This dissertation explored Beninese English teachers' prior experience in writing in English and its implications for teaching writing in English in the Benin Republic. Grounded in a social constructionist paradigm, this dissertation used a qualitative research approach with initial survey, autobiographical narrative essay, and interviews to…

Despite some rises and falls in the numbers due to various reasons, including the political climate in the Trump era and the COVID-19 pandemic (Laws & Ammigan, 2020), each year universities in the United States host a large number of multilingual international students from different parts of the world. Based on their TOEFL scores, many are…

Leveraging the effectiveness of Concept-Based Language Instruction (C-BLI) in language teaching and learning, including in the teaching of specific linguistic features of target languages (Negueruela, 2003; Van Compernolle, 2012), pragmatic elements such as sarcasm (Kim & Lantolf, 2018), and even discipline-specific concepts (e.g., Casal,…

Uganda Baptist Seminary (UBS) is accredited by the Ugandan National Council for Higher Education and teaches church leaders from Uganda and its surrounding seven countries. The required language of educational instruction is English, although the students come from a multitude of different native languages. This research stems from a need to…

Since the 1940's, the United States has opened its doors for international students to study and gain knowledge and skills within its borders. However, there are considerable concerns about the integration of these international students and their participation in the classroom. Most international students hail from different cultural and social…

The vast development of digital technology and the widespread use of social network platforms have reshaped how we live in the world. For L2 learners to maximally utilize their language proficiency to function effectively as members of modern society, they need not only the necessary L2 knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) but also essential…

In this dissertation, I investigated how cognitive resources as well as formal, and informal language experience impact language learning in two studies. In the first study (Chapter 2), I examined the learning of Spanish grammatical gender by Chinese international students who were studying abroad in the US. The goal of that study was to uncover…

This classroom-based case study examines how Spanish-English emergent bilingual children in a second grade one-way immersion classroom draw on prior knowledge and experiences and use comprehension strategies to discuss and comprehend three texts with different levels of cultural relevance. Through an examination of the rich range of cognitive,…

Although there is significant research surrounding online foreign language education, there are still questions on whether the outcomes are comparable to those obtained in the traditional face-to-face classroom. This study examined four classes, two online and two face-to-face, where students took the second course of a 6-level program of English…

This dissertation explores the processes that drive perceptual adaptation to variation in speech by examining how sources of prediction and uncertainty modulate perceptual learning processes. In particular, we examined how the perceptual system leverages different types of information during adaptation, varying in the degree to which they predict…

Because language provides the framework through which knowledge is constructed, it is crucial to consider the ways in which students with limited English proficiencies are able to express their understanding. English language learners (ELLs) make up a significant portion of the student body in the education system and represent many ethnic and…

This dissertation explores seven second language (L2) undergraduates' learning experiences in a First-Year Writing (FYW) course at an American university. While the FYW course is designed from the perspective of first-language (L1) composition scholarship and focuses, broadly speaking, on analytical writing and the related development of critical…

Using de-identified data, this study investigated the relationship between racial categories with curriculum-based early writing measures (CBM-W), which included word dictation, picture word sentence writing, and story prompt tasks for over 300 participants in Grades 1, 2, and 3. Words written, words spelled correctly, correct letter sequences,…

Unacceptable use of the English language by English language learners (ELLs) at the college level has been determined to be a major deterrent to their success in academia. The problem is that ELLs who complete a language acquisition program may not necessarily perform well in core academic subjects because of persisting language barriers. It is…

This study examines the use of Spanish as the language of instruction with Spanish dominant EL students in a 9th grade Algebra 1 classroom. The study documents conceptions of mathematical symbols at the start and at the end of the academic year of two groups of students; one receiving primary language instruction and another receiving sheltered…