Western Connecticut State University
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“Farewell, Dolly! Or A Fare Well Planned” A Play in One Act
No full textTraditionally, women have been expected to live by male standards and to abdicate knowing who they are in order to fulfill the feminine roles of a patriarchal society. My creative writing thesis focuses on the particular role of the doll and its adverse impact on women. The project includes a scholarly introduction, which examines the function of the doll role, and a one-act play, a dramatization of a woman's call for self-knowledge. Absurd as it may seem, society's characterization of women as doll has survived in spite of the great achievements in women's rights. This categorization creates conflict for women who end up oscillating between the docile role of doll and that of an independent woman. Farewell, Dolly! scripts a woman's quest for self-realization and her renunciation of the doll role.Master of Arts (MA)Englis
THE EFFECTS OF THE LANGUAGE! LITERACY INSTRUCTION ON THE READING COMPREHENSION AND MOTIVATION TO READ OF STRUGGLING MIDDLE SCHOOL READERS
No full textThis study investigated the impact of the LANGUAGE! literacy instruction on the reading comprehension and motivation to read of struggling middle school readers compared to that of a balanced literacy instruction. A convenience sample of sixth, seventh and eighth grade students (n=175) from a small, suburban middle school in Connecticut participated in the study. The sample was chosen from a population of reading and language arts students having scored in the lower 30th percentile (levels 1 and 2) of the reading portion of the Connecticut Mastery Test, as well as below goal (as defined by the district) on the Degrees of Reading Power (DRP) assessment administered during the first month of the school year. The study was quasi-experimental pre- and post-test comparison group design using intact groups. Reading comprehension was measured using the DRP and motivation to read was assessed using the three subscales (value of reading, instruction of reading, and self concept of reader) of the Adolescent Motivation to Read Profile-Revised (AMRP-R). The scores of those students in the LANGUAGE! literacy curriculum (experimental) were compared to those of the students in the balanced literacy curriculum (comparison) to determine whether a statistical difference existed in the mean scores between the two groups after treatment.
An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to analyze the first research question concerning the impact of instructional program on reading comprehension. The results indicated that there was a significant difference in the reading comprehension scores of the two groups, with the balanced literacy participants scoring higher than those having received LANGUAGE! literacy. However, the effect size indicated only a marginal practical significance between the two groups. A multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was used to analyze the mean scores on the three subscales of the AMRP-R. No statistically significant difference was observed for any of the variables between groups. The current study adds to the vast body of extant reading research by exploring the impact of balanced literacy instruction in comparison to LANGUAGE! literacy instruction, and though only nominal differences were observed for reading comprehension, follow-up investigations are merited.Doctor of Education (EdD)Education & Educational Psycholog
Servant's of Desire in Virginia Woolf's Shorter Fiction (The)
No full textThe Servants of Desire in Virginia Woolf's Shorter Fiction proposes an insight into the ways in which Virginia Woolf engaged with questions of how class influences working women's occupation of private and public space and how material privilege or economic distress inhibits or encourages their likelihood of obtaining their intellectual, spiritual, and physical desires. This groundbreaking book uses class as the determining factor to assess how servants and working class women occupy private and public space and articulate or fail to realize their desires. Drawing upon published and unpublished holograph and typescript drafts of the shorter fiction in The Monks House Papers as well as the Berg Collection, this book examines Woolf's oscillating patterns of elision, idealization, and contempt for the voices and desires of female servants, lesbians, gypsies, and other disenfranchised women. The Servants of Desire in Virginia Woolf's Shorter Fiction also assesses how the portrayal of working class women in the shorter fiction becomes a vital template for the representation of working class women in Woolf's novels and essays. This study of the cumulative portrayal of the working class woman in all of Virginia Woolf's shorter fiction will also be compelling for anyone interested in social justice, especially for the advocates of equality in gender/race/class/sexuality conflicts
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the Developments of the 9/11 Trial
No full textThis thesis explores what the author learned while reporting on the developments of the 9/11 trial from January through April 2010. The thesis explores several narratives the surround the trial to prosecute self-professed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four co-conspirators. The narratives include discussions with ACLU Staff Attorney Ben Wizner, personal observations and questions raised during reporting, and observations of media reports on the trial
Connecticut Hardcore: A Journalistic Expose on Punk, Hardcore, and DIY Culture in Connecticut
No full textA series of articles about punk culture in Connecticut.This thesis project compiles the first few articles from a planned series of journalistic pieces on the punk and hardcore music scene in Connecticut. The following articles provide an inside glance into Connecticut's punk "do-it-yourself" (DIY) aesthetic and underground youth culture. Written in a "new journalism" style, the interviews and in-depth narratives aim to discover what it is that draws a certain demographic into this culture, as well as what differentiates the world of underground punk DIY from the other milieus of youth culture.
The articles compiled within feature a personal essay/introduction, a first person narrative-based review of a local hardcore show at State University of New York at Purchase, an interview with the proprietors of Redscroll Records in Wallingford, and an interview with John Longyear of Audobon Records, an independent "bedroom" record label
EFFECTS OF FAST FORWORD ON PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS AND RAPID NAMING SKILLS OF AT-RISK STUDENTS
No full textThe current study examined the efficacy of Fast ForWord, a computer-based intervention designed to improve the auditory processing skills associated with language development and the subsequent acquisition of reading skills. The study used a randomized pre-test and post-test control design to examine the impact of Fast ForWord on the phonological awareness and rapid naming skills, of students who have failed to meet proficiency on the Connecticut Mastery Test in Reading as measured by the Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing. The sample was recruited from a target population of 78 students from an urban school, between grades four and eight who were identified as at-risk students by scoring at the basic or below basic level on the 2008 Connecticut Mastery Test in Reading. A multiple regression and a two- group MANOVA were conducted as the methods in data analysis in this research. Results of the MANOVA indicated no significant differences in the levels of the independent variable, as defined by treatment and control group. Results of the multiple regression indicated that percentage of program completion predicted posttest phonological scores but not posttest rapid naming scores. Connecticut Mastery Test in Reading scores, when entered in the regression model, did not predict posttest phonological awareness or posttest rapid naming scores.Doctor of Education (EdD)Education & Educational Psycholog
The Influence of Big Banks in Congress
No full textThis thesis is an argument describing the growing influence of big banks in Congress. Officials are elected to represent those who elected them. When officials act on behalf of banks with deep pockets the democratic process fails. Lobbying is necessary, but dangerous in its extreme. Striking a balance is imperative to the survival of the American economy. economy
EFFECTS OF LISTENING STRATEGIES INSTRUCTION ON LISTENING COMPREHENSION, ORAL PROFICIENCY, AND METACOGNITION ON SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS
No full textSecond language programs in the 21st century need to provide students with the linguistic and cultural skills they need to communicate proficiently in a global community. Therefore, curriculum and instruction must focus on developing all four skills needed for language acquisition: listening, reading, speaking and writing. However, the skill of listening has often been overlooked in the second language classroom; teachers have assumed that language learners know how to listen effectively and little attention has been paid to teaching the skill. A strategy-based approach could give second language instructors the tools necessary to provide learners with the knowledge, support and practice they need to enhance their language gains.
Based on this premise, this study examined the potential benefits of explicit instruction on listening strategies in the Spanish classroom, using authentic materials for a period of 8-weeks. It measured students’ comprehension of aural input, oral proficiency, and metacognition. The explicit instruction of listening skills involved five steps: (a) training Spanish teachers on listening strategies, (b) selecting authentic materials, (c) assessing students' listening comprehension, oral proficiency level, and metacognitive listening strategies use, (d) implementing strategy instruction, and (e) post-evaluation of student listening comprehension, oral proficiency, and metacognitive strategy use. Using a sample of convenience in which n = 97 students, at two different school sites and belonging to two different District Reference Groups (DRGs), this study assessed the impact of listening strategies in six classes among heterogeneously grouped students in freshman levels II and III Spanish classes.
This study had a Quasi-Experimental Control-Group Pretest-Posttest Design and used the following instruments to determine the impact of listening strategies instruction: the Minnesota Language Proficiency Assessment (MLPA)’s Contextualized Listening Assessment (CoLA) to assess listening comprehension, the Simulated Oral Proficiency Interview (SOPI) in Spanish to measure oral proficiency, and the Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire (MALQ) to determine the use of metacognitive strategies.
Findings from one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and one-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) using the listening comprehension and metacognitive awareness pretests as covariates, showed statistically significant differences between the experimental and the comparison groups on the oral proficiency variable. Thus, students who were exposed to the explicit instruction of listening strategies were impacted by the program. Finally, this study provides teachers with guidelines and materials on how to implement a strategy-based program in a second language classroom.
RESUMEN
Los programas de segundo idioma en el siglo XXI deben proveer a los estudiantes las habilidades lingüísticas y culturales que necesitan para comunicarse con destreza en la comunidad global. Por lo tanto, el plan de estudios y la enseñanza deben enfocarse en el desarrollo de las cuatro habilidades que se necesitan para adquirir un idioma: leer, escuchar, escribir, y hablar. Sin embargo, la habilidad de escuchar ha escapado la atención de los maestros; éstos han creído que los estudiantes de lenguas ya saben escuchar con eficacia y por lo tanto han puesto poca atención a enseñar cómo escuchar. Un enfoque pedagógico basado en la enseñanza de estrategias puede dar a los maestros las herramientas necesarias para dar a los estudiantes el conocimiento, el apoyo y la práctica que necesitan para mejorar su adquisición lingüística.
Basándose en esta premisa, este estudio examinó los beneficios potenciales de la enseñanza explícita de estrategias para escuchar in la clase de español, usando materiales auténticos, por un período de 8 semanas. Midió el nivel de comprensión oral, la habilidad de expresión oral y la meta cognición. La enseñanza explícita de las estrategias para escuchar consistió en cinco etapas: (a) el entrenamiento de los maestros en estrategias para escuchar; (b) la selección de materiales auténticos; (c) la evaluación de la comprensión oral, la habilidad de expresión oral y el uso de estrategias meta cognitivas para escuchar; (d) la implementación de la enseñanza de estrategias; y (e) la post evaluación después del tratamiento de la comprensión oral, la habilidad de expresión oral y el uso de estrategias meta cognitivas para escuchar. Usando una muestra de conveniencia de n = 97 estudiantes de dos escuelas secundarias diferentes, y que pertenecen a dos Grupos de Referencia por Distrito (DRGs), este estudio evaluó el impacto de estrategias para escuchar en seis clases agrupadas heterogéneamente, y que pertenecían al primer año de enseñanza de español al nivel de escuela secundaria, designadas como niveles II y III de la lengua.
Este estudio tuvo un diseño cuasi-experimental de grupo comparación, usando pre-test and post-test y usó los siguientes instrumentos para medir el impacto de la instrucción de estrategias para escuchar: el Contextualized Listening Assessment (CoLA) que es parte del Minnesota Language Proficiency Assessment (MLPA) para medir la comprensión oral, la Simulated Oral Proficiency Interview (SOPI) en español para medir la destreza de expresión oral, y el Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire (MALQ) para determinar el impacto en el uso de estrategias meta cognitivas.
Los resultados del análisis de la varianza (ANOVA) y del análisis de covarianza (ANCOVA), usando los resultados del pre-test de comprensión oral y de metacognición como covarianzas, mostraron diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre los grupos experimental y de comparación en la variable expresión oral. Por esto, se puede decir que aquellos estudiantes que recibieron instrucción explícita de estrategias para escuchar fueron impactados por dicho programa. Finalmente, este estudio ofrece a los maestros pautas y materiales auténticos para implementar un programa de estrategias para escuchar en la enseñanza de una segunda lengua.Doctor of Education (EdD)Education & Educational Psycholog