<p> This qualitative design based research study examined the Connected Learning theoretical framework coupled with academic language scaffolds for Long Term English Learners (LTELs) in a secondary public school setting. The participants of this study were students that have been in the United States for more than six years and have yet to be reclassified as fluent in English, thus they are labeled as LTELs. The setting for this design-based research study was one ninth grade sheltered English class and one 12th grade sheltered English class in an urban high school in Northern California. There were two implementations of this design based curriculum and each cycle lasted four days. The first implementation took place in October of 2016 and the second implementation took place during November of 2016. Students created and shared media across digital platforms using paragraph and sentence frames. As a result of this design based curriculum several students were able to create video letters to the next president of the United States on an iPad and share them on a digital platform. The design and implementation of a connected learning environment included three design principles and three learning principles and can be a successful system in other classrooms structured to serve LTELs if enough time is provided to enact all components of the design.</p><p>

M.Phil. ( Education Linguistics) / Since communication between language groups is of crucial importance in a multicultural country, the inadequate second language proficiency of school-Ieavers gives cause for concern. The current paradigm shift to relevant and vocationally orientated education raises questions about the relevance of the literature component and literature methodology within a communicative approach to second language teaching. The aim of this study is to investigate the nature of communicative competence and the way in which this is accounted for in second language teaching. The nature of literature is studied to determine whether it allows for a literature-orientated approach which can contribute towards the development of communicative competence within the parameters of a second language communicative approach. Research findings have indicated that communicative competence functions as a cognitive web of interwoven abilities and that second language teaching, which has as its ultimate aim the fluent and correct use of the target language, has to take the complex and interactive nature of the various components into account. It has also become evident that a literature teaching approach, based on the readerresponse theory, affords opportunity for stimulating language acquisition processes. By participating in analytical and communicative acts of learning, proceeding from the literature text, the leaner is involved in a process which can result in the gradual development of linguistic, strategic and psychomotor abilities. Literature thus forms a relevant and functional component of the second language syllabus and can contribute to the development of communicative competence.

M.Ed. (Education Linguistics) / Researchers generally agree that second languages are vitally important to diverse groups of people across the world today. The teaching of second languages in classrooms around the world alone constitutes a formidable undertaking. Their general importance in and out of the classroom is perhaps best expressed by Larsen-Freeman and Long (1991:2): •••not only do second languages have a place in school, they also affect many other aspects of people's lives. In the interdependent world of today, second language acquisition and use are ubiquitous. English alone, for example, is used by almost 1.5 billion people as their official second language (Crystal, 1985). The remarkable spread and use of the language has become an uncontested fact: it has become the international language for science and technology, with more than half of all the world's scientific and technical journals published in English. It is the medium for 80% of the information stored in the world's computers at present, while three quarters of the world's mail arid other correspondence are also in English (Peirce, 1989). This is just one example of second language use that has contributed to the general importance of second languages across the globe today. There are many others. So, for instance, is second language learning and use closely linked with the huge migrant worker force of Europe and other parts of the world, where there is a need amongst the people to be able to understand and speak the language of their new environment. Another such issue is the arrival and assimilation of immigrants who permanently resettle in a new country. The large entry of Indochinese refugees into many different countries around the world in the 1980's is a case in point (Larsen-Freeman and Long, 1991). Second languages also often play an important role in the affairs of state, especially in societies where there is a diversity of cultures and languages (Larsen-Freeman and Long, 1991). Which language or languages should receive official recognition and which should not? In our own country, for example, this is currently a much debated issue, following the socio-political changes and events of recent years. It appears that English has become the language people favour best in a post-apartheid South Africa.

M.A. (Applied Linguistics and Literary Theory) / Any person who tries to learn or acquire a second on foreign language will be subject to some form of mother tongue and/or cultural interference. In the South African context such interference can occur between any two cultural and language groups in contact e.g. between English and Afrikaans, or between both English and Afrikaans on the one hand, and any African language on the other. The investigator is of the opinion that such interference can cause serious barriers to communication. Her research focuses particularly on the impact of cultural interference. Her findings suggest that cultural interference has a significant negative impact, and as a result she recommends that differences need to be addressed as an important component of ESL and EFL teaching in South African schools. She believes that the new education system known as Curriculum 2005 will help to reduce some of the identified communication problems, because it emphasises the promotion of all languages, especially the African languages which were in the past not accorded official status.

<p> American classrooms are becoming increasingly diverse as students enter with native language knowledge (other than English). Addressing the needs of all students is more difficult given most teachers are native English speakers, have little experience with multiple language knowledge, and can be apprehensive about teaching ELs. </p><p> With this in mind, this study was undertaken to look at the feasibility of teaching kindergarten students strategies (e.g., use of picture dictionary, word wall, anchor chart use, partnering with peers), thus allowing the student to create their own understanding of English vocabulary rather than having an adult simply give the meaning to them or impart knowledge. </p><p> Kindergarten ELs were taught strategies, given time to practice, and encouraged to use strategies. Students were then observed using the presented strategies. Use of technology (ELs used iPhones to photograph resources they used) showed to what extent each EL understood and used the presented strategies. </p><p> Promising results showed ELs were able to understand, use, and adapt strategies, creating meaning for themselves as they acquired English vocabulary. PPVT and MLU testing showed increases and identified additional English words spoken. While this study included a small population, the findings point to strategy use for young ELs as promising. The potential application in classrooms could offer support for classroom teachers as they plan for more classroom diversity.</p><p>

<p> Research indicates a need for teacher education programs which include embedded computer assisted language learning (CALL) to support teachers&rsquo; technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) of how to employ technology in classroom settings. Researchers also indicate a need to better understand the knowledge-base of language teacher education (LTE), including a teacher&rsquo;s possible 40 year career through ever changing technology. </p><p> This mixed-method case study examines the use of iPads by four teachers, who represent maximum variation in their teaching and technology experience, in two mostly homogenous schools. The study looks specifically at how teachers&rsquo; perceptions of 1) teaching, 2) technology, 3) using technology and 4) their students shape the way they use iPads with English language learners. It also examines what supports facilitate the use of iPads for instructional purposes in second language classrooms. </p><p> I focus on the use of iPads in a one-to-one implementation in a technologically embedded context because iPads are a relatively new innovation in classrooms, with the potential of changing instruction. Such changes may contribute to the challenges and benefits of being an effective teacher in the English language teaching (ELT) classroom. Research on the use of iPads in classrooms has been previously limited to mostly suggestions for use and has given little guidance in how this disruption will assist and challenge teachers. </p><p> TPACK is used as a powerful construct based in a reconceptualization of the language teacher education (LTE) knowledge-base, indicating influences of context, teachers and their perceptions, identity and agency and activities in the classroom. These factors suggest ways which classroom technology and teacher, student, administrative and contextual influences may mediate the activities of teaching and learning in the classroom. </p><p> The data show a correlation between teachers&rsquo; practices with iPads and their previous experiences using technology in the classroom. Teacher groupings demonstrated differences in teaching based on their experience using technology and teaching. Schools showed differences only in terms of some choices made by the administration. Students&rsquo; effects on the use of iPads is minimal, except for instances of how student behavior affected the classroom.</p><p>

This thesis investigates the acquisition of the spatial and figurative meanings of five Spanish spatial particles, namely sobre, encima, debajo, bajo and en, by a group of Chinese university students of Spanish as a foreign language at intermediate and upper-intermediate language levels. More specifically, this study aims to answer two questions. The first question considers the order of acquisition of prepositional meanings, that is, whether this is similar to a native language, with literal and more primary meanings acquired first and figurative ones later or, conversely, whether the pattern of acquisition is different to that found in a first language (Kemmerer, 2005; Lam, 2010). The second question of this research is to determine whether there are observable differences between the degree of acquisition and use of these prepositions in English compared to Spanish, and if so, what the characteristics of these differences are. To try to answer these questions, the performance of this group of participants in four behavioural tests is compared. The tests were a lexical identification task, a picture fill-in-the- blank task, a sentence generation task and a truth value judgment task. These tests were conducted both in Spanish, which the participants had begun to study at undergraduate level and English, which they had first been exposed to in school in a pre-puberty period. The results of this study indicate, first, that the acquisition of the literal and figurative meanings of the spatial particles in this study does not follow a pattern similar to that found in a native language. That is, meaning acquisition in a foreign language occurs in a parallel or simultaneous pattern. Furthermore, in a non-immersion context such as that of this study, the age at which students begin the study of a foreign language is not a decisive factor in determining the degree of mastery that students can obtain. The quantity and quality of the input students are exposed to; together with an appropriate methodology appear to be the most important factors in predicting the level of proficiency that can be reached.

<p> Studies of thinking-for-speaking (Slobin, 1987) and of linguistic relativity (Gumperz &amp; Levinson, 1996) in multilinguals have been attracting more attention (Ortega, 2015). I propose the incorporation of sociocultural theory and linguistic relativity as a novel research approach in second language acquisition (SLA). Japanese learners of English go through a process in which word meaning develops from a single to binary semantic categorization as they learn to express vertical spatial operations in their second language (L2). Japanese has a nonobligatory distinction between contact and noncontact relationships when expressing vertical space (single semantic categorization), whereas English has an obligatory contrast (binary semantic categorization) (Munnich et al., 2001). The expression of vertical spatial relationships in Japanese and English is further influenced by language typology. Japanese, an SOV language, uses postpositions while English, an SVO language, uses prepositions. </p><p> Vygotsky (1987) argues that verbal thinking (the internalization of speech) is tied with word meaning, and thus, as Japanese EFL high school students learn to express the obligatory contact-noncontact feature of vertical spatial configurations in English, moving from a single to a binary semantic categorization, verbal thinking will also develop. Vygotsky (1987) further claims that verbal thinking has sociocultural origins. In this dissertation, I investigate whether gesture can be instrumental in overcoming the constraints imposed by linguistic relativity. Vygotsky (1998) states, &ldquo;Speech becomes the means for thinking mainly because it reflects an objectively occurring intellectual operation. This is a moment of major importance in the development of speech and thinking, which discloses the secret of the development of verbal thinking as a whole&rdquo; (p. 114). I predict that a distinct worldview and the &ldquo;development of cognitive processes&rdquo; (Matyushkin, 1997b, p. 272) arise together when Japanese EFL students learn vertical spatial structure with the Gesture Listening Higher Concept Approach, which leads to &ldquo;a qualitatively new mental formation that develops according to completely special laws and is subject to completely different patterns&rdquo; (Vygotsky 1998, p. 34). </p><p> The purpose of this study: (1) To pursue the new research path regarding incorporating linguistic relativity into SLA in sociocultural theory; (2) to explore whether the concurrent use of iconic co-speech co-thought gesture (ICSCTG) and listening practice can help Japanese high school students learn to express vertical spatial relationships in English more than they would learn from either treatment alone; (3) to investigate whether teaching ICSCTG and listening practice together will help Japanese EFL learners preserve knowledge of how to express vertical spatial relationships in English for a month after the intervention. I employed quantitative methods to accomplish the goals noted above. Results in this study suggest that the Gesture Listening Higher Concept Approach is an effective, evidence-based theoretical and pedagogical framework, which can facilitate L2 learning and conceptual change at the high school level. The effect of the Gesture Listening Higher Concept Approach on long-term foreign language learning would be a valuable avenue for future research. </p><p> Slobin, D. I. (1987). Thinking for Speaking. Proceedings of the Thirteenth Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society, 13, pp. 435-445.</p><p>

<p> Effective communication is important, particularly for the over 26 million immigrant workers with non-English speaking backgrounds who have entered the U.S. workforce. The research problem addressed the disillusion of non-English speakers in the workplace because of the communication gap. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of non-English speaking immigrant workers in overcoming language and cultural communication challenges at work. The research question focused on how non-English speakers or English as a Second Language (ESL) speakers describe their communication experiences in the workplace. The theoretical framework was based on the cultural approach to organizations and the transactional model of communication. A qualitative narrative inquiry design was used that employed sources of information including an interview questionnaire and existing literature. The target population was immigrant employees who are managers, assistant managers, and supervisors in New York City and Long Island who work in accounting, banking, finance, information technology, and marketing with at least 5 years&rsquo; experience. A purposive sampling procedure was used to select 20 participants for semistructured interviews. The qualitative data were subjectively analyzed by using member checking and triangulation. Key findings indicated 6 themes: miscommunication, lack of appropriate terms, delays in work completion, loss of respect, inability to express oneself clearly, and the need to use alternative means of communication. Opportunity for contributions to social change can include increased understanding and utilization of effective management and communication strategies for dealing with non-English-speaking and ESL workers. This can also help to bridge cultural and language gaps.</p><p>

This thesis investigates the L2 English pronunciation of a native speaker of German who has lived in western Canada for 25 years. The goal of the study was understand the defining features of his accent, to determine what factors contributed to his accent, and to characterize his interlanguage grammar. There are two opposing theories about L2 speakers’ linguistic competence, encoded in what is called their interlanguage grammar: 1) The L2 speaker has several heterogeneous grammars at their disposal depending on discourse type (the socio-/psycholinguistic theory), so variable task performance is indicative of variable competence, and 2) variable task performance exists but it not indicative of variable competence. Instead, competence is a stable, homogenous system and it is performance that is variable (the generative/rationalist theory). This thesis discusses the concepts of variable competence in light of the L2 English pronunciation investigated. The subject’s pronunciation of a variety of speech sounds of North American English was tested in three production tasks with differing formality levels: wordlist, sentences, and a semi-spontaneous interview. Additionally, in a qualitative element of this study, extra-linguistic factors like motivation, attitude, aptitude, identity, and personality of the L2 speaker were investigated to determine how they contribute to L2 accented speech production. These were reported through an interview with the subject and a self-assessment of his L2 pronunciation proficiency. Finally, through native speaker judgments (NSJs), it was assessed whether foreign accentedness in the L2 interferes with intelligibility and comprehensibility. Production data from the three tasks was auditorily and acoustically analyzed to understand the contribution of various intra-linguistic factors to speech production: task type, orthography, cognate status, syllable context, stress, and phonetic environment. This thesis also investigated the validity of predictions made by the Speech Learning Model (Flege, 1995) about the ease of phonetic acquisition of L2 sounds. The findings of this investigative study indicated that the L2 learner has a homogenous interlanguage grammar that is not responsible to variable competences despite variable task type performance. They showed that all variable performance in production could be attributed to intra-linguistic factors that influence performance, but do not alter the mental representation the subject has of these L2 sounds. Additionally, the findings showed that the Speech Learning Model does not accurately predict the ease or difficulty of acquisition of L2 speech sounds. Furthermore, the findings indicated that mispronunciation of individual speech sounds resulting in accentedness does not hinder effective communication in the L2, nor does accented speech production reflect an impoverished L2 interlanguage grammar. It further revealed that the subject was aware of his interlanguage grammar differing from that of native speakers of English. Findings from the qualitative interview study indicated that the subject makes use of his accent as an identity marker to reflect his cultural attachment to his home country Germany. / Graduate