ESL preschoolers' English vocabulary acquisition and story comprehension from storybook reading

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston UniversityThis experimental study examined the effects vocabulary acquisition strategies and story discussion styles on the English vocabulary acquisition and story comprehension of ESL preschoolers. Eighty preschool-aged, typically-developing, native speakers of Portugese who are also second language learners of English were pretested in L1 (Portugese) receptive vocabulary and L2 (English) receptive and expressive vocabulary to determine a baseline of vocabulary knowledge in each language. Matched according to age, gender, and pretest L2 receptive vocabulary scores, subjects were assigned to experimental or control groups. Subjects in the experimental group heard eight stories read three times with rich explanations of target vocabulary words and with several discussion questions within either a didactic-labeling style of discussion (i.e., explicit questions requiring children to recall basic facts or to recite text) or a performance-oriented style of discussion (i.e., implicit questions requiring children to analyze and integrate information within the text). Subjects in the control group heard eight stories read three times without explanation of target vocabulary words and without discussion questions. Parents of all participants returned questionnaires about children's home reading experience. Results for target vocabulary acquisition showed a strong and significant effect of treatment (i.e., rich explanation of new vocabulary) on ESL preschoolers' target vocabulary acquisition. Regression analyses showed that treatment, initial L2 receptive skill, home reading practices, and story comprehension accounted for 69% of the variance in target vocabulary scores. Initial Ll skill did not have a significant effect on target vocabulary acquisition. Results for story comprehension showed a weak but significant effect of the performance-oriented discussion style on children's story comprehension. Regression analyses showed that L2 receptive skill, treatment (i.e., performance-oriented style of discussion), L2 expressive skill, target vocabulary acquisition, and home reading practices accounted for 60% of the variance in story comprehension scores. Initial Ll skill did not have a significant effect on story comprehension. In conclusion, L2 skills are paramount to children's vocabulary acquisition and story comprehension. Moreover, the supportiveness of adult input (i.e., rich explanations and cognitively challenging discussion questions) and home reading practices make important contributions to ESL preschoolers' English vocabulary acquisition and story comprehension

Character Recognition

Character recognition is one of the pattern recognition technologies that are most widely used in practical applications. This book presents recent advances that are relevant to character recognition, from technical topics such as image processing, feature extraction or classification, to new applications including human-computer interfaces. The goal of this book is to provide a reference source for academic research and for professionals working in the character recognition field

Examining the Effectiveness of Family Involvement on English Learners’ Academic and Socioemotional Outcomes: A Systematic Literature Review, Hierarchical Linear Models, and a Structural Equation Model

This dissertation focuses on examining the association between family involvement, school support, and English learners’ (ELs) socioemotional and academic outcomes at the early childhood stage. Through the systematic literature review and two empirical studies, this dissertation provides unique evidence in understanding how family involvement associates with children’s academic and socioemotional well-being during early childhood among the ELs. In first study, I used a systematic review to examine how spontaneous and interventional family involvement in children’s education can influence EL children’s socioemotional, behavioral and academic outcomes. The results from the 23 included studies suggest that, with parent-directed or educators-guided practices, children’s performance in the corresponding academic area and competencies improved or was significantly better than children without parental interventions. However, the effects on socioemotional or behavioral competencies are inconclusive. In the second and third studies, I utilized Early Childhood Longitudinal Study: Kindergarten-2011 (ECLS-K: 20111) data among kindergarteners for statistical analysis. In the second study, I utilized 15 hierarchical linear models to analyze the different levels of family involvement among English learners (ELs) and non-EL families. In addition, these models serve to reveal the association between family involvement, school outreach and children’s self-control and interpersonal skills, and if ELs and non-ELs show differentiated performance in these two skills. Overall, ELs and non-ELs did not show a statistical difference in self-control, and non-ELs had better personal interaction skills. EL families had higher educational expectation on children, and non-EL families involved more in home and school activities. Furthermore, family involvement in school had negative effects on both self-control and personal interaction, and school support to families had positive associations on both socioemotional outcomes. In the third study, I used a structural equation model among 1,569 EL kindergarteners. Through this model, I examined the effects of family involvement at home, parents/caregivers’ expectations, and school support on academic and socioemotional performance. The results showed that family involvement in home did not have significant effects on socioemotional or academic outcomes. On the other hand, parents/caregivers’ expectations had significant positive association with both outcome constructs, and school support to EL families only showed positive effects on socioemotional performance