Thesis advisor: Patrick J. McQuillan / Though writing is an essential life skill (National Commission on Writing, 2003, 2004, 2005), time spent writing in classrooms across the US is brief (Applebee and Langer, 2006; Applebee and Langer, 2011; Graham and Perin, 2007; National Commission on Writing, 2003). Furthermore, writing achievement of English learners (ELs) who represent nearly five million US students (Mather and Foxen, 2010) is often lower than other sub-groups (Fry, 2007, 2008). As such, using case study research (Stake, 2000, 2003) this study explored three sixth-eighth-grade teachers' experiences with an initiative to enhance writing instruction through the use of systemic functional linguistics (SFL), an approach that emphasizes writing for multiple purposes and the explicit teaching of language (Christie and Derewianka, 2008; Derewianka, 1990, 1999). SFL-informed instruction is an emerging strategy used to enhance the writing of ELs in US schools (see Brisk, Hodgson-Drysdale, and O'Connor, 2011; Brisk and Zisselsberger, 2010; Gebhard, et al., 2007; Schleppegrell and Go, 2007). A key argument of this ethnographic study is that the shape of the degree to which these three teachers took up a new way of teaching writing can be explained along a series of continua, consisting of the following five dimensions: cultivation of caring relationships with students, recognition of the needs of ELs, view of writing, commitment to professional growth, and commitment to collaboration and a number of related sub-dimensions. Another finding relates to the affective dimensions of teaching and learning, attention to which appeared to enhance teachers' enactment of SFL. Implications of these findings benefit teacher educators and professional development providers committed to enhancing writing instruction in US schools and speak to the field of educational reform more broadly by offering insight into multiple dimensions that influence teachers' uptake of a change endeavor. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

Thesis advisor: Maria E. Brisk / This qualitative research study examined how student teachers and novice history teachers learn to teach adolescent bilingual learners (BLs) from coursework to the classroom. The purpose of the study was to investigate to what extent five participants drew upon social justice-oriented pre-service preparation when they taught history to bilingual students in secondary schools in the Greater Boston area. More specifically, this study examined how participants scaffolded history instruction for BLs and taught the language of history to BLs. Classroom data--observation videotapes, interviews, lesson plans, and teaching materials-- were analyzed using the Sheltered Immersion Observation Protocol (SIOP) (Echevarría, Vogt and Short, 2008) and Lucas and Villegas's framework for Linguistically Responsive Teachers (LRT) (2011) to assess trends in how individual participants, student teachers, and novice teachers scaffolded instruction. An analytical framework was created based on systemic functional linguistics (SFL) description of key genres of secondary history (Coffin, 1997, 2006; Martin and Rose, 2008) to understand how participants taught the language of history. Findings of this study suggest that as participants gained classroom experience, they increasingly implemented instructional scaffolds aligned with classroom activities to engage students in rigorous content instruction. Yet participants did not consistently teach language demands of history. Based on study results, I suggest outcomes for early phases of a continuum of teacher learning related to teaching history to BLs. I also propose a framework for teaching the language of history that draws from SFL-informed genre pedagogy (Coffin, 1997, 2006; Gibbons, 2009; Rose and Martin, 2012; Schleppegrell, 2005), and I propose a model for language and content teacher preparation specific to history but also applicable to other secondary content areas. A key argument that this dissertation advances is that secondary history teachers need coherent, consistent, and coordinated support from pre-service coursework to student teaching to full-time teaching to learn to teach BLs. Implications of this study can inform teachers, teacher educators, and researchers who seek to improve opportunities for adolescent BLs to receive equitable access to rigorous content instruction and to develop specific literacy skills that could serve as a foundation for individual achievement and engaged citizenship. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

Studies indicate that Latina/o immigrant youth engage in a wide range of sophisticated literacy practices outside of school that are often transnational, crossing various linguistic, cultural, and social spaces. Technology has further afforded immigrant youth the opportunity to develop transnational capabilities which are rare in the mainstream population, yet needed in the 21st century of global connectedness. However, Latino immigrant youth drop out of school at disproportional rates, suggesting that their literacy practices are not recognized or valued by the educational system. Using a New Literacy Studies perspective that recognizes multiple literacies that are meaningful within their sociocultural traditions, this collective case study investigated the range, form, and purpose of the out-of-school literacies of four Latina/o adolescent English Learners who are new arrivals. The qualitative methodology employed constructivist interviews, digital and actual artifacts, and observations. Findings demonstrated that the most prevalent out-of-school literacies the participants practice take place on the social networking site of Facebook, in their workplaces, and through the entertainment media sources of music and television. A cross-case analysis suggests that the literacy practices in these spaces have unique and purposeful roles for the individuals that allow them to connect to their home countries and maintain their Latina/o identities. Additionally, the participants use their out-of-school literacy practices to acquire English, support themselves, and establish a place to succeed. The five aforementioned spaces that their Facebook, workplace, and entertainment literacy practices fill are virtually absent from their in-school literacies. This study suggests literacy pedagogy and research must not continue to impose a narrow monolingual, monocultural, monoliterate, and monomodal view of Latina/o immigrant students which essentially divests them of their greatest resources. Their literacy practices demonstrate that they are transnational, transcultural, emergent bilinguals who competently engage in multimodal means of communication across multiple linguistic, cultural, social, and geographic borders. Educators must reconceptualize school-based literacy to account for the ways immigrant youth make meaning outside of school to provide them a more equitable education that will nurture their transnational skills needed in modern society.

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine teacher perceptions of the effectiveness of the Response to Intervention (RtI) framework with students who are acquiring English as a second language. Students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds have been disproportionately represented in special education programs for decades (Artiles & Trent, 1994; Donovan & Cross, 2002; Heller, Holtzman, & Messick, 1982). Legislators responsible for the authorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Improvement Act in 2004 (IDEIA 2004) allowed state education leaders the option to use RtI as an alternative identification method. RtI was believed to be a framework through which the number of inappropriate EL referrals for special education services could be reduced. Ten elementary teachers in a small/medium sized rural school district in East Tennessee participated in semi-structured interviews intended to examine their perceptions of the effectiveness of the RtI framework when implemented with ELs. The researcher analyzed the responses for emergent themes. These themes included knowledge about the purpose of the framework, the impact of leadership upon implementation of the framework, training and professional development around teaching ELs and responding to their unique needs, and understanding differences between challenges arising from language acquisition versus those arising from a learning disability. Findings and recommendations for practice are included.

Quantitative data examined the effectiveness of a Two Way Bilingual Immersion program on the biliteracy and academic achievement of elementary English learners in southern California. Scores from the California Standards Test (CST) for language arts and mathematics were used to compare the effects of a bilingual curriculum on Hispanic English learners and Hispanic English Only Speakers. English learners' average group scores increased significantly; average group scores for English Only Students' decreased. The Standards Test in Spanish (STS) scores indicate English learners' gains in biliteracy development. These notable academic outcomes evidence the importance of Two Way Bilingual Immersion program for English learners.

This study utilizes Lave and Wenger’s (1991) communities of practice (COP) model to explore how ELLs navigate their positions within and between their many language learning communities. Drawing on Norton’s (1995, 2013) work on ELLs’ identity negotiation and Wenger’s 1998 work on the reinforcing impacts of identities between multiple COPs, this study explores what adults consider to be their COPs, how they perceive themselves within and between them, and how past, current, and imagined or possible COPs impact each other. A constructivist, multiple case study design was used to focus on participants’ perceptions of their identity negotiation processes through their own narratives across three interviews and weekly audio-recorded self-reports. Eight adult ELLs participated in the study, and their narratives revealed the temporal and situational nature of their connections to past, present, and future identities as English learners, as professionals, and as members of their communities. They experienced persistent explicit and subtle barriers to participation in their COPs with native English speakers, including a range of linguistic gatekeeping strategies. The study revealed several themes of COP membership, in particular an identification with a larger, less concrete, immigrant group that lead the participants to focus their narratives and English-learning efforts on their ability to advocate for themselves and for other immigrants in the United States. Recommendations from the ELLs and the researcher are presented for a more holistic approach to adult ELL instruction that incorporates more of the multiple facets of ELLs’ learning trajectories in the target-language context.

English learners (ELs) at a middle school in California were not meeting federal accountability requirements in English language arts (ELA). ELs lacking proficiency in ELA often drop out of high school and live in poverty as adults. The purpose of the study was to examine teachers' perceptions of their self-efficacy to implement effective pedagogical strategies to help ELs develop ELA proficiency. A case study design was used to investigate the problem through the lens of second language acquisition theory. The purposeful sample included 11 middle school language arts teachers. Participants completed an online anonymous survey, and responses were analyzed using open coding and analytical coding. The following 3 themes emerged from the data: teachers varied in their perceptions of their efficacy to support ELs, teachers perceived their teacher preparation and professional development experiences to be inadequate in preparing them to support ELs, and teachers blamed students and parents for the lack of proficiency in ELA. A professional development project was designed to address the findings and to help build teachers' pedagogical skills and self-efficacy in instructing ELs. Positive social change may be promoted by increasing teachers' ability to effectively instruct ELs, which will increase their efficacy with this population. ELs will benefit by possessing the reading, writing, and communication skills necessary for high school and postsecondary success and to be competitive in the workforce.

The population of English learners (ELs) is growing rapidly across the U.S. Concurrently, elementary students throughout the country are being required to produce more sophisticated writing products than ever before as a result of the heavy emphasis on writing instruction in the recently adopted Common Core State Standards. This qualitative study examined how to best support ELs as they develop as writers. It also addressed the strong need to investigate the impact of students discussing ideas with a partner throughout the writing process. In order to determine how ELs develop as writers, a multiple case study was conducted in a fourth-grade English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom. The ESL teacher used the “Thinking Maps” program to teach students to write opinion pieces. Part of the program included partner talk, in which the students conversed with a partner throughout the writing process. The study took place over a period of 6 weeks. During that time, I did twice-weekly observations, took field notes, collected samples of student work, audio recorded students as they participated in partner talk, and conducted interviews with the students and the teacher. In addition to an ongoing, reflective analysis of the field notes and audio files, the grounded theory approach was used for final data analysis. The data analysis and interpretation of the data reflects the constructs and theories that initially structured this study. A number of key elements emerged from the data analysis that indicated that important supports are needed in order for ELs to develop as writers of opinion pieces. These included the opportunity to work with a more knowledgeable other, communicating despite language barriers, utilizing the structure provided with Thinking Maps, a chance to participate in group discussions, and the opportunity to examine written models to use when writing their own opinion pieces.

Researchers and educators have always strived for creating appropriate instructional tools and resources that help students to acquire knowledge. Animated pedagogical agents (APAs) embedded within multimedia learning settings are one of the emerging technologies that provide a powerful and supportive learning environment. According to previous studies, APAs can effectively promote learning and support social interaction with learners (Johnson & Lester, 2016; Lane, 2016). However, APAs also may cause cognitive load without providing motivational benefits in some cases and distract learners during the learning process. In other words, the results of previous studies on APAs do not provide enough evidence to argue that APA may be able to decrease cognitive load, promote motivational effects, or facilitate meaningful learning. The lack of enough evidence in the research findings seems to be variable depending upon the APA’s features, the learners, and the difficulty of the learning materials (Schroeder & Adesope, 2014). By focusing on these factors, this study provided new considerations related to embedding an APA’s role that facilitates “Word Parts” for adult students who speak English as a Second Language (ESL) with concentrating on their cognition, motivation, and vocabulary acquisition. Presenting two APA’s roles (expert model and peer model) differently influenced ESL learners’ motivation, specifically their satisfaction feelings. In addition, ESL learners’ prior knowledge affected their intrinsic and extraneous cognitive load, motivation, and vocabulary acquisition. The two different APA’s roles and their effects on ESL learners’ perceptions and learning outcomes serve as a media comparison research. Further, examining APA as a model to teach ESL students vocabulary acquisition skills serves a Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) research.

The study takes a close look at relationships between scores on a Mathematics standardized test in two different testing formats - Multiple-Choice (MC) and Constructed Response (CR). Many studies have been dedicated to finding correlations between item format characteristics with regards to race and gender. Few studies, however, have attempted to explore differences in the performance of English Learners in a low performing, predominantly Latino high school. The study also determined relationships between math scores and gender and math scores and language proficiency, as well as relationships between CAHSEE and CST scores. Statistical analyses were performed using correlations, descriptive statistics, and t-tests. Empirical data were also disaggregated and analyzed by gender, and language proficiency. Results revealed significant positive correlations between MC and CR formats. T-tests displayed statistically significant differences between the means of the formats, with boys and English Only students having better scores than their counterparts. Frequency tables examining proficiency levels of students by gender and language proficiency revealed differences between MC and CR tests, with boys and English Only students earning better levels of proficiency. Significant positive correlations were shown between CST scores and multiple-choice items, but none were found for CST scores and constructed response items.