scholarly journals The Innocence Device by W. Kowalski

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberley Morton
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Struggling Readers ◽  
English Language ◽  
High Tech ◽  
School Students ◽  
Unexpected Death ◽  
School Division ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Award Winning

Kowalski, William. The Innocence Device. Victoria, BC: Raven Books, 2014. Print.From award-winning author, William Kowalski, comes another thought-provoking, quick-read, thriller, The Innocence Device. Set in the year 2147, we meet Chago, a twenty-four year old prisoner in the JustiCorps McDowell prison-city. Each day is filled with fear, misery, and extreme poverty for many living within the prison-city walls. The only gift in Chago’s wretched life is his son, Jim-Jim, born to a female prison guard. With overcrowding and prison living conditions growing worse each day, JustiCorps develops a “good and merciful” solution. Prisoners will have the choice to walk through the newly developed Innocence Device, a high-tech machine that the Warden claims can accurately determine a prisoner’s innocence or guilt. If the device determines an inmate to be truly innocent of his crimes, he receives immediate freedom. If guilt is decided, death is instantaneous. Many prisoners choose to risk their lives for the chance at freedom, but too many good inmates are struck with unexpected death. It is soon discovered that the device is rigged, and the prisoners revolt. The highest-ranking prisoner, Krios, takes control of the prison-city, and establishes a rule worse than before. After Jim-Jim’s mother is executed by Krios, Chago is sent outside the prison walls to dispose of her body. Here, he realizes the outside world is not what he was led to believe, but despite this, chooses to return to the prison. Chago soon finds himself in a position of power, and so, must decide whether to embrace this power or save what he values most.Chago, although simple and unassuming, is a character that many readers will cheer on to due to his familiar struggles with bullying, fear, authority, and love for family. Although his resourcefulness and ingenuity aids in his success, it does not seem believable at times, and leaves the reader questioning whether his success was just luck or actually a result of his unexpected cleverness. He is, however, a character that strikes emotion, and readers truly want him to win in the end. Yet, with little time to develop plot, many situations are left unexplained, and readers are left to question why certain things are the way they are, or how situations came to be. A stretch of the imagination may be needed in some places, and with a serious tone, this book may not appeal to those looking for a lighthearted tale.Intended as an adult fiction book for English language learners, this book would work well for those high school students who are reluctant and/or struggling readers. The writing is fairly simple in style, with short sentences and short chapters. This is a positive, however, as it allows for students to read small sections at a time, lessening frustration. Simple language, mixed with the occasional challenging word, also presents opportunities for literacy development.Despite some flaws in plot and a lack of detail, the relevant themes, a unique setting, and timely suspense, this book will engage young adult readers, and certainly be a popular addition to any school library.Recommended: 3 out of 4 StarsReviewer: Kimberley K. MortonKim Morton is a secondary History teacher and Learning Coordinator with the Saskatoon Public School Division. She is currently working toward her Masters of Education, specializing in Teacher-Librarianship, through the University of Alberta. She strives to make research and inquiry meaningful, relevant, and fun for her students, and is looking to gain more experience with current technology, trends, and tools. She enjoys sports, is an avid reader of historical novels, and loves going to the movies.

scholarly journals Empowering Teenage English Language Learners Through Creative Projects

2020 ◽  
Vol 2019 (1) ◽  
pp. 67
Author(s):  
Mari Nakamura
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Private Language ◽  
School Students ◽  
Japanese Students ◽  
Senior High School Students

Research shows that Japanese students’ motivation for English study tends to decline as they move through their schooling and that secondary-level students’ schoolwork-related anxiety rises as they grow older. In this practice-oriented paper, I first discuss the learning background and needs of junior and senior high school students at my private language school. I then describe small-scale “creative projects” that I design and implement with the aim of fostering the students’ intrinsic motivation for English language learning and to improve their confidence in expressing and discussing original ideas in English. The description of a sample project illustrates the project goal, class profile, and project procedure. My reflective comments regarding the effectiveness of the project in achieving the above-mentioned goals are also provided. Finally, the limitations of creative projects and possibilities of further improvements are discussed. 数々のリサーチが日本の中高生の英語学習への意欲は学年が上がるほどに減退し、彼らの学習についての不安は成長とともに高まると示唆している。この実践報告レポートでは、まず筆者の主宰する民間英語教室での中高生の学習状況と彼らが有する独特のニーズを自己決定理論と内発的動機づけに関する理論の観点を通して紹介する。次に、彼らの英語学習への内発的動機を育み、英語で独自のアイディアを表現する自信を高めるために当校で開発、実施している小規模な創造的プロジェクトを解説する。プロジェクトの描写ではプロジェクトの目的、クラス構成と活動手順を示し、プロジェクトが目的を果たす上での効果についての指導者の振り返りコメントも提示する。また最後に、現在の創造的プロジェクトの限界と今後の改善の可能性を述べる。

scholarly journals SITUATED PERSPECTIVES ON THE MOTIVATIONAL TRAJECTORIES OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS LEARNING ENGLISH IN RURAL VIETNAM

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-266
Author(s):  
Cuong Huy Pham
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
English Language Learners ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Social Practice ◽  
English Language ◽  
School Students ◽  
Situated Perspective ◽  
Learning English

Despite the growing body of research on the complex and contextually contingent nature of language learning motivation, investigations into the motivation of English language learners in rural areas have remained limited. This study explores the motivational constructions of two high school students learning English in rural Southeast Vietnam from a situated perspective. The students, one female and one male, were in their first year at high school and had relatively low levels of English. Data gathering took approximately one and a half years and was based primarily on interviews drawing on a social practice approach and observations. Findings reveal that students developed diverse motivational trajectories resulting from a synergy of social and idiosyncratic elements pertinent to their own learning conditions, interpersonal relationships, and their agentive appraisals of language affordances and learning opportunities available within and across settings. The longitudinal and situated perspective of this study provides insights into the ways in which students’ appraisals of affordances were shaped and reshaped by on-going interactions with significant others as well as by the sociocultural values permeating their agentive practices.

scholarly journals Enhancing English Language Learners’ Conversation Abilities via CA-informed Sitcom Lessons

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 121
Author(s):  
Abdulloh Waedaoh ◽  
Kemtong Sinwongsuwat
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
English Language Learners ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Role Play ◽  
Public High School ◽  
School Students ◽  
Leave Taking

The study investigated the effectiveness of Conversation Analysis (CA)-informed sitcom lessons in enhancing conversation abilities of Thai learners of English. The participants included 42 high school students enrolled in an English for Communication course at a public high school in Southern Thailand. Through 15-week sitcom lessons, they were taught how to construct conversation sequences to accomplish such sequential actions as greeting and leave-taking, dis/agreement, new announcement, compliment, invitation, and request, as well as to collaboratively analyze conversations from the sitcoms and role-play them at the end of each lesson. Before and after the series of lessons, the participants were engaged in role-play conversations that were videotaped for subsequent assessment of their conversation abilities. The findings from both comparative statistical and close single-case analyses revealed significant improvements in all the aspects assessed especially regarding grammar and appropriacy. Therefore, it is recommended that EFL teachers should apply CA principles to teaching English conversation, integrating conversations from authentic materials such as sitcoms to strengthen English language learners’ conversation abilities.

scholarly journals A is for activist by I. Nagar

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie Aitken
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
English Language ◽  
Solar Panels ◽  
School Students ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Alphabet Books ◽  
Book Format ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The University

Nagar, Innosanto.  A is for activist.  Mississauga, Ontario: Random House, 2013. Print.A publisher’s release indicates that Innosanto Nagar is the founder of “…The Design Action Collective, a worker-owned cooperative design studio in Oakland, California, that is dedicated to “serving the movement…” (Enclosure dated November 16, 2013).  It is not the least bit surprising, then, that he would produce a book in the cause of activism; in fact, he would appear singularly qualified to do so.  But that he should, in good conscience, produce this particular book is baffling.At times political propaganda, always a diatribe, A is for activism comes in the form of a board book for tiny hands, and in the guise of an ABC book.  Who is Nagar’s intended audience?  Or, more cynically, just whom is his publisher trying to kid?The underlying intent of English language alphabet books is to introduce preschoolers to phonics.  Typically, words and illustrations are kept within the young child’s own experience level, real or vicarious.  One is free to agree with the following sentiment; it is, however, absurd to suggest it as an appropriate mnemonic for fastening the sound of the letter “d” in the mind of a three-year-old:            “Little d democracy            More than voting, you’ll agree.            Dictators Detest it. Donkeys Don’t get it.            But you and me? We Demand equality!” It also strains credibility to think that the symbolism of the illustration accompanying this stanza, a donkey and an elephant butting heads, will be grasped by American infants. This mnemonic for “n,” I grant you, might appeal to a two-year-old; but his mother?  Not so much.            “N is for NO             No! No! No!            Yes, to what we want.             No to what must go!             No! No! No!” Finally, if you are seriously opposed to the expanding use of fossil fuels, join the adult conversation.  Sell your car.  Install some solar panels. Vote.  Don’t waste time teaching your babies to chant,            “Silly Selfish Scoundrels Sucking on dinosaur Sludge!”Some of Nagar’s ideas would be worth presenting to high school students—but not in board book format.   For young children, there are excellent picture books about people who have championed human causes with courage and conviction; for example, Every Day is Malala Day by Rosemary McCarney.  Don’t buy A is for activist for a little child.  If you must have it, buy it as a gift for your adult friend who joins causes.  With this last possibility in mind, I am awarding the book one out of four stars.Not Recommended: 1 out of 4 starsReviewer:  Leslie AitkenLeslie Aitken’s long career in librarianship involved selection of children’s literature for school, public, special, and university collections.  She is a former Curriculum Librarian at the University of Alberta.

scholarly journals The effect of topic selection on writing fluency among Japanese high school students

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Lin Lubold ◽  
Sarah Forbes ◽  
Ian Stevenson
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
English Language Learners ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Writing Fluency ◽  
School Students ◽  
Student Meaning

Written fluency and fluency building activities have been shown to promote linguistic choice and student voice development, increased ability to express ideas using complex grammatical structures and greater intrinsic motivation in English language learners. Since the 1970’s, process-oriented writing has been emphasized, yielding an amplified focus on meaning of student content over linguistic form precision. Current research of writing fluency must delve deeper into questions of student ownership of topic and the outcomes for low-risk activities that support fluency practice and encourage confidence building in students. The purpose of this replication study is to further explore previous findings on the effects of topic selection on writing fluency for high school English as foreign language learners. Building off of the work of Bonzo (2008), this study focused on a timed, non-graded writing activity administered to groups of Japanese engineering students in three departments: mechanical, electrical, and global engineering. The six subsequent samples for each participating student were analyzed using online text-analysis for total and unique word counts, providing data used to perform a t-test. Responses to bi-lingual student questionnaires, with prompts on self-perceived written English ability, self-efficacy and strategies for success while writing, provided additional insight into the facets of fluency. The results of these writing sessions offer both confirmation of and contrast to Bonzo’s original work, demonstrate increased student meaning making, and support the use of free writing activities in English language classrooms as a means by which student written fluency may be improved.

Social Capitals and English Language Learning in an Iranian Language Institute

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 328
Author(s):  
Ebrahim Khodadady ◽  
Mozhgan Ashrafborji
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Social Contact ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Language Achievement ◽  
Religious Activities ◽  
School Students ◽  
Social Capitals

This study aimed to 1) explore the social capitals of students who had registered in the three branches of Khorasan Language Institute (KLI) to learn English, 2) establish their factorial validity and 3) explore their relationship with English language achievement. To this end the 40-item Social Capital Scale (SCS) developed by Khodadady and Alaee (2012) and validated with grade three senior high school students in Mashhad was modified and administered to 493 female English language learners (ELLs) in the KLI. The application of Principal Axis Factoring and Varimax with Kaiser Normalization to the collected data showed that the SCS consisted of seven factors, i.e., Social Attachment, Parental Supervision, Parental Expectation, Helpful Others, Social Contact, Religious Activities, and Parent Availability. When the SCS was correlated with the ELLs’ scores on oral and written examinations, no significant relationship could be found between social capitals and English language achievement. Out of seven factors, only Helpful Others correlated significantly but negatively with ELLs' English achievement. The results are discussed from both empirical and theoretical perspectives and suggestions are made for future research.

Peer Disruption and Learning: Links between Suspensions and the Educational Achievement of Non-Suspended Students

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-44
Author(s):  
NaYoung Hwang ◽  
Thurston Domina
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Language Arts ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
English Language ◽  
Educational Achievement ◽  
School Students ◽  
Low Achieving Students ◽  
Disciplinary Cultures

To evaluate the net effects of classroom disciplinary practices, policymakers and educators must understand not only their effects on disciplined students but also their effects on non-disciplined peers. In this study, we estimate the link between peer suspensions and non-suspended students' learning trajectories in a California school district where middle and high school students took up to 12 basic skills tests in mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA) over the course of the 2009-10, 2010-11, and 2011-12 school years. We find that Hispanic students, students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, English language learners, students enrolled in special education, and low-achieving students are disproportionately exposed to classmate suspensions. Analyses with student and classroom fixed effects show that student achievement in mathematics increases when their classmates receive suspensions, particularly suspensions attributed to disruptive behavior. We find no association between classmate suspension and ELA achievement. Since these results come from schools in which suspensions are relatively rare events, they may not generalize to settings with draconian disciplinary cultures. Nonetheless, our findings imply that suspensions, when used appropriately, can improve the academic achievement of non-suspended students, particularly for students from vulnerable populations.

scholarly journals The Effect of Computer-Based Self-Access Learning on Weekly Vocabulary Test Scores

2014 ◽  
pp. 217-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan Dreyer
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
English Language Learners ◽  
High School Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Urban High School ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Remedial Writing ◽  
School Students ◽  
Online Activity ◽  
Vocabulary Retention

This study sets out to clarify the effectiveness of using an online vocabulary study tool, Quizlet, in an urban high school language arts class. Previous similar studies have mostly dealt with English Language Learners in college settings (Chui, 2013), and were therefore not directed at the issue self-efficacy that is at the heart of the problem of urban high school students in America entering remedial writing programs (Rose, 1989). The study involves 95 students over the course of 14 weeks. Students were tested weekly and were asked to use the Quizlet program in their own free time. The result of this optional involvement was that many students did not participate in the treatment and therefore acted as an elective control group. The resultant data collected shows a strong correlation between the use of an online vocabulary review program and short-term vocabulary retention. The study also showed that students who paced themselves and spread out their study sessions outperformed those students who used the program only for last minute “cram sessions.” The implications of the study are that students who take advantage of tools outside of the classroom are able to out perform their peers. The results are also in line with the call to include technology in the Basic Writing classroom not simply as a tool, but as a “form of discourse” (Jonaitis, 2012). Weekly vocabulary tests, combined with the daily online activity as reported by Quizlet, show that: 1) utilizing the review software improved the scores of most students, 2) those students who used Quizlet to review more than a single time (i.e., several days before the test) outperformed those who only used the product once, and 3) students who professed proficiency with the “notebook” system of vocabulary learning appeared not to need the treatment.

scholarly journals Grammar Errors in the Writing of Iraqi English Language Learners

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 122
Author(s):  
Yasir Bdaiwi Jasim Al-Shujairi ◽  
Helen Tan
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
English Language Learners ◽  
High School Students ◽  
University Students ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
English Language ◽  
Analysis Model ◽  
School Students ◽  
Grammatical Errors

Several studies have been conducted to investigate the grammatical errors of Iraqi postgraduates and undergraduates in their academic writing. However, few studies have focused on the writing challenges that Iraqi pre-university students face. This research aims at examining the written discourse of Iraqi high school students and the common grammatical errors they make in their writing. The study had a mixed methods design. Through convenience sampling method, 112 compositions were collected from Iraqi pre-university students. For purpose of triangulation, an interview was conducted. The data was analyzed using Corder’s (1967) error analysis model and James’ (1998) framework of grammatical errors. Furthermore, Brown’s (2000) taxonomy was adopted to classify the types of errors. The result showed that Iraqi high school students have serious problems with the usage of verb tenses, articles, and prepositions. Moreover, the most frequent types of errors were Omission and Addition. Furthermore, it was found that intralanguage was the dominant source of errors. These findings may enlighten Iraqi students on the importance of correct grammar use for writing efficacy. 

Curriculum-Based Measurement in Writing: Predicting the Success of High-School Students on State Standards Tests

2008 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Espin ◽  
Teri Wallace ◽  
Heather Campbell ◽  
Erica S. Lembke ◽  
Jeffrey D. Long ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
High School Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
State Standards ◽  
School Students ◽  
Ell Students ◽  
State Tests ◽  
Tenth Grade ◽  
Indicators Of Success

We examined the technical adequacy of writing progress measures as indicators of success on state standards tests. Tenth-grade students wrote for 10 min, marking their samples at 3, 5, and 7 min. Samples were scored for words written, words spelled correctly, and correct and correct minus incorrect word sequences. The number of correct minus incorrect word sequences written in 7 and 10 min yielded the highest reliability and validity coefficients. Tables of Probable Success were created to illustrate the relation between scores on the progress measures and the state tests. Exploratory analyses of differences in correlations between English Language Learners (ELL) and non-ELL students revealed a similar pattern of results for the 2 groups, but correlations were stronger for ELL students than for non-ELL students.

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