Statement of the problem. The purpose of this study was to develop a matrix for designing a standard which could be applied in conducting analyses of the content, kinds, and relative amounts of information based on current linguistic knowledge and theory presented in a selected group of college freshman English textbooks. / Procedure. The matrix for this investigation was established from a collection of college freshman English textbooks which are currently used in forty-three (43) private colleges in Georgia and thirty-two (32) public units of the University System of Georgia. A model checklist developed by the investigator, with inputs from other English professionals, was used to determine acceptable language and linguistics content in randomly selected textbooks. In order to assure positive identification, each selected textbook was assigned a code. The contents of each of the texts in the study were examined for category, substance, and relative amounts of information contained in each selected book. Once the research data were compiled, they were measured through the use of standard statistical reliability tests. / Findings. (1) There are more textbooks in which categories of content based on traditional grammar predominate than textbooks in which categories of content based on current linguistic theory and knowledge are predominant. (2) The textbooks in which categories of content based on traditional grammar predominate did comprise a textbook type--either handbook, rhetoric, or composition skills text. (3) Other relationships within and among the textbooks, such as a relationship between content emphasized and date of publication, and between quality of content and publishing companies were revealed. (4) The potential of this study is that it may provide a clear, objective, and valid standard for systematically assessing the presence or absence of language and linguistics content in both textbooks and courses of study. (5) The standard might also serve as a non-impressionistic guide in the planning of language and linguistics content in a freshman English course of study. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-03, Section: A, page: 0691. / Major Professor: Dwight D. Burton. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.

Thesis advisor: Susan A. Michalczyk / Children's literature possesses the power to crumble walls of prejudice, open the mind to unlimited possibilities and perhaps most importantly, entertain children whatever their race, age or social status. Many people have such fond memories of the books they read as children that, should you demand of any American college student what his favorite book was as a child, and he will find it difficult to narrow his selection down to just one. Ask any American child what her favorite movie during childhood and inherently nine out of ten children will choose a movie made by Walt Disney. Indeed literature and the stories of childhood play an important role in the intellectual and psychological development of human beings. During childhood, the literature children read and have read to them often lay the seeds for their future views of themselves and the world. If this were the case, then how much caution should be taken with the themes of these books? Children's literature is defined as "books that are good for children, written with their general necessities and entertainment in mind." The “goodness” of these books is determined not only in their vivid creativity and wildly imaginative stories, but as well in the long lasting lessons they impart upon the children who read them. These books give a child a glimpse into distant lands far away from the suburb they live in or the city in whose parks they play every day. As well, literature can also cultivate cultural prejudices and stereotypes that can either damage a child's developing psyche or improve it. From its inception, children's literature has always been meant to shape and mold children to the will of society. The questions remains to be answered, if literature holds such power over us, then what control should responsible publishers, teachers, librarians and parents exercise in determining what their children should be reading? Where does one draw the line between education and politics in the world of children's literature? In order to fully examine this question and comprehend its implications, one must first examine the history of children's literature and what it originally desired to achieve. Then, once the evolution has been traced, one can analyze the future and determine where the shifts that have occurred in children's literature throughout the eras are leading us in the years to follow / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2003. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Education, Lynch School of. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

In spite of the tremendous popularity enjoyed by Monteiro Lobato's books for children, and despite the spread of his popularity beyond Brazil, studies of his works have generally been scarce. Those that do exist have failed to present to the public an objective evaluation of Monteiro Lobato's writings for children. Perhaps the most important reason for the paucity of criticism is that children's literature has never been regarded as literature worthy of serious attention. This attitude has resulted in several misconceptions about Monteiro Lobato's work. The purpose of this study is to clarify Monteiro Lobato's blurred profile in order to arrive at a more comprehensive perspective on his books for children, one which will achieve an unbiased evaluation of his overall contribution to the revitalization of children's literature in Brazil. Through this investigation of specific published material in the field, a set of criteria for evaluating children's books was established and applied to Monteiro Lobato's books for children in order to determine the outstanding qualities in his books, as compared to similar books in Brazil. Finally, the findings were synthesized and analyzed resulting in the thesis that Monteiro Lobato's works were a direct response to a need to lead the development and writing of children's literature in Brazil down new, diverse and relevant paths / acase@tulane.edu

Based upon a survey of 409 university-level students in 14 institutions in 5 areas of Brazil, this dissertation reassesses relationships among English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) proficiency, attitudes, uses and needs. Students in this study reported infrequent present use of spoken English, although verbal skills were those most desired. This inconsistency in reported uses and needs is supported by the observations of many educators who state that students want more practice with oral skills, while they most use and need English reading skills Factor analyses of students' responses to a 63-item questionnaire supported Fishman's (1977) findings that nonattitudinal factors correlate most highly with self-rated EFL proficiency. Complementary competence, use of English with native and non-native speakers, and number of languages spoken were more highly correlated with proficiency than were motivational or attitudinal variables. Attitudinal variables demonstrated a low correlation with proficiency. Implications are that attempts to boost motivation in ways unrelated to students' goals may have less effect than increasing the availability of meaningful opportunities to use the additional language Analyses of variance indicated that students from urban settings and those from private institutions reported higher proficiency than rural students and those from public institutions. Future teachers and private-school students reported more frequent use of English and higher native-speaker integrative motivation than non-teachers and public-school students. These findings supported the view (Hamp-Lyons 1983) that teachers may assume a native-speaker integrative motivation in their students, since they themselves seemed to identify more closely with native speakers and cultures Gardner and Lambert (1972) reported on the importance of integrative motivation in second language learning. In this study, reported motivation was most often instrumental rather than integrative, yet reported proficiency was high. The majority of students reported that they 'liked' English-speaking countries and native speakers of English less than they 'liked' or appreciated the usefulness of English in international communication, travel, business and study. It may be useful to describe 'integrative motivation' for the study of English in such sociolinguistic situations as Brazil as an identification with an international community of lingua franca speakers / acase@tulane.edu

The purpose of this study was to describe the staff development model for writing instruction, developed by the National Writing Project and adapted by the schools in Bay County, Florida, during the summer of 1988 and the school year of 1988-89. This description was based upon data obtained from questionnaires and field notes of both in-service meetings and classroom observations. The study chronicled the participants as they implemented new writing strategies in their classroom and emerged as instructional leaders in their schools. Based upon the evidence obtained during the observations and the data from the questionnaires, the researcher identified several factors which influenced the success or the failure of staff development efforts in the various schools. One of the factors that seemed to impact in a negative way was the involvement of schools in more than one staff development effort which made it more difficult for participants to implement and practice strategies. An instructional leader was the county level who was committed to the effort and supportive of the teachers and the provision of released time, insuring the participants of an opportunity to nurture each other through sharing and coaching activities, were instrumental in the accomplishment of their efforts. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-07, Section: A, page: 2335. / Major Professor: John Simmons. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.

The primary purpose of this study was to analyze four original Spanish literary books and their adapted versions (readers) to determine the primary changes that occur in the adaptation process. / The secondary purpose of this study was to determine the extent of agreement/disagreement between methods of classifying adapted texts to develop a generalization of "intermediateness" as a classification. / The data of this study were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. / Qualitative analysis was through a thorough analysis of lexical, syntactical and content factors of the eight literary works under study and quantitative analysis through the application of the Spaulding Readability Formula and the Vari-Cartier Readability Formula. / The significant findings of the study were that the Vari-Cartier formula tended to rely on the factor "syllables/100 words" as a component of the formula in determining the reading difficulty rating over the other component, "sentence/100 words" while the Spaulding formula tended to rely more on the factor word "density" as a component of the formula in determining the reading difficulty assigned to each Spanish prose rather than the other component "average sentence length". / The Vari-Cartier Readability Formula did not detect simplification in the Spanish readers under study while the Spaulding readability Formula did detect simplification in the Spanish readers under study. / Qualitatively it was determined that the original and adapted versions of the books in this study differed according to their lexical, syntactical and content factors while all the adapted readers had been simplified to different degrees in their lexicon, syntax and content. / It was also determined that the results of the qualitative analysis related far close with the Spaulding Readability Formula while the Vari-Cartier Readability Formula agreed little with the qualitative analysis. / "Intermediateness" in the adapted readers essentially was characterized by a simplification of the lexical, syntactical and content factors of the original versions. / This study implied that the reading difficulty assigned a reader is dramatically affected by the measure used to determine the reading difficulty and the components making up that measure. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-09, Section: A, page: 3208. / Major Professor: Frederick L. Jenks. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1991.

This dissertation reports the results of an ethnographic study of the personal and academic literacies of four students during their first year at Florida State University. This research was shaped by one main question: How do first-year students use personal and academic literacies? / To investigate this question, I followed four students through three semesters of college, beginning the summer term preceding their first academic year. I conducted over one hundred student and teacher interviews, collected over sixty formal essays, observed seventy-plus days of class, and collected other artifacts, including personal journals and class handouts. By analyzing all of this data as well as reading theorists' and teachers' accounts of students' experiences, I constructed a descriptive and analytical account of these students' literacies and lives. / This study concludes that students' literacies relate to their academic success, which is heavily determined by non-academic factors, including family support, confidence, and reliance upon teachers. Student literacies are related to the roles students play. Some students come to college more equipped to handle the various student and writer roles expected of them. / I propose that support services be put into place to help students succeed. Also, this study suggests that keeping personal writing in the first-semester writing course helps students develop confidence in themselves as writers and students. All students should experience at least one safe writing environment. The classroom cultures created by teachers and students prove vital to students' academic success. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-08, Section: A, page: 3037. / Major Professor: Wendy Bishop. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

This ethnographic study is set in the milieu of a shelter for runaway youth as they participate in a ten-week series of poetry workshops, a Florida State University outreach effort. In the style of naturalistic and organic research, this study presents a narrative of and a response to the workshop experience. At times, the response is theoretical as the author presents a personal philosophy of writing and teaching of writing, interlaced with quotes and comments from other authors and theorists, ancient through contemporary. At other times, the response is creative and autobiographical, with surprising asides, sewing, in part, to explain the workshop leader's personality. / Subjects considered within the study include the student-centered, student-driven, interactive classroom; praise; authority; respect; community; identity; writing as a practice of wondering; the craft of writing; literacy as a creative and critical act; the possibility of a woman's rhetoric; and the intersections of rhetoric and composition and creative writing. In spite of objective passages and long scholarly discussions, the paper strives to maintain the reader's interest in an almost novel-like fashion. / Using qualitative methods of data collection, including field notes, participants' observations, tape-recordings of workshops, and photographs of workshops in progress, the researcher examines herself as ethnographer, creative writer, theoretician and workshop leader within the culture of the outreach workshops. What crystallizes, through the analysis of the lens worn by the ethnographer as a teacher and philosopher, is an ethnography turned in on itself. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-04, Section: A, page: 1351. / Major Professor: Joann Gardner. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

Within social media and popular culture, new and diverse forms of online identity representation are emerging in virtual spaces. As traditional literacy practices yield to newer literacies, these forms of identity representation require and receive critical scrutiny. Personalized avatars are one such form. They provide a site through which individuals may represent themselves as a constructed product of identity and the discursive practices that contribute to it. / This qualitative study explores the cultural politics of representation with ten teenaged girls who constructed personalized avatars for social networking sites. Its purpose is to investigate the truth effects about representation, girlhood identity and culture, and to analyze the power structures present in the narrative and graphic images of girlhood self-representation. As part of this analysis, personalized avatars are deconstructed as forms of visual language within a broader context of critical media literacy. / The ubiquitous character of social networking places girls and their images under a scrutiny within which they become objects of a regulatory gaze. Drawing from a cultural studies methodology, this study utilizes critical ethnography informed by feminist poststructuralism to examine the politics of this gaze and to articulate the tensions between attempting to be true to lived experience while remaining cognizant of the always partial and ever political nature of representation. This framework challenges normative notions of the self and attempts to expose how power structures within a site of avatar production intersect with girlhood performative desire. / This study finds that normative discourses around gender, ability, class, ethnicity, and beauty govern representation for teenaged girls in online spaces in a manner similar to real life locations. Despite a widely held belief that girls have an expanded capacity to represent themselves through online forums of individual creativity, this study suggests that structures of social media continue to contribute to the power of these regulatory discourses. This study finds that girls report a constant insecurity and questioning around their self-representations and, as such, these findings have implications for critical media education as well as future research related to girlhood identities in new media spaces.

This dissertation is a study of what selected literature teachers report to be their sources of practical knowledge. The data for the study was collected through open-ended interviews with three practicing public school literature teachers in two school districts in a large southwestern city between 1996 and 1998. The informants were selected more on the basis of convenience of access than any other criteria, though I also considered their length of time in the profession and limited the study to persons who were actually teaching literature at the time of the study. The interviews followed an extended observation. After the interviews were transcribed, I analyzed them by the "constant comparison" method (Merriam, 1988, p. 138), using a set of data codes derived from the interview data, then sorted the data according to the codes. That permitted me to bring together pieces of conversation from various points in the interview in a way that is most useful to me (Rubin and Rubin, 1995, pp. 238--241). While the selection and data collection methods were such that I cannot extrapolate the findings to other literature teachers, the data shows quite clearly that, for these teachers, there is a disjuncture between what the research literature assumes are teachers' primary sources of practical knowledge and what the teachers themselves think it to be. Both their statements about their sources of practical knowledge and the metaphoric language they use to describe themselves argue that, for these three teachers, alternative sources of practical knowledge---self, publisher-generated materials, reading in the professional literature, conversations with colleagues, and professional conferences and staff development workshops---are more important sources of their practices than are the sources upon which the research literature puts its primary focus---the apprenticeship of observation, content courses, and pedagogy courses. This finding suggests to me that a broader, more detailed study of this question is warranted.