Browsing by Subject "English Language"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Discourse Approaches to Writing Assessment
    (Copyright © 2002 Cambridge University Press[BREAK] Original publisher version at: [LINK]http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1394200401&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=13225&RQT=309&VName=PQD[/LINK].[BREAK]Access to the original article may require subscription and authorized logon ID/password. IUPUI faculty/staff/students please check University Library resources before purchasing an article. Questions on finding the original article via our databases? Ask a librarian: [LINK]http://www.ulib.iupui.edu/research/askalibrarian[/LINK]., 2002) Connor, Ulla, 1948-; Mbaye, Aymerou
    At present, mastery of English for educational and professional purposes contributes significantly to expansion of the role of English as a language of world communication. In this context, the teaching--and, consequently, the assessment--of EFL/ESL writing is receiving more attention than ever before. This chapter argues that, although this renewed interest in the evaluation of writing has resulted in advances in the field of language testing, it has by and large failed to incorporate insights gained from recent developments in text analysis. There is a considerable gap between current practices in writing assessment and criteria suggested by advances in knowledge of discourse structure. We illustrate this gap by contrasting current practices in the scoring of two major EFL/ESL writing tests with knowledge of text characteristics generated from recent developments in text analysis. The review concludes by making the case for bridging the gap and by proposing a model of writing assessment that incorporates both linguistic and discoursal features of texts.
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    The (Im)Possibilities of Equitable Education of Multilingual Emergent Bilinguals in Remote Teaching: A Survey of English Language Teachers in the Great Lakes Region
    (2021) Cushing-Leubner, Jenna; Morita-Mullaney, Trish; Greene, Michelle C. S.; Stolpestad, Amy; Benegas, Michelle; School of Education
    The purpose of this study is to identify how teachers of Emergent Bilin guals labeled “English Language Learners” (EL teachers) responded to the sudden shift to emergency remote teaching and learning (ERTL) due to COVID-19 in March 2020. Emergent Bilingual teachers from Indiana, Minnesota, and Wisconsin were surveyed during ERTL and this paper details how these specialized teachers responded to ensure continued instruction for Emergent Bilingual students. We highlight what tasks EL teachers were asked to do by their schools, colleagues, and administra tion, as well as what was needed from students and families. Specifically, we organize their responses in terms of instructional and service-oriented activities. Data offer insights into existing disparities and demands placed on EL teachers (instructional and non-instructional services) which were exacerbated and made more visible by the ERTL condition. Findings suggest that districts are overwhelmingly out of compliance with requirements to provide equitable access to education as mandated by Title VI and the Equal Educational Opportunities Act.
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    Predictors of Second-Language Reading Performance
    (Publisher of original article: Multilingual Matters & Channel View Publications [BREAK][LINK]http://www.multilingual-matters.com/[/LINK][BREAK] Access to the original article may require subscription and authorized logon ID/password. IUPUI faculty/staff/students please check University Library resources before purchasing an article. Questions on finding the original article via our databases? Ask a librarian: [LINK]http://www.ulib.iupui.edu/research/askalibrarian[/LINK]., 1983) Connor, Ulla, 1948-
    This study identified individual, instructional and socio-cultural factors that are reliable predictors of limited-English-proficiency (LEP) children's reading performance in English. The reading comprehension section of the Metropolitan Achievement Test was used to assess the reading skills of 91 LEP students (K-12) with different linguistic backgrounds in the U.S. school system. Information about the independent variables was gathered from a special questionnaire. The data were analysed by means of multiple regression analysis. The results of regression analysis showed that in this sample, grade, Vietnamese language background, percentage of English spoken at home, higher level paternal occupation, and a relatively high number of students in the English-as-a-second-language class had positive effects on the reading skills of the subjects. With these data it was impossible to separate the impact of length of U.S. residence from the length of ESL instruction in U.S. Intensity of ESL instruction showed a statistically significant negative effect on the reading scores. There were several predictors which did not have a significant effect on reading performance: gender, number of siblings and sibling position, hours of television watching, number of public library visits, length parents' stay in the U.S., parents' levels of education and social status, and mother's staying at home. A central theme of this study is that single-variate approaches are inadequate to study the causes of reading performance; rather, several predictors should be employed to measure true relationships between L2 reading performance and independent predictors.