Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Delaware, 2009. / Principal faculty advisor: Nancy Jordan, School of Education. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Florida State University, 2006. / Advisor: Carolyn L. Piazza, Florida State University, College of Education, Dept. of Childhood Education, Reading, and Disability Services. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed June 14, 2006). Document formatted into pages; contains xii, 205 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2006. / Advisor: Briley E. Proctor, Florida State University, College of Education, Dept. of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed July 28, 2006). Document formatted into pages; contains x, 122 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Ed. )--Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, 2004. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 2761. Typescript. Abstract precedes thesis as 2 preliminary leaves ( iii-iv). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 39-41).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 1987. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 113-118). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Nevada, Reno, 2008 / "August, 2008." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 162-171). Online version available on the World Wide Web.

This study examines the writing of six first grade children (three girls and three boys of varying abilities) in a "whole language" classroom where writing was modelled daily during "Morning News" and "writing skills" were taught in context. Conducted from a socio-psycholinguistic/emergent writing perspective, this study addresses two major questions: (1) What are the functions and forms of writing in first grade? (2) In what ways do these functions and forms change throughout the first-grade year? All of the children's writing produced during "Writing Workshop" time was analyzed to determine writing functions, structure (genres, structures of text, syntax and sentence patterns), and orthography (segmentation, punctuation marks, capitalization, and spelling). Interrelationships between function and the various levels of form were examined, as were changes throughout the school year. Analytical categories were developed from previous studies and from the data. Evidence was found to support the following conclusions: (1) First grade children write for a variety of purposes. Changes in function appear to be due to children's interests and preferences rather than to their development. There is a trend towards multifunctionalism in first grade writing. (2) Children compose written discourses from the beginning of first grade. (3) Discourse-level structure increases in both variety and complexity from beginning to end of first grade. (4) Segmentation increases in conventionality, with sentence segmentation becoming conventional before word segmentation. (5) Punctuation, capitalization, phonemic segmentation and representation, and spelling become increasingly conventional. (6) Discourse- and sentence-level forms "follow" function, but orthography does not. Changes in orthography are due to development and writing experience. (7) In a comparison of texts produced by children considered by the teacher at the beginning of the year to be "advanced" in development to those of children considered to be "average" or "delayed" in development, at the end of first grade, "advanced" children: (1) write in more complex genres, with more complex text structures; (2) use a greater variety of sentence patterns and punctuation marks; (3) write more conventionally in terms of segmentation, punctuation marks, capitalization and spelling. Thus, the study provides insight into how children develop as writers and the relationship between functions and various aspects of the development of form. / Graduate

This dissertation focuses on Grade 1 children's inquiry of narrative text over a three-month period. The children were read to as a group by the classroom teacher and individually by Grade 7 students, a grandparent helper, and a peer. They also read to themselves. There were ten subjects for the group context and six subjects for each other context. The data consist of audio-tapes and field notes from the five contexts. In addition three interviews were conducted with the classroom teacher and a think-aloud procedure was carried out with six of the subjects at the conclusion of the study. The children's statements were analyzed to determine if they inquired about narrative text and to explore the nature of their inquiry. The teacher interviews were analyzed to discover the teacher's perception of her role in the children's inquiry. The results from the think-aloud procedure were compared with results from the group context to determine if the findings were similar. A definition, description and list of skills of inquiry in the language arts was developed and applied to the children's statements to identify the statements that represented inquiry. Six categories that could be used to describe the nature of the children's inquiry statements emerged from the data. Each of these categories was made up of a variety of more specific classes. The children made more inquiry statements in the group context than in any other context. There were individual differences in the degree to which the children inquired about narrative text, and the text, the teacher's actions and the social context influenced the children's inquiry. The children used a variety of cognitive processes to inquire about text. The children's inquiry statements were evoked by the text, the children and the teacher. The focus of the children's inquiry statements was knowledge not explicitly evident in the text. Their statements took a variety of forms, and declaratives, not questions, were the predominant form. Although they inquired about a variety of subject matter, actions of characters and cause/effect relationships was the content of the majority of their inquiry statements. The function of most of their inquiry statements was the transmission of propositional knowledge and explanations. This study contributes to the existing literature in several ways. First, it provides a framework for considering children's inquiry and their involvement in learning. Second, it illuminates the relationship between the child, the text and the context in children's interactions with narrative text. Third, it reveals the complex and idiosyncratic nature of children's inquiry of narrative text. / Graduate

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