<p> The demographic composition of the American classroom reflects the diversity of society as a whole. The cultural, language, and ethnic diversity of students is often celebrated, but it also presents challenges for educators responsible for providing instruction for the students. The purpose of this study is to explore the ways in which some educators have prepared to address language diversity and the strategies and techniques they have used to create equitable learning environments for English Language Learners (ELLs). </p><p> A comparative case study was conducted to gain insight into the characteristics of an equitable environment for ELLs and the practices school principals, English as a Second Language (ESOL) teachers, and regular education teachers use to foster and create equitable learning environment. Data were collected through individual interviews and document reviews of the School Improvement Plan (SIP) and the Title I plan of each school site. Analysis of data resulted in four premises. Characteristics of equitable environments for ELLs create a sense of belonging for students and their families and increase engagement. Equitable environments offer professional respect and support for teachers and include respect for student and family learning opportunities. Outcomes for ELL student improve when deliberate strategies to provide access to resources and the curriculum are in place. Ultimately, equitable environments empower ELL students, their families, and educators to fully participate in the teaching and learning process and support the improvement of outcomes for all students. </p>

<p>This applied dissertation was designed to explore and provide a better understanding of students of international background enrolled in an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) at a 4-year public American college in Southeast Florida. This study utilized a qualitative phenomenological design for data collection and analysis. The interview protocol was reviewed and verified by a panel of experts. The data collection took place in the fall of 2014; the researcher utilized an open-ended interview protocol with purposeful sampling of nine international students. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded. The participants checked the transcripts for accuracy of the recorded data. An analysis of the data revealed common themes of the international students? educational experience in American institutions of higher education. The interviews of the participants allowed the researcher to better understand the international student?s lived experiences. The qualitative research created an awareness of the social and academic experiences of international students at an American college. The researcher concluded that the types of experiences are varied among the participants from the three different world regions, yet there was a high consistency of the themes: learning and studying, perception of faculty, expedited learning, online learning, language and communication issues, and a lack of social interaction with native students. There are ramifications for educators for strategic instructional practice and school leadership to seek and enhance student engagement and intercultural competencies. It will become necessary to increase cultural competencies through diversity initiatives both within the curriculum and throughout institutions by better understanding students? perceptions and including those from various backgrounds, cultures, genders, and religions. To conclude, recommendations for future research are provided.

<p> Elementary Spanish language immersion programs have become more popular in the educational field in the United States to support the academic achievement of minority students. The final goal of immersion programs is to develop proficiency in the home language and dominant language, identified as first language (L1) and second language (L2), to impact the understanding of academic concepts. </p><p> This study explores teachers&rsquo; perspectives of U.S.-born ELL Hispanic students&rsquo; academic achievement and educational growth in a Spanish language immersion program. Ultimately, the study aimed to identify processes that educational leaders could incorporate into instructional models to improve as many Hispanic students&rsquo; experiences and outcomes as possible. Research questions explored include: 1) What are teachers&rsquo; perspectives of U.S.-born ELL Hispanic students&rsquo; academic achievements in a Spanish language immersion program? 2) What are the trends, such as social, behavioral, and cultural, that teachers perceive about the academic growth of U.S.-born ELL Hispanic students in a Spanish language immersion program? and 3) What do teachers perceive to be the processes that educators can incorporate in the Spanish language immersion program to improve the academic achievement of U.S.-born ELL Hispanic students? </p><p> A semi-structured interview and focus groups were used to approach the participating teachers (n=10) from one elementary school, identified as the pseudonym a Midwestern Spanish Language Immersion Program (MSLIP), that provides 80% of instruction in Spanish and about 20% in English for ELLs. Data analyzed for this study included secondary sources composed of information such as standardized test scores, behavior incident reports, attendance, age, parents&rsquo; ethnicity and school background, and years of schooling at MSLIP. </p><p> Major findings from this study showed that teachers at MSLIP perceive that U.S.-born ELL Hispanic students benefit from learning academics in their home language as students had better comprehension of content. However, MSLIP teachers recognized that having a 50/50 bilingual immersion model would facilitate a balanced program to succeed academically in the United States. Recommendations for further research includes among others: developing strategies to overcome the educational trends to perform in the subject content in both languages, English and Spanish; and research how the &ldquo;deficit perspective&rdquo; is affecting the teachers&rsquo; practices in urban settings since this is a distractor for teachers improving their professional practices.</p>

<p> This thesis presents findings from a yearlong study of a classroom of adult immigrants studying English as a Second Language (ESL) in the U.S., who collaboratively created and performed plays based on their life experiences. This research is rooted in poststructuralist theories of identity in second language learning (e.g., Norton, 2000; 2013), a view of language pedagogy as a form of liberation (Freire, 1970), and the notion that theater can be used by non-actors to critically engage with issues of relevance to the community (Boal, 1979). The teacher-researcher of the class used ethnographic investigation informed by autoethnography and action research to examine: 1) how students perceived theater as affecting their language development, and 2) how individual students&rsquo; identity development was affected by participation in the class. Data included interviews, field notes, audiovisual recordings, artifacts, and journal entries. Relevant literature in the fields of immigration, second language acquisition, and drama in language teaching is reviewed and discussed. The process of engaging students in playwriting and performing is detailed in the findings section along with a discussion of the nature of theater in the second language classroom. The data analysis exhibits that creating a play had many positive effects on students&rsquo; affective dimensions, second language development, classroom dynamics, and investment in the course, as well as some negative effects including anxiety amongst students at the prospect of performing in English and instances of interpersonal tensions. Classroom implications of the study include the recommendation that teachers frame theater explicitly in a positive light and make expectations of students clear from the beginning of the course.</p>

The present study examines the L1 influence on the adult acquisition of the negative concord parameter (two negative elements that agree to form a sentential negation without canceling each other) between the following groups of learners: (1) two groups of second language learners whose first and target languages are typologically similar (Lusophone and Hispanophone learners of Spanish and Portuguese respectively), and (2) two groups of learners whose first and target languages are typologically different (Anglophone learners of Spanish and Portuguese). The study compares the scores of the groups, and focuses on two goals: (1) to investigate the influence of L1 transfer on the acquisition of the negative concord parameter in adult L2 learners when the first and target languages are typologically similar and different, and (2) to attempt to find a correlation between L2 learners’ level of awareness on the similarities and differences of the negative concord parameter between languages, and its effect on their overall performance of the task. A total of 135 participants responded to a grammaticality judgment task, and independent sample t tests were used to determine whether there were differences between the groups. The results indicate that adult L2 learners of languages that are typologically similar to their native languages perform better than those adult L2 learners whose languages are typologically different than their native languages. The results imply that L1 transfer facilitates the acquisition of the negative concord parameter for adult second language learners when languages are typologically similar, which is relevant to current research on the developmental stages of L2 acquisition. As far as their level of awareness during the task, the results could not indicate whether or not there was any correlation between learners’ awareness of the grammatical typological similarities and differences of the languages involved and their overall performance on the task. It was also observed that learners responded in unpredictable ways to the specific question of their state of awareness during the task, which left the study inconclusive with regards to the level of these L2 learners’ consciousness. / text

Music education and pronunciation teaching within second language education would seem to be two entirely separate fields. Yet, there are undeniable links between learning to play an instrument, such as the violin, and learning to speak in a second language. This Report attempts to bridge the divide between both disciplines by highlighting the similarities between musical features and pronunciation features, and by applying principles for practicing music to pronunciation practice. It is hoped that this comparison will motivate second language learners to practice pronunciation and increase the quality of their home practice, which has been found to play an important role in determining the degree of students’ pronunciation improvement (Sardegna, 2011). This Report begins with a review of pronunciation teaching trends and how they have shaped pronunciation teaching today. It then provides an overview of three important pronunciation learning models, followed by a discussion of a principled approach to teaching pronunciation. This principled approach may help bridge the gap between theory and classroom practice. Then, grounded on evidence suggesting strong links between teaching pronunciation and teaching violin, the Report concludes with a rationale for applying the proposed principles to a musical teaching context and suggests adopting a musical approach to practice in order to effect change in students’ English pronunciation. / text

Immersion is an acclaimed method for second language acquisition, but is not available to majority of students. The idea of this study is to create Mobile Immersion on smartphone using Instant Messenger, WhatsApp. 45 Form 1 (7th Grade) students participated in a 3-month experiment. They were divided into two big groups: one with Mobile Immersion (Mobile Group) and the other without (Control Group). A vocabulary list of 200 high-frequency verbs was the main learning material. Net Gain in vocabulary score between pre-test and post-test was used to measure their learning progress. The statistics show no significant difference between the two groups’ means. However, within Mobile Group, there is significant correlation between individual’s chat frequency and vocabulary gain. Furthermore, chat histories of participants reveal a possible theme that has implications for researchers and educators. A questionnaire is also used to survey participants’ attitudes towards the Mobile Immersion. This paper shares the experience from the case study and draws insights into a new direction contributing to the knowledge base of Second Language Acquisition and Mobile-Assisted Language Learning. / published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

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