Essays on Instruction

I. Introduction
Systematic phonics instruction is a subset of educational practice that offers children a variety of tools to help ease their ability to read. Most systematic phonics instruction programs are designed to create letter-sound relationships for children, both independently and in letter combinations (Dahl, Scharer, Larson et al.). These programs are designed to help children learn how to read with greater ease, although they can be used for learners of any age. Indeed, Adams notes that phonics instruction is used heavily when teaching English as a second language, especially to adult learners who must learn how to read ...

Design principles

The ARM stands for Advanced RISC Machine which is the architecture that is used to build processors. One of the ARM architectures is ARMv6. The development of this architecture was due to the need to enhance the various constraints that have been of great concern for the development of the ARM architecture. The main issue of concern of the Next generation architectures has been the need to meet the needs of the market which keep on evolving. The different parameters like speed, performance, power, and cost should be the determining factors in the design and development of architectures. ARM ...

Introduction

Cross-cultural decision making skills have been recognized to be increasingly vital to military and defense operations (Johnson & Friedland, 2009). The day-to-day operations of international military forces, in their interaction with different cultures as they work overseas, require intercultural competence to make decisions that are both appropriate and culturally sensitive (Johnson & Friedland, 2009). Cross cultural competency (3C) is accomplished through three unique steps: Cultural self-awareness, suspension of judgments and biases, and the development of skills that fit within domains of a new culture (Selmeski, 2009). Already, educational measures are being implemented by military colleges to promote 3C in military ...

Cross-cultural decision making skills have been recognized to be increasingly vital to military and defense operations (Johnson &Friedland, 2009). The day-to-day operations of international military forces, in their interaction with different cultures as they work overseas, require intercultural competence to make decisions that are both appropriate and culturally sensitive (Johnson & Friedland, 2009). Cross cultural competency (3C) is accomplished through three unique steps: Cultural self-awareness, suspension of judgments and biases, and the development of skills that fit within domains of a new culture (Selmeski, 2009). Already, educational measures are being implemented by military colleges to promote 3C in military personnel for the sake of global operations (Selmeski, 2009; Abbe, Gulick & Herman, 2007). Knowledge of a foreign language is already considered a critical means of accomplishing the third step of developing skills fitting within the domains of a new culture (Abbe, Gulick & Herman, 2007).

The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC) is considered the principle institution for foreign language instruction in the Department of Defense (DOD). DLIFLC is the Defense Department’s primary foreign language center of excellence since 1947 (Valceanu, John 2001). It offers resident courses at the Presidio of Monterey in 23 languages that accommodate approximately 3,500 Soldiers, five days a week, seven hours per day. Courses last between 24 and 61weeks, depending on the difficulty of the language.

Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is taught within three Middle East schools and considered by DOD as one of the eight critical languages for US national security. There are 98% of the Instructors who are native speakers. Aside from classroom instruction, the faculty also writes course materials in the Curriculum Development Division, designs the Defense Language Proficiency Test (DLPT), and conducts Oral proficiency Test (OPI) at the end of each course (Defense Language Institute 2011). Students must pass a series of examinations that test their listening, speaking, reading and writing proficiency in the languages they are pursuing (Valceanu, John 2001).

To further advance student knowledge and fluency in a particular language, DLIFLC has designed an iso-immersion program at an off- site facility. Students spend from one to three days in an isolated environment, with their instructors, and are not allowed to speak English. This forces them to restructure their thinking and operate completely independently of their native language, creating a more realistic scenario for speaking in Arabic in a defense language context. The program consists of real-world exercises, from bargaining for food and clothing at a market place, to going through customs, or making hotel reservations. DLIFLC also sends a number of students on 30-day in-country immersions to Egypt and Jordan for further authentic, Arabic language training.

DLIFLC also sponsors Language Training Detachments (LTD) at multiple sites throughout the continental United States, where DLIFLC instructors teach language sustainment and enhancement courses; these are short-term courses with an accelerated schedule based on specific military requirements. However, when it comes to the 16 month basic course, one of the challenges is to maintain the students’ focus. They are young with many other interests and activities in which they would rather be doing than studying Arabic (Valceanu, John 2001).

Statement of the Problem

The problem is the scarcity of research on effective yet rapid new instructional strategies for learning Arabic language as a second language for American students. There are more studies investigating the complicated structure of the Arabic language while exploring the challenges of teaching Arabic (Strout, Erin 2006), and the aspects that might influence the learning environment in the classrooms; however there are few studies on how to prevail over those complications.
Researching an efficient Arabic language instructional and assessment methodology for American students, especially military personnel, will result in a qualified soldier linguist in less time than the current Defense Language Institute (DLI) 61 week course. The goal of discovering this method is a continuous effort for professional instructors at DLI and in the field of learning Arabic language in general. This sounds like a purpose or significance.

In general, few studies have introduced new applications of instructional methodology for delivering the Arabic language to American students. Taha-Thomure (2008) stated there remains an unprecedented interest in and awareness regarding the importance of developing and adopting new methodologies in the teaching of Arabic.
In order to fulfill part of the 3C competency principle, it is required that military personnel learn the appropriate skills to interact with natives of a foreign culture in military operations abroad.

Shiley’s (2007) in his study found the followings:

The U. S. military services rely on highly trained linguists to fill critical shortages in the foreign language intelligence fields to ensure sustainment of our Nation’s defense and security capabilities. Given the global issue of terrorism today, it is especially important that we increase our ability to produce military linguists who are highly skilled in listening, speaking, and reading second languages-especially Basic Modern Standard Arabic. (P. 18).
In addition, her study explored and investigated the relationship between personality, when operationalized at the facet level of measurement, and second language learning.
Recent studies, such as Seraj (2010) have investigated varying teaching models to adjust and improve teachers' attitudes towards language instruction in a military setting, and correlations have been measured between teachers' preferences and some demographic variables.

American students historically found to have difficulty with the inanimate plural forms as well as pronominal suffixes and plural constructions (El-Nekishbendy, 1990). On the other hand, Arslanyilmaz( 2007) found that learning tasks in language acquisition promote task completion activities by engaging in authentic, pragmatic, contextual, and functional use of language.

New programs should be implemented to addressed the gaps in the language acquisition research literature that relate to understanding whether, and to what extent, Intensive short-term foreign language immersion programs stimulate the language learning process. Also, to what extent language immersion students begin to recognize growth in their second language development (Savage, 2010). Most important is to discover in what ways students begin to recognize those moments of clarity in their language learning and cultural understanding.

Cloud et al. (2000) argued that the use of only one language textbook or series is insufficient. They recommended that immersion and content-based teachers should consider a textbook as only one of many resources, supplementing it appropriately, in order to provide language instruction that meets the needs of second language learners in content-based classrooms. Thus, According to Lyster (2007), the works required of teachers increases exceptionally as they expand their use of resources. Furthermore, Teachers are required to develop alternative resources and creative ways of counterbalancing language and content throughout the curriculum which is a solution that is proving more and more effective, however the level of creativity expected of teachers, not all teachers can do so.

The question will remain unanswered on how to combine theories into reality that will enable teachers of the Arabic language to promote the oral proficiency skill in a rapid time while overcoming the identified challenges of the language. There remains an unprecedented interest in and awareness regarding the importance of developing, and adopting, new methodologies in the teaching of the Arabic language (Taha-Thomure, 2008).
Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to evaluate a combination of instructional methodologies/strategies beyond current practices for teaching Arabic language to military personnel attending the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center at the Presidio of Monterey, California. The intent of such instruction is that students (military personnel) will improve their pass rates on the various examinations that test their listening, speaking, reading and writing proficiency in Arabic.

This study will seek to narrow the gap between the previously introduced methods and findings of learning the Arabic language as a second language. It hopes to introduce and portray how to implement and put in application a combination of instructional methodologies in order to accelerate and facilitate the learning of the Arabic as second language. Previous studies have only highlighted the instructional and learning difficulties that the majority of American students face while learning Arabic as a second language. These include the concepts of fluency, comprehension and vocabulary retention, which require a different pedagogical approach from English instruction.

The research objective is to identify those methodologies and explore how Arabic could be efficiently and effectively delivered while overcoming the difficulties in order to promote an enhanced level of oral proficiency in a short time in order to prepare competent linguist soldiers whom can communicate on the ground at the prospective culture.
The study hopes to disclose how to avoid the challenges that occur during the process of learning the language especially at the oral communication level or the speaking skill. It will introduce a new approach for Arabic learning resulting in more rapid and accurate language acquisition. The effectiveness of the “oral interaction positive corrective modeling” concept will be measured aligned with the current student oral proficiency performance at the DLI.

Research Questions

An increasing number of American college-level students seek degrees in the Arabic language or Middle Eastern studies. Other students of Arabic and the Middle Eastern culture include those from the United States government and the military. The DLI Curriculum Development Division designs the Defense Language Proficiency Test (DLPT), and conducts the required Oral Proficiency Test (OPI) at the completion of each course (Defense Language Institute 2011). Language training with the federal government and U. S. military further includes passing a series of examinations testing students’ listening, speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in the language studied (Valceanu, 2001).

Q1: Can the Counseling Oral Interaction Positive Corrective Modeling be implemented to teach rapidly and successfully in order to enhance the competency of Oral proficiency of the Arabic language as a second language?

Q2: Can the incorporation of a process approach to writing , with the Counseling Oral Interaction Positive Corrective Modeling, advances and shorten the learning process of the Oral proficiency skill in teaching Arabic than the current Defense Language Institute (DLI) model?

Q3: What efforts were made to overcome the difficulties that enabled the students to continue using the writing process phase?

Q4: Can an OPI based curriculum overcome the difficulties and challenges found in previous research, which has revealed the learning issues American students face while learning Arabic?

Q5: How can an Arabic Language teacher use theories and findings from prior research to ensure Military students improve their Oral proficiency in a shorter period of time?
These questions support the increasing requirement of the U. S. government and military for highly trained linguists to fill critical shortages in foreign language listening, speaking and reading modalities – especially basic modern standard Arabic (Shirley, 2007). Because of this critical need at the Department of Defense and other federal agencies, answers to these questions will provide a timely resource savings during a time of increasing budget constraints. Furthermore, successful resolution of these issues will contribute to the limited literature, currently existing in this field of Arabic language programs, and quality Arabic language instruction.

These questions were chosen for research because of the continual need to provide effective, quality language learning programs for the United States government and the Department of Defense in the timeliest and cost- effective manner. The outcomes of these research questions expect to prove that the 24 week course not only saves money for the government and military, but also provides a quality Arabic language program that better prepares the student for the cross cultural competencies needed in a defense language context. Further projected and anticipated outcomes of the study will improve America’s national security and transform government language training to meet 21st century requirements.

Definition of Key Terms

Defense Language Proficiency Test-V (DLPT-V). A foreign language proficiency test offered by the Defense Language Institute for the purposes of determining overall language proficiency of foreign languages by native English speakers working in defense contexts. The DLPT-V is the latest iteration of such a test, offering both multiple-choice and constructed response versions of the test (Defense Language Institute, 2012).

Educational Technology. This field has many varied definitions, but for the purposes of this study it refers to any type of technological resource or process that is used for the express purpose of learning and performance improvement. This extends to software and hardware, as well as Internet-based resources and activities that are used for learning (Lowenthal & Wilson, 2010).

Foreign Language (FL). A language that originates and is commonly used in a country not of the speaker's origin (Stern, 1983).

Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR). A scale of language proficiency, which is the default grading scale in Federal occupations for language skill or proficiency. The scale runs from a 1 (elementary proficiency) to a 5 (native/bilingual proficiency) (Herzog, 2012).

Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI). An interview-based standardized test used to determine functional speaking ability and language proficiency (Breiner-Sanders et al., 2000).

Task-based language learning (TBLL). A method of language instruction focused on using authentic language and the administration of tasks through the language in question. Components of TBLL include the pre-task, task cycle, and language focus; these strategies are meant to connect language learning with definitive actions to create a more practical learning environment (Willis, 1996).

Brief Review of the Literature

1. Introduction:

The Arabic language is a Semitic language, which is spoken by at least 330 million people around the world. The highest concentration of Arabic speakers live in the Middle East, wich extends from the Persian Gulf to the Pacific Ocean. The formal written language is called Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), so named because of the appropriation and evolution of new words and phrases that have been incorporated into the original language. This is the version of Arabic that is now commonly taught to native English speakers, particularly in major defense language courses (DLI, 2006). Due to the high military significance of nations in the Middle East, including Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran, a working knowledge of MSA is necessary for effective interactions with nationals from those areas.

The Arabic language is intricately structured and derivational, and morphology plays an important role in its vocabulary and grammar. In MSA, short vowels are omitted to the level that Arabic letters are written without diacritic signs. This leads to an incredibly complex language with different derivations and morphology than Romantic languages such as English, making it incredibly difficult for English native speakers to learn. Dedicated language learning is necessary to imbue effective Arabic oral language proficiency in native English Speakers, which necessitates solving some of the inherent problems in existing language instruction.

2. Communicative Competencies

Communicative competencies comprise the basic, fundamental language skills needed to convey ideas and exchange information between individuals. These basic skills include the understanding of the times and contexts in which to speak, what to speak about and in what way - the fundamentals of language use (Kamiya, p. 65). This also includes cultural knowledge and interactional order, necessitating an understanding of cultural and social norms within the native culture in which the language is spoken. Second-language acquisition necessitates the instruction of communicative competencies in order to effectively learn how to use the language in a socially acceptable way.
Heath offers insights for use in the dissertation study for investigating any difficulties in the area of Americans learning Arabic. This study specifically addresses the learner and his/her creativity in Arabic communicative competence as it applies toward competently completing both the DLI course and the OPI (Heath, 1987).

Alptekin (2002) discusses the notion of communicative competence that suggests native-speaker competence is the metric by which communicative competence is decided. In addition, he argues that this particular norm creates an unrealistic and utopian model for language learning that makes it impossible for SLA to be considered complete or sufficient. Native speakership is said to be a myth of linguistics, and infers that the native-speaker's culture is the mainstream, as is its language. Considering language in this way is said to be constrictive and unhelpful for those learning second languages, and as a result new notions of communicative competence are required. In order to achieve communicative competence for language teaching, the following would have to be adhered: creating successful bilinguals that celebrate knowledge between cultures, and offering both domestic and international contexts as settings where non-native languages are used in instruction. This creates a more tolerable and reachable means of achieving communicative competency (Alptekin, 2002).

3. Importance of Language Teaching as it Relates to Culture

In a military context, defense language instruction is an important tool to understand and interact with individuals and groups in foreign cultures. Language anthropology is a crucial part of studying contemporary cultures; in both native and non-native cultures, second language acquisition allows for a greater understanding of global cultures, permitting deeper immersion and more effective interactions with foreign language speakers. As the Middle East is an area with high military pertinence and sensitive cultural tensions, effective Arabic language instruction will provide officers with cultural sensitivities and greater understanding of diplomatic use of defense language.

Jones, D., Shen, W., Granoien, N., Herzog, M., and Weinstein, C. (2005) demonstrate the need for live Arabic speakers in a military context due to the inadequacy found in most Arabic machine translation units. Educated native-English speakers were given versions of a Defense Language Proficiency Test for Arabic which were run through machine translation units, and asked to read them. The accuracy of these MT units was enough to pass Level 2 performance, but not Level 3. With this in mind, it is clear that machine translation is still not preferable to live, thinking and Level 3-proficiency Arabic speakers for defense language contexts; this further underscores the need for effective language learning in the DLI and other locations (Jones et al., 2005).

Albert (2001) discusses language anthropology in terms of using language to study a contemporary culture - in this instance, using contemporary France as an example. Discursive practices found in evidence can help to enlighten students on how a culture or nation-state is created - examining its language shows the linkage between the way language is practiced, how this language is perceived by others, and what it says about their sociopolitical contexts. In this way, a learner can learn more about the nature of a society by examining language anthropology (Albert, 2001).

Custar (2011) examines the effects of English Language Learners (ELL) in American high schools to demonstrate the link between oral proficiency and academic achievement in SLA. There is a significant achievement gap to be found between those ELLs with poor oral proficiency and those who are native speakers or have high oral proficiency, demonstrating the need for fluency in a language, even an L2 language, to communicate and perform well academically. Furthermore, the competencies that are learned through SLA may create skills that improve academic achievement; either way, Custar (2011)’s research discovered a positive association between oral language proficiency and academic achievement.

4. Age Variables

One of the most prescient problems in Arabic language learning is the age of the student undergoing instruction. Depending on the age and type of student (military/civilian), there are a number of unique stressors that are present (Morreale, 2011). Furthermore, the age of the student is important in determining proficiency of their first language, which plays a substantial role in the efficacy of second language acquisition and instruction. A happy medium must be found between students mature enough to handle the stresses of Arabic language instruction and young enough to display the enthusiasm for the material (Morreale, 2011).

Al-Dali presents applications for the dissertation in reviewing if the age of the U.S. student learning Arabic has a factor in identifying problems in the training process particularly in the design of the DLI shorter course. Al-Dali also points to the fact that the competency of the first language should have consideration in teaching any second language toward competencies upon finishing the second language study. This point opens valid implications for teaching Americans Arabic and his/her competencies in English (Al-Dali, 1996).
Morreale (2011) demonstrates the particular stressors and anxieties present in non-military personnel, focusing on university students studying abroad. The importance of immersion in foreign culture is emphasized, as study abroad students are shown to have less stress and anxiety in the language learning process than those who have not experienced immersion in a target culture. The experience of foreign culture immersion as a language learning tool is shown to dramatically improve motivation in SA participants, as they are able to more easily place vocabulary and grammar in proper societal and cultural contexts (Morreale, 2011).

Fischer’s study provides relevant examination and conclusions for the dissertation research toward a rapid Arab language program for Americans. Fischer’s study group derived from the DLI program at the Presidio at Monterey and clearly aligns with the dissertation intent toward the same type of DLI group. His findings determined factors for consideration in the dissertation study directed at the means for conducting the DLI and OPI exam face-to-face compared to the distance modalities in determining the success of the testing face-to-face and on the telephone compared to face-to-face versus the desk top computer (Fischer, 2004).

Americans are not the only culture to have trouble learning Arabic. Sicard (2001) examines an experiment taken in Montpelier to teach Arabic in local secondary schools. These efforts were also put in place to bring language learning to younger children, and to offer greater social integration between Arabic speaking students and native French speakers. The pupils, due to their enthusiasm, as well as the increasing demand for Arabic language instruction, are encouraged to continue the Arabic language learning initiatives. This helps to create the correlation of youth having a great enthusiasm for learning new languages, and the community support such initiatives can receive (Sicard, 2001).

In a military context, learning Arabic is particularly important. Nichols (2010) describes the desire for formal Arabic language instruction found in very high numbers in Iraq War veterans. In essence, narrative research strongly indicates that cultural and linguistic experiences in Iraq are determined by those who are there in a military situation to be quite important to their successful interaction and operations there. Those encountering Arabic language speakers without proper instruction often wish to learn more about the language later, in order to provide further enlightenment as to Arabic cultural and language norms (Nichols, 2010). If this type of instruction is applied to military personnel before their deployments, more positive and productive cultural interactions (as well as effective military operations) can be attained.

5. Accessibility of Universal Grammar

Universal grammar refers to the applicability of common grammatical and vocabulary terms and trends in different languages. The concept is used frequently to refer to the ability for language learners to tap into commonalities between native and foreign language. UG is then used to gain a better understanding of the second language. Curricula and second language instruction must tap into this universal grammar to create an effective gateway for native English speakers to effectively learn Arabic. A strong focus on both grammar and vocabulary instruction in SLA courses is conducive to improving universal grammar in students (Al-Qadi, 1991).

Al-Banyon’s research into universal grammar acquisition among adult English speakers learning Arabic is less likely than among the younger learners. In his study, “The Accessibility of Universal Grammar in Language Acquisition: A Cross-Linguistic Perspective” the results of his study directly provide considerations for application in the dissertation research, particularly, since Al-Banyon determines the adult American (English speaker) has less access to the universal grammar in language acquisition that prompts the likelihood of the learner facing conditional issues in the “functional computation of components in the bilingual brain/mind (Al-Banyon, 1996)”.

In his study, Al-Qadi (1991) research findings revealed that second language teaching/learning programs often focus only up on the grammar leaving the acquisition of vocabulary at an unsatisfactory level. This failure of language programs to give the learner prompts for acquiring more vocabulary words is a valuable operant for consideration in the dissertation focus to design a shorter, yet comprehensive Arabic language study for American learners (Al-Qadi, 1991). The need for vocabulary acquisition in post-secondary level language learning courses, and that web-based components to SLA learning can be equally effective at imparting vocabulary acquisition, oral proficiency development and other attributes of SLA onto students has been established (Isenberg, 2010).

White (1985) discusses a 'logical' problem involved with second language acquisition that allows for the possibility of universal grammar. Second language learners face a problem when needing to determine every single complexity of adult grammar in their second language of choice. However, White argues that there are certain innate principles that orient the learner to the extent where they may excel at SLA. Once these principles are learned, as part of universal grammar, research suggests that they acquire complex knowledge of the second language that exceeds the input they have received. Teaching implications for this framework involves putting in more than just positive input to an L2 student in order to pick up on universal grammar; the complexity of the specific L2 grammar must be identified before finding ways to connect it with the L1 grammar (White, 1985).

6. Problems Teaching Arabic to American Students

In order to have effective Arabic language instruction, the current trends in the field must be determined. The existing issues with Arabic language learning among American students, both military and civilian, must be improved upon in order to create more effective defense language curricula. The major problems found in most Arabic instruction include a lack of motivation, lack of engagement with the material, anxiety and stress, among others (Smith, 2009; Uddin, 2009; Elkhafaifi, 2005). These issues, both with student personality and instruction type, exclude students of some study styles and limit the success rate of defense language courses.

According to Zouhir (2010), English-speaking students learning Arabic have difficulties with the phonics, syntax and with structuring words. Zouhir emphasizes that her study reveals “not enough” has been researched by educators about the issues that affect learning and teaching Arabic among American students. Her research aligns with the focus of the dissertation for identifying the problems for American students learning Arabic in determining/creating the faster time version of the DLI Arab language program (2010).
Smith (2009) describes the importance of motivation in long-term language achievement; native English speakers find the effort and the desire to persist in language learning to a greater extent than is minimally required of them in a university setting. Education programs, particularly involving L2 language learning, are shown to have greater efficacy when the primary source of motivation is changed over time and internally regulated by the learner along with long-term goals (Smith, 2009). This has the effect of creating more effective language learners, and must be emphasized in new language learning programs regardless of context.

Uddin (2009) examines the importance of role play and storytelling in the process of SLA; using such techniques such as these have been shown to be effective in creating greater competencies for SLA students. Role play helped their communicative skills, including vocabulary enhancement, and made students more fluent in indirect vocabulary. With the help of storytelling, the students had occasion to make full use of their vocabulary, creating the process of independent learning within the students with regards to their SLA learning. At the same time, this was shown to only be beneficial to intermediate and advanced-level learners; elementary-level learners did not have the basic vocabulary to participate effectively in role-playing and storytelling activities (Uddin, 2009).

Shirley (2007) studied the relationships between personality and SLA - while individual differences and learning are known to exist, this has been studied little in terms of learning the Arabic language in a defense context. Military students studying Basic Modern Standard Arabic at the DLIFLC were studied based on their personality traits and their proficiency learning BMSA; the NEO-PI-R domain level personality measures were used as a metric to quantify certain traits that could be linked to better or worse language proficiency. The results supported the notion that certain personalities were more suited to learning BMSA at the DLIFLC, allowing for the possibility of greater selection criteria for candidates to learn Arabic as an L2 language (Shirley, 2007). There have also been shown to be tremendous issues in creating standardized tests for Arabic language proficiency (Winke and Aquil, 2006).

Elkhafaifi (2005) discusses the role of anxiety and stress as a role in classroom performance in an Arabic language learning classroom. The presence of stress and anxiety is shown to have tremendous detrimental effects on the efficacy of language learning classes for native English speakers learning Arabic as a second language. Approximately 1,320 hours of intensive instruction in structured programs are required for notoriously difficult languages including Arabic; compared to 480 hours for learning French or Spanish, this makes Arabic a comparatively difficult language to learn for a native English speaker. Far too many students learning Arabic give up after approximately one year of study, frustrated at lacking communicative competence. Innovative methods to address these stressors and anxiety causes - stemming from the difficulty and reputation of the language - must be addressed in order to create more effective teaching methods (Elkhafaifi, 2005).

7. Efficacy of Preparatory Courses for Learning Languages

In order to address the problems found in most Arabic defense language instruction, preparatory courses of many different kinds have been developed. These initiatives demonstrate unique designs for defense language courses which seek to increase the oral language proficiency of students (St. Pierre III, 2008; Bustamante, 2009). Selection processes and scaffolding learning environments are also initiatives commonly used in defense language environments to determine adequate candidates for language instruction and offer well-constructed curricula toward that end (Hughes, 2010; Alm-Lequeux, 2001). These preparatory courses are also designed to address the common problems of motivation and confidence in foreign language learning; consequently, effectively conducted prep and pilot courses appear to be the most likely method for improving defense language instruction.
St. Pierre III explains the focus of his study specifically measures the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center’s (DLIFLC) Introduction to Language Studies (ILS), the language learning success through its preparatory course. The benefits of this study in support of the dissertation work gives validity to the focus of designing a DLI shorter Arab language program and provides critical implications for consideration to the efficacy of the proposed program (St. Pierre III, 2008).

Vakilifard (2008) denotes the need for expository text comprehension in second language acquisition - this is said to be one of the most influential components of understanding an L2 language and applying it in an effective manner to practical life. A concept map-based intervention was applied to a French second language learning course in order to improve their overall scores and gain greater comprehension of informative texts. However, this strategy proved ineffective in inferential comprehension (Vakilifard, 2008).
Bustamante (2009) measured the effectiveness of TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling) pilot courses for basic Spanish language learning. This has been shown to have a tremendous effect on motivation and confidence in results among students - the majority of students had a positive reception and increased comfort level with the pilot program, which involved reading out loud, standardized writing assessment involving spontaneous writing, and other diverse methods (Bustamante, 2009). This demonstrates the efficacy of an interdisciplinary, innovative program with high student involvement in L2 learning courses.

Currently, the US Air Force Academy employs a selection and placement policy in order to allocate the more "appropriate" students into either Chinese, Arabic or some other strategic or defense language. Their current policy models involve measuring first language ability, motivation variable, student choice, and other factors. These factors were evaluated in order to discern the predictive model that would get the students who have the highest aptitude for becoming effective learners of Arabic. The most important factor, it has been found, is motivation; L2 teaching initiatives must tap into motivation and create the most ideal environment for defense language learners (Hughes, 2010).

Alm-Lequeux (2001) demonstrates a scaffolded learning environment to teach indirect speech, using the Internet to increase cognitive readiness and create a more effective second-language acquisition program. Internet-based education like this is said to extend the user's contact with the language in question, as well as its culture - in order to meet the Zone of Proximal Development, a virtual community can be created that allows for further language learning and exposure. This model is shown to be effective in teaching indirect speech in SLA, following a Vygotskian approach (Alm-Lequeux, 2001).

Conclusion

It is absolutely necessary, in a globalized military, to teach cross cultural competency to those who will be interacting with others of a different culture (Abbe, Gulick & Herman, 2007). Increased interaction with Arabic cultures in military operations, for example the US involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, make it more pressing than ever to provide military personnel with the skills needed to successfully and peacefully interact with native Arabic speakers. The problem is many educators, linguists and scholars in the field of teaching Standard Arabic language need to continue to conduct research identifying specific difficulties Americans encounter throughout their learning of Arabic in the classroom (Duarte& Carmen 2008) while other studies explore the challenges of teaching Arabic (Strout & Erin 2006).

Investigating the Relationship between Creativity and Communicative Competence Strategies among Bilingual and Bi-dialectal Adolescents (TESOL)” offers insights for use in the dissertation study for investigating any difficulties in the area of Americans learning Arabic. “The Age Variable: An Investigation of English Acquisition Among Arabic-Speaking Intermediate-Level Students in the State of Kuwait” presents applications for the dissertation in reviewing if the age of the U.S. student learning Arabic was a factor in identifying problems in the training process particularly in the design of the DLI shorter course. Fischer’s “Comparing Face-To-Face and Distance Modalities in Conducting Arabic and Russian Speaking Proficiency Testing” study provides relevant examination and conclusions for the dissertation research toward a rapid Arab language program for Americans.

Al-Qadi’s research “Acquisition of English Derivational Morphology by Arab Speakers” findings reveal that second language teaching/learning programs often only focus on the grammar and leave the acquisition of vocabulary at an unsatisfactory level. Al-Banyon’s research into universal grammar acquisition among adult English speakers learning Arabic is less likely than among the younger learners. According to Zouhir, English-speaking students learning Arabic have difficulties with the phonics, syntax and with structuring words. St. Pierre III explains the focus of his study specifically measures the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center’s (DLIFLC) Introduction to Language Studies (ILS) the efficacy language learning success through its preparatory course.

Some of the primary issues discovered in the research involve problems with stress, anxiety and motivation - regardless of context; whether it is in a university or defense language setting, often language learners have difficulty handling the pressure associated with learning a second language. Their motivation decreases along with their confidence, and lower efficacy results in their learning. As a result, dramatic changes need to be made to existing curriculum, involving improved methods to increase motivation and lower anxiety/stress.
In a defense context, predictive models do help to target appropriate candidates for defense language learning, in languages like Chinese and Arabic. However, the responsibility falls to defense language instructors to create and apply a curriculum that fully engages the students and increases their oral proficiency and vocabulary. These activities must involve interdisciplinary and diverse activities that involve immersion in the target culture, along with web-based and role- playing elements. This would equip these students, soldiers and officers more adequately for life while deployed in Arabic-speaking countries, thus creating more effective mission outcomes and greater interaction with the host culture.

Validation of Principal Efficacy Survey– Rationale for Adding New Questions to the

ABSTRACT
In the process of validating principal self-efficacy connected to the corroborated Megan Tschannen-Moran Survey, important gaps in the questionnaire exist. The academic work presented here provides the essential and missing questions needing asked by principals in assessing the efficacy of his/her performance as an administrator, innovator, and advocate for quality educational practices in the 21st century. These suggested questions look at principal management abilities, consider the diversity of the demographics of public school learners and their families, professional development necessary for instructors' ability for enhancing teaching, and the critical acknowledgement educational technology.
Key Words: principal, self-efficacy, survey, education, ...

There are quiet a number of strategies that can be used in the transfer of information to the students. In the educational sector, teachers tend to look at the available alternatives and choosing one which best fits the needs of the learners. Differentiated education is one of these strategies. The essay below looks at this strategy in greater detail.

Differentiated Instruction

Introduction

According to Hall et al (2011), all students have different needs. Just like the manner in which different people have different interests in life, so are many of the other needs that the people have. The different interests that ...

The Role of Functional Radicals – A Report

ABSTRACT
Research is limited on the benefits of explicit teaching of Chinese second language (CSL) adult learners about the functions of radical components of Chinese characters. The following research, analysis, and discourse provides how CSL adult learners indeed benefit from the explicit instruction of all components of the radicals of Chinese characters at the onset of their learning. This connects to providing them a better understanding of the Chinese language as a non-alphabetical based framework especially for those students with English as their primary language. The following findings researched how a better understanding of such aspects of radicals including ...

The crucial benefit of education may not be overestimated for any person as education is certainly of vital need for individuals faced with disabilities who normally face exclusion from procedures of education. This being based on the presumption of their inability to learn in which case people faced with disability across all age groups typically require increase time and more opportunities to attain and put their skills into practice; This is not normally the case due to the progression of reduced expectations more so in regard to skills in academic with reduction in the measure of exposure to normal ...

Overview

Balanced literacy involves language arts acquisition using a program consisting of word study, small strategy groups, and interactive read aloud, along with shared, independent, and guided reading. These essential components help a learner to understand written and spoken communication by emphasizing on reading, writing, listening, speaking, and viewing. Literacy is an important aspect everyday activities and modern social networks emphasize this, people cannot “Tweet” and comment if they do not write.
Yet even with increasing trends in globalization some children are more advanced, and some need to learn solutions to their education challenges. Balanced literacy instruction supports students’ need ...

Introduction

Even though as of late the rate of adolescents who are sexually dynamic has gone down, the U.S. still has a higher rate of sexually transmitted illnesses and teenage pregnancy than whatever available industrialized country on the planet. As per the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, in the ballpark of 34 percent of adolescent ladies in the U.S. get pregnant anyhow once before age 20. This lamentable statistic might be credited to the washout of sex training systems out in the open schools that instruct junior individuals about sex, pregnancy and the dangers included on the grounds that they ...

Phonemic Awareness

Phonemic awareness can be taught to and learnt by children who do not have an instinctive understanding. This can be done through a variety of methods including phoneme isolation, phoneme identity, phoneme categorisation, phoneme blending, phoneme segmentation, phoneme deletion, phoneme addition and phoneme substitution – all methods which involve the child addressing the logistics of phonemic awareness in a practical way.

Phonemic awareness instruction can help a child to read through improving their ability to recognise and comprehend words and their meanings. It is recognised that for children who are learning to read, fluency is often a difficult ...

Candidate: Ian Keith Sinnott

Degree: E900‐Doctor Of Philosophy
CRICOS code: 006244J
Campus: Geelong Waurn Ponds Campus
Finish Date: 25/032016
Enrolment Category:Off‐Campus / Full‐Time
Associate Supervisor(s): Dr. Rod Nielsen and Dr Alex Kostogriz
Thesis Title: Evaluating the impact of Instruction of English through the use of the iPad on the English Foundations Studies Program at Abu Dhabi Men’s College [ADMC], Higher Colleges of Technology, United Arab Emirates.

Colloquia: First year confirmation

Ethics: This project will require ethics clearance
Chapter One
Context of the Research
1.1 Background of the study
Technology has augmented learning in the classroom setup in terms of coming up ...

The Relationship between Curriculum and Instruction

A common misconception is that the curriculum dictates exactly what and when a child is taught. In reality, and in more recent revisions of the curriculum, it actually shapes and influences what a child must learn in order to help them become a functioning member of society. For many, the curriculum is merely a selection of standards by which we must measure our nation’s children’s progress – instruction is the methods implemented to carry out those lessons. Therefore, the relationship between curriculum and instruction must be close but still kept as fluid as possible. It is clear that ...

- Instruction of English foundation programme using the Ipad at Abu Dhabi Men's College [ADMC]
- Evaluating the impact of Instruction of English through the use of the Ipad at Abu Dhabi Men’s College
- Teaching English Foundations Programme using the IPad at Abu Dhabi Men's College [ADMC]

Background of the study

Technology has augmented learning in the classroom setup in terms of coming up with innovative teaching tools and strategies that have subsequently dealt with emerging challenges in the profession. As such, there exists an extensive body of research on the impacts of traditional computers, laptops and notebooks on the learning experience . ...

Literacy is one of the areas of childhood development, which is considered as a barometer used to gauge future development and aptitude of the child. Generally, the goal of literacy instruction is for teachers to synchronize the early literacy approaches to engage children and also to offer a strong foundation for the children's literacy skills. Literacy development in young children has been viewed as a complex and dynamic process that requires input from all concerned stakeholders so as to ensure that a child acquires the right skills. Literacy development is therefore concerned about issues such as listening, reading, speaking, ...

1.Why students need grammar instruction?

Facilitates communication

Improve passing rates at NCLEX examinations
Opens employment opportunities
Helps writers explore sentence variations and apply them to the written language
Enables writer to adjust their language to their topic, audience, and purpose
Allows speakers to demonstrate more eloquence in delivery of spoken language.

2.What grammar should be taught?

Agreement of verbs and nouns

Punctuations marks
Agreement of tenses within continuous writing
Sentence construction

3.How it should be taught?

Separate from nursing instruction classes

Within a nursing school environment
Should be consistent with English grammar schools’ curriculum
Should be adopted to meet specific English grammar needs of students ...

Book Report on Multisensory Teaching of Basic Language skills, second edition by Birsh Judith
Dr. Judith Birsh has thrived in conveying mutually the expertise of a group of esteemed and renowned providers to create what is certainly an extremely prized and much-utilized text and reference book in the subject of dyslexia and learning differences In Multisensory Teaching of Basic Language Skills. She has increased a significantly essential source for comprehending, educating, measuring, and parenting individuals with dyslexia and associated disorders by summoning different authorities to write segments in their area(s) of utmost interest and potency. Starting with the ...

Section A: Front-end Analysis .3

Target Audience Description 3
Procedure for Determining Information Processing Steps 3
Learning Objectives .... 7
Terminal Learning Objective .. 7

Enabling Objectives . 8

Section B: Instructional Strategies, Specifications, Documentation .. 13

Background .13

Terminal learning objective 13
Expanded Events of Instruction 14
Introduction . 14
Body . 15
Section 1: Basic Words 15
Section 2: Advanced Words 15
Conclusion 17
Teaching Elementary Children To Read A Second Language
Section A: Front-end Analysis
- Target Audience Description
The target audience is elementary school children. To learn any new language, children must start early. The class will have elementary school children with some knowledge of reading and writing, ...

- The terms evidence-based instruction, research-based instruction, and scientifically-based instruction are often used interchangeably. What is the basic meaning of such terms and the approach to instructional practices and interventions advocated in their name.
The terms evidence-based instruction, research based instruction, and scientifically based instruction actually refer to the use of an evidence-based approach applied in the field of education, or in this case special education. The evidence-based approach on the other hand refers to an application approach that is actually being used in a wide variety of disciplines. Some examples of disciplines where this approach is being commonly ...

Literature Review

Introduction
P. Kim et al (2011) recorded that Technology can be a powerful means to increase access to learning opportunities and to a broaden information society .However the reaches have not satisfactorily studied the role of technology in the effects to reading and comprehension. Therefore this is a literature review that considers role of technology in reading and understanding comprehension, phonology, and the roles of the teachers in asking, answering questions and storytelling and retelling.

High teachers’ role resulting in story retelling

Many researches have been conducted on the effects of technology in reading comprehension in various groups of learners of different levels of development. Kim, ...

How EMS and medicine community instruction on CPR can improve survival rates

Cardiac arrest refers to the abrupt cessation of cardiac pumping activity which is confirmed by the absence of one, a detectable pulse, two, signs of circulation, three, breathing and finally the lack of a response to stimulation. The immediate management for cardiac arrest entails chest compressions performed during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation that is delivery of shocks via a defibrillator to stop the ventricular fibrillation that prompted the cardiac arrest. CPR is an essential emergency measure which consists of a series of measures for delivering oxygenated blood to vital organs like the heart and the brain through artificial ...

Introduction

Many academic professionals are of the mindset that developing an effective lesson plan that is aligned with established state learning standards represents the most difficult element of teaching. There are many others, however, that find the element that is most difficult to be the developing of effective measurements that can be used to assess student knowledge of the material being covered in the unit. The establishment of methods to measure and assess taught material can be a very sesquipedalian process that is designed to ensure that the knowledge the students gain is directly in-line with the academic learning standards ...

Academic Level

What follows below are the abstracts of articles on the instructional uses of 3D modeling and animation. There is a total of eight articles, and then there is a description of the search strategy and findings. Finally, there is a literature review on the topic with the comparison and contrasts on the findings from the articles covered and conclusions made from these articles. There is a demonstration of how these findings can be applied to a potential future 3D animation project.

Chapter 18. The Animation and Interactivity Principles in Multimedia Learning

This first article is titled the animation and interactivity principles in multimedia learning. The article starts by examining ...

Question 1: What criteria define Von Neumann architecture? Identify clearly and coherently. [5 marks]

The image above shows the criteria that defines the Von Neumann architecture. The Von Neumann architecture is the basic underlying architecture maintained I most modern computers. It was developed in the late 1950s and described a digital computer that consisted of four significant and essential parts. The basis of the architecture is the fetch, decode, execute and write back to memory cycle. These parts make up the entire architecture that is divided into the processor unit, the control unit, input/output capabilities, and a memory unit.
The processor unit is responsible for carrying out the computing functions of a digital ...

The impact of student services in any community college is affected by the school climate. There are many challenges facing the delivery of student services in colleges. First of all there has been a growing trend towards diversity in the classrooms which teachers have to recognize and appreciate. If teachers do not structure their teaching methods to cater for the student then their ability to appreciate and apply college education is hindered (Brooks, 2004: Brimijoin, Marquissee & Tomlinson, 2003) There are many students who go to community colleges to attend remedial classes. It may become difficult for the college to ...

Instruction of metacognitive strategies enhances reading comprehension and vocabulary achievement of third-grade students.

Introduction
According to a study conducted by Regina Boulware-Gooden, Carreker, Thornhill, and Joshi in their article entitled,” Instruction of metacognitive strategies enhances reading comprehension and vocabulary achievement of third-grade students, ”, there was a finding that instruction of metacognitive strategies not only improved the vocabulary of third grade students but also their comprehension. The study came to the finding that explicit teaching that made use of metacognitive strategies significantly led to improvement in both comprehensions as well as vocabulary development of third grade students. The crux of the study is that students were encouraged to think loud while reading. It ...

The perspective of college Students & Faculty members in department of art education Regarding the Usage of Technology in Constructivist Learning Environment

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Literature Review

Constructivism is a teaching and learning philosophy which states that humans acquire knowledge from their experiences. Using constructivism as a tool in education helps the students to develop and explore their views and ideas (Juniu, 2006). Understanding the way constructivism works, and the benefits it offers to the classroom can help teachers implement the theories into their teaching styles. Incorporating technology with constructivism advances the application of knowledge and the involvement of students, and offers them larger ...

First scenario:

The ethical issue in scenario "The e- generation" connects to the fact even though Marta's record of accomplishment as "a very good teacher" in her 30-year career she has failed to keep abreast of changing methods of teaching connected to the technological aspects of the 21st century Western cultural educational framework.
There exists the unfortunate reality, as in the case of Marta, that many teachers do not have the necessary instruction for integrating technology in the delivery of instruction. This exists in particular to school district administrations' failure to implement new technology as part of the educational curriculum, teaching, ...

Heath offers insights for use in the dissertation study for investigating any difficulties in the area of Americans learning Arabic. This study specifically addresses the learner and his/her creativity in Arabic communicative competence as it applies toward competently completing both the DLI course and the OPI (Heath, 1987).

Alptekin (2002) discusses the notion of communicative competence that suggests that native-speaker competence is the metric by which communicative competence is decided. Alptekin argues that this particular norm creates an unrealistic and utopian model for language learning that makes it impossible for SLA to be considered complete or sufficient. Native speakership ...

Abstract

Great deal of children all over the world suffers from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Symptoms of ADHD include hyperactivity, emotionalism and difficulty of staying focused. Children with ADHD usually have the lack of comprehension skills, poor study results and problems with following instructions as a result, they are more likely to conflict with coevals and teachers.
There are different types of ADHD treatments, the most common one is academic interventions which include manipulating antecedent conditions, parent tutoring, homework management programs, instructional modifications, self-monitoring. Self- monitoring technique is crucial for children with ADHD, as teaches them not only to regulate ...

The state of writing in the U.S. has been on an upward trend for such a long time. The schools in this country have been under pressure lately to produce better readers and writers from their students. There has been increased lobbying by concerned parties on the need for schools and teachers in particular to be accountable for effective literacy instruction. The main reason for this need for public accountability is due to the increased dissatisfaction with literacy in schools. The trends in writing research, writing instruction and writing assessment have been changing ever since.
Skilled writing involves procreative ...

Part I

Introduction
On behalf of the EZ Cooking Company, I would like to propose the revision of the instructions for making a French toast in order to improve the usability of the instructions. This memo provides an analysis of the current instruction’s strengths and weaknesses for your review.

One of the strengths of the current instruction is its title, How to Make French Toast, which clearly defines what the instruction is about. This helps the audience easily determine whether the instruction contains the information that they need or not. It also has an introduction that describes what the topic ...

Literature review

The relationship established between the teachers and the students in of paramount importance in the success of any learning institution (Mujis & Reynold, 2010). The teacher plays a significant role in the establishment of this productive working environment that will make the students perform in the best way. Mujis and Reynold say that efficient management of a classroom entails proper discipline, sufficient motivation of students and class preparedness among others. They say that the success of any teacher is dependent on classroom training, organization and management as they help in planning hence preventing potential problems. Strategies on arranging physical space, ...

Teaching strategies for ESL students in the Mainstream High School English Classroom

Introduction
The rise of the English language as a basic communication skill needed in the corporate world has become one of the reasons why non-native English speakers find it of utmost importance and therefore, would enroll in English language courses.
The TESL First Annual Panel in Ontario (2007) published that at least in Ontario, Canada, teaching ESL or English as a Second Language dated back to post-World War II when a great number of immigrant soldiers were included. Hence, the rise for the need of a language program for newcomers was administered by the Ministry of Education. One and ...

Literature Review on Discovery Based Learning and Student Centred Learning with a Focus in Mathematics at a High School Level

Abstract
Mathematics is a logical form of reasoning which involves making of judgments and justifying conclusions. Mathematical behaviour therefore is expressed when we can describe and recognise patterns, manipulate, represent and reflect on ideas while solving problems through the invention of procedures (Battista, 1999). Mathematics, as a subject has never been mentioned as one of the easier subjects – if anything, it is to the contrary as students are more prone to fail mathematics than many other subjects. Many critics have blamed the methods applied in the teaching of mathematics as the reason behind unsatisfactory performance. This essay will look ...

Following The American Psychological Association’s Guidelines

Abstract
The struggle of reading comprehension has been pervasive around the world for centuries; it is of no surprise how even current statistics illustrate how many adults have difficulty reading and comprehending the most basic literature. As well-intentioned as well-crafted learning models have been launched to bridge the gap between low and high comprehending participants, the root of the problem stems from repeated modeling to students of diverse generations. Although some learning models have proven to be useful, new or rebooted models are sometimes necessary for younger students understanding elements of vocabulary, fluency, and background knowledge for reading and ...

The English only debate is on the legislation, primarily state, that makes the English the only standard of instruction in learning institutions in those states. These legislations have had an impact in the learning environment since the population of students with limited English proficiency as the number of immigrants to the United States increases. The legislations are usually aimed at ensuring that English is the only language of communication in all official business, including instruction of learners in schools. The laws thus have a direct impact on the education sector.
In California, in a public vote in 1998, Proposition ...

Critiquing the paper analyzing impact of Orff’s musical learning approach on spatial-temporal reasoning in children

The soothing effect of music on the human mind is by now well established. Music, from ancient times, has been accorded a high degree of respect in the socio-cultural context of human existence, being seen alternatively as a link that binds humanity to the divine or as‘food of love’ in literature and so on. The claim that music instruction has an impact on the cognitive abilities of human beings, since early childhood, is more recent and is still being analyzed by various researchers.
According to French researcher Alfred Tomatis, listening to music helped healing and development of the ...

Introduction
Virtual education is greatly considered the potent solution to the growing problems of public education. This new form of distance education delivers instruction and content as a formal course of primary, secondary and collegiate studies by means of the Internet and technological tools. While it can be a promising vehicle, it would require a strong reorientation. The teachers should be well trained and the course content ...

The Role of the Teacher in Fostering a Positive Impact through Warm Demanding versus the Academic Performance of Students in Public School Setting: A Correlational Study
This part of the research is a review of literature and related studies on the role of the teachers in using warm demanding or not and how it influences the academic performance of public school students. Warm demandingness is not just about caring to students, but also include insisting them to meet expected and actual academic standards of learning. In view of the previous literature on the subject, many authors (e.g., Holland, 2012; ...

Chapter 4: Reading and Language Arts

- Integrated units or lessons wherein the teacher incorporates reading, writing, speaking, and listening activities, but with guided focus on reading and writing throughout the student’s education. The curriculum must be continuous with particular focus on reading and writing instruction, and independent reading and writing.
- I can integrate language arts with other concepts in different units by providing the students various opportunities to use language, whether it is by writing, speaking, listening, or reading. Another way is to structure lessons in other subjects in a way that the students would have to practice their reading, writing, listening, ...

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Adult learning principles vary dramatically from pedagogic principles. The motivation for an adult to learn differs dramatically from that of a child. These differences were first highlighted by Malcolm Knowles who is also known as the father of adult learning. Adults’ learning motivation comes from an immediacy need directly linked to their everyday roles. An adult learner primarily looks at relevance in learning to improve on-job performance and behavior. The classic paradigm of pedagogic learning – learning by rote is not applicable in the case of adults. The predominant difference between and adult and ...

Language, Literacy and Universal Education

Describe what your literacy and language program would look like in your kindergarten classroom based on your reading assignments (4 pages)
Introduction
Upon reading the two specific materials, “The Essentials of Early Literacy Instruction” by Kathleen A. Roskos, James F. Christie, and Donald J. Richgels and “Learning to Read and Write: Developmentally Appropriate Practices for Young Children” by The International Reading Association and the National Association for the Education of the Young Children, this paper details significant and specific literacy and language development programs which are deemed most effective in the more globally demanding literacy needs of the children ...

Chapter 4: Reading and Language Arts

- Integrated units or lessons wherein the teacher incorporates reading, writing, speaking, and listening activities, but with guided focus on reading and writing throughout the student’s education. The curriculum must be continuous with particular focus on reading and writing instruction, and independent reading and writing.
- I can integrate language arts with other concepts in different units by providing the students various opportunities to use language, whether it is by writing, speaking, listening, or reading. Another way is to structure lessons in other subjects in a way that the students would have to practice their reading, writing, listening, ...

Facilitator:

Reading is a compound and purposeful cognitive, linguistic and socio-cultural process. Through this procedure, learners use their knowledge of language, the topic of a given text and their culture to construct a meaningful understanding of various concepts. Effective reading instructions are therefore important in view of the fact that they help learners understand the written language (Alan, 2002). This is easily achieved through teachers’ interest for their students, the background, attitudes and interests of learners. Phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension are the essential components of effective reading instructions as identified in 2000 The National Reading Panel’s ...

Context of the research and reflections

Context of the research
The Abu Dhabi Men’s College is located in the United Arab Emirates and its students are mostly native Arab speakers. English is used in almost every context in UAE including shops, the streets and school. The use of English has particularly become important to the citizens of the UAE as they seek to communicate with the rest of the world.
The Foundation Studies program is designed to equip students with English reading and writing skills and arithmetic skills prior to commencement of their university education. The English programs is made up of four levels; ...

Chavet Breslin

A Research Project Presented in Partial Fulfillment
Master of Education
Regis University
ABSTRACT
Over the past decades, there has been a significant shift in the perceived best practices in the field of special education. While the paradigm for special education, at one time, involved removing students with special needs from the classroom to receive specialized instruction from specifically trained practitioners, the social stigma and lack of academic progress pushed administrators to move toward a more inclusive philosophy of education. A meta-synthesis was performed of past quantitative and qualitative studies to determine what type of structure will best benefit special ...

Introduction

Language proficiency standards center on necessary communication strategies used by English learners to succeed in English speaking territories of the world. As such, it follows a distinct format of alignment. In exploring the historical and political incentives for standards-based incentives with particular reference to Arizona inevitably, a comparative analysis of the levels being utilized must be undertaken from a historical perspective.
Arizona is known to have had a peculiar historical background; criticized of being indifferent to certain groups of immigrants, which are not proficient in English. No doubt it is a major concern to have people in a society who cannot communicate effectively because of a notable language deficiency. (Demographic Profile).

...

Abstract

Research has shown that we learn through our senses with each sense accounting for different percentage of that teaching. Through the skillful use of audio visual recordings and other instructional media, we can bring the world to the classroom. This paper therefore addresses the impact of education technology in student achievement. The use of education technology in teaching and learning process heightens motivation to learn. Ideally then, learners should have available, combinations of audiovisual experiences which reinforce one another so as to provide the most efficient path for possible mastery of understanding and concept. One of the trends ...

1. The six column framework assesses tools that support differentiation. The model acts as a tool that allows teachers explore multiple capabilities of the learners. This assists in lesson planning that caters for the needs of all learners. The model is useful in setting goals and strategizing on how to achieve these goals. It allows teachers to assess the interests of learners and create steps to implement at every stage. The framework also acts as a timeline for teachers.

In Differentiated Instruction, the six column framework provides elements that the teacher can explore so as to understand the learners and ...

Introduction:

In this paper, the significance of good quality early childhood education has been discussed, along with the teaching strategies which encourage multicultural education. The relationship and interaction between the teacher and parents is shown to be of vital importance, in order to make a child’s learning successful and meaningful in every aspect. Some light is thrown on how a teacher can motivate children in the classroom and ignite their interest in various activities. Various assessment methods have now been developed and implemented which mainly focus on recognizing and nurturing a child’s strengths and strengthening the weaknesses or ...

In a quantitative research design for my problem statement, Arabic language instruction intervention will be implemented in an experimental group taking a 24 week course at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center at the Presidio of Monterey, California. A control group with no intervention methods will also be studied at the same time. Information would be recorded via test scores at the end of the course; all participants would take the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI), and the mean scores for both groups would be compared to determine whether the hypothesis (that the instructional methodologies ...

The classroom is a seventh grade Life Sciences class. The school is located in an urban area and is considered a Title I school due the high percentage of students on free and reduced lunch. There are 22 students in the class, of which 2 are special education inclusion students and 3 English Language Learners at different levels of English proficiency. The subtopic for the Life Science class is the function of organ systems in the human body specifically the digestive system.
Objective 1: In a teacher guided dialog on with a visual of the digestive system, students will ...

There are many things that go into the consideration of a lesson plan, but perhaps the most important thing is encouraging young students to be both creative and risk-taking with language. Students who are happy to memorize but unwilling to speak in English are not the students who develop the most effective communication skills; perhaps the most important thing in the course of teaching these students is encouraging this creativity in them. Students who are afraid or too embarrassed to speak in class must be treated carefully and encouraged to speak up; this will give them a confidence boost ...

Abstract

Human development is an area that has been one of the most discussed areas of study in the last one century. Cognitive development of a person from childhood days to adult years was studied extensively by a Swedish psychologist Jean Piaget. He is known as the father of cognitive development theories. His four stages of cognitive development, sensori-motor, pre-operational, concrete, and formal, are still considered to be the foundation of the cognitive development process. Piaget’s theory does not touch upon why individuals develop at a different rate or why there are different developmental stages. Vygotsky, on the other ...

The development of English literacy instructional programs has provided teachers the opportunity to inculcate ‘English Literacy Learners (ELLs)’ with appropriate strategic models. Literacy instructional models now embrace an appreciation for cultural diversity. In terms of linguistic variety brought to schools, the concept engages learners to excel in reading, writing, and generally to grasp an appreciation for language diversity in literacy. John McWhorter explains that “growing up in America” advances the notion that any English dialect veering away from the so-called ‘good’ English spoken on TV news programs represents “evidence of grungy mitts” leaving filthy prints on the sanitized “formica ...

Executive summary:

A game can be characterized as a vivacious physical movement that, for the reasons of finding cutoff points of one's capacities, or for the sake of entertainment, delight and preoccupation, includes rivalry against oneself or an alternate or a meeting with characteristic components. Several studies show that Sports education helps people in different ways.
If we talk about any age level, whether it is child age, youngsters or mature level personalities, schools and colleges provide a platform and arrange events to provide a chance to participate in different activities. As a result these types of recreational activities and events ...

Paulo Reglus N. Freire was a renowned Brazilian philosopher and educator whose contributions and ideologies on issues relating to educational instruction laid the foundation for the current instructional concept called critical pedagogy. Freire is known to have clamorously attacked the common routines in classroom where students were often given a passive role storing information during the process of education. This undesirable mode of instruction is called banking education. This paper seeks to analyze Paulo Freire's article titled The “Banking” Concept of Education from a student and well-informed reader’s perspective with a view of appraising Freire's contentions in the ...

- Definition of Narrative and Expository Texts
Narrative texts refer to materials that are structured according to events. They include shared accounts of personal experiences, traditional and familiar stories and all literary material that is a product of imagination. Expository texts on the other hand explain, describe and present information in a factual and logical manner. Unlike narrative texts that use a chronological order, expository texts use different text patterns like compare/contrast, cause/effect and question/answer among others (Jalongo, 2014).
- Definition of Narrative and Expository Texts in the Context of CCLS in ELA
The common core learning standards in ...

INTRODUCTION

Technical writing is a form of technical communication. It is distinguished from other types of writing through the language used. Technical writers write technical reports, paper, manuals etc., using technical terms which are specifically meant for the field. There are numerous types of technical writing which includes resume, instruction manuals, business plans, formal letters, business proposals, oral presentations, progress reports, abstracts, editorials, etc.,

INSTRUCTION MANUALS

An instruction manual is a booklet or guide, which is given along with every advanced technological devices, instruments, equipment and machinery. Their purpose is to illustrate the methods of operation to the user and educate about ...