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INTRINSIC AND EXTRINSIC MOTIVATORS THAT IMPACT TEACHER RETENTION IN CHALLENGING URBAN SCHOOLS
Title
INTRINSIC AND EXTRINSIC MOTIVATORS THAT IMPACT TEACHER RETENTION IN CHALLENGING URBAN SCHOOLS.
Creator
Moore, LaSonya, Martin, Suzanne, Nutta, Joyce, Lue, Martha, Heller, H. WIlliam, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Although a plethora of research about teacher attrition exists, very little research has been conducted on the factors that influence teacher retention. The need to identify factors that promote teacher retention is critical to both maintain a well-prepared and contented workforce and also to remedy the current national urban teacher attrition problem. School districts and administrators need to know how to implement systems that support the critical needs of teachers who teach in high...
Show moreAlthough a plethora of research about teacher attrition exists, very little research has been conducted on the factors that influence teacher retention. The need to identify factors that promote teacher retention is critical to both maintain a well-prepared and contented workforce and also to remedy the current national urban teacher attrition problem. School districts and administrators need to know how to implement systems that support the critical needs of teachers who teach in high-poverty, low-performing schools. This phenomenological research study identifies common experiences, practices, supports, and attitudes regarding teacher retention in high-poverty, low-performing urban schools by exploring the lived experiences of five veteran teachers from a large urban district in the southern United States. Data from a school-based teacher and principal survey and individual teacher interviews were collected and analyzed. To increase the validity of the research, the data from teacher interviews, school-based teacher surveys, and school-based principal surveys, were used to triangulate the findings.
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Date Issued
2016
Identifier
CFE0006147, ucf:51159
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006147
The Effect of Feedback Medium on Accuracy with English Articles
Title
The Effect of Feedback Medium on Accuracy with English Articles.
Creator
Giltner, Elizabeth, Nutta, Joyce, Purmensky, Kerry, Clark, M. H., Kaplan, Jeffrey, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Developing and demonstrating English proficiency is a critical skill for non-native English speakers (NNESs) who wish to study in American universities. Unlike their native English speaker (NES) counterparts, NNES students who apply for university admission are required to demonstrate their proficiency in English via tests, such as the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), that measure an NNES's ability to understand, speak, read, and write English. Although the number of students...
Show moreDeveloping and demonstrating English proficiency is a critical skill for non-native English speakers (NNESs) who wish to study in American universities. Unlike their native English speaker (NES) counterparts, NNES students who apply for university admission are required to demonstrate their proficiency in English via tests, such as the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), that measure an NNES's ability to understand, speak, read, and write English. Although the number of students who have attained those minimum scores is large, there is a large population of adult NNESs enrolled in intensive English programs (IEPs) that are designed to help them improve their proficiency in English and again admission into mainstream university courses. Given that many university instructors require the submission of written work that demonstrates students' understanding of course content, perhaps the most important academic skill developed in IEPs is writing. Furthermore, the lack of attention given to addressing grammatical errors at the tertiary level highlights IEP instructors' need for effective and efficient methods of addressing grammatical errors in NNES writing.The present quantitative study used two experimental designs, a pretest-posttest design and a posttest-only design with proxy pretest (Campbell (&) Stanley, 1963), to investigate the efficacy of two types of indirect corrective feedback (CF) for improving adult, IEP-enrolled, intermediate level NNES writers' (participants) grammatical accuracy in academic papers. Grammatical accuracy for this study was measured by counting the number of errors participants committed when using English definite and indefinite articles in academic papers. The independent variable for this study was the type of CF participants were randomly selected to receive (-) either screencast corrective feedback (SCF) or written corrective feedback (WCF). The dependent variable, which measured the effect of the CF given, was the number of errors participants made with English definite and indefinite articles on three compositions completed to satisfy the requirements of their IEP writing class. The results of the current research demonstrated that participants made similar gains in grammatical accuracy when using CF to revise descriptive compositions. These results are in keeping with the results of previous studies that showed the usefulness of CF for improving grammatical accuracy on revised compositions (Bitchener, 2008, Bitchener (&) Knoch, 2008, 2009a, 2009b, 2010a). However, the improvement observed on the revised descriptive compositions did not transfer to new classification essays, regardless of the type of CF participants received. Participants' lack of grammatical accuracy on new compositions of a different genre effectively illustrated the difficulty English articles pose for NNESs when writing and the need for multiple exposures to CF and writing practice to develop NNESs' ability to consistently use English articles accurately.The main implication of the present study lies in the recommendation of the provision of CF to NNES students and systematic instruction about how to use CF received in order to allow NNESs to become more self-sufficient learners and writers of English.
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Date Issued
2016
Identifier
CFE0006106, ucf:51187
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006106
The Effect of Input Modality on Pronunciation Accuracy of English Language Learners
Title
The Effect of Input Modality on Pronunciation Accuracy of English Language Learners.
Creator
Farina, Marcella, Nutta, Joyce, Ehren, Barbara, Mihai, Florin, Xu, Lihua, Ryalls, John, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
The issues relative to foreign accent continue to puzzle second language researchers, educators, and learners today. Although once thought to be at the root, maturational constraints have fallen short of definitively accounting for the myriad levels and rates of phonological attainment (Bialystok (&) Miller, 1999, p. 128). This study, a Posttest-only Control Group Design, examined how the pronunciation accuracy of adult, English language learners, as demonstrated by utterance length, was...
Show moreThe issues relative to foreign accent continue to puzzle second language researchers, educators, and learners today. Although once thought to be at the root, maturational constraints have fallen short of definitively accounting for the myriad levels and rates of phonological attainment (Bialystok (&) Miller, 1999, p. 128). This study, a Posttest-only Control Group Design, examined how the pronunciation accuracy of adult, English language learners, as demonstrated by utterance length, was related to two input stimuli: auditory-only input and auditory-orthographic input. Utterance length and input modality were further examined with the added variables of native language, specifically Arabic and Spanish, and second language proficiency as defined by unofficial TOEFL Listening Comprehension and Reading Comprehension section scores.Results from independent t tests indicated a statistically significant difference in utterance length based on input modality (t(192) = -3.285. p = .001), while with the added variable of native language, factorial ANOVA results indicated no statistically significance difference for the population studied. In addition, multiple linear regression analyses examined input modality and second language proficiency as predictors of utterance length accuracy and revealed a statistically significant relationship (R2 = .108, adjusted R2 = .089, F(3, 144) = 5.805, p = .001), with 11% of the utterance length variance accounted for by these two factors predictors. Lastly, hierarchical regressions applied to two blocks of factors revealed statistical significance: (a) input modality/native language (R2 = .069, adjusted R2 = .048, F(2, 87) = 3.230, p = .044) and ListenComp (R2 = .101, adjusted R2 = .070, F(3, 86) = 3.232, p = .026), with ListenComp increasing the predictive power by 3%; (b) input modality/native language (R2 = .069, adjusted R2 = .048, F(2, 87) = 3.230, p = .044) and ReadComp (R2 = .112, adjusted R2 = .081, F(1, 86) = 3.629, p = .016), with ReadComp increasing the predictive power by 4%; and (c) input modality/native language (R2 = .069, adjusted R2 = .048, F(2, 87) = 3.230, p = .044) and ListenComp/ReadComp (R2 = .114, adjusted R2 = .072, F(2, 85) = 2.129, p = .035), with ListenComp/ReadComp increasing the predictive power by 4%.The implications of this research are that by considering issues relative to input modality and second language proficiency levels especially when teaching new vocabulary to adult second language learners, the potential for improved pronunciation accuracy is maximized. Furthermore, the heightened attention to the role of input modality as a cognitive factor on phonological output in second language teaching and learning may redirect the manner in which target language phonology is approached.
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Date Issued
2013
Identifier
CFE0004838, ucf:49687
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004838
Hope and Low Level Literacy of Haitians in Petit-Go(&)#226;ve: Implications for Hope Theory and Adult Literacy Education
Title
Hope and Low Level Literacy of Haitians in Petit-Go(&)#226;ve: Implications for Hope Theory and Adult Literacy Education.
Creator
Grissom, Donita, Nutta, Joyce, Crevecoeur, Edwidge, Clark, M. H., Ana M. Leon, Ana, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
This cross-sectional study extended Snyder's Hope Theory (1991) by analyzing the difference in trait hope levels, pathway thinking, and agency thinking of pre-literate (no prior access to literacy) and non-literate (access to literacy, but little or no prior literacy education) Haitian adults. The data were derived from archival records of 135 students enrolled in Haitian-Krey(&)#242;l adult literacy classes in Petit-Go(&)#226;ve, Haiti. Mann-Whitney U results indicated that there were no...
Show moreThis cross-sectional study extended Snyder's Hope Theory (1991) by analyzing the difference in trait hope levels, pathway thinking, and agency thinking of pre-literate (no prior access to literacy) and non-literate (access to literacy, but little or no prior literacy education) Haitian adults. The data were derived from archival records of 135 students enrolled in Haitian-Krey(&)#242;l adult literacy classes in Petit-Go(&)#226;ve, Haiti. Mann-Whitney U results indicated that there were no significant differences in trait hope, pathway thinking, or agency thinking between the pre-literate and non-literate Haitian adults. Both groups reported average trait hope, average pathway thinking, and low agency thinking. Potential implications for adult literacy program and curriculum developers, evaluators, and teachers are discussed.
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Date Issued
2014
Identifier
CFE0005341, ucf:50480
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005341
Understanding the Effect of Formulaic Language on ESL Teachers' Perceptions of Advanced L2 Writing: An Application of Corpus-Identified Formulaic Language
Title
Understanding the Effect of Formulaic Language on ESL Teachers' Perceptions of Advanced L2 Writing: An Application of Corpus-Identified Formulaic Language.
Creator
Youngblood, Alison, Nutta, Joyce, Folse, Keith, Xu, Lihua, Purmensky, Kerry, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
A quantitative study was conducted to determine if the amount of formulaic language influenced ESL teachers' perceptions (n=102) of non-native writing skill, as evidenced by composite and sub-scale scores on the ESL Composition Profile (Jacobs et al., 1981). Formulaic language was operationalized as 25 three-word strings sampled from the writing sub-list of the Academic Formulas List (Simpson-Vlach (&) Ellis, 2010) and further validated as frequent in the Michigan Corpus of Upper Level...
Show moreA quantitative study was conducted to determine if the amount of formulaic language influenced ESL teachers' perceptions (n=102) of non-native writing skill, as evidenced by composite and sub-scale scores on the ESL Composition Profile (Jacobs et al., 1981). Formulaic language was operationalized as 25 three-word strings sampled from the writing sub-list of the Academic Formulas List (Simpson-Vlach (&) Ellis, 2010) and further validated as frequent in the Michigan Corpus of Upper Level Student Papers. The target formulaic sequences were divided into three experimental groups representing a low, mid, and high amount of formulaic language. Four advanced non-native writers generated argumentative, timed writing samples that incorporated the target sequences. The writing samples were then assembled into data collection packets and distributed at eight Intensive English Programs across the southeastern United States. A repeated measures ANOVA indicated that there was a significant difference in composite score (p(<).05) between the control and three experimental conditions; however, the essays that incorporated 16 and 25 formulaic sequences scored significantly lower than those with zero or eight target sequences. When the amount of syntactical and semantic errors were strictly controlled for, the composite scores also fell between the control and experimental conditions, but the decrease in score was not significant (p(>).05). The content, organization, vocabulary, language, and mechanics sub-scales were also compared using a repeated measures MANOVA. In content, organization, and language, the control and low essays outscored the mid and high conditions (p(<).05). For the vocabulary sub-scale, the control and low condition were not significantly different, but the control essays only outperformed the mid level essays. The low essays outperformed both the mid and high essays. In terms of mechanics, there was only a significant difference between the low and mid level essays. The results of the MANOVA were consistent when the amount of syntactic and semantic errors were controlled.Implications for teaching suggest that the Academic Formulas List would not benefit academically-oriented L2 learners preparing to enter a university. While corpus tools are valuable in helping teachers, material writers, and publishers improve vocabulary instruction in the English classroom, not all statistically salient lexical combinations are important for non-native writers to master and incorporate in their academic discourse.
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Date Issued
2014
Identifier
CFE0005447, ucf:50397
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005447
Admission Criteria for Schools of Business: Common Prerequisites and Academic Performance in Upper-level Business Coursework
Title
Admission Criteria for Schools of Business: Common Prerequisites and Academic Performance in Upper-level Business Coursework.
Creator
Becker, Helen, Owens, J. Thomas, Cintron Delgado, Rosa, Cox, Thomas, Nutta, Joyce, Moskal, Patrick, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Schools of business within the Florida State University system have state-mandated common prerequisites that students are required to complete prior to formal admission into baccalaureate business programs. As such, the common prerequisites serve as minimum admission requirements for schools of business in the state of Florida. This study sought to determine the ability of these discipline specific admission criteria to predict academic performance in upper-level business coursework. This...
Show moreSchools of business within the Florida State University system have state-mandated common prerequisites that students are required to complete prior to formal admission into baccalaureate business programs. As such, the common prerequisites serve as minimum admission requirements for schools of business in the state of Florida. This study sought to determine the ability of these discipline specific admission criteria to predict academic performance in upper-level business coursework. This study looked at existing data for 860 students in the College of Business Administration at the University of Central Florida. Findings of the study demonstrate that there is a positive and moderate to strong correlation between the final grade earned in each individual course within the common prerequisites and the cumulative academic performance in upper-level business coursework. The strength of the correlation varied among the individual prerequisites, however, each individual prerequisite was positively correlated. Regression findings also demonstrate that the common prerequisites may, with certain student populations such as native students and students pursuing quantitative business majors, be a rather effective predictor of program performance. Most problematic of the findings was that the predictive ability was not equivalent across different student populations. This suggests that as admission criteria or screening mechanisms designed to select students most likely to be successful in the program, the state-mandated common prerequisites were not effective for all student populations. Findings of this study have implications for schools of business, as well as other disciplines, as they evaluate the common prerequisites required by their institution or consid
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Date Issued
2014
Identifier
CFE0005462, ucf:50400
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005462

Pages