Matching Items (8)
Description
The Bilingual Education/English as a Second Language (BLE/ESL) program provides future educators with the foundation to teach in culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms. We collected data on the preparedness, belief of language, and personal/educational experiences of selected Spring 2015 BLE/ESL graduates. We explored and analyzed the effectiveness of the teacher preparation program and possible areas of improvement. The implications of this research will support future BLE/ESL students by offering suggestions on individual actions, instructional practices, and programmatic changes.
ContributorsFranco, Monique (Co-author) / Sanchez-Hernandez, Nayely (Co-author) / Jimenez-Silva, Margarita (Thesis director) / De La Cruz, Yolanda (Committee member) / Messner, Kyle (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Division of Teacher Preparation (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Dual language education has been proven to help students of diverse backgrounds to succeed (Thomas & Collier, 2012). This paper describes the process of creating an up-to-date, comprehensive online directory of pre-K-12th grade dual language programs in Maricopa County's public schools as a creative project. In doing so, it makes a case for dual language immersion programs in Arizona and documents findings and insights generated in the process of completing this project.
ContributorsReyes, Erica Cecilia (Author) / Jiménez-Silva, Margarita (Thesis director) / RamÃÂrez, Pablo C. (Committee member) / Reyes, Nora Amavisca (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Children’s language proficiency, teacher’s language ideologies, and language practices such as code-switching have been previously investigated, but almost no research has explored young children’s understandings about language(s) nor their impact on social relationships. Researchers have not investigated children’s reflection of their own language use and identity. I conducted an ethnography regarding language practices, knowledge, and identity construction, supplemented by semi-structured interviews with students and teachers in a Montessori preschool classroom. I decided to focus upon a few specific students in the class because of their varying linguistic backgrounds. Linguistic identity formation occurs mainly through self-assessment and language practices and processes (such as authentication vs. denaturalization, adequation vs. distinction, and authorization vs. illegitimation) (Bucholtz & Hall, 2005). Understanding and knowledge about language(s) displayed by students allowed for nuanced identity construction through conversation with teachers and peers. The language ideologies and practices by teachers in this classroom contrast that of the broader social and cultural systems in place, and also support children’s language knowledge and social development.
ContributorsHait, Ryleigh (Author) / O'Connor, Brendan (Thesis director) / Berstein, Katie (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
This thesis examines heritage language learning and loss, and revitalization. It stems from my initial interests in Indigenous language revitalization and sustainment, bilingual education, and specifically dual language education in the United States. In this thesis, I describe my inquiry journey through narratives of the significant experiences and people I met and the scholarship I engaged in, particularly through visiting Keres Children’s Learning Center at Cochiti Pueblo, New Mexico, and attending the La Cosecha Dual Language Education conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In these narratives, I also reflect on what I have learned, how I was personally impacted by what I was learning and my thoughts and ideas about particular issues. These narratives helped me gain a deeper understanding of and expand my knowledge of heritage learning, bilingual education, dual language education and critical issues of language development and promotion (or non-promotion) in our country’s schools and families. Equally important is the knowledge I gained about dual language pedagogy and its critical importance to language revitalization programs serving Indigenous children, and their families and communities. I begin my thesis with a review of literature followed by a description of my methods and then move on to my narratives of significant learning moments, chronologically, and then summarize my key findings. I end with, ironically yet crucially with the most important lesson I learned through my inquiry journey—an understanding of my linguistic self.
This thesis examines the questions of
1. To become a Dual Language Education expert, researcher, or scholar, what does it take?
2. In what ways can a non-Native help Indigenous communities engaged in indigenous language revitalization and sustainment (ILRS)? What would they need to learn or know?
Some significant findings of my thesis work include
1. The strength, versatility, and challenges of the dual language education model in a national context
2. Culturally-sustaining pedagogy and strategies for adapting lessons to local culture
3. The centrality of tribal sovereignty and tribal control over the Indigenous language in order to grow and maintain an IRLS effort
4. Ways in which a non-Native can help an ILRS initiative
5. Respect for native communities’ right to say no to research
This thesis examines the questions of
1. To become a Dual Language Education expert, researcher, or scholar, what does it take?
2. In what ways can a non-Native help Indigenous communities engaged in indigenous language revitalization and sustainment (ILRS)? What would they need to learn or know?
Some significant findings of my thesis work include
1. The strength, versatility, and challenges of the dual language education model in a national context
2. Culturally-sustaining pedagogy and strategies for adapting lessons to local culture
3. The centrality of tribal sovereignty and tribal control over the Indigenous language in order to grow and maintain an IRLS effort
4. Ways in which a non-Native can help an ILRS initiative
5. Respect for native communities’ right to say no to research
ContributorsWelsh, Jacqueline Rose (Author) / Romero-Little, Eunice (Thesis director) / Tidwell, Jacqueline Hettel (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
This dissertation study investigated how Somali refugee families living in Nairobi, Kenya experience and negotiate their religious and secular identities through literacies. This study provided detailed experiences and reflections of individuals––children and parents about their literacies. The children in this study learned to read in English and Kiswahili in school, and they learned to read in classical Arabic—three languages they do not speak at home. The study explored Qur’anic schools which literacy researchers have long overlooked, yet these are spaces that shape many children’s rich multilingual, multiliterate, and multiscriptual repertoires while, at the same time, shaping and negotiating their fluid identities. Three themes, literacy as social practice, liturgical literacy, and funds of knowledge offered a complimentary lens through which this community was studied. Literacy, as a social practice, demonstrates how certain social groups use specific socially constructed literacies within specific contexts to achieve various goals. The concept of liturgical literacy foregrounds how minority languages, such as Classical Arabic, have great symbolic value for communities, including those who neither speak nor understand the language, while funds of knowledge conceptualize the knowledge and related activities present in homes that have the potential for contributing positively to children’s learning. Using the ethnographic methodology, this inquiry spanned six sites and focused on participants during their interactions with literacy, orality, and text for eight months. The study occurred in three homes, two Dugsis, and one school site. A rich description of the community was achieved by presenting language and literacy practices in a multi-sited ethnography. This dissertation ultimately also offers contemporary relevance: investigating a community whose literacies are invisible, minoritized, and marginalized, and aimed to inform educational researchers, policymakers, and teachers who are devoted to rethinking what counts as literacy, for whom, in what contexts, and with what kinds of consequences. In a time of increased movement of people across borders, this research has important implications for teacher preparation, theories of language learning, and literacy education.
ContributorsMohamed, Saida Hussein (Author) / Bernstein, Katie (Thesis advisor) / Warriner, Doris (Thesis advisor) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
This research project delves into the effects of Arizona's 'English-Only' law on education and the socioeconomic landscape, with a specific focus on linguistic minorities. By examining language acquisition, cultural identity, and access to public services and opportunities, this investigation sheds light on the unique challenges faced by emergent bilingual students. This study holds particular significance given Arizona's status as one of the few states maintaining such legislation, prompting critical reflections on its impact on linguistic minorities. By examining the constitutionality and legislative intent of ‘English Only” laws, the research seeks to unravel the motivations underlying their implementation. Furthermore, it evaluates the societal repercussions of the law, exploring its influence on the experiences and opportunities of linguistic minorities within Arizona. In the educational domain, the study assesses the law's effects on language acquisition and educational access for linguistic minorities, offering comparative insights with other states' approaches. Ultimately, this research aims to comprehensively analyze the current landscape and provide recommendations for future language-related legislation in Arizona.
Given Arizona's distinct position as one of the few states upholding such legislation, this investigation raises critical questions about its implications for linguistic minorities within its borders. The research offers insights into the 'English-Only' law's background, including its constitutional examination and legislative motivations. Additionally, it evaluates the law's societal impact, considering its influence on the experiences and opportunities of linguistic minorities in Arizona. The study investigates the law's consequences on language acquisition and educational access within the academic sphere, drawing comparisons with alternative approaches in other states. Ultimately, this research seeks to provide policymakers and stakeholders with informed recommendations for navigating future language-related legislation in Arizona.
ContributorsLopez, Araceli (Author) / Vargas, Daniel (Thesis director) / Patino, Jose (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
Currently, there are few quality tools available to screen for developmental language disorder (DLD) in Spanish-speaking children despite the continued increase of this population in the United States. The lack of valid and reliable screening tools may be a factor leading to difficulties with the identification of and delivery of services to these children. This study plans to improve upon the screening of Spanish-English bilingual children.The Spanish Screener for Language Impairment in Children (SSLIC) tests Spanish oral language skills in Spanish-speaking children. It measures language skills through morphology elicitation of Spanish clitics, prepositions, derivational morphemes, subjunctive verb tenses, and articles and repetition of nonwords and sentences, which have all been shown to be affected in Spanish-speaking children with DLD.
The purpose of the study is to provide preliminary validity evidence of the SSLIC. Children's results on the SSLIC were compared to other validated measures. Fourteen Spanish-English bilingual students were recruited: 11 children with typical language development (TD) and 3 with DLD. The Bilingual English-Spanish Assessment and the Dynamic Measure of Oral Narrative Discourse were used to establish preliminary validity evidence. Pearson correlations were run to determine if SSLIC scores correlated with other validated measures. Significant correlations were found between the SSLIC’s scores and scores on the BESA. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine mean differences between groups. No significant mean differences for SSLIC scores were found between children with typical and atypical language. Yet, effect sizes suggested group differences. Point to point analysis revealed that the SSLIC has excellent inter-rater reliability.
Despite a small sample size, this study serves as preliminary evidence that the SSLIC is both valid and reliable and supports that the SSLIC has the potential to be used as a screening tool for DLD for Spanish-speaking kindergarten and 1st grade students with further validation, which should continue.
ContributorsSmith, Brandon Earl (Author) / Restrepo, María A (Thesis advisor) / Gray, Shelley (Committee member) / Brown, Jean C (Committee member) / Moen, Theresa C (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
In this critical ethnographic dissertation, I explore the expropriation of bilingual education and the cultural (re)production of eliteness through prestige trilingual education by immersing myself for ten months in a small, suburban, charter elementary school called Desert Language Academy (DLA) in the U.S. state of Arizona. Desert Language Academy uses a trilingual immersion model with Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, and English as languages of instruction for all students in Kindergarten through sixth grade, and primarily caters to White and English-privileged families who live in the local suburb of Heavenly Hills. Desert Language Academy’s suburban location, private school history, and one-way world language orientation are unique factors that shape the school’s implementation, and are seen as products of Arizona’s legacy of restrictive, English-Only educational language policy and the state’s minimally-regulated “Wild West” school choice environment. A kaleidoscopic theoretical framework integrates social-cultural (re)production theory, neoliberal and neoconservative education policies and policymaking in Arizona, and raciolinguistic ideology in order to critically explore the experiences of students, teachers, and school administrators amid the school’s implementation and growth.The findings interrogate social, cultural, and linguistic processes, as well as political pressures, which have shaped the school’s evolution from private to public charter status, as well as its present implementation of a one-way world language model that prioritizes additional language learning and idealizes global citizenship for White, English-privileged, and affluent students. I specifically attend to the resistive language policymaking of racially, linguistically, and socioeconomically minoritized students and teachers who creatively used language and appropriated language policy in order to contest the construction of DLA as an elite school that excludes and Otherizes racialized peoples while White and English-privileged students are distinguished as elite, cosmopolitan, global citizens. This study critiques the role of multiscalar education and language policies in (re)producing the expropriation of bilingual education and its social, cultural, linguistic, and educational impacts on multilingual students, teachers, and administrators. In sharing these stories, I also intend to illuminate the discursive processes through which racially, linguistically, and socioeconomically minoritized students and teachers hope and demand for inclusive curriculum, instruction, and language policies.
ContributorsBuckband, Cory (Author) / Cervantes-Soon, Claudia G (Thesis advisor) / Kaveh, Yalda M (Committee member) / O'Connor, Brendan H (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2024