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845 results

Doctoral Dissertation

Language Learning and Technology in and for a Global World

Available from: University of California eScholarship

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Abstract/Notes: More than ever before, schools and societies are looking to educate children in and for a global world. In the United States, these efforts have taken the form of increased interest in incorporating global or international perspectives into educational curricula, programs, and policy over the past decade (Hayden, 2011; Parker, 2011; U.S. Department of Education, 2012). Despite this interest in what I call global education, ambiguity remains regarding what it means to provide an education for a globalized world, both in terms of its underlying motivations and its ultimate execution in practice (Ortloff, Shah, Lou, & Hamilton, 2012).Two components often placed at the heart of these efforts in the United States—second/foreign language and digital technology—both reflect and contribute to understandings of global education. This study, rooted in an ecological theorization of discourse, asked how different school actors (teachers, administrators, parents, and students) position these two components in education today, how these positionings differ across groups, and what this means for understandings of global education. These questions were investigated through two complementary approaches: a survey distributed to a large cross-section of schools around the United States and an in-depth focal case study of one school. The survey was distributed to teachers, students, parents, and administrators at a broad range of U.S. secondary schools and assessed perceptions of second/foreign language and digital technology in education today. The focal case study focused on two secondary classrooms at a multilingual immersion K-8 school in the western US over a four-month period; data collection included field notes, analytic memos, and audio/video recordings from participant observations as well as multiple rounds of interviews with five students, four teachers, two administrators, and three parents. Data were analyzed using iterative rounds of inductive and deductive coding (Miles & Huberman, 1994; Saldaña, 2009) and critical discourse analysis (Blommaert, 2005; Fairclough, 2001).Findings suggest that second/foreign language and digital technology were positioned in a range of different ways that had concrete ramifications for schools and that built up divergent understandings of global education. The survey component of the study highlighted common discourses reproduced across groups, including: second/foreign language learning as a way to promote cultural understanding and awareness as well as economic opportunity; or digital technology as a threat to learning and as an omnipresent necessity. The focal school offered a more detailed look into these different discourses and their reproduction across groups. Analysis revealed trended similarities and differences across groups. For example, even though parents, teachers, and administrators often articulated a similar understanding of second/foreign language and digital technology, parental actions suggested more alignment with economic-based understandings of these two components. These differences in how second/foreign language and digital technology should be positioned within a global education created a “battle” between parents and the focal school as well as tension within the learning environment. The impact of these discourses and battles on students was unclear: while students at times voiced the discourses that their parents, teachers, and administrators reproduced, data also suggests that students were influenced by outside sources. These findings suggest that resulting understandings of global education were multiple and divergent across school groups. Data analysis also revealed the potential that anxiety, concern, or even fear of globalization and its effects could undergird adult understandings of second/foreign language and of digital technology: beneath economic as well as cultural motivations for second/foreign language and for digital technology learning resided trepidation about a changing world, changing identities, and the unknowns that lay ahead. This suggests that, underneath multiple and complex discourses, there can be a singular discourse that manifests in different ways, nuancing understandings of ecological approaches to discourse. It also suggests that different understandings of global education could stem from the same place: fear or anxiety in the face of a globalizing world. These findings highlight the need for a global education that equips students to navigate a changing world, its challenges, and any potential fears that may arise from these changes and challenges. The study concludes with a pedagogical framework built around discourse analysis that could offer students tools to understand their globalizing world.

Language: English

Published: Berkeley, California, 2017

Master's Thesis (Action Research Report)

Language Acquisition: Effectiveness of Collaboration on Teacher Practices and Beliefs

Available from: St. Catherine University

Action research

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Abstract/Notes: The effectiveness and challenges of teacher collaboration as a tool to drive teaching outcomes has been observed in various educational settings. This research project was designed to answer the question, “Would collaboratively creating a Useful Words Handbook for teachers increase the number of language teaching opportunities that could occur during the day?” This action research project, conducted in a Montessori preschool setting, focused on two classroom teachers who educate children between the ages of two and three. Three intervals were identified for data collection. Four weeks of collaboration on the Useful Words Handbook began after two weeks of baseline data collection, during which the frequency of language teaching opportunities were recorded. A weekly topic was presented to the teachers, who provided feedback the following week, in addition to ideas for improving the topic for the handbook. Collaboration involved creating an introduction and four topics about teaching useful phrases to early language learners. The data showed a positive correlation between collaboration and an increase in the number of teaching language opportunities that occur during the day. The data also show that while it is possible to make short-term changes in the classroom through collaboration, changing teacher beliefs about teaching language and collaboration remain a challenge that is characteristic of the teacher collaboration process. Investigating strategies to increase awareness about teaching language should continue.

Language: English

Published: St. Paul, Minnesota, 2013

Article

Language and Montessori: A Landscape

Publication: Communications: Journal of the Association Montessori Internationale (2009-2012), vol. 2012, no. 1-2

Pages: 76–81

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Abstract/Notes: In conclusion, Hope Leyson brings together many of the aspects that were described and highlighted in the articles selected for this particular issue of our Journal. Language, pertinent theories, and new discoveries into how the language areas in the brain function will continue to evolve. Language development provides an ine xhaustible and joy ful source of observation and learning. And in our Montessori environments language is vibrant, innovative and it encourages creativity. Ms Leyson revels in the miracle of all that human language is, signifies and brings to our world. She of fers the reader a very well-researched overview of a host of aspects connected with the phenomenon and study of human language.

Language: English

ISSN: 1877-539X

Article

Charts: Language Chart, Prepared Paths to Culture

Publication: Communications (Association Montessori Internationale, 195?-2008), vol. 1973, no. 4

Pages: 10–12

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Language: English

ISSN: 0519-0959

Article

Question and Answer: The Approach to Enrichment of Language for the Elementary Years

Publication: Communications: Journal of the Association Montessori Internationale (2009-2012), vol. 2009, no. 1

Pages: 54–55

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Language: English

ISSN: 1877-539X

Article

Man's Spiritual Expressions: Language and Music

Publication: Communications (Association Montessori Internationale, 195?-2008), vol. 1986, no. 1

Pages: 2–5

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Language: English

ISSN: 0519-0959

Article

Dr. Montessori's Approach to Language in the Second Phase of the Child's Development

Publication: Communications (Association Montessori Internationale, 195?-2008), vol. 1969, no. 4

Pages: 16–22

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Language: English

ISSN: 0519-0959

Article

Lecture on Language by Dr. Montessori, Karachi, 1946

Publication: Communications (Association Montessori Internationale, 195?-2008), vol. 2000, no. 4

Pages: 15–19

Asia, India, Language acquisition, Maria Montessori - Speeches, addresses, etc., Maria Montessori - Writings, Pakistan, South Asia, Trainings

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Abstract/Notes: 11th lecture of the 7th Montessori course on the Indian subcontinent, April 16, 1946

Language: English

ISSN: 0519-0959

Article

Experiences of a Montessori Teacher: The Function and Use of Punctuation in Written Language

Publication: Communications (Association Montessori Internationale, 195?-2008), vol. 1965, no. 4

Pages: 23–25

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Language: English

ISSN: 0519-0959

Article

The Formation of Mind: Language, Learning and Logic in Early Childhood

Publication: Communications (Association Montessori Internationale, 195?-2008), vol. 2003, no. 4

Pages: 25–32

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Language: English

ISSN: 0519-0959

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