Drawing on the poststructuralist construct of identity and on Norton's (1995) concept of investment, as well as on Bourdieu's (1977) notion of capital, this qualitative research study relies on data gathered through interviews conducted with two adult female participants from Puerto Rico, who migrated to Central Florida approximately ten years ago. It aims at answering the following questions: (i) what identity-related factors facilitate or hinder the acquisition of the target language by Puerto Rican migrants? (ii) what social forces or barriers impact learning ESL in the context of Puerto Rican migration to the United States? The findings indicate that investment in social and academic practices can benefit students who want to learn the target language, but power inequities in interactions between native speakers and migrants can prevent the latter from interacting in the English-speaking community, making it difficult to acquire the language. The findings may serve to encourage further studies in second language and identity.

This critical policy analysis and collective case study, informed by ethnographic techniques, involved reviews of twelve Florida school district ESOL policies (included within the 2016-2019 District English Language Learner Plans, required of all Florida districts to complete) whose English learner (EL) populations met or exceeded ten percent (10%) of their total enrollment. A priori coding of these policy documents was conducted using nine criteria pulled from the literature on culturally responsive practice (CRP), which served as the theoretical framework for the study. Subsequent observations and practitioner interviews within two schools from the same district were conducted in order to ascertain how practice seemed to align with policy, how these practices differed from site to site despite their location within the same district, and ultimately to assess the efficacy of observed pedagogical and administrative practices within the theoretical framework of CRP. Results were mixed and indicated a lack of consistency across the board in terms of policy, implementation, and culturally responsive practice.

Built upon the Contrastive Interlanguage Analysis (CIA) framework, this corpus-based research analyzes three lexical features (lexical diversity, lexical sophistication, and cohesion) in native and nonnative English writers' academic writing and examines the potential differences in lexical performance 1) between native and nonnative English writers and 2) across all writers from various language backgrounds. The differences in lexical performance in academic writing between native and nonnative English writers and the unique characteristics of writers from different language backgrounds suggest the necessity of targeted academic writing instruction based upon learner needs. Using text length as the covariate, two Multivariate Analysis of Covariate (MANCOVA) were conducted with language background as the Independent Variable and the three lexical features as the Dependent Variables. The results revealed that nonnative English writers demonstrated significantly lower performance in lexical sophistication than did native English writers. In terms of the comparison between writers from different language backgrounds, the results suggested statistically significant differences in all three aspects of lexical features. Pedagogical implications for vocabulary instruction in academic writing for nonnative English writers include emphasizing the mastery of academic, low-frequency, and discipline-specific vocabulary. In addition, improving nonnative writers' vocabulary size and lexical diversity can offer these learners more options to build cohesion in academic writing at a deeper level. Moreover, the results of this study highlight the wide but often under-considered variability within any language group as individual learner differences come into play, thereby downplaying the idea that writers of any given language tend to perform homogenously. Instructors should acknowledge the unique writing characteristics of different nonnative writers and their varied learner needs. Thus, targeted instruction is essential to provide effective enhancement to nonnative English writers' lexical performance in academic writing.

Learning phrasal verbs (PVs) is of vital importance in both written and spoken English, especially for those English learners who must use English as a second language (ESL) in their daily interactions with proficient speakers. This study focused on two particles (out and in) in exploring a more effective model for presenting PVs in an ESL context. PVs are the focus of this empirical study because they are an essential component of English vocabulary but are typically regarded as very difficult for ESL students to master. This study used a quasi-experimental design to compare the effect of instruction through image-schematic container illustrations of 16 PVs (supported by the container metaphor model) and a definition-only illustration of the same 16 PVs (supported by the traditional model of PV instruction). The participants in this experiment consisted of 28 intermediate-level students enrolled in intensive English program (IEP) courses at a metropolitan college in the southeastern United States during the summer of 2019; the students were divided into a control group and an experimental group. Four types of instruments, including one pretest and three posttests, were used in this experiment to examine the effectiveness of the container metaphor model compared with the traditional model. The findings of this study challenge the traditional view regarding the difficulty of teaching the meanings of these 16 PVs and suggest that the container metaphor model is more conducive to PV learning and retention. However, the findings of this study showed little evidence that the container metaphor model can assist in guessing the meaning of previously unknown PVs. The practical implications demonstrated from these results can be used by ESL teachers and educational stakeholders to validate English-teaching practices. Therefore, this model was recommended to be considered as one model of presenting PVs. The current study demonstrated that researchers should include infrequent PVs in their research in addition to the frequent ones. Finally, limitations of the current study are identified and recommendations for organizing future studies on this topic are proposed.

AbstractTeachers make decisions about which resources to use in their classrooms daily, including text selection for read-aloud. This impacts students in classrooms nationwide, as these decisions validate some voices and marginalize others. This study used the Q-methodology in a concurrent mixed-methods design to explore what beliefs influence decision-making as teachers in Grades 3-6 select texts to share for read-aloud and where these beliefs originated. Teacher participants identified priorities in text selection using a forced-rank Q-sort and reflected individually on their text selection process for read-aloud. Data were then analyzed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to delineate factor groups with similar priorities within the participant sample. These groups were interviewed to investigate commonalities more deeply and look for common origination spaces. Participants identified different priorities in text selection; texts that help students examine and stretch their own thinking were most common. The sample clustered into 4 dominant viewpoints about text selection for read-aloud: read-aloud as a curriculum tool, a relationship building tool, a pathway to explore diversity, or an invitation to school and reading. Teachers struggled to identify a single priority in their text selection process; top priorities in the Q-sort were identified, however, self-reflections revealed many other influences that affected final book choices. Teachers identified the origins of their beliefs about text selection and felt that the text selection process could change during a teacher’s career. Recommendations based on findings along with implications for policy and practice are shared in the discussion. Keywords: read-aloud, beliefs, decision making, q methodology, teachers

This study sought to investigate the self-perceived factors that led adult language learners, who acquired L2 after the critical period, to acquire native like pronunciation in their second language. Given the impact of accent and pronunciation on perceptions of a speaker's status, intelligence and/or competence, there exists a need for thoughtful and comprehensive research into why adult second language learners reach different outcomes in pronunciation attainment. A qualitative phenomenological design was employed to recruit adults who began learning English as an L2 after 12 years old but attained a native-like English accent. Participants recorded vocal samples that were presented with native speaker control-recordings to three native speaking judges. Two participants were judged to be native-like and then were invited to separate semi-structured interviews. These interviews collected data on the nature of the participants' language acquisition experience. Results revealed common experiences, supported by previous research, of a.) Interest in L2 beyond academics, b.) L2 and identity construction, and c.) cultivation of L2 social networks in target speaking countries. Results also revealed experiences that diverged from previous research relating to d.) use of metacognitive strategies and e.) attitudes toward pronunciation in the L2. These findings expand on the limited scholarship exploring the development of exceptional pronunciation in adults and provide a model of a targeted qualitative methodology for future research to continue investigating the unique experience of these exceptional learners.

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Thesis (EdD)--Open University.