<p> The process of reading embodies many factors that affect an ESL student&rsquo;s second language acquisition. This study investigates the present situations of current or former ESL students from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and their attitudes toward reading in an ESL classroom. The investigation focuses on reading in a social context and the effects of a background with reading as a child. It examines Saudi ELLs attitudes towards reading in an ESL classroom. The background and motivation towards reading in the United States and KSA are examined. The analysis discovers motivation aspects and current knowledge of Saudi students in ESL. A survey was disseminated to determine Saudi student&rsquo;s experiences with reading in ESL. This study investigates how attitudes and cultural aspects influence ESL reading performance and why it is important when teaching Saudi ESL students. This research is important because it directly affects our students and their future as students out of an ESL classroom. In order to provide the best education for our students, we need to be aware of what current attitudes and background history our students have on reading in English and in an ESL classroom.</p>

<p> English learners typically score below their English o0nly peers on state and national standardized tests, demonstrating that there is a need to explore possibilities as to why this achievement gap is widening. Applying a conceptual framework stemming from the concepts of social and cultural capital from sociologist Bourdieu, this study examines the language as social and cultural capital of English learners at a school site and its influence on student engagement. This qualitative study used narrative inquiry and a semi structured interview protocol to gain insights from teachers, students and district personnel. Although the findings in this study are not generalizable, it suggest language influences a student&rsquo;s ability to be engaged in the classroom through access, relationships, trust, identity, success, and cultural diversity and awareness in this particular school site found in a local Southern California school district. Having a deeper understanding of how language, social and cultural capital influence engagement will assist educators in planning instructional lessons that are academically rigorous and relevant to the student in order to provide access and upward social mobility to English learner students. </p>

The thesis explores the influence of cognitive training carried out in a second language on the elderly suffering from dementia. Having described the basic anatomy of the nervous system, neurolinguistic theories as well as ageing and having dealt with cognitive aspects in relation to language learning, the thesis aims at performing an experiment that should help dementia clients to broaden their vocabulary in a second language. This is to be achieved through individual therapy- like units using worksheets created specifically for these purposes. The results indicate that cognitive training in a second language is beneficial to dementia clients and could be used more extensively. Key words ageing, dementia, language, cognitive training, neurolinguistics

The thesis presents a theoretical framework for the preparation of a portfolio for the course Didaktická propedeutika pro studenty angliètiny na FF UK. This preparatory course in didactics should serve as an introduction to the subject for future teachers of English in secondary schools, whom it should equip with a basic level of understanding of the general principles of learning, language acquisition and language learning. The work presents a course syllabus and in its individual chapters it describes the theoretical background for each seminar. The themes introduced in the course are: theories of learning and their application to language teaching, language identity, theory and description of first and second language acquisition, learner variables (age, gender, aptitude, intelligence, motivation, affective filter, learning styles, multiple intelligences, learner beliefs, the role of brain and memory in language acquisition, methods of teaching foreign languages, interlanguage, linguistic errors, levels of proficiency, communication and learning strategies, learner autonomy, the theory of a good language learner and teacher. The thesis includes an appendix containing handouts for each seminar and a student evaluation form for the assessment of the quality of the seminar.

<p> This thesis presents findings from an ethnographic study of adult English Language Learners (ELLs) who are support staff employees in a large metropolitan hospital and are taking integrated English as a Second Language (ESL) classes at their work site. This research is rooted in a theoretical framework that intersects studies on discourse (Fairclough, 1995; Gee, 2008), language socialization (Burdelski &amp; Cook, 2012; Flowerdew, 2013; Vickers, 2007), and agency and identity development (Norton, 1997, 2006, 2010; van Lier, 2008) to discuss the experience of adult ELLs who enter an English-dominant healthcare workplace. The teacher-researcher used ethnographic methods to examine: (a) the support staff employee discourse as determined by language and behaviors; (b) the impact of the workplace ESL classes on socializing employees into this discourse; (c) how support staff employees develop agency and second-language identities in their work environment. Data included field notes from work observations of six support staff employees from three departments&mdash;Housekeeping, Food Service, and Patient Care Services&mdash;all of whom participate in the ESL classes, and audio-recorded interviews with these six employees and three support staff supervisors. Relevant literature in the fields of workplace education and language socialization at work is reviewed and discussed. A description of the hospital&rsquo;s support staff discourse is described in the findings, along with areas of language socialization that are developed by participating in workplace ESL classes and how this leads to increased agency and identity development at work. Data analysis exhibits that learning English through an integrated workplace education program provides employees a community of practice in which to develop the language skills and confidence they need to advocate for themselves and others at work. By qualitatively examining how healthcare support staff can be better incorporated into the workplace and develop professionally, this study has implications for training and education programs for a growing immigrant healthcare worker population. </p>

No description available.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / The study examined ultimate attainment m postpuberty second language acquisition and the Critical Period Hypothesis as an explanation for non-nativeness. A grammaticality judgment task acted as an assessment instrument; a subject was considered to be native-like if the individual's subtest score was greater than or equal to the mean ratings of 90% of the control group members. The native-like subtests were totaled into a nativeness score. The study consisted of 6 research questions and followup interviews with the highest scoring and lowest scoring subjects. As a methodological innovation, the selection of Finnish-born spouses of native English speakers (N=104) as subjects controlled background variables (amount and quality ofL2 exposure, amount ofL2 and Ll use, education and language learning); 80% had studied EFL. 55 subjects had age on arrival of 2:16 years and had lived in USA/Canada for 20-60 years. 88% of the control group (N=40) obtained the nativeness score 6 or 5. The grammaticality judgments of 38% of Finnish-born subjects were indistinguishable from the judgments of the control group and contradicted the Critical Period Hypothesis as an only explanation for native-like ultimate attainment. The findings also indicate that Age on Arrival and Age English as a Foreign Language Began are separate age of exposure measures. The best logistic regression model with 11 binary variables predicted nativelikeness with 76.9% accuracy; the significant predictors were Age English as a Foreign Language Began, US Education, and Length of Exposure, but not Age on Arrival. However, the youngest age on arrival group (12-15 years) outperformed all other subject groupings. Their performance did not decline with aging; the nativeness scores of other subjects declined as Age at Testing increased after the peak performance age. ANOV As for Age English as a Foreign Language Began, Length of Exposure, Total Years of Education, and Age at Testing were significant for the 104 and 55 subject groupings. The n-shaped relationship between the nativeness score and Length of Exposure explains their low correlation. Age at Testing impacted on ultimate attainment by confounding with education and other background variables (prior foreign language study, second language proficiency on arrival, multilingualism, etc.). / 2031-01-01

<p> This dissertation seeks to understand college writing-center work between peer tutors and college students&mdash;called <i>peer tutoring</i>. Specifically, this study explores peer tutoring between deaf peer tutors and deaf tutees as they discuss academic writing. Further, this study investigates how deaf peer tutors and deaf tutees who are bilingual users of American Sign Language (ASL) and English use strategies to support the learning of academic writing during a tutorial session in a writing center. My review of the writing-center literature shows that research on the topic of a deaf peer tutor (DPT) and a deaf tutee (DT) as a pair is limited. While the literature on deaf tutees is expanding, the research studies on deaf peer tutors remain little understood. In fact, the literature on the retention rate of deaf college students remains low and persistent (Marschark &amp; Hauser, 2008). I conducted a qualitative case study to explore the DPT-DT interaction in a writing-center setting with a theoretical framework of (1) sociocultural, (2) ASL/English bilingual, and (3) Deaf Critical (DeafCrit) theories. The analytical framework contains an early form of grounded theory analysis and a four-layer discourse analysis, which highlights the micro and macro views of the DPT-DT interaction. One of the three main findings shows that the study participants relied on visual discourse markers, consisting of signed modality and peripheral communication, which clearly supports deaf-student learning of academic writing in English. Another finding reveals that tutors offered many `explaining incidents' compared to the other five means of assistance: giving feedback, questioning, giving hints, modeling, and instructing. Finally, the third finding relates to the participants' lived experiences of audism during their school years where they experienced limited access to learning English incidentally&mdash;a form of oppression. This research effort has the potential to promote writing support for deaf students and writing-center practices for hearing and deaf tutors who are interested in working with deaf students. Further, this research effort has the potential to improve the retention rate for deaf college students and to increase career opportunities for deaf peer tutors in the writing-center field.</p><p> Keywords: Academic writing, writing center, peer tutoring, deaf college students, discourse markers, sociocultural theories, ASL/English bilingual theory, DeafCrit</p><p>

Lei Chin-Hai, Betty. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1989. / Bibliography: leaves 229-243.

by Yang Xiaolu. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 134-140). / Chapter 1. --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Parameter Model of Acquisition --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- "Positive Evidence, Negative Evidence and the Catapult Hypothesis" --- p.5 / Chapter 1.3 --- The Focus of the Present Study --- p.7 / Chapter 1.4 --- The Organization of the Thesis --- p.9 / Chapter 2. --- Null Arguments: A Theory of Parameters and Language Acquisition --- p.10 / Chapter 2.1 --- A Theory of Parameters: the Null Argument Parameters --- p.10 / Chapter 2.2 --- Predicting and Explaining L1 Acquisition --- p.17 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- A Summary of Research Findings --- p.18 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- The Initial Setting --- p.21 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Identification of Early Null Arguments --- p.22 / Chapter 2.2.4 --- Triggers in the L1 Acquisition of the Target Parameters --- p.25 / Chapter 2.3 --- A Review of L2 Acquisition Studies: Related Issues --- p.31 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- The Null Argument Phenomenon in L2 Acquisition --- p.31 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- The Initial Setting and the Role of L1 --- p.35 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- Identification of the Null Arguments in Interlanguages --- p.36 / Chapter 2.3.4 --- Parameter Resetting and Triggers --- p.37 / Chapter 3. --- The Formulation of The Present Study --- p.40 / Chapter 3.1 --- The Status of Null Arguments in Chinese --- p.40 / Chapter 3.2 --- The Null Argument Parameters in Chinese and English --- p.50 / Chapter 3.3 --- Resetting the Null Argument Parameters and Unlearning Null Arguments --- p.53 / Chapter 3.4 --- Suggesting Triggers in the L2 Acquisition of English --- p.54 / Chapter 3.5 --- "Predictions: Null Arguments, Triggers and ILs" --- p.57 / Chapter 4. --- The Present Study (I): The Experiment´ؤMethodology --- p.59 / Chapter 4.1 --- Subjects --- p.59 / Chapter 4.2 --- The Tasks --- p.61 / Chapter 4.3 --- Coding and Marking --- p.67 / Chapter 5. --- The Present Study (II): The Experiment´ؤResults --- p.70 / Chapter 5.1 --- An Overview of the Written Results --- p.70 / Chapter 5.1.1 --- Comparing Task Performance --- p.70 / Chapter 5.1.1.1 --- Comparing Task 1 and Task2 --- p.70 / Chapter 5.1.1.2 --- Comparing Task 2 and Task3 --- p.72 / Chapter 5.1.2 --- An Overall View of the Written Results --- p.73 / Chapter 5.2 --- Null Elements in the Interlanguages of Chinese Learners of English --- p.75 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- Null Subjects and Null Objects --- p.76 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- Null Expletives --- p.79 / Chapter 5.2.3 --- Null Subjects in Matrix Clauses and Tensed Embedded Clauses --- p.81 / Chapter 5.2.3.1 --- Null Thematic Subjects --- p.82 / Chapter 5.2.3.2 --- Null Expletive Subjects --- p.86 / Chapter 5.3 --- Infl and Null Thematic Subjects --- p.89 / Chapter 5.4 --- Expletives and Null Arguments --- p.92 / Chapter 5.5 --- Results: Oral Task --- p.94 / Chapter 6. --- Discussion --- p.97 / Chapter 6.1 --- The Expletives-as-triggers Hypothesis Reconsidered --- p.97 / Chapter 6.2 --- "There, Weather it and Raising it: Their Status as the Triggering Experience" --- p.101 / Chapter 6.3 --- Triggering the Unlearning of Null Arguments --- p.108 / Chapter 7. --- Conclusion --- p.112 / Appendix --- p.118 / References --- p.134