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This study is an investigation of (dis)alignment and (dis)affiliation in narrative conversations in English. The analytical focus is on the teller's approaches for eliciting an assessment from the recipient, and the recipient's questioning behaviors to request further information. Conversation analysis (CA) is employed to analyze and interpret data from fourteen naturally occurring, mundane conversations between American and Japanese participants. Three conversations were audio-taped only, and eleven were both audio- and video-taped. All recorded conversations were transcribed using CA conventions. The analysis of the data revealed the teller's approaches for eliciting an assessment from the recipient, with repetitions being most frequently observed. Gazing, nodding, and using gestures, and multiple approaches including elaborating on the story, repeating a point, and emphasizing important words in a louder voice, were also observed. The analysis also revealed that minimal responses from the recipient such as "I see" did not necessarily indicate the recipient's understanding of the story. The recipient's assessments and comments functioned as a barometer of the degree of understanding. Several types of recipient questioning behaviors were identified, including initiating repair, requesting background information, prompting further story, expressing disagreement, and assisting the teller to continue the story. These questions indicated the degree to which the recipient had understood the story, encouraged the teller to proceed with the story, satisfied the recipient's personal curiosity, showed the recipient's interest and involvement in the story, challenged the teller's interpretation of the story, and assisted the teller when in trouble. Whereas questions sometimes caused temporal derailment, they could also contribute to enhancing alignment and affiliation between the participants. Whether or not a particular question was an indication of (dis)alignment or (dis)affiliation depended on which aspect of the story the teller and the recipient focused on. Although the smooth flow of narratives might be preferable, in naturally occurring mundane conversations, the recipient sometimes needs to intervene in the teller's talk. What seems important in communication is to attain shared understanding in the end, even if the intervention delays the development of the narrative. / CITE/Language Arts

This study investigates Japanese high school teachers’ learning of grammar proceduralization strategies designed to promote oral fluency. It is a multiple case study of six Japanese EFL teachers who learn to use their declarative knowledge of L2 grammar while engaging in tasks that enable them to compare their oral output with a native English speaker’s reformulations of it. Past studies of language learning strategies have been primarily focused either on the learners’ general study habits toward the target language or on their skill-specific language learning strategies in the areas of listening, reading, speaking, writing, and vocabulary. Although the effectiveness of these strategies on learning outcomes is known to be highly constrained by learners’ prior linguistic knowledge, strategies to proceduralize grammar, a core component of one’s linguistic knowledge, have not been well researched. Therefore, little is known about how learners’ volitional efforts contribute to the proceduralization of L2 grammar. Research into oral fluency development has provided evidence that the use of formulas promotes fluency, but it has not revealed how formulas and other varieties of multiword units contribute to different aspects of oral fluency; namely, temporal, repair, and perceived fluency. This study fills these gaps in research by defining, investigating, and creating a set of grammar proceduralization strategies as a promising construct that sheds light on what learners can proactively do to proceduralize their knowledge of L2 grammar. The three main purposes of this study are to (a) investigate Japanese EFL teachers’ grammar proceduralization strategies for appropriating, refining, and using their grammar knowledge, (b) identify L2 morphosyntactic forms and multiword units that facilitate Japanese EFL teachers’ oral production during oral summary and personal anecdote tasks, and (c) investigate the possible relationships between the participants’ L2 grammar proceduralization strategies, their use of specific grammar forms, and their oral fluency development. The participants are six Japanese teachers of English who teach at public senior high schools in Japan. To gain a detailed understanding of the participants’ complex learning processes, their learning trajectories were investigated for a period of six months, using a longitudinal mixed-methods design, with detailed analyses of their English learning history, post-task protocols, linguistic measures, and rubric-based assessment of their oral fluency development. The results provide (a) a typology of L2 grammar proceduralization strategies created based on models of communicative competence and speech production, (b) 16 categories of grammar items that have potential impact on oral fluency development, with insights into factors that facilitate and debilitate the participants’ use of these grammar items, and (c) insights into how the participants’ goal orientation leads to their orchestration of L2 grammar proceduralization strategies, their use of 16 categories of grammar items, and to the different trajectories of their temporal, repair, and perceived fluency development. This study presents data to support the conclusion that a reverse-saliency strategy to learn L2 grammar in concepts, propositions, and discourse is a key to effective EFL pedagogy. / Teaching & Learning

The purpose of this study is to investigate the overall effectiveness of extensive reading, and whether learners' ages impact learning from extensive reading differently. The second purpose is to investigate whether the length of time that second language learners engaged in extensive reading influenced outcome measures, and if an effect is found, identify effective periods of time for learners to engage in extensive reading. Meta-analysis was used to investigate the trends shown by past empirical research, chart future research directions, and provide a means to create alternative hypotheses for future research. Two types of empirical studies were conducted: group contrasts of studies that included control groups and pre-post contrasts of studies that only include experimental groups. This meta-analysis included 34 studies that provided 43 unique effect sizes (22 effect sizes for group contrasts and 21 effect sizes for pre-post contrasts) and a total sample size of 3,942 participants. Students who received extensive reading instruction outperformed those who did not. The effect size was small for group contrasts (d = .46) and medium for pre-post contrasts (d = .71). Moderator variables for each contrast were examined to assess the impact of learners' ages and the length of instruction; however, all groups substantially overlapped with each other in terms of their confidence intervals, indicating no statistically significant difference among the groups. There was a small effect size for university students for the group contrast (d = .48), a medium effect for high school students (d = .61), a large effect for university students (d = 1.12), and a large effect for adults (d = 1.48) for pre-post contrasts. In terms of the length of instruction, both one semester of instruction (d = .36) and one year of instruction (d = .52) produced a small effect for group contrasts, while one year of instruction produced a medium effect (d = .74) for pre-post contrasts. In sum, the available extensive reading research to date suggests that extensive reading improves students' reading proficiency and should therefore be a part of foreign language reading curricula.   / CITE/Language Arts

The purpose of the present study was to examine the encoding of motion in the two languages of Russian-English bilinguals who differed in their ages of arrival in the United States. Three groups of participants took part in the study: 38 L1 Russian speakers, 31 L1 English speakers and 30 Russian-English bilinguals who differed in the ages of arrival in the US (10 early, 10 childhood, and 10 late bilinguals). The participants produced oral narratives elicited with two books, Frog, Where Are You? (Mayer, 1969) and One Frog Too Many (Mayer & Mayer, 1975), with bilingual participants producing narratives in both of their languages. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of the data revealed several differences between L1 Russian and English speakers, including the obligatory encoding of manner of motion in Russian but not in English, where narrators also used generic motion verbs, such as to come or to go. In the context of these differences bilinguals in all three groups were shown to perform in accordance with specific language constraints in both of their languages. At the same time, Russian-English bilinguals used fewer motion verbs in L1 Russian and displayed lower levels of lexical diversity than L1 Russian speakers. The analyses revealed no effects of the age of arrival on the maintenance of L1 Russian, nor of the L1 Russian on the motion talk in L2 English. The findings of the study deepen our understanding of motion encoding in bilingual speakers. They also have important theoretical implications, suggesting that Talmy's dichotomy may be too broad in grouping together languages, such as Russian and English, which display dramatic differences in encoding of motion. / CITE/Language Arts

Parental involvement has been at the forefront of many studies leading to the conclusion that increased parental involvement improves academic achievement. Despite findings suggesting the benefits of parental involvement, research reveals a lack of parental involvement among Spanish-speaking parents. The overarching objective of this qualitative case study was to explore how Spanish-speaking mothers make sense of the construct of parental involvement. This qualitative study was comprised of three cases: one Guatemalan mother and two Honduran mothers each with children attending elementary school. My methodology allowed me to explore and depict historical and sociocultural factors that influence how the mothers view their role in their children's education. I collected data through semi-structured interviews, informal observations, and extensive fieldnotes and I conducted on-going analysis on these data. Data provide evidence that the mothers in the study hold a different perspective of parental involvement from that of school personnel. Their views stem directly from their own historical and cultural knowledge, which differs from that of middle-class, White Americans. They are involved in their children's overall education in ways not acknowledged by educators. / Ph. D.

Listening, the most frequently used form of language skill, plays a significant role in daily communication and educational process. In spite of its importance, listening ability development has received only slight emphasis in language instruction. Nevertheless, U.S. college classrooms, where comprehensive listening serves as a primary channel for learning, require that students function effectively as listeners. It is therefore important for ESL programs to prepare students for successful listening in academic lectures by implementing authentic listening materials in the ESL classes. The fundamental purpose of this study was to examine the influences of aural authentic materials on listening ability in students of English as a second language. The secondary purposes of the study were to identify the learning strategies used by ESL students experiencing authentic listening texts and to determine the influences of authentic materials on ESL students' attitudes towards learning English. ESL students attending the High Intermediate Academic Listening and Vocabulary Development class at a language training center participated in this study. The sources of data for this descriptive study included interviews, questionnaires, and class observation. Analysis of the interviews and the self-evaluation questionnaire revealed that the use of authentic materials in this ESL classroom helped increase students' comfort level and their self-confidence to listen to the target language. Analysis of the class observation and the learning strategy questionnaire revealed that ESL students usually paid attention when someone was speaking English. Students also relied on outside sources such as dictionaries, or other people such as relatives to understand unfamiliar words. Finally, analysis of the class observation and the interview with students revealed that the use of aural authentic materials in ESL classroom had a positive effect on ESL students' motivation to learn the language. Recommendations are offered to ease learners' frustration that resulted from the use of unfamiliar vocabulary and the speed of authentic speech. / Ed. D.

The focus of this dissertation is on the induction and mentoring experiences of new English as a Second Language (ESL) and bilingual teachers. Included in the dissertation are three manuscripts: a systematic literature review of the experiences of and supports for new ESL/bilingual teachers, a descriptive analysis of their induction, and an inferential analysis (i.e., regression) of the extent to which working with a mentor improved their first-year instruction. The first manuscript (Chapter 2) is a systematic review of peer-reviewed articles documenting the experiences of and supports for new ESL/bilingual teachers in U.S public schools. Findings from 32 studies published from 2002-2020 were synthesized into three overarching themes (i.e., instructional contexts and roles; social contexts of teaching; formal induction supports). Many new teachers experienced challenges in their instructional contexts and roles and struggled to connect socially with others in their schools, leading to physical segregation and marginalization. Moreover, only a few studies elaborated on specific induction and mentoring supports. Manuscript 1 concludes with suggestions for researchers and implications for K-12 school leaders, teacher educators, and new ESL/bilingual teachers. The second manuscript (Chapter 3) presents the findings of a secondary descriptive analysis of new ESL/bilingual teacher induction using the nationally representative 2011-12 Schools and Staffing Survey Teacher Questionnaire. Findings provide a first of its kind national profile of their induction supports, levels of perceived preparedness for the first year, and demographic characteristics, as well as a comparison to new general educators. Findings indicate that a lower percentage of new ESL/bilingual teachers than general educators received important induction supports (i.e., administrator feedback, same-subject mentoring, and frequent mentoring) and were not well prepared for critical teaching tasks (e.g., assessing students). Demographically, a higher percentage of new ESL/bilingual teachers than general educators were teachers of color. The manuscript concludes with directions for future research and implications for teacher educators and school leaders. The third manuscript (Chapter 4) investigated which mentoring components (i.e., same-subject mentors, frequency of mentoring, and other mentoring activities), predicted new ESL/bilingual teachers' perceptions that their mentors helped improve their first year of teaching. Using a nationally representative sample of ESL/bilingual teachers. I found that frequent weekly mentoring, help with developing student assessment tools, and help with paperwork/record keeping were statistically significant predictors of the extent to which new ESL/bilingual teachers indicated their mentors improved their first-year teaching. I conclude with suggestions for future research and improving mentoring programs for new ESL/bilingual teachers. / Doctor of Philosophy / The induction and mentoring experiences of new general educators are well documented; however, we know little about the experiences of new English as a Second Language (ESL) and bilingual teachers. This dissertation, comprised of three manuscripts, explores their induction and mentoring experiences. Chapter 2 reviews the literature published between 2002-2020 on the experiences of and supports for new ESL/bilingual teachers. Findings revealed that new ESL/bilingual teachers experienced challenges in instructional contexts and their roles, struggled in social contexts with other teachers and administrators, and sometimes felt marginalized and physically segregated in their schools. Moreover, evidence of induction and mentoring supports were limited. Chapter 3 presents findings from a secondary descriptive analysis of new ESL/bilingual teacher induction using nationally representative data. Findings suggest that low percentages of new ESL/bilingual teachers perceived themselves to be prepared in the first year for key teaching tasks and others did not have common induction supports. Moreover, these findings were compared with new general educators' revealing differences in descriptive results. Chapter 4 explores the mentoring experiences of new ESL/bilingual teachers. Using a nationally representative sample and regression, findings reveal that a number of new ESL/bilingual teachers did not have weekly mentoring with same-subject mentors, nor did they participate in important mentoring activities. Regression results revealed that weekly mentoring, help with paperwork/record keeping, and help with developing student assessments were statistically significant predictors of the extent to which new ESL/bilingual teachers perceived that their mentors improved their first-year teaching. Discussions in each manuscript provide suggestions for future researchers and implications for school leaders and teacher educators.

abstract: This study investigated the internal factor structure of the English language development Assessment (ELDA) using confirmatory factor analysis. ELDA is an English language proficiency test developed by a consortium of multiple states and is used to identify and reclassify English language learners in kindergarten to grade 12. Scores on item parcels based on the standards tested from the four domains of reading, writing, listening, and speaking were used for the analyses. Five different factor models were tested: a single factor model, a correlated two-factor model, a correlated four-factor model, a second-order factor model and a bifactor model. The results indicate that the four-factor model, second-order model, and bifactor model fit the data well. The four-factor model hypothesized constructs for reading, writing, listening and speaking. The second-order model hypothesized a second-order English language proficiency factor as well as the four lower-order factors of reading, writing, listening and speaking. The bifactor model hypothesized a general English language proficiency factor as well as the four domain specific factors of reading, writing, listening, and speaking. The Chi-square difference tests indicated that the bifactor model best explains the factor structure of the ELDA. The results from this study are consistent with the findings in the literature about the multifactorial nature of language but differ from the conclusion about the factor structures reported in previous studies. The overall proficiency levels on the ELDA gives more weight to the reading and writing sections of the test than the speaking and listening sections. This study has implications on the rules used for determining proficiency levels and recommends the use of conjunctive scoring where all constructs are weighted equally contrary to current practice. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Curriculum and Instruction 2011

abstract: This study aims to uncover whether English Central, an online English as a Second Language tool, improves speaking proficiency for undergraduate students with developing English skills. Eighty-three advanced English language learners from the American English and Culture Program at Arizona State University were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: the use of English Central with a learner-control, shared-control, and a no-treatment condition. The two treatment groups were assigned approximately 14.7 hours of online instruction. The relative impact of each of the three conditions was assessed using two measures. First, the Pearson Versant Test (www.versanttest.com), a well-established English-as-a-second-language speaking test, was administered to all of the participants as a pre- and post-test measure. Second, students were given a post-treatment questionnaire that measured their motivation in using online instruction in general, and English Central specifically. Since a significant teacher effect was found, teachers involved in this study were also interviewed in order to ascertain their attitude toward English Central as a homework tool. Learner outcomes were significantly different between the shared and learner conditions. Student motivation was predictive of learning outcomes. Subjects in the shared condition outperformed those in the learner condition. Furthermore, those in the shared condition scored higher than the control condition; however, this result did not reach statistical significance. Results of the follow-up teacher survey revealed that while a teacher's view of the tool (positive or negative), was not a predictor of student success, teacher presentation of the tool may lead to a significant impact on student learning outcomes. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Technology 2015