The effects of L1 literacy and education on point-gain in an adult Esl course

This study examined factors affecting learners\u27 progress as measured by positive point gains between pre- and posttest reading proficiency scores for an intermediate/advanced adult ESL course. Background and self-assessment information, gathered through individual student interviews, was analyzed with reference to point gains to determine the influence of individual factors on students\u27 progress. Due to limitations of the study, no correlation was found between education and L1 literacy and student\u27s progress. However, the statistical results indicate slight positive correlations between students\u27 point gains and their length of residence in the U.S. as well as the total number of instructional hours attended. Additionally, further analysis found that teachers who provided interactive classroom environments positively affected students\u27 progress and that students who set goals relating to more immediate needs such as work, education, or participation in the community, had higher point gains than those whose goals were less specific or immediate

The Transformation of Rural Elementary Classroom English Language Teachers During Distance Learning: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to understand the transformation of rural elementary classroom teachers who transitioned to distance learning with English learners (ELs) during the COVID-19 pandemic in the California Central Valley. The theory guiding this study is Mezirow’s transformative learning theory. At the same time the conceptual framework is Technology, Pedagogy, and Content Knowledge (TPACK), as both will ascribe meaning to how EL teachers transformed their perspectives, assumptions, feelings, and judgments while conducting distance learning. The research question guiding this study is: What transformation did teachers experience while providing distance learning instruction to rural elementary English learners during the COVID-19 pandemic? The design is based on Moustakas’ methods for transcendental phenomenology, which involves Epoché, transcendental phenomenological reduction, and Imaginative Variation. Thirteen participants were selected through purposeful snowball sampling. The setting was rural elementary schools in a county located in the California Central Valley. Data was obtained through questionnaires, interviews, and focus groups. Data analyses and organization were conducted through the methods and procedures of phenomenal research. Findings revealed that teachers were transformed while they provided distance learning but reverted to their old ways when they returned to the classroom. Implications include offering a course that contains technology-based instruction for ELs, professional development for emergency lesson plans and online applications geared toward ELs, administrative support for teacher collaboration, and having a growth mindset that helps teachers overcome fears and challenges

Exploring a grade 5 English teacher's strategies for helping her learners develop their reading literacy: a case study

Despite South Africa’s constitutional commitment to multilingualism, literacy in English is important in education and the economy. English is widely perceived as the language of opportunity, and many South African primary schools have chosen English as their language of learning and teaching (LoLT). In terms of South Africa’s 1997 Language in Education Policy, this choice means that such a school has to comply with English Home Language curriculum requirements. In situations where few learners (or teachers) have English as a home language, the choice of English as LoLT poses particular challenges, perhaps most crucially in the early years of literacy development. This investigation explores the work of an intermediate phase teacher working in the Eastern Cape province at a “no-fee” school where English is the chosen LoLT, but where the majority of learners have isiXhosa as their home language. A qualitative interpretive approach was used to focus on the teacher’s strategies for developing her Grade 5 learners’ reading literacy in English. Data were derived via lesson observation and in-depth interviewing. Fourteen of the teacher’s English lessons were observed and she was interviewed twice. Analysis of the data shows that few learners meet the reading literacy levels outlined in National Curriculum Statement guidelines. The teacher, working as she is in what are essentially subtractive bilingualism circumstances, is poorly equipped to cope with the task of developing her learners’ reading literacy. I argue that educational policy, contributing as it does to the ongoing displacement, by English, of many South African children’s home languages, not only undermines the post-apartheid Government’s attempts at linguistic equity, but also contributes significantly to unequal reading literacy achievement across South Africa’s different socio-economic sectors. Department of Basic Education officials, academics and others involved in decision-making around teacher education and development need to work together to interrogate policy and put in place more effective support structures to help teachers better cope with the exigencies outlined above

Academic Language Teaching and Learning in the Third Space Classroom: A Preservice Teachers\u27 Perspective

The increased percentage of immigrant children in the public school system in the United States has challenged schools to provide adequate academic language instruction to reach the same levels as their monolingual peers. Teachers must demonstrate the ability to support the development of academic language in accordance to both the standards\u27 requirements and the linguistic needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students. It is very important to shed light on teacher preparation programs and how they support their candidates to develop a pedagogy that can best respond to students\u27 needs. This study explore the beliefs and practices of preservice teachers as they plan and implement curriculum for academic language development. This study took place at an elementary school in the San Francisco Bay. The participants were five student-teachers in their final semester of practicum at this school and in the Multiple Subject credential program at a university in the same area. The supervisor and researcher collected the results of the academic language survey, questionnaires and lesson plans. She transcribed observations of the participants\u27 teaching practices, debriefing sessions and the conversations with the participants. Four themes emerged from the data: interaction as a tool to deepen learning, bridging students\u27 home and school experiences, teacher facilitation, multimodality: using multiple modes to make meaning; additional factors influencing teaching. The participants demonstrated an ability to navigate the third space classroom by implementing their beliefs about teaching and learning academic language and by adapting to their students\u27 learning needs, and planning according to the expectations of the institution. This study ended with several recommendations for credentialing programs to best support their candidates in teaching academic language in the diverse classroom. The study brought to light the importance of a strong field experience in a third space bilingual, bicultural, and economically disadvantaged school context. Such a context has revealed to be a strong prediction of preservice teachers\u27 success in negotiating their identity of academic language teachers

Investigating the interplay between Grade 9 learners’ home visual literacy and their development of school visual literacy in English First Additional language classrooms

Visual literacy is one of the critical aspects that English First Additional Language teachers and learners battle with. The focus of this investigation was on developing learners’ performance in visual literacy and helping teachers improve teaching practice. This thesis reports on efforts in developing critical visual literacy in two Grade 9 classrooms; a rural and a township school in the King William’s Town District in the Eastern Cape. The research spread over four week, spending two weeks at each school as an ethnographic researcher, being assimilated to the culture of the each school. In understanding the kind of visual knowledge that these learners brought from home between the rural-urban divide, the learners displayed an interest in visual literacy, used the necessary language and appeared to design certain visual materials around the school. Data was collected in the form of questionnaires that learners filled, informal Facebook conversation screenshots, as well as the researcher’s field notes. Learner focus group discussions were conducted, tape recorded and transcribed. Two lessons each were observed with the two teachers, and these were recorded and transcribed. A camera was used to take shots in the classroom to show the interaction between the teachers and the learners. Also, semi-structured interviews were held with each teacher and these were recorded and transcribed. The data revealed that there were no major differences between rural and urban school learners. However, the research has provided a valuable insight into the mismatch between home visual literacy practices and school visual literacy teaching. The learners’ digital visual literacy practices were far ahead than those of the teachers who are not able to capitalise on these visual skills; the cultural capital that learners bring to school. Learners also displayed a low reading culture but the medium for reading has shifted considerably and learners developed communication skills through digital technology. Teacher agency in the classroom revealed that teachers need to first engage with the cognitive functions of the visual images that they teach by the prevalence of low level questions that they ask. Moreover, there is a place for translanguaging in visual literacy lessons. These indicate important areas for teacher development to promote the emergence of transformative agency

The scholarship of teaching and learning : exploring one person's interaction with the wider TEYL community of practice

This Integrative Chapter outlines how one person's practice reflects the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) principles. It opens with a brief discussion of this career and how the purpose of it of late has been to address the needs of those involved in the TEYL community of practice. The Integrative Chapter then briefly discusses Boyer's work on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and, within this discussion, highlights his four functions of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, which are: The Scholarship of Discovery The Scholarship of Integration The Scholarship of Application The Scholarship of Teaching (Boyer, 1990) These four functions of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning create the background against which are presented aspects of this practice and publications to illustrate how they fit within each of these functions. Additionally, within each function, there are descriptions of the publications submitted, and, where relevant, the overlapping and linked work on the Masters in Teaching English to Young Learners. Discussion further illustrates how this practice particularly focuses on addressing the needs of those in the TEYL community of practice, including young learners, teachers, teacher trainers, teaching associations and publishers. Within the Integrative Chapter is shown the way in which, within the spirit of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, this career has tried to address gaps in the provision of continuing professional development courses for those involved in Teaching English to Young Learners (TEYL) and for other professional needs within the field of TEYL and the wider TEYL community of practice

A communication plan to make historical societies more visible and more accessible to the general public

This thesis presents a communication plan to make historical societies more visible and more accessible to the public. A two-way communication system creates a bond between historical societies, community members, and school districts. This plan gives methods and materials to connect historical societies with the public. It also addresses attracting new members or volunteers and increasing financial resources. The communication plan consists of four objectives that reach the goal of raising the profiles of historical societies. These objectives and their strategies provide methods and materials to make them more visible in the communities, to connect them to the local school districts, and to provide ideas for raising funds. Instructions and suggestions for planning events and activities can be found in this research paper. Historical societies hold the legacy of generations and link the past to the present. What they offer should not be overlooked or taken for granted; their possibilities for entertainment and education are endless. Putting historical societies into the mainstream of the community should become a top priority. This thesis develops a structured communication plan committed to that goal