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In the 2010-2011 school year, there were almost a quarter of a million English language learners (ELLs) enrolled in Florida public schools (Florida Department of Education, 2011), most of whom were placed in mainstream schools with segregated language remediation. Dual language education (DLE) programs offer developmental opportunities in two languages that mainstream schools cannot. The purpose of this research was to identify parental attitudes toward immersion programs and define the reasons that parents enroll their children in DLEs. Sixty participants completed a questionnaire sent home from their student's DLE. The study data included biographical information, statements depicting the reasons for enrollment rated by a Likert scale, and an area for comments. Overall, the study found that survey participants rated their child's comfort communicating with Spanish speakers (4.75 out of 5) to be the most important reason for enrollment. A difference was found in responses depending on the ethnic/language group of surveyed participants. Primarily, Spanish speakers responded more positively to the statements regarding bilingual education than any other ethnic/language group. All parents conclusively believe the dual immersion program has been a success for their children.

Far from being simply will, a survey of English grammar textbooks revealed that a multitude of expressions exists in the English language to express the future time. These expressions include, but are not limited to, will, be going to, the simple present tense, modals, the future perfect tense, and the present progressive tense. With so many choices and with a lack of direct relationship between tense and time, a language learner may certainly have difficulties in choosing which expression to use when attempting to produce a future utterance. A corpus-based approach to analyzing real language has been demonstrated to be quite useful for the field of TESOL (Biber, Conrad, & Reppen, 1996; Biber & Conrad, 2001; Biber & Reppen, 2002) and numerous studies on the frequency of lexical and grammatical items of language have revealed salient features that otherwise would have remained unknown. Adding to this body of knowledge, the current study was an analysis of future expressions in spoken conversational English using the television sitcom Friends as a corpus. A careful analysis of 349,106 words from transcripts of 117 randomly selected episodes revealed that the most common expression of the future in the English language is the contracted form of be going to – gonna. The results of the study also revealed that only six future expressions emerged in this spoken conversational English from this corpus: will, be going to, the simple present tense, the present progressive tense, modals, and be about to.

The purpose of this study was to determine the practical value of selecting upper primary spelling words from the developmental reading program. Two major aspects of the study were: (1) Will upper-primary children more easily learn to spell words which have previously appeared in their developmental reading program? (2) Will they retain the spelling or those words longer than other words of similar spelling difficulty?

During the times we live in, writing has become a very important skill for all young students and adults to have. Whether they are taking a standardized test or putting together a resume, basic writing skills are necessary. In this thesis, I will attempt to prove that teaching the six traits of writing with the use of mentor texts is a great, creative way to help students learn the writing process. I will also explore how to align the concept of the six traits of writing with the new Common Core State Standards. This topic is very important when it comes to education. Huge emphasis is placed on the skill of being able to write, and our students are expected to be proficient in this process. Through writing students can communicate emotions, ideas, and knowledge they have pertaining to different subject areas. As a whole, the writing process can become daunting for young students. By using the six traits of writing through mentor texts, students can learn chunk by chunk and eventually master the skill of writing. Experts in writing decided that breaking different skills into manageable components might prove helpful to authors of all ages and skill levels (Culham, 2008). The second component to be addressed is aligning the six traits concept with the Common Core State Standards. All across the nation, states have adopted these new standards and school communities are trying to figure out how to make the switch. By aligning the Common Core State Standards with the six traits of writing, teachers will be able to eliminate this process for the writing portion of the standards. For my own research, I have chosen to create and modify minilessons for each of the six traits of writing with use of mentor texts. Common Core State Standards will be aligned with these minilessons for educators to use as they see fit.

As educators and administrators continue to struggle with the low literacy proficiency rates in this country, a new genre of literature is making its way into the classroom. Young Adult Literature, such as the works of John Green, are becoming a more familiar sight inside the classroom. However, some parents, educators, and members of the school districts are not happy with this new trend. In the last year, alone, young adult books have been challenged hundreds of times in hopes of getting them removed from the classroom and library. I believe that these books need to stay in the schools, though. Through this thesis, I explore the possibility of Young Adult Literature having more of a presence in the secondary English Language Arts classroom in order to increase motivation, engagement, social awareness, and literacy rates. In this research project, only 13% of 11th and 12th grade English Language Arts students reported enjoying the reading they were currently assigned, despite their statement that they enjoy reading, in general. These books do not lead to motivated and engaged readers. By incorporating Young Adult Literature into the standard curriculum of an English Language Arts classroom, teachers can enhance motivation, engagement, and productivity. Students can continue to learn the same literary concepts and techniques, in addition to being exposed to current social problems. When Young Adult Literature is brought into a classroom, an environment is created in which students can learn what they think, why they think it, and how to respect the differing opinions of others.

Each year, there is an increase of English Language Learners (ELLS) entering today's classrooms. A third grade teacher can be faced with having multiple ELLs in the classroom and still be required to teach them alongside native English speakers. Furthermore, third grade science teachers are also responsible for preparing all students in the classroom to comprehend and utilize scientific academic language based upon the Florida State Standards. Additionally, students are required on the FSA Florida Assessment to write about science content. Therefore, scaffolded instruction for ELLs, which will prepare them to write about science content is critical. This research study explored two third grade teachers' perspectives on implementing sentence frames and word banks in order to increase the writing levels of ELLs during science lectures. A professional development session was conducted by the researcher with the two participating third grade teachers regarding the use of sentence frames and word banks with ELLs while teaching science content. The teachers, thereafter, conducted a science lesson using the scaffolded strategy of sentence frames and word banks. It was found that when the third grade science teachers implemented sentence frames and word banks during science lectures, the ELLs showed improvement in their writing as well as their use of scientific academic language. Both teachers stated that their ELLs were somewhat completing more of their science worksheets than before the intervention. These results can conclude that implementing sentence frames and word banks during science lectures can increase the writing levels of ELLs during science lectures.

This study investigates the extent to which the Florida B.E.S.T (Benchmark for Excellent Student Thinking) English Language Arts (ELA) standards demand that students participate in dialogic interactions within the 10th grade ELA classroom. Dialogic demands, characterized by active discourse and collaborative sense-making, are the opportunities students interact with one another or with a text. The dialogic elements of classroom pedagogy are an increasingly recognized critical component of effective literacy instruction in contrast with the monologic classroom where teachers are the primary source of information. A Critical Discourse Analysis through the lens of Fairclough is used as this research aims to identify specific instances where students are required to engage in meaningful dialogue with one another or with a text. The analysis examines the standards' language, the distribution of the standards, and the underlying ideological stance of the standards that students interact with. By assessing the presence or absence of dialogic demands within the standards, this study seeks to provide insights into the alignment between the Florida B.E.S.T ELA standards and the principles of dialogic pedagogy. Findings from this research can inform curriculum development, instructional practices, and educational policies aimed at promoting more robust and participatory approaches to literacy education in Florida schools.

The purpose of this study was to examine 9th and 10th grade ELL students’ science class placement - sheltered ESL class or non-sheltered mainstream class - and determine if there was a difference in their levels of achievement based on placement. Unlike other academic courses, science incorporates its own terminology that can be difficult for even mainstream non-ELLs to understand. With the goal for English Language Learners to develop scientific proficiency, ELLs must gain an understanding of science substance and practice exploratory propensities for the brain. This is unthinkable without an understanding of science vocabulary. The researcher examined the following variables as they related to ELL student achievement in science: Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP), attendance, class size, teacher-student relationship, teacher competency in ELL strategies, instructional strategies, parental involvement, study habits, immigration requirements, age (demographic variable), and gender (demographic variable). Data were gathered using observations, face-to-face teacher and administrator interviews, document analyses of teacher lesson plans, a student survey, and a student focus group. The sample of students consisted of 30 students - 9 students in mainstream science classes and 21 students in sheltered ESL science classes. Students were chosen to participate in the study based on their Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State (ACCESS) scores. Study participants had a composite score of between 3.0 and 4.9 on the ACCESS test. Study participants’ nine weeks grades, along with other data, were compared to determine if class placement made a significant difference in ELL student achievement in science. The results revealed that students in sheltered ESL science classes achieve at higher levels than those in mainstream classes. While all except two study participants in sheltered science classes met or exceeded proficient as defined by this study (75% or higher), only three study participants in mainstream science classes met or exceeded proficient. An analysis of students’ overall nine weeks grades in biology and physical science revealed that ELLs in a sheltered setting average a 45% higher grade than those in a mainstream setting in biology and a 14% higher grade than those in a mainstream setting in physical science.