<p>Teachers? Experiences in a Charter School With English Language Learners? Acquisition of Academic Literacy. Estella Stephens, 2018: Applied Dissertation, Nova Southeastern University, Abraham S. Fischler College of Education. Keywords: charter schools, English language learners, literacy, phenomenon, qualitative research, teachers This qualitative applied dissertation was designed to investigate and give voice to the lived experiences of mainstream teachers at charter schools where the English language learner (ELL) population increased significantly. It replicated McCoy?s (2013) study. A phenomenological design was used to interview kindergarten-Grade 8 mainstream teachers in 3 charter schools. Interviews were conducted by a noninterested party due to the positionality status of the researcher. Interviews were transcribed, and the data analyzed and coded by the researcher. Teachers were asked about lived experiences with ELLs acquiring academic literacy, teachers? challenges and benefits in teaching academic literacy, changes that occurred in classrooms in their work with helping ELLs to attain grade-level academic literacy, and how they could be best prepared to help ELLs attain academic literacy based on Cummins (1973) language acquisition theory. Six themes emerged from the interviews relating teachers? experiences with ELLs? difficulty with mastering academic literacy in a charter school. The 6 themes that emerged included a large ELL percentage in the class, ELLs entering school behind grade level, cultural and language barriers, increased collaboration, greater emphasis on vocabulary, and increased professional development. The study found that teachers perceived that the influx of ELLs into mainstream classrooms and culture and native languages posed challenges to students? academic literacy achievement. Increased collaboration and a greater emphasis on teaching vocabulary proved to be helpful. The majority of teachers? requests for professional development targeted teaching ELLs to prepare teachers better to help students attain academic literacy. The results of the 3 major findings in McCoy?s (2013) research study were supported as principles of good teaching pedagogy. Implications, limitations, reflections, and recommendations for future research are reported.

<p>Prepositions are hard to learn ? even for the advanced language student (Celce- Murcia & Larson-Freeman, 1999). One reason these lexical items are particularly troublesome is that their meanings vary substantially across languages (Feist, 2008a; Levinson & Meira, 2003). In addition, prepositional meanings are complex, with their uses influenced by geometric, functional, and physical aspects of the scenes they describe (Coventry & Garrod, 2004; Feist 2000, 2008a; Vandeloise, 1991). In light of this complexity, the purpose of this study was to figure out what advanced ESL students understand about English prepositional meanings. In my first experiment, advanced ESL learners from ten different language backgrounds studying at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette were asked to look at images and choose the best fit preposition to describe each spatial scene (created by Feist, 2000). Students were given a choice of in or on to best describe spatial scenes which varied along geometric, functional, and physical parameters. Their responses were then analyzed to determine which factors influenced ESL learners? prepositional meanings. In addition, the pattern of influences on ESL learners? use of English prepositions was compared to the influence previously observed in native English speakers (Feist , 2000) to determine how the ESL students? prepositional meanings compared to those of native English speakers. This may help elucidate whether even advanced nonnative speakers are missing subtle influences in prepositional semantics or if they possess a complex understanding that is similar to native speakers. My second study, which was formed out of the discussion of the first, explored one potential strategy used by advanced nonnative speakers in prepositional selection. How do students choose one preposition over another? Understanding what students know about in and on can help researchers develop pedagogical practices which guide learners on a path toward more native-like understanding of prepositional semantics.

<p> English second language (ESL) learners have been present in the United States public schools for decades. While the identification and procedures for entering students into an ESL program have improved throughout the years, there still seems to be a lack of understanding of academic backgrounds and program support for these students with unique educational backgrounds and languages. Instructional techniques for ESL students have varied widely, but there has not been a common consensus on which technique to utilize with secondary ESL students. Placement of ESL students has proved to be a difficult task in districts with limited options and often times the best placement for the ESL student is not an option. This mixed-methods study was designed to evaluate the English Second Language classroom placement at the secondary level in a Midwest public school. The evaluation was done using ACCESS English fluency testing scores and teacher, counselor, and administrator perspectives gathered through interviews, surveys, and a focus group.</p><p>

<p> Abstract not available.</p>

<p> The last decade has witnessed growing awareness and use of paired speaking tasks in the field of second language (L2) assessment, resulting in calls for more studies on interactional competence (Ducasse &amp; Brown, 2009; May, 2010; Taylor &amp; Wigglesworth, 2009). This dissertation study aimed to account for the nature of peer-peer interaction in L2 paired speaking tasks through the perspectives of second language acquisition and task-based language assessment. This has been accomplished by addressing the following issues: first, understanding the construct of interactional competence at both macro- (i.e., overall interaction quality determined by degree of collaboration and task completion) and micro-levels (i.e., particular features in interactions); second, evaluating rating scales for interactional competence in terms of reliability and validity; third, examining the extent to which the distribution of interaction features predicted interaction scores; and lastly, investigating how task type affected interaction performance regarding interaction features, interaction patterns, and interaction scores. In total, 70 language learners in an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) program were paired and responded to four 2.5-minute interaction tasks. All interactions were scored on overall interaction quality by four raters using a new scale developed by the researcher and two existing scales. Then each individual interlocutor&rsquo;s performance was coded for interaction features ranging from interactive listening to interactional management features. The data obtained were analyzed to answer the following questions: (1) Were hypothesized relations among interaction features supported empirically? (2) Was the new scale a reliable and valid measure? and (3) Did interaction features account for variance in interactional competence scores? Results helped refine understanding of interactional competence. First, the results of confirmatory factor analysis did not support the original model of interactive listening and interactional management features. Instead, interaction performance was better characterized by different communication functions of argument, discussion, support, and connection. Second, compared with the two existing scales, the new scale was a more reliable and valid measure. Third, features of topic connection, turn interruption, and turn overlapping were important indicators to predict scores generated by the new scale. Findings have implications for second language acquisition, L2 speaking assessment, and instruction. First, interactional competence could be operationalized in aspects of interaction features and patterns. Second, speaking assessment should include paired speaking tasks to reflect test-takers&rsquo; interactional speaking abilities. In addition, interaction rating scales should measure levels of interactions and task completeness status. Rater calibration is needed to ensure that consistent judgments can be delivered. Last, teachers can direct students&rsquo; attention to different interaction patterns and specific features, which characterize effective conversations. In summary, findings provide further understanding of interactional competence and offer insights into how to measure interaction competence in language classrooms.</p>

<p> This mixed-methods study examined quantitative and qualitative data related to the homogeneous and heterogeneous educational settings for secondary refugee students in the content areas of mathematics and science. This study was specific to only four refugee student populations: (a) Burma (also known as Myanmar); (b) Nepal; (c) Iraq; and (d) the African countries of Liberia, Tanzania, Togo, and Zambia. The study was conducted in the United States of America. The quantitative portion of the study examined two years of standardized scores of refugee students in homogeneous and heterogeneous groupings in the academic areas of mathematics and science. The qualitative data consisted of perceptions from teachers who have taught refugee students in a homogeneous setting or a heterogeneous setting in the content areas of mathematics and science. By focusing on both the quantitative and qualitative data of this research, analysis of data sources validated which instructional setting yielded higher standardized test scores in two academic content areas and two instructional settings. The quantitative findings indicated that the mathematics homogeneous setting resulted in greater gains and a statistically significant variance compared to the heterogeneous setting, while the setting for science also indicated greater gains, but did not indicate a significant variance. The teachers&rsquo; perceptions provided qualitative information about the ideal instructional setting for refugee students; the benefits and limitations of the two instructional settings for refugee students; the teachers&rsquo; perceptions regarding state assessments; and the teachers&rsquo; perceptions about instructional practices for teaching refugee students. The issues and concerns regarding one educational setting over the other will persist in education and continue to be a factor for consideration when considering educational equity for all student populations. </p>

The present study aimed to establish an empirical framework for test validation and comparison of level-based test batteries and to identify parameters that are useful to explicitly describe different levels of reading proficiency examinations based on a critical evaluation of alignment of the examinations with the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). The scope of the study is limited to CEFR B1 and B2 levels. This study applied Weir’s (2005) socio-cognitive validation framework to examine various aspects of the validity of different levels of the GEPT in terms of contextual parameters, cognitive processing skills, and test results. The CEFR and two levels of a CEFR-aligned multilevel test battery, PET and FCE developed by Cambridge ESOL, served as external referents for a review of the similarities and differences between GEPT reading tests targeting CEFR B1 and B2 levels. To establish ‘situational and interactional authenticities’ (Bachman and Palmer, 1996), this study not only applied automated tools and expert judgment to examine ‘the degree of correspondence of the characteristics of a given language test task to the features of a TLU [target language use] task’ (ibid., 23), but also carried out what O’Sullivan (2006: 183) called ‘an a posteriori empirical exploration of test performance’ to gather evidence of interactional authenticity. The findings support the construct validity of the GEPT in general, but show that its cognitive validity needs to be enhanced by incorporating tasks which test expeditious reading operations. As regards the CEFR-alignment, the findings also show that procedures the Manual (CoE, 2009) recommends for linking an examination to CEFR levels do not produce sufficient evidence to demonstrate equivalence between different examinations that target particular CEFR levels. The results indicate that the GEPT Intermediate level and PET, both of which target the B1 level, are equivalent, while the GEPT High-Intermediate level and FCE, which target the B2 level, are much different not only in terms of test results but also contextual features and cognitive processing operations.

<p> This dissertation identifies three previously unexplained typological asymmetries between creoles, other types of language contact, and `normal' sound change. (1) The merger gap deals with phoneme loss. French /y/ merges with /i/ in all creoles worldwide, whereas merger with /u/ is also well-attested in other forms of language contact. The rarity of /u/ reflexes in French creoles is unexplained, especially because they are well attested in French varieties spoken in West Africa. (2) The assimilation gap focuses on stress-conditioned vowel assimilation. In creoles the quality of the stressed vowel often spreads to unstressed vowels, e.g. English <i>potato</i> > Krio /&rgr;&epsiv;&rgr;&tgr;&epsiv;&tgr;&epsiv;/. Strikingly, we do not find the opposite in creoles, but it is well attested among non-creoles, e.g. German umlaut and Romance metaphony. (3) The epenthesis gap is about repairs of word-final consonants.These are often preserved in language contact by means of vowel insertion (epenthesis), e.g. English <i> big</i> > Sranan <i>bigi</i>, but in normal language transmission this sound change is said not to occur in word-final position.</p><p> These case studies make it possible to test various theories of sound change on new data, by relating language contact outcomes to the phonetics of non-native perception and L2 speech production. I also explore the implications of social interactions and historical developments unique to creolisation, with comparisons to other language contact situations.</p><p> Based on the typological gaps identified here, I propose that sociohistorical context, e.g. age of learner or nature of input, is critical in determining linguistic outcomes. Like phonetic variation, it can be biased in ways which produce asymmetries in sound change. Specifically, in language contact dominated by adult second language acquisition, we find transmission biases towards phonological rather than perceptual matching, overcompensation for perceptual weakness, and overgeneralisation of phrase-final prominence.</p>

<p> With this qualitative self-study, I investigated my practice as a general music teacher with my Limited English Proficient (LEP) students. The purpose of this study was to investigate my teaching practice and develop creative strategies to foster the engagement and motivation among the students in my sixth grade bilingual classroom. The framework of this study was modeled from the five foci of self-study research (Samaras, 2011). The main research question was: &ldquo;What creative strategies could help me engage my sixth grade bilingual students?&rdquo; Specifically, this study addressed how strategies related to language, lesson planning, and technology impacted the engagement of the students. The investigation included four teaching/observing sessions and the interviews of two administrators within the school district. Data revealed that my creative strategies engaged the students, as the content became accessible to them. The data also revealed that the linguistic misunderstandings throughout the sessions resulted in frustration between the students and myself.</p>

The study deals with English idioms from a pedagogical point of view. It draws attention to the fact that the use of idioms in a language is such a widespread phenomenon that we cannot continue to ignore them especially in disciplines such as language teaching and language learning. The study attempts to analyse the phenomenon of idioms diachronically and synchronically; to explain the process of idiom comprehension by foreign learners. The subjects of the study were Syrian undergraduates of English, who were largely unaware of the use of idioms among native speakers of English, since the foreign-language teaching system did not provide the chance where learners could be in frequent contact with the native speakers of the foreign idiom. The first stage of the research presents a brief swvey of some perspectives on idioms as a linguistic phenomenon. It begins with an examination of earlier views of idioms. At the end of this stage, a working definition of the idiom is suggested. The second stage smve)(S processes of idiom formation and explains how idioms have been dealt with in psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics, revealing the procedures for processing and understanding idioms. The third stage is empirical and the goal of which is to demonstrate how English idioms pose a problem in the process of teaching them to foreign learners. The fourth stage of the research is concerned with analysing idioms synchronically. The view maintained at this stage is that the relationship between idiomatic expressions and their meanings is not arbitrary, since these idiomatic meanings can be attained through an appeal to conceptual metaphor theories and the semantic constraint approach. The fifth stage is dedicated to the analysis of the findings which resulted from the investigation in the previous stages. Following on from this analysis, some suitable methods and effective activities for teaching English idioms to foreign learners are proposed. In brie£: the research on idioms in this study could prove fruitful in inspiring potential applications in pedagogy and language learning; in lexicography; in translation; and in computational linguistics.