Through the ages dissatisfaction with his environment has provoked man to envision the ideal or "utopian" setting which would be more to his liking. The discontent of today's youth with the world it has inherited echoes the complaints of past generations and yet is of particular significance and relevance to the twelfth grade student soon to enter the college community where protests are becoming increasingly more articulate and effective. Established institutions and behavior codes are challenged with impunity although critics charge that such dissent is irresponsible and unsupported by positive, alternative proposals for improvement.

While most of the current concepts about language may serve as the underlying principles of language study in all English classes, there appears to be a need in the high school curriculum for opportunity to study in concentrated manner the background and the development of the English language, as a subject of intrinsic interest and lifelong appreciation. A logical place for this type of study, offered on an elective basis, would be in one semester of the twelfth grade. Because of the scope and the depth of the study it would be considered an accelerated course. In the following chapters an attempt will be made to write a guide for such a curriculum.

Thesis (Ed.D.) -- Central Connecticut State University, 2010. / Dissertation advisor: Karen Beyard. "... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 140-149). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Test-wiseness, possessed in different amounts by different individuals, is the ability to use test format, test characteristics, and/or the testing situation to receive a high score. As such, test-wiseness is an unwanted source of variance which can inflate test scores, thus invalidating test results. Problems of inappropriate interpretation may arise when test scores are affected by test-wiseness. The present study addressed the relationship between test-wiseness and English ability, as measured by the British Columbia Provincial English 12 Examination for June of 1989. The English 12 examination contained both selection and supply items. This provided an opportunity to examine both types of items and their relationship to test-wiseness. Previous research had focussed on selection items. To provide a framework for understanding and presenting the results the present research was divided into two substudies. Substudy I addressed questions concerning the nature and strength of the relationship of test-wiseness to the selection, short-answer, and extended-answer items of the English 12 examination. The selection items of the English 12 examination provided reference for interpreting the results for the short-answer and extended-answer items. Test scores were adjusted for the presence of verbal ability and it was found, as previous research indicated, that test-wiseness and verbal ability were moderately correlated. To further clarify the concept of test-wiseness, differences between test-wise and test-naive students were examined in terms of means and variability on selection, short-answer, and extended-answer items of the English 12 examination. The results of the study are based on test data for 735 students collected from April to June of 1989. Each student completed the Test of Test-Wiseness (TTW), Language Proficiency Index (LPI), and a form containing ethnographic information. Test scores for the English 12 examination were provided by the Ministry. Based on the analyses of test data for 735 grade twelve students, test-wiseness accounted for less than four percent of the variance on the English 12 examination for selection, short-answer, and extended-answer items on Substudy I. These results were found to be statistically significant. Results for Substudy II indicated that there were differences between test-wise and test-naive students in terms of means for the selection and short-answer items. Results for the extended-answer (essay) item were non-significant. There were no differences in variability between the test-wise and test-naive samples for any of the item types. The results of the present study will be of interest to those involved in constructing the English 12 examination, as well as grade 12 teachers and students. The test score on the English 12 examination accounts for 40% of a student's English 12 final grade, with a student's graduation or failure based upon these results. As such, English 12 examination scores should be as accurate and valid as possible. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

The problem of this study m a an analysis of the relationship between a group who received a certain kind of programed instruction in English grammar and a group who received instruction by conventional teaching procedures. The purposes of the study were: 1. To determine the effects of the use of English 3200 on total group performance in achieving an improved understanding of English grammar at the twelfth-grade level. 2. To determine the effects of the programed textbook on sub-group achievement when total groups were divided into three levels according to achievement test scores. 3. To determine the effects of the programed textbook on the progress of the total groups and on the progress of the sub-groups in achieving an improved understanding of English grammar at the twelfth-grade level as measured by tests over individual units within English 3200. 4. To determine the effects of the programed textbook on group performance in the retention of grammar skills. 5. To determine the effects of the programed textbook in improving written composition. 6. To determine the effects of teacher supervision on the progress of the total groups and on the progress of the sub-groups in achieving an improved understanding of English grammar. 7. To determine relationships between such factors as intelligence, reading comprehension ability, and sex with achievement in English grammar in the groups involved.

The main purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between vocational maturity and hopelessness among female and male twelfth grade students. The sample of the present study was composed of 523 (341 female, 182 male) twelfth grade students attending four high schools in Ankara and in izmir. The data were gathered using the Vocational Maturity Scale, the Beck Hopelessness Scale and a demographic information form. The overall mean and standard deviation were 145.68 and 18.44 for vocational maturity scale / 5.41 and 5.18 for hopelessness scale of 523 twelfth grade students. It was found that there was a negatively significant correlation between the hopelessness and vocational maturity. Moreover, findings related to correlation between vocational maturity and hopelessness seperately in female and male students also indicated that there were negatively significant correlations between vocational maturity and hopelessness in females and males.

The objectives of this study were to investigate the cultural differences in test-wiseness between Chinese and Canadian students; to study the impact of test-wiseness on British Columbia Grade 12 provincial examination results among Chinese students in British Columbia; and to examine the relationship of test-wiseness, and four correlates (verbal ability, achievement motivation, length of residency in Canada, multiple choice experience) among the Chinese students. The Test of Test-wiseness and Student Survey questionnaire were administered to 41 Grade 12 foreign Chinese students who wrote the provincial examinations in January 1990. Completed test data were compared with the same data from Canadian and Chinese immigrant students who wrote the provincial examination in June 1989. The data were analyzed by a linear regression model. The results indicated that ethnicity accounted for a significant amount of variance in test-wiseness. Foreign Chinese students were significantly less test-wise than both Canadian and Chinese immigrant students. Foreign Chinese students scored significantly lower than the other two groups in absurd-options, different-options, stem-options link and guessing subtests in the Test of Test-wiseness. The results also showed that test-wiseness did not account for a significant amount of variance in provincial examination scores (English 12 and Algebra 12). The four correlates together accounted for very little variance in test-wiseness. None of them significantly correlated with test-wiseness, except that length of residency in Canada correlated positively with test-wiseness. Finally, the three ethnic groups showed no significant differences in achievement motivation but foreign Chinese students scored significantly lower than Chinese immigrant students who scored in turn lower than Canadian students in verbal ability. The findings imply that language plays a crucial part in test-taking situations. With inadequate English language skills, foreign Chinese students were unable to satisfactorily comprehend the test questions, and hence their test performance were very close to what would be expected from random guessing. It is suggested that these students require examination coaching skills as well as improvement in English language skills. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

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Little research has been done which shows what the prewriting strategies of students are and what the usefulness of prewriting models are in the production of drafts. These case studies were designed to describe the prewriting strategies of four twelfth grade, advanced placement English students as they composed through three impromptu writing session, beginning with the time they received a prompt and directions to begin until they felt they had completed an essay. Each of three composing aloud sessions was used to draw a writing protocol, from which data were coded in five seconds intervals. Two basic sections were coded: strategies, the means students used to recall cognitively stored data (e.g., making associations, asking questions); and acts, anything physical the students did (e.g., transcribing, commenting). The first composing aloud session was used to draw data from which the students’ intact, acquired strategies could be determined. Given a one-word prompt, the students were asked to use as much time prewriting as they wished and to write an essay. The students were given prewriting models, Rohman’s meditation and Larson’s questioning strategy, for the next two impromptu writing sessions. They were asked to write an essay after having used the models. The students recounted their writing histories in the final session. Findings indicated that these students used l either an associational (the prompts were associated with single word nouns and phrases) or an analytical, (the question "What is it?" guided their search) strategy when they revealed their intact, acquired strategies. Prewriting served as a time for the students to develop a thesis sentence; when that task was completed, they began their essays. Rohman’s was perceived as too restrictive and limiting, while Larson’s was completely rejected. / Ed. D. / incomplete_metadata