<p> This instrumental, collective, targeted case study explores decisions elementary preservice teachers make with respect to culturally responsive teaching through the lens of dialogic teaching. Most candidates currently enrolled in elementary teacher education programs in the United States are young, white, and female. Meanwhile, the population of students in U.S. schools grows increasingly diverse, leading to a widening cultural gap between teachers and many of their students. Many preservice teachers opt not to use culturally responsive instructional strategies, particularly those related to communication, also known as dialogic teaching practices, despite research indicating such practices foster improved academic achievement for all students-but especially for students of color who are typically underserved in U.S. schools. Who the preservice teachers are when they enter teacher education programs, their experiences inside and outside of school, plus factors as broad as the context of schooling in the United States to as narrow as the impact of one particular student in a classroom, influence the choices a preservice teacher makes when faced with a lesson to teach, a room full of young children, and a ticking clock. Explicating decisions made by preservice teachers through direct classroom observations, followed by one-on-one interviews, provides a glimpse into factors promoting or inhibiting participants' use of dialogic teaching strategies. This study is part of the larger effort to support student discourse and teacher preparation through the use of one component of culturally responsive instruction as viewed through the lens of dialogic teaching, thus addressing the need to better serve all children in our nation's schools. </p>

This thesis is a study of language use and language socialization practices in Northern Quebec. The focus is on families with children between 9 and 24 months of age, particularly bilingual families, living in predominantly Inuit communities. Interviews with 11 families were examined to determine the major issues concerning language use, beliefs, and relationships. Two bilingual families were then examined in-depth over one year to gain a clearer understanding of their language behaviours and how they related to the cultures present in the homes and communities. Results of the study indicate that there is variation across bilingual families in many aspects related to language. Syncretism and dissociation of language and culture and their effects on the Inuit, educators, and speech-language pathologists are discussed.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-06, Section: A, page: 2243. Adviser: Cara A. Finnegan. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 281-303) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-02, Section: A, page: 0407. Adviser: Andrea B. Hollingshead. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 75-87) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-02, Section: A, page: 0391. Adviser: Norman Denzin. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 237-244) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-11, Section: A, page: 4184. Adviser: Dale Brashers. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 166-194) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-11, Section: A, page: 4182. Adviser: Cameron McCarthy. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 337-360) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-11, Section: A, page: 4183. Adviser: John Caughlin. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 323-345) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-11, Section: A, page: 4036. Adviser: John C. Lammers. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-91) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Research has found that an individual's perceived self-efficacy, supported by goals and the acceptance of potential obstacles, has the ability to assist in behaviour modification. By examining the narratives of cardiovascular patients undergoing smoking cessation counselling, this research highlights factors that individuals communicate in their narratives regarding changes to self-efficacy throughout the process of smoking cessation. As such, the study examines how social cognitive theory explains individuals' abilities to change their addictive behaviours. Narrative analysis is used to establish those factors that cardiovascular patients assert to be motivating or impeding factors in their smoking cessation efforts, particularly in relation to their initial readiness to quit smoking. The findings are significant for the health domain regarding the implementation of new smoking cessation counselling practices, and for the field of communication, underlining the value of narrative analysis and interpersonal communication as tools in producing detailed results based on rich and comprehensive qualitative data.