The Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 requires high standards, but academic achievement among English Language Learners (ELL) falls below that of their peers in Texas. These students' lower academic achievement may lead to their dropping out of high school, not going to college, or being underemployed, a problem that led to this study. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether computer-assisted language learning (CALL) helps ELLs improve their English language proficiency compared to traditional learning approaches. Levy's theoretical framework on the implementation of CALL guided this study. A nonequivalent, pretest-and-posttest design was used to examine mean differences in the increase in proficiency level from the beginning to the end of the year on the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) of ELLS in Grades 3-5 who participated in CALL and of those who did not participate. The sample consisted of 106 English language learners in Grades 3-5: 57 students in the treatment group and 49 in the comparison group. A one-way analysis of variance was conducted to compare language proficiency between the treatment and comparison groups. Results revealed no significant difference in the mean increase in proficiency levels of English language learners between the treatment and comparison groups. Additional analyses of TELPAS subdomains (reading, speaking, listening, and writing) indicated CALL was effective on reading only. Based on the findings, a project study on professional development was designed to focus on instructional strategies to support CALL. This project may lead to social change among administrators and teachers in the methods and strategies they use in the classroom to support CALL and as they work collaboratively to improve language proficiency among English language learners.

Today Swedish society is surrounded by the English language, more so the importance to know how to read English is therefore essential. Students in consequence need the support from teachers to find suitable strategies to master their reading.This degree project’s aim is to find out if teachers use different methods to teach reading, and if so, why. This paper will present the reader with the theories and literature on the definition of reading strategies. Initially, various researchers will be present the two most commonly used strategies, the cognitive and the metacognitive. Although different researcher claim different This study is based on interviews with two teachers in elementary school, grade 4-6. The results and conclusion of this study is that the combination of different methods and the teachers’ adaption to each class and individual is what provides the students with the confidence to learn. Not only does this make it easier for the students to reach the requirements set for them, but this also gives them a willingness to learn. Furthermore, the study provides information on if the teachers working experience does have an impact on the methods they using when teaching L2 learners reading strategies.

A monolingual target language (TL) teaching norm has been promoted in second language learning over recent decades. Despite this, international studies indicate substantial variation in how and why teachers use the TL. This study investigates the extent of TL use during English lessons in Swedish classrooms in primary school, and how the choice of language correlates with teachers’ beliefs regarding second language learning (SLL) and the inclusion of the first language (L1). This study discusses the teachers’ didactic considerations and implementations of languages during their English lessons, and the teachers’ view on how the students are affected by the use of the TL in the classroom. Semi-structured interviews are carried out with three certified primary school English teachers. The interview data from this study show that the teachers’ main perception of TL use is that it should be used as much as possible. However, they all occasionally include the use of L1 in order to aid comprehension and prevent students’ anxiety. All three teachers emphasized the importance of a safe learning environment, especially when learning a new language. Even though the teachers agreed that the knowledge criterias for the subject of English in primary school do not place high demands on the students’ abilities in English, they as teachers place higher demands. The reason being that Swedish students’ level of English is higher than ever before and in turn teachers’ expectations are higher.

The main purpose of this essay is to study how classroom interaction can take place in a class for Second Language Learners (SLL).1 I have applied a case study methodology on a linguistic method used by a Teacher in Swedish as Second Language working on a primary school situated in the Southern suburbs of Stockholm. The learning method is based on extensive reading of books which comprehend several learning techniques organized into a process that support the development of linguistic skills such as discussing in a group, writing, reading and thinking in a second language. The methodology applied is based on observations, on an interview with a Teacher in Swedish as Second Language and on a questionnaire answered by 11 students that participated on “Boksamtal”. Based on a theoretical framework about socio cultural theories on learning and scaffolding,2 I attempt to integrate theory and practice to investigate how the Teacher succeed on applying effective methods for second language learning. Through the analyses of the data is also my intention to emphasize the advantages and disadvantages of such a method. In order to clarify the analysis I have identified two different kind of scaffolding: the Teacher-Student interaction and the scaffolding that creates through the learning methods on “Boksamtal”. The results of the analysis shows that a school organization that affirms the student’s identities, has a well organized program based on context-embedded teaching with a combination of different forms of scaffolding succeed to generate critical language awareness and cognitive skills. On the other hand I found several points that are worth attention such as the a lack of cooperation between the mother tongue Teachers and the other Teachers of the school, and the importance of choosing appropriated books on which the students can easily relate to. Furthermore I found two points that need deeper reflection, which strategies can be used for shy students that do not produce a word and how can the school find adequate support for a second language student born in Sweden who has not attained the expected level. 1 Cummins 2001: 3262 Gibbons 2006: 29

Verschiedene Schulleistungsstudien stellten für Kinder mit nicht-deutscher Familiensprache bereits in der Grundschule substanzielle Disparitäten im Bereich Mathematik fest. Diese Disparitäten führten zu der Frage, ob die verwendeten Testverfahren zu hohe sprachliche Hürden für Kinder mit nicht-deutscher Familiensprache aufweisen und daher nicht ausreichend in der Lage sind, die Kompetenzen dieser Gruppe valide zu erfassen. In dieser kumulativen Arbeit wurde geprüft, inwiefern die sprachliche Komplexität von Mathematikaufgaben in der Grundschule einen benachteiligenden Einfluss auf die Erfassung der Mathematikleistung von Kindern mit nicht-deutscher Familiensprache darstellt. Zunächst wurde geprüft, ob die in nationalen Schulleistungsstudien verwendeten Aufgaben für diese Gruppe differenziell valide sind. Daran anschließend wurde untersucht, ob sich itemspezifische Kompetenznachteile durch die sprachlichen Merkmale der Aufgaben erklären lassen. In der vorliegenden Arbeit konnte gezeigt werden, dass die differenzielle Validität der betrachteten Testverfahren für Kinder mit nicht-deutscher Familiensprache insgesamt gering ausgeprägt ist. Ferner wurde festgestellt, dass sich die einzelnen sprachlichen Merkmale der Aufgaben sowohl spezifisch als auch gemeinsam auf die differenzielle Validität auswirken. Der größte Anteil der itemspezifischen Kompetenznachteile wurde durch mehrere Merkmale gemeinsam aufgeklärt. Eine experimentelle Teilstudie zeigte, dass eine sprachliche Vereinfachung nicht geeignet scheint, um die Kompetenznachteile von Kindern mit nicht-deutscher Familiensprache substanziell zu verringern. Ein Vergleich der Effekte sprachlicher Merkmale von Mathematikaufgaben auf die Mathematikleistungen von Kindern mit nicht-deutscher Familiensprache zwischen der dritten und der vierten Klassenstufe ergab, dass sich die sprachliche Komplexität der Aufgaben vor allem für jüngere Grundschulkinder unabhängig von ihrer Familiensprache benachteiligend auswirkte. / Large-scale assessment studies have repeatedly documented performance disadvantages of language minority students in German elementary schools. The substantial achievement gap has led to concerns regarding the validity of large-scale assessment items for language minority students. It may be the case that these performance differences are, in part, due to high language demands of the test items. These items may selectively disadvantage language minority students in the testing situation. This dissertation project investigated the connection between the academic language demands of mathematics test items and the test performance of monolingual students and language minority students. First, it was investigated whether the test items were differentially valid for language minority students. Moreover, the connection between the differential validity and the linguistic complexity of the test items was tested. The findings indicated that overall, differential validity of the examined tests for language minority students was low. However, the test items’ language demands were related to differential validity. The largest proportion of item-specific performance disadvantages was explained by confounded combinations of several linguistic features. Additionally, unique effects of descriptive, lexical, and grammatical features were identified. An experimental study showed that linguistic simplification did not seem to be a promising method to substantially reduce the performance differences between language minority students and German monolingual students. A comparison of differential effects of mathematics items’ language demands for language minority students over two adjacent grade levels indicated that the impact of academic language demands seemed to depend on grade level rather than on language minority student status. Regardless of their home language, younger students seemed to struggle more with linguistically complex test items than older students.

Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur lärare på sfi arbetar med stöttning för andraspråkselever när det gäller muntlig produktion och muntlig interaktion i en klassrumssituation. Stöttning – scaffolding – är en arbetsmetod som används i klassrumsundervisning för att utveckla och stärka elevers språkproduktion. I denna studie innefattar det andraspråksinlärningen av svenska för invandrare (sfi). En kvalitativ metod med semistrukturerade intervjuer med tre sfi-lärare har använts för att genomföra studien. Genom intervjustudier belyses hur lärarna i en mindre kommun använder sig av stöttning i muntlig produktion och muntlig interaktion. Tre lärare, med olika lång erfarenhet av sfi-undervisning inom kurs C, har intervjuats om deras arbetsmetoder för att stötta eleverna. Resultatet visade att stöttning var vanligt hos lärarna men med olika metoder och till viss del med olika utgångspunkter vid val av modell. Lärarnas utgångspunkt för stöttningen var både medvetna och omedvetna val av arbetsmodell.

No description available.

No description available.

Research has shown that the extent of students' vocabulary in the language of learning and teaching, as an important component of overall language proficiency, plays a crucial role in reading and academic success, whether students are studying through their mother tongue or not. This study compares the vocabulary size of Grade 7 English second language immersion students with that of their English mother tongue classmates, focusing primarily on receptive vocabulary. Two aspects of immersion that South African children may experience are identified: length and quality. It is assumed that the longer the immersion, and the richer the immersion environment, the more positive the effect on vocabulary size will be. Overall results suggest that length has a slightly stronger effect on receptive vocabulary size than quality, though both are generally positive, and that most immersion students are beginning to develop a basic receptive vocabulary size comparable with that of their English mother tongue peers. / Linguistics / (M.A. (Linguistics))

Second language (L2) learners are a growing population in Canadian school systems, and acquisition of literacy skills is critical to their success in Canadian society. While much research has been devoted to writing development in first language (L1) learners, text-level writing remains relatively underexplored in L2 populations. The present study sought to address this gap by considering the relative contributions of component oral language and word-level literacy skills to writing in elementary students speaking English as a first (EL1) or second (EL2) language. A sample of 124 kindergarten students (56 EL1, 68 EL2) and 112 grade three students (51 EL1, 61 EL2) completed a battery of standardized measures assessing oral language, word-level literacy, and writing skills. An ordinary least squares (OLS) regression-based mediation path analysis was used to test associations among oral language, word-level literacy, and writing skills in each group. Results indicated that word-level literacy skills had a significant direct effect on writing in all groups, but that oral language had no significant direct effect on writing in any groups. Instead, the effect of oral language on writing was significantly mediated by word-level skills in the kindergarten EL1 and EL2 groups, and the grade three EL1 group. The indirect effect of oral language on writing through word-level skills was not significant in the grade three EL2 group. Despite this, no significant differences in variable associations were found between EL1 and EL2 groups in either grade. Oral language skills were additionally found to have a significant effect on word-level literacy skills in the kindergarten EL1 and EL2 groups and the grade three EL1 group; the significance of this effect in the grade three EL2 group was unclear. Results of this study are discussed in relation to existing literature, and existing theories of L1 and L2 writing. / Graduate