Es el propósito de este informe presentar una descripción de los métodos y materiales usados para la enseñanza del inglés en el Insituto Chileno-Británico de Cultura de Santiago conseguida a través de personales observaciones de clases y entrevistas con el profesorado y la administración del Instituto durante un período de residencia de nuevo semanas en la ciudad de Santiago. Se debe advertir que la exactitud de las observaciones y la cantidad de datos obtenidos estuvieron limitados por el corto tiempo de estadía en Chile (desde el 15 de junio hasta el 20 de agosto de 1970) durante el cual el Instituto estuvo cerrado por una semana debido a las vacaciones semestrales.

Fossilization, the stagnation of second language (L2) learning despite propitious conditions, is an inescapable reality for virtually all L2 learners. The study presented in this dissertation has endeavored to contribute to our current understanding of fossilization by examining, both longitudinally and cross-sectionally, persistent errors in the writing of adult learners of academic English for whom Spanish is a first language (L1). The theoretical framework is the Selective Fossilization Hypothesis (SFH), introduced by Han in 2009, which offers an extrapolative and explanatory framework for analyzing persistent errors in the developing grammars of L2 learners. This research was conducted in two parts. Part I consisted of a cross-sectional investigation of 60 English language learners (ELLs) grouped into three proficiency levels: low intermediate, high intermediate, and advanced. Part II was a longitudinal case study that followed two ELLs over a period of 28 and 56 months, respectively. For both parts of the study, naturalistic data consisting of college placement, diagnostic, and exit essays were collected at the research site, a large community college in the Northeastern United States, and analyzed quantitatively. Descriptive statistics were computed to identify persistent errors in the participants’ writing. Following that, the longitudinal data were subjected to further analysis, revealing robust evidence of selective fossilization both among and within the target subsystems of English articles, prepositions, and number, and offering empirical support for the SFH. These findings have some implications for second language research and practice. By providing evidence of selective fossilization, they may help challenge earlier conceptualizations of fossilization as a global phenomenon, and, by extension, the myth of the ‘fossilized’ (‘unteachable’) learner. Additionally, they contribute to extant research on the developing academic writing of post-secondary learners, a population and genre largely underrepresented in the L2 research. Finally, by offering empirical support for selective fossilization and the SFH, they provide L2 practitioners with the means to predict and explain learner errors, enabling them to set more realistic learning goals and achieve more successful outcomes.

No description available.

This study attemps to discover whether there is a difference in the academic performance of Spanish surname students in high school Spanish 1 language classrooms over their non-Spanish surname counterparts.

The effectiveness of a bilingual and a monolingual treatment condition was compared in the receptive training of novel action words presented to two bilingual, Spanish-dominant, minority-language preschoolers. In the bilingual condition, one set of actions and referents was trained in Spanish (L1) followed by training in English (L2). In the monolingual condition, another set of actions and referents was trained in L2 alone. For one child, superior L2 learning occurred in the bilingual condition, results consonant with reports by Garcia (1983a) and by Oskarsson (1975). For the other child, unexpectedly, the monolingual condition resulted in superior L2 learning. Her findings suggest that the effect of preference to learn in L2 may result in behavior which runs counter to expectations of performance based on observed dominance. Generalization of receptive learning to expressive performance was also assessed. Both children performed at sufficient levels to indicate learning was generalized from reception to expression.

The US Department of Education projects that by the year 2030 the total English Learner (EL) population in US schools will exceed 40 percent. Currently, by the time ELs make it to high school, after 6 or more years in English Language Development (ELD) programs, the majority (59 percent), are Long Term English Learners (LTEL). LTEL students represent a variety of ethnicities and language groups, but the focus of this qualitative study is LTEL students who identify as Latino LTEL. The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe and explain recently graduated Latino LTEL's perceptions of the impact of their school's culture on their academic and affective acculturation. As schools look to improve the educational outcome of Latino EL, listening to voices of former LTEL as they share their high school experiences can provide insights into ways to support the affective learning needs, academic success, and acculturation of Latino EL. Through 10 in-depth interviews with former Latino LTEL and employing qualitative coding analysis, this research explored and analyzed recently graduated Latino EL's perceptions of the impact of school culture on their academic acculturation. Even though schools have for many years attempted to address the needs of their linguistically diverse students, the results of this study indicate that the participants' high schools did not do enough to support their academic and affective learning needs. This lack of support impacted participants' self-perceptions of themselves as learners. To bridge Latino LTEL acculturative gaps, the findings support the need for school cultures to address the affective learning needs of their bi-cultural and Latino EL.

This research grew from concerns relative to the mathematical performance of Spanish-speaking limited English proficient (LEP) public school students. This investigation studied the effects of the sheltered mathematics class on eighth-grade Spanish-speaking LEP students with regard to mathematical achievement, attitudes toward mathematics, the dropout rate, and the number of math credits earned in high school. The enrollment of a sheltered mathematics class was limited to LEP students. The purpose was to compare Spanish-speaking LEP students enrolled in sheltered mathematics classes with Spanish-speaking LEP students enrolled in regular mathematics classes. The research hypotheses were that achievement, mathematical attitudes, the dropout rate, and high school math credits earned would favor enrollment in sheltered mathematics classes. The data for achievement, dropout information, and mathematics course work completed were drawn from student records in the school district data bank. A mathematics attitude survey was given to a sample from the 1995-96 eighth-grade advanced level Spanish-speaking LEP students. The research hypotheses were not accepted. All of the populations did show an academic deficit. However, they did have more positive attitudes than negative attitudes toward mathematics. To improve achievement, staying in school, and a higher rate of inclusion in mathematics related careers the following recommendations were made: 1. Research should be done to write standardized mathematics tests that would be accurate and fair for Spanish-speaking LEP students. 2. Further research should be done into teaching strategies and classroom management particularly suited to Spanish-speaking LEP students. 3. Attitude measures should be used as pretest and posttest to study the effect of sheltered mathematics classes on LEP students in relation to attitudes toward mathematics and motivation to continue schooling. 4. Recruit and train qualified mathematics teachers to teach English as a second language (ESL) mathematics.

abstract: Due to federal mandates, Title I schools now are being asked to implement parent involvement programs that meaningfully involve parents in the schools to increase academic gains. This action research study was based on three different concepts from the literature: a) critical pedagogy theory from Paulo Freire, b) parent involvement from diverse scholars including Epstein, Olivos, Mapp, Henderson, and Gonzalez-DeHass, and c) Wenger's communities of practice approach. The study was designed to determine whether a community of practice approach could provide the necessary conditions to meaningfully involve Latino Spanish-speaking parents in school. This innovation took place for 14-weeks, during which the community of practice approach was developed and utilized during meetings. Data were collected during each community of practice meeting at two schools. The data sources were surveys, audio video transcriptions of the meetings, journal, field notes, leadership meetings, and analytic memos. To add reliability and validity, mixed methods were applied to triangulate the data sources. Results indicated that through a community of practice approach Latino Spanish-speaking parents could become meaningfully involved in their children's schools. Parent participants reported that the community of practice allowed them to dialogue, contribute, learn, reflect, and become self-aware of their role in the schools. Data also showed that parent participants applied the community of practice approach to contribute to the solution of problems at their school. After participating in the study, parent participants realized their potential to impact in their children's school. Additionally, they started purposefully becoming more interested in participating and planning activities with the parent liaison. Based on the results, further cycles of action research are suggested. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Administration and Supervision 2012

Many public school reading programs utilize basal reader texts. Any materials developed for use by bilingual students would be best keyed to the basal reader being utilized in the classroom. The Ginn 720 series is one such basal reader series. Developing materials for use by bilingual students in conjunction with the Ginn 720 series would insure that the materials would be used by the classroom teacher. Focusing on a level in the series which is subsequent to the initial levels could demonstrate the utility of these materials in meeting the on-going needs of bilingual students. Level 7 is generally used by students in third grade, and the third grade is generally the grade selected for making the transition from the student's native language to that of English. Therefore, the purpose of this project is to develop supplementary reading materials keyed to the Ginn 720 Basal Reader, Level 7, for use by the regular classroom teacher in order to instruct the Spanish-speaking student in vocabulary skills. Focus on vocabulary skills, a principal activity in any reading curriculum and one which is a prerequisite to so many other reading skills, would greatly assist this bilingual student. These curriculum materials will be reviewed by local experts in education in the northeast Florida area in order to obtain input for their refinement.

While language aptitude and motivation are considered to be important contributors to second language (L2) attainment, two major gaps in the past research have been (1) a lack of nonlinear models stemming from a naïve and tacit assumption that learning outcomes are linearly related to their predictors, and (2) a lack of unified and integrative understanding of key individual differences (ID) variables (Dewaele, 2009; Larsen-Freeman, 1997). Despite changes in conceptualization of language development as a dynamic system comprised of nonlinear and interconnected subsystems (e.g., CDST), an integrative understanding of ID variables in L2 acquisition remains lacking. The purpose of this dissertation study was to examine motivation and aptitude and their relationship to second language acquisition. Specifically, the study set out to validate a number of theoretical claims made by energy conservation theory for second language acquisition (ECT-L2A) and its attempt to unify key ID variables under one model (Han et al., 2017a). ECT-L2A predicts, inter alia, that aptitude and motivation are positively related to L2 achievement but their effects diminish with increase in proficiency. This is visually represented as a nonlinear and asymptotic L2 learning trajectory vis-à-vis aptitude and motivation. In the current study, two hundred and three adult Spanish-speaking learners of L2 English (N=203) of wide range of proficiency were measured on their level of aptitude (LLAMA_F), motivation (Attitude Motivation Test Battery) and attainment (grammaticality judgment test). The data were analyzed using correlations (PPMC, partial, dis-attenuated), R-squared measures, and fitted with orthogonal distance regression via total least-squares method. The results of correlation analyses and regression showed that as predicted, aptitude contributed positively towards attainment, but its effect diminished with increase in proficiency. On the other hand, while all participants were motivated to learn, motivation decreased with increases in attainment throughout L2 development. Motivation’s effect on achievement became asymptotic and its contribution towards target language (TL) mastery diminished. When aptitude and motivation were combined as a single unit, the learning trajectory closely resembled the curve predicted by ECT-L2A. Based on these findings, two general interpretations concerning motivation and aptitude were presented: 1) changes in motivation and aptitude with respect to attainment and 2) their differential efficacy towards native-like proficiency during L2 development. Finally, implications regarding the universality and the versatility of ECT-L2A are discussed under the broader call for more mathematical models in future SLA research.