time, highly personal. Far from being at odds, as many scholars suggest, these two dimensions reinforce each other. They are mutually shaping and, therefore, neither can be considered without regard for the other.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1989. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1989. / Includes bibliographical references.

While many linguists point to the value of using data from second language acquisition (SLA) to explore theories of language change, few conduct work in this area. The primary objective of this dissertation is to bridge the gap between these fields by examining the SLA of copula choice before adjectives in Spanish. Historically, the copulas 'ser' and 'estar' have been in competition as the latter has been adopted in new contexts with a wider variety of adjectives. Current sociolinguistic research shows that this change has been accelerated by contact with English (Silva-Corvalan, 1986) but that the change itself was already present in Mexico where contact with English is unlikely Gutierrez, 1992). Gutierrez (1992) identifies classes of adjectives which appear to undergo change first, and based on his findings, makes predictions about the direction of future changes. The classification scheme which enabled Gutierrez (1992) to show how the extension of 'estar˚' progressed also allows for a new approach to classification of SLA data. Previous studies on the SLA of 'ser' and 'estar' (Ryan and Lafford, 1992, Briscoe, 1995) have focused on stages of acquisition, but not within the context 'copula + adjective'. By using data from conversations, picture descriptions and contextualized judgment tasks with English speaking high school students of Spanish at various proficiency levels, the predictions in Gutierrez (1992) can be tested on the order of SLA of the copula+adjective structure. In so doing, the results are expected to shed light on the relationship between SLA and language change.

The purpose of this study was to determine the self percieved levels of Spanish proficiencies of the 1990 and 1991 Guadalajara students at the beginning of their respective summer SSL programs and at the end of the program, the circumstances under which the student uses their Spanish skills, the frequency of usage of these Spanish skills and the satisfaction that the 1990 and 1991 Guadalajara summer SSL program students derived from their participation in their respective SSL summer classes. Four hundred and fifty-nine students from the 1990 and 1991 classes were surveyed to supply the information used in this research document.

<p> The education of English Learners in the United States is an urgent matter that merits the attention and, more importantly, action from the educational and academic communities. A long history of oppression of non-English speaking peoples echoes in the consistently low academic achievement results of students identified as English Learners and economically disadvantaged. The benefits of dual immersion programs in closing the achievement gap and producing students with proficiency in English have been documented and supported through years of research and analyses. However, neither political leaders nor the research community have focused sufficient attention on Spanish language outcomes, in regard to language development and academic achievement. In a political context where new federal policy, Every Student Succeeds Act of 2016 (ESSA), and the California educational policy known as the LEARN initiative (Lara, 2016), allow for more local control of funds and programs for underserved student subgroups, including English Learners, it is more important than ever to explore and critically analyze programs that have the potential to meet these students&rsquo; academic and cultural needs. </p><p> The intent of this mixed-methods case study was to examine the Spanish language achievement, classroom use, and language attitudes of 4th and 5th grade students and their teachers in a dual immersion setting in a large urban school district in Southern California. Through classroom observations and participant interviews, qualitative data was analyzed to explore the implementation of dual immersion at three elementary school sites. Quantitative analysis of Spanish language assessment results in reading and mathematics from four dual immersion elementary sites allowed for the exploration and description of students&rsquo; Spanish language achievement within the district.</p><p> The findings from this case study included lower Spanish achievement outcomes for Spanish-speaking English Learners and economically disadvantaged students in comparison to English proficient and economically advantaged classmates. Classroom observations during Spanish instruction and participant interviews revealed significant differences in program implementation and support at each school site. Alarming achievement outcomes combined with qualitative findings highlight the need for more research on dual immersion programs that focus on Spanish language development and qualitative data collection and analysis. Study findings and recommendations highlight the need for specialized training for district and school leadership as well as school-wide faculty and staff where dual immersion programs are implemented.</p>

Studies of classroom talk have not been able to identify the communicative potential of the ESL speaking class, the type or genre of discourse generally in use in such classrooms, or the role of the textbook in generating speaking opportunities. Therefore, the purpose of this research project was to examine an ESL speaking class from a particular social interaction perspective so that the social and academic processes in which the learners participate to reach the communicative goals of the lessons, and the instructional processes that create speaking opportunities could be taken into account. Ethnographic techniques were used in collecting classroom-based data. The researcher videotaped a seven-week course, took field notes, and interviewed the teacher and the students. / The research revealed that the ESL speaking class consisted of a constant macrostructure that contained three distinct structural parts. These three parts had constant and variable instructional phases where students' speaking opportunities took place. There were also two major categories of speaking activities: teacher-generated and student-generated. Teacher-generated speaking opportunities were both formal and informal. Formal opportunities were in the form of planned speaking activities whereas the informal opportunities were instances of talk that were not related to the academic activities of the lesson. Student-generated speaking opportunities helped them construct the lesson with the teacher. Because of the institutional nature of the ESL speaking class, however, student-generated speaking opportunities were fewer than those generated by the teacher. In addition, students' speaking opportunities that overlapped with the teacher's instruction or did not meet her expectations for participation were sanctioned. / The research also revealed that the textbook was used as a source of activities and a skeleton for thematic organization. During textbook activities learners engaged in talk through the teacher's mediation of the text. The use of the textbook during speaking activities had an impact on learners' verbal and nonverbal interaction and language use. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-09, Section: A, page: 2752. / Major Professor: Frank B. Brooks. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1994.

The purpose of this study was to compare two instructional strategies using cooperative learning and interactive video instruction, and to measure the effect of these strategies on achievement, amount of invested mental effort, and attitudes. In the individualized video treatment, subjects worked on an interactive video lesson on the German language, then participated in a cooperative learning session. In the cooperative interactive video treatment, subjects worked together with the interactive video for the entire instructional session. The study was conducted during 10 instructional sessions spanning five weeks. / Eighty-nine college freshman and sophomores were randomly assigned to the treatment groups. Achievement was measured by performance on three written dialogues constructed by cooperative groups during three of the 10 sessions, and by a posttest on German language listening, writing, and translating skills. Performance on the dialogues was assessed by a type (number of different words used) and token (number of words) analysis. Amount of invested mental effort was measured with a post-study questionnaire. Attitudes were measured with a post-study questionnaire and an opinion survey. / Wilcoxon rank sum tests on the types and tokens in the dialogues, and t-tests on the posttest scores, revealed no significant differences between the treatments on achievement. T-tests found no differences between the treatments on the amount of invested mental effort, and attitudes toward interactive video instruction and language learning. The cooperative interactive video treatment showed significantly higher attitudes toward cooperative learning, which was contrary to the pre-experimental hypothesis. The opinion questionnaires reflected generally positive attitudes in the cooperative interactive video treatment, and a bipolarity of attitudes, negative and positive, toward the individualized treatment. / The results suggest that conducting interactive video instruction and cooperative learning in sequence, versus conducting this method and medium simultaneously, does not influence achievement in foreign language acquisition. The findings reinforce the recommendation of numerous researchers to install two position interactive video workstations, with their inherent cost savings over individual workstations, as they may be equally effective. Further research is recommended to determine how mature learners are best grouped when using technology-based instructional environments and cooperative learning. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 57-01, Section: A, page: 0180. / Major Professor: Walter Wager. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1996.

The purposes of this study were to conduct a content validation of braille transcription on the National Literary Braille Competency Test (NLBCT) and investigate the teaching and use of braille-related communication skills. Print questionnaires for teachers and braille questionnaires for consumers were developed, reviewed by teachers or consumers in the field of visual disabilities, field tested, and revised accordingly. Questionnaires were mailed to subjects with follow-up correspondences soliciting completion of the documents for collection of data on the use of braille-related communication skills by teachers of students with visual impairments and blind consumers. Two hundred thirty-three teachers of visually impaired in Florida and 531 consumers in the United States were the pool of participants in the study. / The major findings in this study are: (1) The skill of braille transcription using a braillewriter or a slate and stylus without the use of braille reference materials are not valid requirements of the NLBCT; (2) Teachers spend one to two hours a week teaching use of one or more of the following: braillewriter, computer, tape recorder, and typewriter. Few teachers teach use of the slate and stylus and reader service; (3) Consumers use a variety of braille-related communication devices. The most popular devices include the braillewriter, reader service, writer service, and slate and stylus; and (4) There is a positive association between the braille-related communication skills that teachers teach and consumers use for all skills except the use of slate and stylus and use of reader service. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-11, Section: A, page: 4347. / Co-Major Professors: Gideon R. Jones; Bruce Menchetti. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

This research describes the effects of various amounts of CLAST instruction on students' performance on the CLAST essay test and on their development as freshman writers. Four groups of students who received various amounts of CLAST essay instruction during their freshman year at Florida State University were studied. Their CLAST essay scores as well as scores they received on CLAST facsimile essays were analyzed along with information obtained from questionnaires, attitude surveys, additional pieces of controlled writing, and personal interviews of case-study students. / Analysis of data indicates that instruction in CLAST essay skills does not ensure higher CLAST essay scores and that CLAST instruction should not be made the focus of freshman composition. Students' attitudes toward their development as writers is negatively affected when freshman writing courses focus on the limited, product-based criteria CLAST essay graders use when scoring student essays. / Data analysis also indicates that process-based writing instruction does not ensure that students will take their papers through recursive stages of drafting and revising when they are given a choice of composing strategies. Unless student writers are involved with the subject about which they are writing, it is highly unlikely that they will put anything more than minimal time, energy, or thought into their writing. In order to become involved with their writing, students must view writing as a worthwhile activity that helps them grow and develop as individuals. Writing must be taught as something more than a necessary skill which students will be required to use in college courses and on various competency tests. If students are to come to view composing as a valuable tool they can use in many areas of their lives, writing must be taught as a way of thinking and communicating. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-03, Section: A, page: 0827. / Major Professor: John Fenstermaker. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.