Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Education Policy Studies, 2006. / "Title from dissertation home page (viewed July 5, 2007)." Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-08, Section: A, page: 2823. Adviser: Bradley A. U. Levinson.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2006. / Printout. Vita Includes bibliographical references (leaves 308-318) Available on microfilm from ProQuest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Language Education, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-04, Section: A, page: 1257. Adviser: Jerome C. Harste. "Title from dissertation home page (viewed May 14, 2007)."

Thesis (M.A.)--Indiana University, 2007. / Title from screen (viewed on June 6, 2007) Department of World Languages and Cultures, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-82)

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Language Education, School of Education, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-04, Section: A, page: 1258. "Title from dissertation home page (viewed June 18, 2007)."

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Language Education, 2006. / "Title from dissertation home page (viewed June 27, 2007)." Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-06, Section: A, page: 2083. Adviser: Sharon Pugh.

Interlanguage pragmatics research has contributed a great deal to our understanding of L2 pragmatic use but less to our understanding of L2 pragmatic development, although developmental issues are also its primary research goal. Additionally, previous studies have been confined to a rather small set of speech acts, under-researching such face-damaging acts as criticizing and responding to criticism even though these may be more challenging for L2 learners. The present study examines pragmatic development in the use of criticizing and responding to criticism by a group of Vietnamese EFL learners with a view to shedding light on the pragmatic properties of these speech acts. IL data were collected from 12 high beginners, 12 intermediate learners, and 12 advanced learners, via a written questionnaire and role play, and analyzed with reference to L1 and L2 baseline data collected from 12 Vietnamese and 12 Australian NSs via the same methods. Metapragmatic data were collected via retrospective interview. Four main findings are discussed. Firstly, the learners criticized and responded to criticism very differently from the NSs. This difference might have adversely affected how the learners negotiated their intentions expressed via speech act realizations. Secondly, there was little evidence of any proficiency effect on the learners' use of these two speech acts. This was probably because pragmatic development was limited by the EFL context, as the learners had had insufficient exposure to the target norms. Thirdly, there was evidence of pragmatic transfer in the learners' production. This transfer was affected by the learners' perception of L1-L2 proximity and assumption of L2 reasonableness. Finally, the retrospective interviews with learners suggested four main sources of influence on their pragmatic decision-making: insufficient L2 pragmatic knowledge, transfer of communication and learning, processing difficulty, and learning experience. The present study lends support to a number of SLA theories, including Bialystoks' processing model and Meisel et al.'s complexification hypothesis. It found that the major challenge for learners in L2 pragmatic acquisition is to gain control over processing. It also found an acquisitional order of modality markers which was dependent upon their structural complexity and the processing demands involved in producing them. / Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only.

This exploratory study uses Westheimer and Kahne's (2004) conceptual model of the three planes of 'good' citizenship activity to consider the civic contribution of youth graffiti writers in the community of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Through seven qualitative case studies of youth and young adults, it examines young graffiti artists' perceptions of their participation in their communities and their views on graffiti writing and its place in their lives. The results show that contrary to public opinion, the youth interviewed who participate in graffiti writing in its most artistic form, "piecing", are not focused on vandalism but have carefully considered their relationships with their community and their art. The use of a Youth Research Assist ant in five of the interviews demonstrates that youth themselves, given specific roles in the research process, can add to the richness of data collected. Drawing on literature in graffiti, Hip-Hop cultural studies and community and youth engagement, this study adds to the growing body of research that focuses on youth 'assets' (the existing strengths that youth bring to their involvement in societal affairs) (Benson, 1997; Scales & Laffert, 1999; Ungar, 2005). The research and findings offer an alternate perspective on youth voice, civic identity, citizenship and rule breaking in Canadian democratic society.

This dissertation examines teacher implementation of an adolescent literacy intervention with a coaching component, guided by questions about fidelity of implementation (FoI) and curriculum adaptation. In the first of two studies, I used data from observations of teachers (n=17) in nine schools during the 2013-14 school year to conduct a nuanced descriptive analysis of FoI. I also analyzed weekly logs completed by literacy coaches (n=3) to examine variation in quantity and intensity of coaching. I then compared variation in coaching with variation in FoI, and finally compared FoI to outcomes for students (n=287). FoI at observation 1 was found to predict coaching time, and FoI across both observations predicted student outcomes. This emphasizes the critical role of investigating implementation in order to better understand the results of intervention research. In the second study, I used qualitative methodology to analyze adaptations made by four experienced teachers in one school that sustained implementation of this curriculum after the intervention trial had ended. Six focal adaptations were identified, three each from two teachers, and analyzed for productivity using criteria from Debarger and colleagues (Debarger, Choppin, Beauvineau, & Moorthy, 2013). Of the six, only two met criteria for productivity. This suggests that making productive adaptations is difficult, and that teachers should be supported to do so through educative curriculum materials and effective professional development. In addition, an account of teaching practice methodology was used to define each teacher’s orientation toward the curriculum (Simon & Tzur, 1999), and then to determine whether this orientation demonstrated assimilation or accommodation to intervention principles (Coburn, 2004). I found that the vast majority of time spent implementing the curriculum included adaptations, and that each teacher’s adaptations were different. Although one teacher demonstrated assimilation and accommodation to intervention principles, the other three primarily demonstrated assimilation. These findings suggest the importance of understanding teachers’ orientations toward curriculum in order to provide more tailored professional development which may help teachers accommodate to the most critical pedagogical features of a curriculum.

Abstract not available.