Children adopted internationally are at risk for communication delays because of their history prior to adoption and the fact that they often do not share the same language with their adoptive parents. The purpose of this research was to study the effects of a Family-Guided Routines-Based Intervention (FG-RBI) program in teaching the parents of children adopted internationally to embed instructional strategies throughout their daily routines. Three parent-child dyads participated in a multiple baseline design study to improve communicative interactions within the context of everyday learning opportunities. Observations of behavior during three-minute videotaped routines revealed modest increases in the parents' use of environmental arrangement strategies. Two of the three parents also learned to use contingent imitation as a responsive strategy. All parent participants agreed that the relationship-based intervention model was congruent with the unique needs of families who adopt internationally. Five parents who adopted internationally, but were not a part of the project, evaluated videotaped segments of parent-child interaction during baseline and intervention routines. Results of the social validity measure further substantiated the positive change in parent-implemented instructional strategies. This study contributes to the growing research base supporting FG-RBI and other parent-implemented approaches in early intervention. Even more so, it brings needed attention to the at-risk population of children adopted internationally. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Communication Disorders in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2008. / July 31, 2008. / Parent Implemented Intervention, Language Development, Early Intervention, International Adoption, Routines Based, Communication Strategies, Family Guided / Includes bibliographical references. / Juliann Woods, Professor Directing Dissertation; Mary Frances Hanline, Outside Committee Member; Howard Goldstein, Committee Member; Joanne Lasker, Committee Member; Amy Wetherby, Committee Member.

Scholars have studied issues of public relations evaluation and encroachment separately, yet none have previously examined perceptions about evaluation and encroachment together in applied settings. This study features responses obtained during interviews with 21 public relations practitioners working in for-profit companies. These responses contribute to existing literature because they reflect current perceptions of both evaluation and encroachment in real world settings. This study seeks to expand systems theory by addressing systems that de-value communication. It also seeks to broaden excellence theory by explaining how to maintain public relations' independence. Responses revealed that while most practitioners attempt to evaluate their results using either qualitative or quantitative methods (or a combination of both), real obstacles to both approaches remain. Thus a combined approach seems most effective. Presently, most practitioners are not concerned about encroachment and feel that evaluation is only one part of a public relations department's defense against encroachment. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Spring Semester, 2005. / January 24, 2005. / Encroachment, Corporate Public Relations, Evaluation / Includes bibliographical references. / Donnalyn Pompper, Professor Directing Thesis; Jay Rayburn, Committee Member; Felecia Jordan-Jackson, Committee Member.

Individuals with dementia have language and memory deficits that interfere with their functional abilities, such as conversation skills. A Variety of treatments have been developed to address these deficits during group conversation activities. Interventions that provide various sensory cues (e.g., visual, verbal, tactile) have been found to facilitate conversation groups. The current research attempted to evaluate the effects of auditory plus tactile and auditory plus written conditions on the conversational behavior of five persons with dementia in a group activity using an alternating treatment design. In a listening treatment condition (auditory plus tactile) participants listened to a story read by a staff facilitator while holding an object that was related to the story and answered questions about the story. In the reading treatment condition (auditory plus written), participants took turns reading aloud the story text and then took turns reading aloud questions about the story to elicit conversation. The quantity and quality of utterances for the participants and the facilitator were scored from transcripts of the audiotaped sessions. The results revealed no treatment effects for the quantity and quality of utterances by the participants for either condition. The treatments were subsequently modified to reduce the length and complexity of the story stimuli. With the treatment modification, only one participant demonstrated a clear increase in quantity and quality of utterances after treatment was implemented. Naïve judges' ratings of seven conversational quality indicators corroborated the lack of treatment effects. Baseline sessions were judged to be more comfortable, more clear, having more novel information, more on-topic utterances, more equality of turns, more participant-led discussion, and more participant engagement than either treatment condition. Factors related to the participant characteristics, the treatment protocol, and the physical environment may have contributed to the lack of treatment effects in this study as compared to other more successful conversational interventions. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Communication Disorders in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctorate of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2003. / April 2, 2003. / Memory Loss, Dementia Cueing / Includes bibliographical references. / Michelle Bourgeois, Professor Directing Dissertation; Linda Vinton, Outside Committee Member; Howard Goldstein, Committee Member; Joanne Lasker, Committee Member.

The evidence of a general achievement gap, and more specifically, a reading gap between African American students and White students is a well documented and alarming phenomenon (Chatterji, 2006; Darling-Hammond, 2004, 2007; Darling-Hammond, Holtzman, Gatlin & Heilig, 2005; Fishback & Baskin, 1991; Jencks & Phillips, 1998; Haycock, 2001; Ladson-Billings, 2006; Lindo, 2006). Factors such as equal access to the high quality schools, negative teacher attitudes and test bias and other possible sources of inequality have been suspected as sources of the cause of the achievement gap (Darling-Hammond, 2004; Goodman & Buck, 1973). Research is equivocal on which factors most contribute to the difficulty many African American children have matching the performance levels of their White peers. However, new theories on children's use of non-mainstream American English as it relates to their achievement are emerging. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the language and literacy skills of students who use non-mainstream American English, to better understand the mechanisms influencing achievement and to investigate possible causes that may be contributing to the continuation of this disparity. Hierarchical linear modeling and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. Three main findings emerged: (1) the results on Part 1 of the DELV-S, which identifies variation from MAE generally follow patterns observed in the extant literature (e.g., African American children are more likely to use a dialect that varies from MAE than are White children); (2) Children who speak NMAE in First grade generally use fewer of the phonological and morphosyntactic features of their dialect at the end of First grade than they did in the fall; and (3) Children who use fewer NMAE features (or more MAE features) in the fall of first grade tend to show greater literacy skill gains than do children who use more NMAE features. The results of this study help build convergence toward understanding the relationship between children's use of NMAE and their language and literacy development and achievement. Specifically, this study adds to the growing literature base that supports children's linguistic flexibility as the most likely theory elucidating the complexity of language and reading development. In addition, if offers possible reasons for the difficulty encountered by NMAE speaking children learning to read. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Communication Disorders in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2009. / May 26, 2009. / Language, Reading, Southern English, NMAE, dialect, African American English, Diagnostic Evaluation Variation, DELV-S / Includes bibliographical references. / Howard Goldstein, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Carol Connor, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Stephanie Dent Al Otaiba, Outside Committee Member; Shurita Thomas-Tate, Committee Member.

Effective teaching that promotes learners’ active engagement and the development of communicative proficiency has been a challenge to teachers of English as a second language (ESL). Previous research on second language (L2) teaching has shown that L2 learners improve better in communicative skills when they are actively engaged, participate in communicative tasks that facilitate interaction and are provided with the opportunity to use the target language in the classroom. This study focuses on improving ESL learners’ learning outcomes in remotely-located primary schools in Nigeria. The study aimed to test whether the introduction of Personal Response System (PRS) and communicative approach can improve pupils’ English-language communicative competences and their attitudes towards English learning. Specifically, this study examined the extent to which significant differences exist in pupils’ communicative competence performance scores and learning gains based on teachers’ use of a communicative approach, PRS and lecture methods in the ESL classroom. Furthermore, the research also attempted to find out whether pupils’ attitudes towards the learning of English would significantly differ based on teaching strategy. Attitudes of pupils and teachers towards the interventions were also investigated. A pre-test and post-test non-randomised control group design was adopted in this study. Some qualitative data were also collected to augment the quantitative main data. Ninety nine pupils from three intact classes in different schools in Ijebu-North local government, Ogun-State, Nigeria were assigned to two experimental groups and one control group. In addition to the traditional use of textbooks, one of the experimental groups was taught using communicative activities, while the second experimental group experienced communicative tasks blended with the use of a personal response system. The control group received the conventional classroom instruction (lecture method), including the use of the English language textbook. In order to provide answers to the research questions and the hypothesis of this study, English Language Listening Tests and English Language Speaking Tests, Pupils’ Attitude to English Language Lesson Questionnaire, Pupils’ Attitude to Clickers’ Questionnaire and Pupils’ Attitude to Communicative Approach Questionnaire were administered at the pre-and post-test stages of the research. These instruments were also complemented with data from classroom observation, video recording of the instructional process, and audio-recorded interviews with the teachers and selected pupils in the experimental groups. The results indicate that the two experimental groups showed greater improvement in communicative competence than did the control group; but the PRS group improved more than the communicative approach group both in listening and speaking skills development. Moreover, pupils’ learning gains were statistically different, with the PRS group having the highest gain scores above the communicative approach group, while the control group did not experience increased learning gains. The results also reveal pupils’ mixed-reactions with respect to their attitudes toward the English language lesson and the interventions. Teachers’ attitudes toward the interventions were in the positive direction.

published_or_final_version / Language Studies / Master / Master of Arts

The English language can be seen as a lingua franca of contemporary times. Its spread and use in the globalized world has affected most levels of society and it can be argued that, in current times, English is synonymous with communication. This need for communication has shaped the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) syllabus, which is evident in the Swedish national steering documents for the educational system. For the upper secondary school these documents show an emphasis on communication, on cultural understanding, and also on the use of literature within the EFL classroom. The need to possess communicative abilities and cultural understanding, in connection with the use of literature, has sparked an interest to investigate if and how literature itself can be used as a tool to develop and improve EFL students’ communicative skills and cultural understanding. This literature review thesis analyzes five international research articles from different geographical parts of the Globe. The findings are categorized, compared, synthesized, and finally discussed in order to answer the research questions asked, and also compared with the English subject syllabus for the Swedish upper secondary school. The findings indicate that the analyzed articles share a consensus, to a varied degree, regarding the positive aspects of literature use in the EFL setting. The arguments are that communicative skills and cultural understanding are intertwined - enabling each other to exist, develop, and improve. One cannot exist fully without the other, and literature is a good tool to use to develop and improve these abilities. Literature can help develop all skills needed to acquire and produce both written and spoken English, and it also enables cultural understanding and a broadening of the mind. Where the articles differ somewhat is in the ideas of why literature is a good tool, how to implement literature in the classrooms, and what some of the negative aspects might be. The thesis also brings the lack of Swedish studies within EFL to the readers’ attention, as well as the need to do more research focusing on the students’ perspectives towards literature use in the EFL setting.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1987. / Also available in print.

No description available.

Graduation date: 1992