This was a qualitative study that used the procedures of case study design while incorporating ethnographic techniques of interviewing and non-participant observation in classrooms with six selected students, six teachers, and eight interviews of selected administrators and staff members in one middle school in a large Texas urban school district. The purpose of this study was to understand the educational experiences and perceptions of selected immigrant students and their mainstream teachers. Following the method of case study design, the educational experiences of English Language Learner (ELL) students were examined in the naturally occurring context of the school and the classroom. Because the goal of case studies is to understand a given phenomenon from the perceptions of the participants (referred to as “emic” perspective) all participants were interviewed in-depth in order to understand their unique perceptions. The study took place during a five-month period in the spring of 2002. Data were analyzed concurrently during data collection and were framed by Geneva Gay's (2000) characteristics of culturally responsive teaching. The findings and interpretation of data are divided into three parts that encompass the results of the five research questions that guided this study. Part one presents the teachers' perceptions and addresses the themes that arose from research questions one and two: what are teachers' perceptions of the academic problems facing (ELL) students as they enter the mainstream classroom? What instructional practices do regular teachers use to meet the academic needs of students? Part two presents the students' perceptions and addresses the findings from research questions three and four: what are (ELL) students' perceptions of the academic challenges facing them in the mainstream classroom? What are the ELL students' perceptions of the instructional practices used by mainstream teachers to meet their academic needs? Part three addresses the fifth research question that guided this study: What administrative policies and procedures are in place in the school and district to meet the educational needs of ELL students?

El propósito de la presente monografía es investigar si un grupo de hablantes no nativos de español, todos de nivel muy avanzado, usan los adjetivos modificadores en su discurso espontáneo de una manera parecida a la nativa, y más particularmente en qué medida los colocan de manera idiomática delante o detrás del substantivo. El material usado consiste, por un lado, de entrevistas, en las cuales los participantes cuentan de sus propias vidas, y por el otro lado, de una tarea en la que comentan la acción en un videoclip de la película Tiempos Modernos (de Charlie Chaplin). Los participantes del estudio son diez suecos que residen en Chile desde hace por lo menos 5 años. La hipótesis es que, dada una constatada tendencia conservadora general en los hablantes de una segunda lengua que los llevaría a “ir por lo seguro“, los sujetos sobreusarían la opción no marcada, o sea, la posposición, en la colocación de los adjetivos. Los adjetivos están categorizados en dos grupos: uno de adjetivos cotidianos que tienden a anteponerse al sustantivo (bueno, malo, pequeño, grande, pobre, puro, nuevo, viejo, alto), y los restantes adjetivos, que por defecto aparecen en posición posnominal (p.ej. laboral, sueco, libre, desnudo, rápido, cultural, blanco, redondo, privado etc.). Los resultados no apoyan la hipótesis, en el sentido de que los participantes no nativos tienden a sobreusar la posposición. Estos participantes son comparados con un grupo de control que consiste de diez hablantes de español L1 que residen en Chile. Un aspecto que discrepa en el grupo de hablantes no nativos es el uso del adjetivo grande, para el cual los no nativos prefieren la posposición. También destaca el hecho que los participantes nativos son más propensos a usar adjetivos en general en comparación con el grupo no nativo. / The purpose of this thesis is to investigate to what extent a group of non-native Spanish speakers, all of whom are highly proficient users of L2 Spanish, use modifying adjectives in spontaneous discourse in a targetlike manner and, particularly, to what extent they place them idiomatically before or after the noun. The corpus used consists of interviews, in which the subjects talk about their lives, and another task in which they comment the action of a videoclip from the movie ‘Modern Times’ (by Charlie Chaplin). The subjects of the study are ten Swedes that have lived in Chile for at least 5 years. The assumption being the tendency for second language speakers to be generally conservative and choose to ‘go for what's safe’, it is hypothesized that the L2 users would overuse the unmarked option for placing adjectives, namely after the noun. The adjectives are divided into two categories: one consisting of everyday adjectives that strongly tend to be placed ahead of the noun (bueno, malo, pequeño, grande, nuevo, pobre, puro, viejo, alto) and the other of adjectives that appear in postposition by default (e.g. laboral, sueco, libre, desnudo, rápido, cultural, blanco, redondo, privado etc.). The results don’t support the hypothesis, in the sense that the non-native participants tend to overuse postposition. The L2 participants have been compared to a control group consisting of ten L1 Spanish speakers living in Chile. One aspect that differs in the non-native group is the use of grande, for which the non-native speakers, unlike the natives, prefer postposition. What also stands out is the fact that native speakers are more prone to using adjectives in general compared to the non-native group.

This thesis explores the role of age in second language (L2) acquisition and first language (L1) attrition. The focus is on Voice Onset Time (VOT) in the production and categorical perception of word-initial L1 and L2 stops in highly advanced L1 Spanish learners of L2 Swedish. Using as the point of departure a maturational constraints perspective and the Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH), Study I examines the impact of age of onset (AO) of L2 acquisition on the production of L2 Swedish voiceless stops. The results show that there are AO effects even in the speech of highly advanced L2 learners and that the incidence of nativelike L2 learners is considerably lower than earlier assumed. However, conclusions like these are only possible when speaking rate is accounted for, thereby highlighting the importance of speaking rate effects on VOT as a measure of nativelikeness. Like Study I, Study II reveals age effects on the same L2 learners’ categorical perceptions of L2 Swedish stops. Moreover, after combining the results with the data from Study I, the incidence of nativelike behavior drops remarkably with no late L2 learner performing within the range of native-speaker production and perception. The results suggest that L2 acquisition of phonetic/phonological aspects is especially sensitive to AO effects. It is concluded that theories on maturational constraints, including the CPH, cannot be refuted on the basis of the present data. Study III concerns the same participants’ production and perception of L1 Spanish stops. Age of reduced contact (ARC) is identified as an important predictor for L1 attrition and retention of voiceless stop production, although not of stop perception. This discrepancy is related to different activation thresholds as proposed by the Activation Threshold Hypothesis (ATH). It is further suggested that early bilinguals are more dependent on high-frequency L1 use than late bilinguals when compensating for age effects, but only in production. / <p>At the time of doctoral defence the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Accepted. Paper 2: In press. Paper 3: Manuscript.</p> / Age of onset and ultimate attainment in second language acquisition, The Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation, grant no. 1999-0383:01 / First language attrition in advanced second language speakers, Swedish Research Council, grant no. 421-2004-1975

This paper is divided into four chapters. Chapter one presents an introduction and overview of the nature of the problem, its significance and implication for public policy, and a presentation of the research design and methodology. Chapter two reviews the historical and legal background of bilingual education policy. Chapter three presents a literature review of bilingual education policy making, and examines the impacts and effects of federal aid in practice. Chapter four provides a summary of survey findings and recommendations for reform of the funding criteria for Title VII ESEA bilingual education grants.

This project analyzes interactive dialogue journals of first grade students who have been identified at different levels of English language proficiency.

Rapid growth in the use of technology and the need for education reform resulted in the need for educators to integrate technology and standards-based instruction into their daily lessons. The growing number of students whose first language is not English requires a diverse set of teaching strategies and assessments to provide these students with optimal opportunities for achieving high standards.

Significant growth in the number of English language learners (ELLs) in U.S. schools is anticipated to continue, demanding that educators and evaluators have the skills necessary to distinguishing language difference from disability and provide appropriate services to these students. However, little research exists examining the role of evaluator's cultural competence in evaluating ELLs for special education; furthermore, what does exist shows that many evaluators report low levels of self-efficacy as it relates to assessing ELLs. The first chapter of the dissertation reports on a review of 21 articles conducted to address best practices for evaluating culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) learners, evaluator self-efficacy, and recommendations for conducting culturally competent assessments and evaluations. The majority of the articles identified in this review focused on recommendations for best practices for conducting evaluations rather than reporting empirical findings related to the topic. Only one study was identified that focused on appropriate training needed by evaluation staff to effectively discriminate between language difference and a disability. Based on the findings of this review, additional research, using a rigorous methodology is needed. Addressing that need, the second chapter reports the results of a study conducted to examine the effectiveness of Project PEAC3E (Preparing Evaluators to Accurately Conduct Culturally Competent Evaluations), a reform-oriented professional development model, using case-based activities designed to increase evaluators' sense of self-efficacy, cultural competence, and the accuracy of evaluator eligibility decisions for English language learners (ELLs). The study found that Project PEAC3E was effective in increasing evaluator self-efficacy.

No description available.

Submitted by Aline Batista (alinehb.ufpel@gmail.com) on 2017-05-05T23:23:43Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Dissertação - SILVA-PINTO (2016).pdf: 21201769 bytes, checksum: 9aa83582fd61c6b36c3b56e9436a66ca (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Aline Batista (alinehb.ufpel@gmail.com) on 2017-05-05T23:24:42Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Dissertação - SILVA-PINTO (2016).pdf: 21201769 bytes, checksum: 9aa83582fd61c6b36c3b56e9436a66ca (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-05T23:24:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Dissertação - SILVA-PINTO (2016).pdf: 21201769 bytes, checksum: 9aa83582fd61c6b36c3b56e9436a66ca (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-09-16 / Sem bolsa / Este estudo investiga a aquisição das vogais anteriores arredondadas [y], [q] e [E] do francês por locutoras brasileiras adultas, proficientes em francês (L2). De acordo com a literatura (ALCÂNTARA, 1998; RESTREPO, 2011), a aquisição das vogais anteriores arredondadas do francês por aprendizes adultos brasileiros mostra-se uma tarefa complexa, tanto em termos de percepção quanto de produção. Diante disso, neste trabalho, procuramos contribuir ao entendimento dessa complexidade e fomentar os poucos estudos brasileiros envolvendo sujeitos proficientes em francês (L2) e a aquisição dos referidos sons. Desse modo, buscamos responder de que maneira os locutores brasileiros adultos, proficientes em francês (L2), lidam com sons alheios à fonologia da sua LM, no que concerne à sua percepção e produção. Para tanto, objetivamos, especificamente, detectar o grau de acuidade com o qual as vogais-alvo são identificadas e discriminadas pelas participantes avaliadas, bem como definir o comportamento acústico desses sons em sua fala, de modo que seja possível explicar uma provável produção autêntica dos segmentos franceses investigados em função de as informantes os identificarem, discriminarem e articularem. Diante disso, dois grupos de informantes participam desta pesquisa: o composto pelas brasileiras, três professoras-pesquisadoras de FLE no ensino superior público brasileiro, residentes em Pelotas/RS, e o formado por uma locutora francesa nativa, da região parisiense, a qual constitui o grupo controle e cujos dados se somam aos disponíveis na literatura. Para a coleta dos dados de produção em ambos os grupos, foram elaborados quatro experimentos, três envolvendo vogais orais francesas e o outro vogais orais do PB, as quais se encontravam em palavras e logatomas do francês e do PB, produzidos dentro de frases-veículo. Para a coleta dos dados de percepção relativos às vogais do francês, foram construídos quatro experimentos, dois testes de identificação e dois testes de discriminação. A metodologia utilizada na construção desses experimentos foi baseada, em parte, naquela elaborada por Restrepo (2011), com adaptações para atender aos objetivos específicos deste trabalho. As coletas ocorreram em ambiente acústico controlado (cabine acústica), com a utilização de um gravador digital Zoom H4N e de um par de fones de ouvido modelo AKG K 44. Os dados coletados foram analisados acústica e estatisticamente, por meio dos softwares Praat (versões 6.0.08 e 6.0.19) e SPSS Statistics (versão 17.0), respectivamente. Os resultados obtidos, interpretados à luz do modelo HipCort (MCCLELLAND et al.,1995), um modelo dinâmico de formação da memória e do aprendizado, confirmam nossa tese do potencial êxito de nossas informantes na aquisição dos sons investigados, pois identificam, discriminam e produzem acuradamente as vogais anteriores arredondadas do francês, demonstrando terem se distanciado de uma possível influência de sua LM. Os resultados alcançados contribuem, portanto, para se refutar a existência da atuação de restrições biológicas ligadas a uma concepção de aquisição da linguagem calcada nos pressupostos do paradigma simbólico, indo ao encontro de estudos que evidenciam a possibilidade de aprendizes tardios apresentarem um nível de competência fonético-fonológica em L2 comparável àquele do falante nativo. / This study investigates the acquisition of front rounded vowels [y], [q], and [E] of French by adult female speakers who are proficient in French (L2). According to the literature (ALCÂNTARA, 1998; RESTREPO, 2011), the acquisition of front rounded vowels of French by Brazilian adult learners is a complex challenge, either in terms of perception or in terms of production. From this point, in this study we sought to contribute to the understanding of this complexity and develop the not many Brazilian studies involving individuals with proficiency in French language (L2) and the acquisition of its sounds. Thus, our challenge was to answer in what way adult Brazilian speakers, with proficiency in French (L2), deal with foreign sounds, different from the ones of their ML phonology, when it comes to their perception and production. Therefore, we aimed to detect, specifically, the level of perceptiveness with which the target vowels are identified and distinguished by the considered participants, as well as defining the acoustic behaviour of these sounds in their speaking, in a possible way to explain a probable authentic production of the investigated French segments according to the identification, distinction, and articulation of the participants. Then, two groups of volunteers participated in this research: one counts with the presence of three Brazilian women, professors and researchers of FFL in superior public education, residents in Pelotas/RS; the second group is formed by a native French speaker from Parisian region, who participates of the control group, which data is added to the one available in literature. For the collecting of data of production in both groups, four experiments were elaborated, three involving French oral vowels, and the last one involving oral vowels of BP, which were found in words and non-words from French and BP, produced inside of carrier sentences. For the collecting of information of perception related to the French vowels, four experiments were formed, two tests of identification, and two tests of distinction. The methodology used in the construction of these experiments was based on the one elaborated by Restrepo (2011), with adaptions to attend to the specific objectives of this study. The collection of the material occurred in a controlled acoustic environment (acoustic compartment), with the use of a digital recorder Zoom H4N and a pair of earphones model AKG K 44. The collected data was analysed acoustically and statistically with the softwares Praat (6.0.08 and 6.0.10 versions) and SPSS Statistics (17.0 version), respectively. The results achieved were interpreted with the HipCort model (MCCLELLAND et al, 1995), a dynamic model of formation of memory and learning. They confirmed our thesis of the potential outcome of our participants in the acquisition of the investigated sounds, because they could identify, distinguish, and produce accurately the front rounded vowels of French, demonstrating the distance of a possible influence from their ML. The results contribute, so, to refute the existence of an operation of biological restrictions connected to a conception of acquisition of language based on the presupposition of the symbolic paradigm, which meets the studies that evince the possibility of late learners to present a level of phonetic and phonologic competences in L2 comparable to the native speaker.

It became known that South African learners’ learning outcomes rank poorly on the international stage, even if compared to less developed parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. The root cause of this problem is assumed to lie with the concern of illiteracy, which was argued, could be combated inter alia by ensuring that every public school has a stocked and functional library serviced by a fulltime proficient librarian. The aim of the study was to investigate the role of principals in establishing and managing functional school libraries in the King Cetshwayo District, KwaZulu-Natal. A qualitative investigation was done amongst school principals and their teacher librarians at five Dlangubo Circuit Schools. Data were collected by means of in-depth interviews and document analysis. The study revealed that the principals lack the training and resources to fulfil their role in establishing and maintaining functional school libraries. Recommendations were made on how principals might solve these problems in the future. / Dit het aan die lig gekom dat Suid-Afrikaanse leerders se leeruitkomste swak in die internasionale arena vertoon, selfs indien dit met minder-ontwikkelde dele van Sub-Sahara-Afrika vergelyk word. Daar word aanvaar dat die oorsaak van hier probleem vermoedelik die probleem van ongeletterdheid is, wat onder andere oorkom kan word deur te verseker dat elke openbare skool oor ’n toegeruste en funksionele biblioteek beskik wat deur ’n voltydse, bekwame bibliotekaris bestuur word. Hierdie studie ondersoek die rol van skoolhoofde in die vestiging en bestuur van funksionele skoolbiblioteke in die King Cetshwayo-distrik in KwaZulu-Natal. Daar is by vyf skole in die Dlangubu-streek ’n kwalitatiewe ondersoek met behulp van skoolhoofde en hulle onderwyser-bibliotekarisse gedoen. Data is met behulp van diepgaande onderhoude en dokumentanalise versamel. Die studie het aan die lig gebring dat die skoolhoofde ’n gebrek aan opleiding en hulpbronne het ten einde hulle rol in die vestiging en handhawing van funksionele skoolbiblioteke te vervul. Aanbevelings is gemaak oor hoe skoolhoofde in die toekoms moontlik hierdie probleme kan oplos. / Kuvele ukuthi imiphumela yokufunda abafundi baseNingizimu Afrika isezingeni eliphansi mayikeliswe neyamazwengamazwe ngisho noma isiqhathaniswa neyezingxenye ezingaka thuthuki kahle zase- Sub-Saharan Africa. Umsuka walenkinga kusolwa ukuthi udalwa ukungakhuthazwa ukufunda izincwadi nokubhala ,okuyinto okuthiwa ingaqedwa phakathi kokunye ngokuqinisekisa ukuthi zonke izikole zomphakathi zinomtapo wolwazi onezinsizakufunda nezinsizakusebenza ezanele ezisezingeni labantwana nothisha futhi owenganyelwe uthisha oqeqeshiwe ngokusebenza komtapo futhi osebenza ngokugcwele ukuqondana nomtapo wesikole. Inhloso yocwaningo ukuphenya indima yothishanhloko ekusunguleni nasekuphatheni imitapo esebenza ngendlela efanele ezikoleni zase e-King Cetshwayo District, KwaZulu-Natal. Uphenyo olunzulu lwenziwe kothishomkhulu kanye nakothisha ababakhethe ukuthi babuye babhekane nokusebenza nokuphathwa kwe -mitapo yolwazi ezikoleni zabo ezinhlanu ezise Dlangubo Circuit. Ulwazi lwaqoqwa ngama in-depth interviews kanye nokuhlaziywa kwezincwadi abasebenza ngazo ukuze umtapo wolwazi wesikole usebenze ngendlela efanele.Lolu cwaningo luveze ukuthi othishanhloko bashoda ngoqeqesho kwezokuphathwa komtapo wolwazi ezikoleni kanye nezinsizakufunda kubalwa nezinsiza kusebenza eziqondene nokusebenza kahle komtapo wolwazi ezikoleni ukuze bakwazi ukufeza indima yabo ekusunguleni nasekuphatheni gendlala imitapo yolwazi esebenza kahle ezikoleni zabo. Izincomo zenziwe ezikhombisa ukuthi othishanhloko bangazixazulula kanjani lezi zinkinga esikhathini esizayo. / Educational Management and Leadership / M. Ed. (Education Management)