1,720,976 research outputs found
Secondary Teacher Attitudes toward Including English-Language Learners in Mainstream Classrooms
Get PDFResearchers have given limited attention to teacher attitudes toward inclusion of English-language learners (ELLs) in mainstream classrooms. The author explored four categories within secondary teacher attitudes toward ELL inclusion: (a) ELL inclusion, (b) coursework modification for ELLS, (c) professional development for working with ELLs, and (d) perceptions of language and language learning. Findings from a survey of 279 subject-area high school teachers indicate a neutral to slightly positive attitude toward ELL inclusion, a somewhat positive attitude toward coursework modification, a neutral attitude toward professional development for working with ELLs, and educator misconceptions regarding how second languages are learned
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Like Everybody Else : Equalizing Educational Opportunity for English Language Learners
Get PDFEqual educational opportunity for all students has long been a goal of public education in the United States. Realizing equality of educational opportunity for English language learners (ELLs), however, has proven to be a difficult task. This article examines 1 high school community\u27s perception of educational opportunity and its approach to equalizing it. The findings reveal a community-wide endorsement of a policy of equal treatment for equalizing educational opportunity. This policy of difference blindness, however, was found to produce inequities for ELLs in at least 2 ways: restricted access to course content and inaccurate assessment and grading. Although teacher participants recognized inequities, they considered them temporary and tolerable. As educational opportunity was accessible only through English, equal treatment, which was perceived to speed English acquisition, was viewed to be the most effective approach for equalizing opportunity. Equality of educational opportunity at the school site, therefore, required ELLs to be normalized through linguistic assimilation, and an ideology of difference blindness through difference erasure was evident. Implications include the need for educational institutions to rethink approaches to equalizing opportunity and a call for reenvisioning educational opportunity as a participatory concept
Secondary Teachers’ Attitudes and Perceptions of the Inclusion of ESL Students in Mainstream Classes
Get PDFThe enrollment of English language learners (ELLs) in U.S. public schools has increased dramatically in the past three decades. With the predominance of pull-out ESL programs, ELLs spend much of their day in the classrooms of mainstream teachers who may have received little or no training to work with language minority students. The purpose of this study was to examine high school teachers’ attitudes and perceptions of ESL inclusion in mainstream classes. The research design included both quantitative and qualitative inquiries. First, a survey was administered to 279 subject area teachers in four high schools to measure teachers’ attitudes and perceptions of ESL inclusion. Second, a qualitative inquiry, consisting of a five-month interview and observation cycle of four high school teachers, examined the experiences of teachers of ELLs in detail.
While teachers’ general attitudes toward ESL inclusion in mainstream classes were positive, this study revealed teachers’ frustration with their lack of time, training, and support to work effectively with ELLs. In addition, teachers’ perceptions of the utility of ELLs’ native languages as a classroom resource were generally negative, and teachers encouraged the rapid linguistic assimilation of ELLs. Teachers’ attitudes toward the modification of coursework suggested teachers’ belief in equalizing coursework standards for all students regardless of English proficiency. Finally, survey participants perceived the inclusion of ELLs in mainstream classes to be a multicultural learning experience for English proficient students. Data from the qualitative inquiry, however, portrayed ELLs as marginal members of mainstream classrooms who rarely interacted with English proficient peers or teachers.
Implications of teachers’ attitudes and perceptions of ESL inclusion and recommendations for further research conclude the study
A Sociocultural Perspective on ESOL Teachers’ Linguistic Knowledge for Teaching
Get PDFWithin a sociocultural frame, teacher knowledge finds its origin in the entirety of teachers’ lived experiences, not just those experiences within teacher preparation. Teachers’ biographies, including their experiences as language learners, shape their knowledge base for teaching English to speakers of other languages (ESOL). This study interrogates one element of that knowledge base: teachers’ linguistic knowledge for teaching. Cases studies of two early career ESOL teachers with similar language learner biographies, that of first language (L1) Center English speakers with limited second language (L2) learning experienee, provided insight into the ways participants’ language biographies informed their linguistic knowledge for teaching. Findings indicated that participants’ L1 knowledge of English did not provide them with the linguistic knowledge they needed for ESOL teaching. Implications for ESOL teacher education include better attuning teacher preparation programs to teacher candidates’ biographies
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Teacher Investment in Learner Identity
Get PDFFrom a sociocultural perspective, teacher identity is constructed in relation to others, including other teachers and students. Drawing on positioning theory and the concept of investment, this study analyzed the case of a secondary English teacher who negotiated his teacher identity in relation to English language learners (ELLs). Findings indicated that the teacher made an investment in ELLs’ identity by positioning them as like any other student. The desired return on the teacher’s investment was a strengthened self-positioning as a natural and highly competent teacher. The implications of teacher investment in learner identity for teacher practice, learner identity construction, and teacher education are discussed
- …
