This study examined the oral language abilities of 100 English as-a-second-language (ESL) and 50 English as-a-first-language (EL1) students in grade 5 with and without reading disabilities. Students with reading disabilities were further divided into two groups: poor decoders and poor comprehenders. A MANOVA was conducted to determine the effect of language group and reading group on the students’ cognitive and linguistic skills. The ESL students demonstrated delays in receptive vocabulary as measured by the PPVT, but were comparable to EL1 students on all other measures. Significant differences were found between reading groups for both language groups. Normal readers performed significantly better than poor decoders and poor comprehenders on all of the oral language measures. The poor decoders performed significantly better than poor comprehenders on an oral language task assessing listening comprehension. This research demonstrates that students with reading difficulties also have difficulties in oral language proficiency, regardless of second language status.

This study investigated the effectiveness of two methods of accent modification instruction. Thirty nonnative English speakers received an intonational-based instruction method for the pronunciation of American English. Half of those speakers received additional instruction and activities that were based on theories of cognitive processing of language. Three expert listeners evaluated pre- and post-instruction recordings of each speaker. Listeners were asked to rate the use of speech characteristics determined to be instrumental for intelligible speech on a 5-point Likert scale and three yes/no responses. As a whole, the intonational-based instruction method resulted in significant increases in the use of positive speech characteristics. A modification of that method did not result in significant differences in any of the speech characteristics. Findings of this study support the focus on suprasegmentals in pronunciation training of English as a second language and may lead to more diverse methods and designs for accent modification research. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Wichita State University, College of Health Professions, Dept. of Communication Sciences and Disorders / "December 2005." / Includes bibliographic references (81-95)

This study examined the oral language abilities of 100 English as-a-second-language (ESL) and 50 English as-a-first-language (EL1) students in grade 5 with and without reading disabilities. Students with reading disabilities were further divided into two groups: poor decoders and poor comprehenders. A MANOVA was conducted to determine the effect of language group and reading group on the students’ cognitive and linguistic skills. The ESL students demonstrated delays in receptive vocabulary as measured by the PPVT, but were comparable to EL1 students on all other measures. Significant differences were found between reading groups for both language groups. Normal readers performed significantly better than poor decoders and poor comprehenders on all of the oral language measures. The poor decoders performed significantly better than poor comprehenders on an oral language task assessing listening comprehension. This research demonstrates that students with reading difficulties also have difficulties in oral language proficiency, regardless of second language status.

This study examined the acquisition of Hebrew noun plurals in early immersion and bilingual education by focusing on performance, as well as morpho-syntactic and semantic errors in inflecting nouns. A total of 196 students from Senior Kindergarten (n = 86) and grades 1 (n = 58) and 2 (n = 53) were administered measures of inflectional morphology in Hebrew. Results indicated that children applied high frequency, salient, simple to apply inflectional patterns involving male-female nouns, as well as the basic way of noting plurality. Two major obstacles in the pluralisation of Hebrew nouns were suffix regularity and stem transparency. Error analysis revealed three categories of responses: rule-based, analogy-based and non-strategic errors. The principal conclusion was that errors notwithstanding, young children learning Hebrew as a foreign language are moving toward an understanding of plural formation. The development of morpho-syntactic structures gradually develops over time and with exposure to Hebrew instruction.

The overriding objective of core French (CF) teaching in Canada since the National Core French Study (NCFS) is that of communicative competence (R. Leblanc, 1990). Results from the traditional form of CF, though, suggest that students are not developing desired levels of communicative competence in the drip-feed (short daily periods) model (Lapkin, Harley, & Taylor, 1993). The present study aims to investigate the role of compacted second language program formats in promoting higher levels of language proficiency and achievement among elementary core French students; in particular, the study investigates the pedagogic approach, based on the principle that longer class periods should facilitate a more communicative/ experiential teaching approach. Students in three Grade 7 classes served as participants. Two of the classes served as the compacted experimental classes, and the other as a comparison class. Pre-tests, immediate post-tests and delayed post-tests recorded differences in student achievement. A multi-dimensional, project-based curriculum approach was implemented in all three classes, and was recorded by teacher observations in her daybook and daily journal. Student attitudes toward their CF program format and their self-assessed language proficiency were measured during recorded focus group sessions and on student questionnaires. Parental and teacher perceptions of student attitudes were measured using a short survey. Results indicate that students in both the compact and comparison classes performed similarly, with few significant differences in measured language growth or retention over time. Parents of all classes indicated satisfaction with the teaching and learning activities, and with the program format in which their child was enrolled. Excerpts from the teacher daybook and reflective journal demonstrated that communicative activities fostering student interaction in the target language were more frequently and readily implemented in the longer compact CF periods. Students generally stated a preference for the program format in which they were enrolled, although only students in the compact classes outlined pedagogic reasons in support for their preference. Additionally, most students self-assessed a higher level of language competence than in previous years, which students in the compact (experimental) classes attributed to the longer class periods, stating that they promoted task completion, group work, in-depth projects and communicative activities.

This study examines French-as-a-second-language (FSL) learning in Canada through the lens of an educational publisher. The fields of language and policy planning, second language learning, and educational publishing provide a focus for the study. The principal purpose of this thesis is to identify key stakeholders in second language learning and to analyze the impact of their actions on the development of FSL resources in Canada. Through qualitative field research with representatives from significant Canadian publishing companies, this analysis of relationships and roles will assist future Canadian second language stakeholders in better understanding the impact of their decisions on the field of publishing, on educational resources, and ultimately, on FSL students in classrooms across the country.

This qualitative case study was initiated to identify the existing process present in the Italian International Languages Program in the Hamilton-Wentworth area of the Province of Ontario. The premise was to investigate the various school practices that surround the International Languages Program as well as the interests of the various stakeholders in order to interpret and explain the current policies and practices that characterizes the Program. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate a distinctive problematic area within the Italian International Languages Program through an exploratory qualitative case study. The conceptual framework for this study looks at Bourdieu‘s (1977) theory that language is an individual capital as well as a social capital for its linguistic market. The value of a language cannot be settled in linguistic terms: languages are linguistically equal; however, many argue that they are not socially equal (Bourdieu, 1977). This case study revealed precisely that language is not socially equal. Through this research, the process that exists within the Italian International Languages Program was revealed, along with the stakeholders‘ individual interests in the program. The International Languages Program is only worth what the people who speak it feel it is worth. iii The study population was selected purposefully including various categories of stakeholders in the program; school administrators, teachers, students, parents and the community at large. Selection of each individual participant was random. The information was analyzed through interpersonal qualitative methods that included the representations and accounts from the various stakeholders about the Italian International Languages Program. The stakeholders‘ views and comments were the analysis of the representative discourse. The most striking results from the study were the stakeholders‘ representations of a program whose very existence is bordering on survival and quickly heading for demise. Through the stakeholders‘ accounts and representations, it is clear that the Italian International Languages Program may no longer be viable. The study is a last attempt for the stakeholders to convey their reality of the program and to educate those that have the power to make a change.

Recent years have seen a growing interest in the relationship between second language (L2) writing development and the ways we can help growing populations of L2 writers successfully integrate within academic communities. Much of this interest stems from increasingly diverse local populations and the continued internationalization of higher education. This dissertation explored the implications for curriculum resulting from this growing presence of L2 writers in academic content areas. To achieve this goal, this research reports on an eight-month longitudinal ethnographic case study of five international Japanese undergraduate students at a large Canadian university. Focusing on the central role of writing in university courses as the dominant mode of knowledge construction and dissemination, as well as student assessment, the study documents focal students’ and focal instructors’ perspectives of the various factors affecting their writing in ‘regular’ content courses, with particular attention paid to the impact of feedback practices and their role in both the short-term and long-term development of students’ skills and their investments in different types of writing. Drawing on a language socialization framework, data analysis focused on expectations and practices with respect to feedback, and explored the impact of these practices on conveying both explicit and implicit norms linked to students’ access to, and successful participation in, their chosen content areas. Drawing on both students’ and instructors’ perspectives of this literacy event and discourse analysis of relevant documents, findings offer unique insights into the role of feedback practices not only for students’ writing development but also in indexing complex negotiations of positions, identities, and institutional forces. The dissertation concludes by highlighting the need to play closer attention to the multidimensional functions of feedback practices in order to understand their power to shape the socialization trajectories of L2 writers and universities’ responses to multilingual students who no longer fit traditional profiles.

Abstract This study examines the Comenius exchange project between Da Vinci, Kattegattgymnasiet in Sweden and Liceo Scientifico F. Vercelli in Asti, Italy from both a qualitative and a quantitative angle. This exchange project was working with immersion. The purpose of this essay is to investigate to what extent second language learning is achieved in an immersion project. The essay aims to answer the following thesis questions:   What are the learning outcomes of this exchange project, focused on immersion? What are the advantages, and disadvantages of an exchange project, focused on immersion?   To undertake this study, I travelled to Asti and distributed a quantitative questionnaire to the students in this project. Qualitative interviews were conducted with the two main teachers and the students, as well. The data was then processed and analyzed, along with my theoretical framework: second language acquisition theory and immersion.   The results show that the Swedish students were better at speaking; the Italian teacher focused more on grammar, that the objectives sometimes were unclear and that language development occurred. The study also provides the data that tells us that there might be challenges with your colleagues and that it is time-consuming.   For further research I suggest a focus on why language development features in a project like this. It would also be interesting to analyze a project like this by observations of the linguistic content of the lessons and the specific differences between Italy and Sweden.   Key words: Immersion, Second language acquisition, input, exchange project, language instruction

Speaking a foreign language is a major part of communicating in that language. Since LGY 69, spoken English has received the same attention in teaching as the writing of English; and in the national tests today spoken English is considered 1/5 of the test grade.  However, students in many cases find it more difficult to speak English than to write it and some teachers still focus more on writing and grammar than on speaking. In this essay, I am trying to show how a group of fairly fluent students tackle the oral part of their national test and what strategies they use to overcome linguistic difficulties. In order to do so I have filmed five groups and a total number of 17 students when they do the oral part of their national tests in English in grade nine and also have the students fill out a questionnaire about the experience. The tests took place in March and April 2010. This essay shows that the most frequently used strategy is pauses, unfilled and filled, but that for other strategies the individual differences are great. It also shows that group dynamics play an important role when doing the test and students who are not able to do the test with people they normally talk to do worse in the test setting and that the performance of both boys and girls suffer when being put in mixed groups.