This thesis investigated the literacy practices of a group of Somali refugee women participating in Canada’s federally‐funded ESL program LINC (Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada). Assuming that many Somali women arrive in Canada with limited experience with print literacy, and so encounter novel challenges in their settlement and learning experiences, I interviewed 4 Somali women about their uses and perceptions of the value of literacy in their lives and their experiences of learning to read and write in Canada. A cross‐case analysis revealed how social forces constrain and enable the women’s literacy practices, shaping both how they access and use literacy, as well as the ways in which they understand and value literacy. Implications are outlined for ESL educators, researchers and policy makers.

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Speaking a foreign language is a major part of communicating in that language. Since LGY 69, spoken English has received the same attention in teaching as the writing of English; and in the national tests today spoken English is considered 1/5 of the test grade.  However, students in many cases find it more difficult to speak English than to write it and some teachers still focus more on writing and grammar than on speaking. In this essay, I am trying to show how a group of fairly fluent students tackle the oral part of their national test and what strategies they use to overcome linguistic difficulties. In order to do so I have filmed five groups and a total number of 17 students when they do the oral part of their national tests in English in grade nine and also have the students fill out a questionnaire about the experience. The tests took place in March and April 2010. This essay shows that the most frequently used strategy is pauses, unfilled and filled, but that for other strategies the individual differences are great. It also shows that group dynamics play an important role when doing the test and students who are not able to do the test with people they normally talk to do worse in the test setting and that the performance of both boys and girls suffer when being put in mixed groups.

This dissertation studies the effects of female labor market participation on fertility spacing in U.S., and the impact of special language programs on academic achievement of English language learners in Texas public schools. The first essay studies the relationship between labor market participation and childbirth spacing. I construct a simple dynamic discrete-choice model to theoretically develop several implications. My model's key prediction is that while continuously working women would like to smooth the stream of children (longer spacing), those who transitorily drop out of the labor force would want to do the opposite (shorter spacing). Empirically testing the predictions of the model requires a serious effort to deal with endogeneity of the labor market participation around the time of the births. I propose to use a set of simulated marginal tax schedules and unemployment rate as instruments for labor market participation. Using National Longitudinal Survey Youth (NLSY) data I find that the current participation effect is positive and motivates working women to delay the second birth three to five years, while the future participation effect is negative and encourages women who transitorily drop out of the labor force due to childbearing to have their second child one to two years earlier. These participation effects on spacing become stronger with fewer years of education, lower non labor income, lower complete fertility, and early motherhood. The second essay studies the impact of special language programs on academic achievement of English language learners in Texas public schools. A considerable proportion of Hispanic students are classified as English Language Learners (ELL) and might have difficulty performing ordinary classwork in English. There is evidence that students designated as ELL are considerably behind the rest of the student population with respect to meeting the proficiency requirements under No Child Left Behind. Using student-level TAKS testing data and campus-level data for years 2003-2009, I study the effects of Bilingual and ESL programs on academic achievement of Texas public school students. Program effects are identified by following achievement gains of several cohorts of students across grade, using individual and school fixed effects. Results show that academic performance of ELL students improves with bilingual program participation. Bilingual effects on achievements gains in the reading test are higher for English language learners (between 0.08 and 0.15 standards deviations); bilingual effect in reading is greater than in math; and bilingual effect in sixth grade exceeds the bilingual effect in fourth and fifth grades. There is also evidence that changing programs from bilingual to ESL or from bilingual to regular can result in lower achievements grades.

The demographics of the United States are rapidly changing, resulting in an increasingly diverse student population. Public school personnel must contend with the fact that a large number of students have limited English proficiency. These students deserve a quality education, yet often face impediments within the school system that hinder their academic progress. One means of helping English language learners is to offer bilingual or English as Second Language (ESL) instruction. Indeed, the demand for bilingual/ESL teachers is greater than the current supply. Teacher preparation programs have recognized this fact and have taken actions to increase the number of students attaining bilingual/ESL degrees and/or certifications. This study examines what strategies institutions of higher education in Texas are utilizing to recruit and retain bilingual/ESL teacher candidates. It also considers to what extent these institutions are effectively preparing their students to face linguistic issues in their future classrooms. Finally, the study describes the institutions of higher education in Texas that attract the highest number of bilingual/ESL teacher candidates and identifies the key factors in their successful efforts. The researcher used a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to address the research questions. Data was generated via an electronically mailed questionnaire, sent to forty Deans or administrators of teacher preparation programs in Texas that offer bilingual and/or ESL education; thirty five of them responded. Descriptive statistic methods, including frequency counts, percentages, crosstabulation, and logistic regression, were used to analyzed the data. Information obtained from openended questions was checked for the recurrence of common themes. Five administrators at high enrollment institutions participated in follow-up interviews in order to provide more in-depth information. Findings from the study indicated that institutional commitment and funding levels were associated with high enrollments and with higher student scores on state-mandated bilingual and ESL certification exams. Recommendations include: making the programs a priority, expanding recruitment efforts, expanded advertising of programs and establishing university/public school liaisons. Bilingual/ESL student organizations, offering scholarships and financial advising, and establishing student/faculty mentoring programs should be used to assist teacher candidates during their academic careers so that they will be effective teachers when they graduate.

The purpose of this study was to explore ESL teachers’ perceptions and use of classroom-based reading assessments. The research questions underpinning this study were: 1) What types of classroom-based reading assessments are used in ESL classrooms and how are they used? 2) What are ESL teachers’ perceptions regarding the function and effectiveness of classroom-based reading assessments? 3) What and how do external factors influence ESL teachers’ use of classroom-based reading assessments? 4) What and how do internal factors influence ESL teachers’ use of classroom-based reading assessments? The participants of this study were six middle school ESL teachers and seven elementary school ESL teachers. Data consisted of interviews with the participating ESL teachers, classroom observations, and assessment materials. The finding of this study indicated that there were three kinds of classroombased reading assessments commonly used by ESL teachers in the classrooms: tests, observation, and using writing to assess reading. These classroom-based reading assessments served ESL teachers in two ways: helping teachers make decisions about individual students and helping teachers make decisions about instruction. In addition, classroom-based reading assessments were viewed as effective instructional instruments. ESL teachers highly valued classroom-based reading assessments, considered them accurate and valuable, and thought these assessments could provide great help to the daily teaching of reading. Students, statewide mandated standardized tests, and districts were three major forces that influenced this assessment process. Four conclusions can be drawn from this study. First, classroom-based reading assessments played a central role in ESL teachers’ teaching and assessing of reading. Second, ESL teachers highly valued classroom-based reading assessments, considering them valuable, accurate, and efficient. Compared to statewide mandated standardized testing, ESL teachers preferred classroom-based reading assessments. Third, ESL teachers’ use of classroom-based reading assessments was largely under the control of districts or school authorities and there were many disagreements on the ways of assessing reading of ESL students between teachers and the districts or schools. Finally, statewide mandated standardized testing had distorted ESL teachers’ use of classroom-based reading assessments in practice.

This study focuses on the population of women voluntarily entering the United States via arranged, often through the Internet, marriages. A congressional report (Immigration and Naturalization Services 2006) on “International Matchmaking Organizations” reports that the number of immigrants coming to the United States with a “K-1 fiancée visa”, the temporary visa status used to have a nonnative individual enter the United States for the purpose of marriage, to be growing rapidly. Of these individuals, 79% are women, referred to in both government data collection and sociological literature using the century old moniker of “mail order brides”. Through first-hand experience, over a period of 20 years teaching and acting as an administrator for English as a Second Language (ESL) programs, I have found this population of women, International Mail Order Brides (IMOBs), to present significant English language and literacy needs. Demonstrating inconsistent attendance in ESL (English as a Second Language) classes, they exhibit low-level English language fluency skills. This study of six International Mail Order Brides, all of whom live in rural settings within Pennsylvania, emanated from these observations. Participants were located through their attendance in community based, adult ESL programs. Research conducted used the case study method offered the participants the opportunity to share the lifelong progression of their biliteracies. Each of the narratives is transcribed in the words of the participant to assure the critical element of authenticity. The biliterate lives presented through this restorying is interpreted using Hornberger’s Continua of Biliteracy theory in order to identify the multidimensional International Mail Order Bride biliteracy. Analysis revealed five of the six participants to be monolingual, with no agency given to their L1. All developed their biliteracies successively, living currently with the L2 in the majority power position. Five of the six IMOBs function at the less powerful oral-vernacular end of the Continua, with few literate abilities. The value of shared life stories formulates an in-depth representation of how the specific life choice of this population drives the need for highly contextualized English language opportunities, providing clear data to guide the field of Second Language Literacy in creating a pedagogical response. / Dr. Dan J. Tannacito Dr. Gary J. Dean Dr. Gian S. Pagnucci

Design Space Exploration is the task of identifying optimal implementation architectures for an application. On the front-end, it involves multi-objective optimization through a large space of options, and lends itself to a multitude of algorithmic approaches. On the back-end, it relies extensively on common capabilities such as model refinement, simulation and assessment of parameters like performance and cost. These characteristics present an opportunity to create an infrastructure that enables multiple approaches to be deployed using generic back-end services. In this work, we describe such a framework, developed using the System-on-Chip Environment, and we demonstrate the benefits and feasibility of deploying a variety of design space exploration approaches built on top of this basic infrastructure. / text

This paper is a curriculum proposal for a mid to high beginner adult English as a Second Language class. It is hoped that this curriculum will prove to meet students’ academic needs, especially in terms of development of literacy, listening skills, and language learning strategies. In addition to this, the lessons include a critical orientation; that is, the class is structured to facilitate student engagement with social issues, namely racism and economic struggles. With these considerations in minds, two units comprising half the semester were developed and relevant extra materials are provided. / text

English pronunciation instruction is not a common component of most language classrooms, with the large majority of ESL/EFL teachers lacking the knowledge and expertise to successfully reduce their students’ segmental and suprasegmental pronunciation errors. Therefore, this report aims to provide English teachers with the necessary instructional goals, priorities, and suggestions to guide students in their pronunciation improvement, both during a course and beyond. The first chapter reviews the pronunciation education strategies of the past, and proceeds to offer contemporary approaches for English instructors and learners focusing on autonomous student strategy use. Secondly, the pedagogical priorities for pronunciation improvement in the short and long-term, for both segmental and suprasegmental features, are identified. The third chapter offers suggestions for teachers on how to use these goals and priorities within a course, as well as discussing classroom environments conducive for pronunciation improvement. This report makes a case for the importance of student empowerment through the utilization of autonomous learning strategies, allowing students to take control over their individual language acquisition process. / text