MA and AGC Scholarly Papers

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/10125/67805

Non-thesis MA and all AGC students are required to write a Scholarly Paper (SP) before completing their degree and certificate, respectively. This SP is usually based on previously written term papers which have been subject to review and criticism. The quality of a SP should reflect that of articles normally appearing in the standard research journals of the field. Scholarly papers are evaluated by two faculty members in terms of the significance of the problem addressed, scholarship, objectivity, soundness of procedure and method, clarity of presentation, insight and perspective.

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 43
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    Identity and social media interactions between L1 and L2 Spanish speakers: The case of Reddit postings
    ( 2023-05) Eastman, Lydia ; González-Lloret, Marta ; Kasper, Gabriele
    How do Spanish speaking users of the social media platform Reddit present their identities in an anonymous digital setting? This study examines interactions between anonymous users in the subreddit r/Spanish which is an online forum dedicated to language learning. It is composed of nearly 260,000 users, many of whom are either L1 or L2 speakers of Spanish, who frequently discuss topics surrounding language learning, pragmatics, and metalinguistic explanations of Spanish. In order to learn how identities and cyperpragmatics are developed and presented among anonymous users online, digital discourse and pragmatics were employed to examine two Reddit postings and their subsequent discussions between responders. The results of this study shows how Reddit users within the subreddit r/Spanish often use personal user flair (a customizable and public note that each user can attach as a tag to their username), discourse, digital resources, and cyber pragmatics to present their identities. This study contributes to the growing field of study surrounding spontaneous digital discourse and pragmatics among language learners.
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    The Effectiveness of One-on-One Teaching English Pronunciation for an Adult Japanese English Learner
    ( 2023-08) Iida, Chisae ; Crowther, Dustin ; Isbell, Daniel R.
    This study examined the effectiveness of one-on-one pronunciation tutoring sessions in improving the accuracy of phoneme production, comprehensibility, and accentedness of English pronunciation for an adult Japanese English learner. The principal aim of the investigation was to enhance the comprehensibility and accentedness of speech through the provision of explicit instruction on both segmentals and suprasegmentals features, with a particular emphasis on eight specific target phonemes (/θ/, /ð/, /l/, /ɹ/, /f/, /p/, /b/, and /v/). One Japanese adult English learner participated in the pronunciation tutoring sessions and received 16 hours of intensive English pronunciation instruction. The learner practiced the eight target sounds through tongue twisters, minimal-pair, and English Accent Coach activities, and shadowing practice. The post-test results showed improvement in accentedness, indicating that the participant's English pronunciation had become closer to nativelikeness. There was also a noticeable difference in comprehensibility between the pre-test and post-test scores. However, the accuracy of phoneme production did not improve across all eight target sounds. Upon closer analysis, it was found that five of the sounds (/θ/, /p/, /ð/, /b/, and /ɹ/) showed improvement, while the other four sounds did not. Overall, this study provided insights into the effectiveness of one-on-one pronunciation tutoring sessions for an adult Japanese English learner seeking to improve English pronunciation. The findings suggested that explicit instruction and consistent practice could lead to significant improvements in comprehensibility and accentedness, even if the accuracy of phonemes was not improved across all target sounds.
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    Language Use of Japanese-English Bilingual Families and Association with Children's Oral Proficiency in Heritage Japanese
    ( 2023-08) Roos, Sachiko N. ; Grüter, Therese ; O'Grady, William
    The maintenance and development of heritage language (HL) has been influenced by various factors surrounding heritage speakers; however, it is unclear what factors could closely impact children’s oral proficiency. In this exploratory study, I examined the relationships between proximal and distal input factors, and children's oral lexical proficiency in the heritage and community language, among Japanese-English speaking bicultural families in the U.S. Twenty-one children from bilingual families in Hawai‘i and Washington completed an oral picture naming task in both Japanese and English (HALA, adapted from O’Grady et al., 2009) and a semi-structured interview about their family language use. Mothers and fathers separately completed an online survey containing questions about the language use and other potential language-related factors. The analysis of the collected data explored their language use consistency among the family members, the association between the language use and the children’s vocabulary proficiency, and the potential differences in factors between the two regions. The results from the children’s and parents' reports indicated consistency in reciprocal language use among parents and children, found positive correlations between the quantity of parental language outputs to their child and children’s oral lexical proficiency. Additionally, no notable differences were found between the two regions in the U.S. besides non-native Japanese parents’ HL use that was promoted with the heritage community’s support.
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    Social Factors in Heritage Language Maintenance in Hawai‘i
    ( 2023-12) Mase, Chihiro ; Higgins, Christina ; Crowther, Dustin
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    Straight Up Howzit? A Schema Analysis of the Role of Pidgin in Police Work in Hawai‘i
    ( 2023-12) Andrada, Scott ; Higgins, Christina ; Crookes, Graham V.
    While Hawai’i’s multilingual and multicultural diversity is celebrated, the nature of multilingual practices in daily life is not well researched. To address this problem, this study draws on interview data to understand the role of languages other than English in the workplace, with a focus on Pidgin (Hawaiʻi Creole). I analyze interviews with three local police officers to better understand how they make use of Pidgin in their interaction with the community, and I use the officers’ reports to construct a set of schemas that govern their language choices. The study demonstrates that Pidgin is a valued resource that is regularly used to empower Hawaiʻi police officers to connect to their constituents, create harmonious relationships, and resolve problems while on patrol.
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    Relationship between English Proficiency Test Scores and Academic Success at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa
    ( 2024-05) McGehee, Maggie ; Crowther, Dustin ; Isbell, Daniel R.
    This study compared the relationship between English language proficiency (ELP) test scores and academic success at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (UHM) and evaluated whether academic outcomes differed for students who entered on the basis of different tests. Locally, this represents one step in evaluating the validity of using the Duolingo English Test (DET) in admissions decisions. More broadly, it fills a gap in the literature by examining outcomes in a new context (a large, public, less selective university in the US), including a newer test (DET), and covering a wider range of ELP scores than is typically represented in such research. In addition to GPA as an indicator of student success, this study considered proportions of students on academic probation or withdrawing in relation to test submitted, and also made comparisons to international students who were exempt from submitting an ELP score for admission. Further, it compared students admitted unconditionally with higher ELP scores, to those with lower ELP scores admitted contingent upon further English language instruction. Findings are relevant to discussing valid use of DET alongside IELTS and TOEFL in admissions at UHM, while incorporating academic outcomes indicators beyond score correlations with GPA.
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    Codenames: How board game play affects word association skills and student motivation in an English language classroom
    ( 2023-12) Cowan, Alison ; Crowther, Dustin ; Isbell, Daniel R.
    This exploratory research uses a game-based language (GBL) pedagogic approach to focus on the word association skills of adult English language learners. It employs a pre- and post-test for quantitative analysis to examine how word association skills improve between treatment and control groups. Qualitative analysis of questionnaire responses is used to explore learners’ perceptions of playing the online game Codenames as a tool for language learning. The results of the test scores are not statistically significant due to a small sample size. However, analysis of the data hints at the potential for GBL as an engaging and motivating pedagogical approach that brings fun and challenge into the learning environment.
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    A Korean EFL Teacher's Agency and Identity Construction Process: A Discourse Analysis Approach
    ( 2023-12) Joo, Ye Won ; Gilliland, Betsy ; Crookes, Graham V.
    This paper explores the discursive practices of a South Korean middle school English teacher in light of the growing gap between South Korean education’s social and cultural ideologies and the teacher’s sense-making process under contradicting circumstances. In contrast with the image of South Korea portrayed by foreign media and Western scholarship as one of the leading countries for education in general and English education in particular (Jenks, 2017; Park, 2009; Seth, 2002; Shim & Park, 2008), workers in the field of education in this country appear to be in agony (Kim, 2017; Namgung et al., 2020). To examine such a contradiction, a semi-structured interview with one South Korean English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher was conducted to investigate her work discourses in relation to concepts of teacher agency (Bourdieu, 1977; Tharp & Gallimore, 1988; Wertsch, 1991; Vygotsky, 1978) and teacher identity (Sachs, 2005). Analysis utilized the discourse analytic tools of positioning (Bamberg, 2004) and footing (Goffman, 1981) to better understand the deontic discursive practices that comprise the social practice of claiming the authority to dictate how education should be done in South Korea. The findings show that although there seems to be strong resistance to the impositions and demands by the hostile parties at the workplace, evidence indicates some instances of coping strategies in the same discourses.
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    Taking foreign language beyond the classroom and into everyday life: Non-heritage language learners of Korean in the foreign language context
    ( 2024-05) Au, Kristine ; Higgins, Christina ; Zheng, Dongping
    When Korean language instruction first emerged in the United States, classrooms were typically dominated by heritage language learners with the presumed motivation to communicate with family members and other native (L1) Korean speakers. More recently, however, the range of language learners of Korean has been diversifying and more non-heritage language learners have been studying the language. As the backgrounds of learners expand, research on different learners’ motivations, learning outcomes, and experiences have followed (Kim, 2021; Nikitina Furuoka, & Kamarudin, 2019; Wang & Pyun, 2021). These studies primarily focus on the role of popular culture, classroom experiences, and academic uses of Korean as an additional language. However, studies have yet to examine how such language learners might use Korean outside of academic contexts after formal study has been completed. Accordingly, this study explores such language use through interviews with participants who continue to use Korean after learning it formally in the classroom. In addition to interviews, this study analyzes participants’ language use in the form of text message data to explore how these learners position themselves in conversations with L1 and second language (L2) Korean speakers in light of their non-heritage status. The findings of this study suggest that when removed from the academic domain of language use, non-heritage users of Korean in foreign language (FL) contexts use Korean in their daily activities and establish and maintain relationships with communities of other L1 and L2 Korean speakers. The findings also suggest that when using Korean, they recognize their position as foreigners to the culture and language, but this identity does not become the source of interactional problems.
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    Language Maintenance and Identity of 3rd Generation Russian Heritage Language Speakers in the US
    ( 2024-05) Wilkinson, Anastasia ; Gilliland, Elizabeth ; Crookes, Graham
    There is a significant lack of research on third-generation Heritage Language Speakers (HLS). Research that currently exists on the subject is scattered and unsystematized, mostly focused on studies of first- and second-generation HLS. A study on reasons for maintenance of language competence and cultural identity in third-generation Russian Heritage Language Speakers living within the United States has not been conducted. The current study investigates a small sample of third-generation Russian Heritage Language Speakers’ views on their cultural identity and reasons for language maintenance. Through thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted through Zoom with five participants, some clear themes for language maintenance along with third-generation Russian Heritage cultural identity were identified. A desire to pass on the language to the next generation and affiliation with Russian culture and Orthodox Christian religion were amongst some of the reasons for language maintenance. Themes of identity included strong ties to Russian communities that were established in places throughout the US by the first wave of Russian emigres who arrived after the Russian Revolution of 1917. Another theme included the attitude towards modern-day Russian language by the participants who have retained an older and more literary form of Russian. Most of the participants shared similar experiences of prejudice as a result of the war between Russia and Ukraine that started in February 2022. In conclusion, this study found that a strong connection to heritage and motivation to pass the language on to the next generation determines a successful outcome in HL acquisition and maintenance. The participants emphasized the importance of a rigorous heritage language program. Making HL learning programs available at educational systems near large HLS communities, along with parental support, would help HLS families maintain their HL.