Browsing by Subject "bilingual"
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Item Digitizing the Hawaii Mainichi - English/Japanese OCR @ University of Hawaii at Mano(2016-05-25) Chantiny, Martha; University of Hawaii at ManoaPoster presentation for the 2016 Texas Conference on Digital Libraries (TCDL) discussing the University of Hawai'i at Manoa Library's digitization of the Hawaii Mainichi and the English/Japanese OCR.Item EXPLORING WHY SOME BILINGUAL STUDENTS HAVE LOW ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE WHILE OTHERS SUCCEED AFTER TRANSITIONING INTO ALL-ENGLISH INSTRUCTIONAL SETTINGS AT AN INNER CITY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL(2012-04-19) Rodriguez, Alexander; Warner, Allen; MacNeil, Angus; Zou, Yali; Ruban, LiliaThe steady influx of English Language Learners (ELLs) into today’s public school system has led to a myriad of issues concerning bilingual students’ academic performance. Investigating academic performance disparities should examine the reasons why some bilingual students, who are academically successful while they are in a bilingual program, do not perform as well after transitioning into all-English instructional settings when the majority of their peers do. Two research questions addressed the following: (1) determining reasons why students perform well academically while enrolled in bilingual programs but experience performance dips after transitioning into an all-English classroom, and (2) how elementary bilingual and/or ESL teachers' practices, attitudes, knowledge and beliefs regarding English Language Learners relate to their students’ later success in all-English settings. Data were collected through a mix-methods approach. Quantitative data were obtained through a 43-item Likert-scale survey instrument previously developed and validated, supplemented with qualitative, structured, open-ended interviews. The research questions were analyzed using statistical analyses of the survey data using SPSS 17.00 software and qualitative data analysis of the focus groups. Data analysis for survey items was conducted using three separate t-tests to examine differences between two groups of teachers. Demographic variables were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Qualitative data was recorded, transcribed and analyzed into common and overarching themes. Qualitative analysis results show that participants believe the main reasons why students have low academic achievement after transition is related to low proficiency in the area of English as a second language; lack of formal English as a second language instruction, especially in the areas of vocabulary and comprehension; inadequate implementation of the bilingual program model, and students’ early exit. Finally, a previously validated survey instrument was used to explore constructs. The results show no statistically significant difference across teachers’ knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs toward ELLs.Item Identifying linguistically diverse students as gifted and talented: a qualitative study of adding a new measure(2009-05-15) Breedlove, LynetteAs the population of linguistically diverse students in schools increases, so should the representation of these students in gifted and talented programs. This is a struggle for many schools districts where the ethnic diversity in the district is not reflected in the students identified as gifted. The objective of this study was to examine teachers? perspectives regarding students identified as gifted and talented through the addition of the Bilingual Verbal Abilities Test (BVAT) to the identification process. The researcher interviewed teachers to determine if they perceived the linguistically diverse students identified using the new measure to be gifted and talented, and what characteristics the teachers believed led to their being identified. In addition, the teachers were asked if they believed students should have been identified as gifted but were not despite the use of the new measure, and what the teachers believed were the barriers preventing identification. The use of the BVAT resulted in the identification of students the teachers perceived to be gifted; however, teachers described a number of students who were missed. Teachers overwhelmingly described the linguistically diverse students they perceived to be gifted as having advanced language skills, particularly in reading. The teachers rely on their experience in the classroom with students to help them determine which students to refer for testing, rather than training they have completed. The greatest barrier to identification that was identified by the teachers was language. They discussed the lack of students? language development (despite their advanced abilities) and the unusually high level of language required on standardized assessments. Finally, teachers suggested using a test preparation approach to improve the identification process, and to test linguistically diverse students for the gifted program repeatedly.Item Improving Teaching and Learning for English Language Learners(2010-07-14) Kandel, Brooke E.While there has been tremendous growth in the numbers of Hispanics and English language learners (ELLs) in our public schools, there has been a lack of educational opportunities offered to these students resulting in low educational achievement and attainment. Additionally, increases in the linguistic and cultural diversity of the student population have not been accompanied by diversification of the corps of teachers and many teachers who serve ELLs are not certified or prepared adequately to meet the linguistic and academic needs of second language learners. This context, in which the potential of our nation's ELLs is not being met by our education system, calls for research focusing on the education of ELLs. The three studies that constitute this dissertation address two critical areas, reading and mathematics, by documenting the cognitive reading strategies that middle school Hispanic ELLs utilize and evaluating professional development activities for teachers of ELLs. The mixed methods studies used student self-report data from the Reading Strategies Questionnaire (RSQ) as well as observational and survey data from a professional development program. Means and standard deviations were reported from the RSQ. Data from the observations of the professional development program were coded to determine the topics that were addressed in the program. Results from the RSQ indicate that Hispanic ELLs, in general, do not consistently adopt a strategic approach to reading in English. Additionally, while professional development is one avenue to improve the instruction that Hispanic ELLs receive, results from the observations indicate that teachers receive professional development of limited quality and that little of the professional development is connected to instruction for ELLs. Findings from this series of studies can be utilized to inform reading instruction for ELLs and to enhance professional development opportunities for teachers of ELLs.Item Item Selection for a Structural Priming Task to be used with Spanish-English Bilingual Children with and without Language Impairment(2010-05) Eagleson, Rebecca; Bedore, Lisa M.; Pena, Elizabeth D.Results from traditional assessment measures used with Spanish-English bilingual children may not be representative of this population’s morphosyntactic abilities due to their dynamic proficiencies. Short-term learning tasks such as structural priming may provide more comprehensive information on bilingual children’s morphosyntactic abilities. The purpose of this thesis was to analyze items from the experimental version of the Bilingual English Spanish Assessment-Middle Extension (BESA-ME) in order to select appropriate item types to be used on a structural priming task. The Experimental BESA-ME was administered to 137 children with typical development and 37 children with language impairment between the ages of 7;0 to 9;11. Results revealed that appropriate items for a structural priming task were third-person singular, past tense, and possessives in English, and conditionals, subjunctives, and direct object clitics in Spanish. Depending on the purpose of the structural priming tasks, additional items also showed potential for use.Item Lau vs. Nichols 40 Years Later - Where Are We Now? A Study of Philosophical, Political, Cultural and Societal Issues Impacting Bilingual Education in the Early 21st Century(2011-02-22) Everling, Kathleen M.Bilingual education in the United States has been at the forefront of educational politics and debates since its inception. Arguments over language of instruction and program goals overshadow the deeper philosophical, political and societal issues rooted at the heart of bilingual education. This purpose of this study was to present a critical view of the issues impacting a small Central Texas school district?s early childhood bilingual program. Over the course of a year, I conducted a focus group interview followed by individual interviews with two preschool and two kindergarten Spanish bilingual teachers. I collected field notes and observational data on site for two years. Based in grounded theory, the data dictated the focus of the study. The open coding process used to analyze the focus group interview data uncovered the foundational themes for this study. The individual interviews were analyzed using open coding, confirming and elaborating on the themes. Field notes and observational data were used to triangulate the data. The themes were: philosophical and theoretical foundations, politics and policies, and social and cultural issues. Through the lens of the data, I examined the impact of No Child Left Behind, Reading First, and the corresponding Texas regulations. The participants found the testing requirements to be distracting from their teaching. They believed the requirements, particularly for assessment, to be inappropriate and of limited use in their classrooms. From a sociocultural perspective, I discovered discrimination and segregation, but the teacher participants never opened a dialogue about these practices with each other or their administrator. The bilingual classes were isolated, given inferior and inappropriate materials. The school's culture was one of assimilation, not diversity. Finally, I examined the underlying issues that impacted this bilingual education program and the implications for further research. There is a need to conduct further research into bilingual teacher education, including alternative certification and continuing education, the hidden curriculum and bilingual education and empowerment of bilingual teachers through dialogue. Bilingual education holds the promise of closing the gaps in education, but further research must include the critical areas of influence including philosophy, politics and sociocultural issues, not just program goals and language acquisition.