Course:Educ450b
Inquiry Topics
Summarize your topic and your approach in 50-150 words, if possible. Please include a topic and your name. Follow the format provided abstracts below.
- A Cultural Dialogue: ESL Culture
Ira
I have witnessed it numerous times in classrooms around the world. A teacher in an ELL class, trying to embed grammar into his/her students, through aging course books and non-dynamic rote education. The students looked visibly bored and unengaged and it’s understandable why, as both the content and the epistemological approaches are neither relevant nor practical in the students’ lives. From reports, many ELL students and educators are aware of the necessity of grammar acquisition, yet they also find some of the current methodologies, such as strict repetition boring, which may effect how much the students are motivated or retain what they are learning (Jean 467). In a survey of some ELL students about whether they enjoyed grammar education, more than half indicated either that they “did not like it much” (29%) or “did not like it at all”(23%) (Jean 475). In the questionnaire portion of the survey, students were asked what words came to mind when they thought of grammar education. The words were categorized as positive, neutral and negative, with few students answering positively (Jean 475). Originally I was going to write about creativity in general in the classroom, yet the focus was so vast, that I decided to narrow it down to a subject that I had seen taught in very creative, yet also, very non-creative ways. The original concept was a website and an accompanying video, but due to limitations, the website is the final draft product thus far. The focus of this website is the present a contemporary approach to grammar education, where students are engaged in classroom activities that are meaningful, practical and relevant in their lives and thus motivate them to be more involved and interested in the lesson.
https://blogs.ubc.ca/whywelearnstuff/
- A Cultural Dialogue: ESL Culture
Katy
This project serves to provide a glimpse of some of the cultural issues that ESL students encounter on a day to day basis, namely, culture shock, discrimination and segregation between "ESL culture" and the "mainstream culture", and even discrimination among ESL subcultures. In my research thus far, it appears that there is a lack of integration between language and culture in ESL instruction and curriculum, although many would agree that culture is fundamental to language learning. Culture encompasses all aspects of life, and for students who are new to a culture, it means experiencing a different school culture, classroom culture and popular culture. Drawing on research findings, I am constructing a digital picture book in Photo Creations that attempts to use dialogue to resolve and minimize misunderstandings of cultures and also close the gap between cultures. Since "a picture is worth a thousand words", I hope the picture book format will be able to capture some of the situations ESL students face with regards to culture, and how an ESL teacher might address cultural issues in the classroom using dialogue.
- The Impact of Online Education Applications on Students' Learning
Elaine
This project examines the application of online education and how it impacts students' learning. Research shows that when students feel that they are contributing something valuable to the sphere of public knowledge, they are more eager to participate in online learning (Warschaur, 1995). The central topics of my research are student authorship and power dynamics, benefits of online learning, implication of online learning, access to education, and protecting students' interests. Online education applications have the potential to broaden the horizons of students' learning, and I am looking at how this can be achieved. With the application of online education, there is the issue of allowing students the flexibility for posting their work online while protecting their privacy. I will be representing this research through an online mind map constructed in SpiderScribe linked to a UBC WordPress site.
- The use of Anishinaabe children’s literature in schools in Anishinaabe communities
Whitney
There is a known and problematic disparity between the academic achievement of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students in the Canadian school system, leaving nearly half of Aboriginal youth without a high school diploma. This lower school completion rate is likely connected to low levels of literacy among Aboriginal youth, with 40% of Aboriginal children in British Columbia failing provincial reading assessments (Hare, 2001, p.390). As such, there is an ongoing need for new strategies to develop literacy skills among children of diverse backgrounds (Hare, 2011, 391). Research has indicated that part of the struggle for Aboriginal students is that the curriculum does not reflect their heritage, language or culture (Garfield et al, 2000, p.484). Furthermore, there is growing evidence that “indigenous knowledge contributes positively to a coherent identity for indigenous children” (Hare, 2011, 405). It isn’t simply a matter of providing Aboriginal students with texts that are culturally relevant, however; post-colonial scholar Clare Bradford warns, “Indigenous children rarely encounter texts produced within their own cultures, so that representations of Indigeneity are filtered through the perspectives of white culture” (2007, p.19). Research Questions: Bradford asserts the need for Indigenous children’s literature to be interpreted through the local and relevant knowledge frameworks from which the texts were produced (2007, p.18). My research will explore, on a local level, the use of Anishinaabe children’s literature in schools in Anishinaabe communities, focusing on the following questions: 1) What Anishinaabe children’s literature is available to students, and what themes and narrative structures dominate within this literature? 2) How may we teach these texts to students in a way that is respectful of and in keeping with the knowledge frameworks of the Anishinaabe people?
- Erin Milne
Representation of At-Risk Groups in Literature
My interest in this topic came about after teaching a skating lesson during which I worked with a student who had a serious behavioural problem. It led me to think about the representation of at-risk groups in literature and the importance of their inclusion within the secondary English classroom. My inquiry project examines the literary representation of at-risk groups in order to see if the use of this literature assists in the successful inclusion of students in the secondary English classroom. My research will include a list of the pros and cons of representing at-risk groups in literature and will also examine the stereotypes that result from these representations. Furthermore, I will provide a mind map that will highlight representations of at-risk groups in popular literature and how the media plays a large role in stereotyping at-risk groups. I will conduct a detailed case study on a BBC documentary called “The Woman Who Thinks Like a Cow.” This video documents the life of Dr. Temple Grandin and discusses her ability to look into her own mind and explain her thoughts and feelings living as an individual with autism. I will examine how her literary success and popularity stereotypes all autistic individuals as “gifted.” My findings will be published on a UBC Wordpress blog which will allow individuals from the education program to access this information at any time. The blog will also give me the creative freedom to add further information in the future.
- Ania
Manifestation of Anorexia in teens and the role of the educator
Anorexia has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric illness (Sullivan 2002). It is a disorder primarily affecting females ages 14-18 and the odds are quite high that secondary school teachers will at one point during their career encounter these students in their classrooms (Vaschenko 2005). My inquiry project will explore the physical and psychological attributes of anorexia, as well as explore the warning signs educators need to be aware of in case they suspect one of their students may be struggling with the disorder. In addition, my research will provide educators with concrete steps they can implement if they suspect one of their students is suffering from anorexia, and a list of steps they are legally required and obligated to take in such instances. This inquiry project aims to raise awareness about anorexia and provide educators with the tools they need to best support their students in the classroom. The findings will be published online on a publically accessible website which colleagues from the education program and beyond will be free to access during and post practicum.
- Nabila
How can we increase the accessibility of understanding Shakespeare for ELL students?
My project will focus on the challenges that ELL students face in terms of reading Shakespearan plays and how teachers can enable efficient learning by using different modalities to encourage learning Shakespeare for ELL students. My project will take the form of a research paper, divided into sections; each section will illustrate a different challenge that ELL students come across while reading Shakespeare. There will also be discussion on teacher frustrations with teaching Shakespeare to ELL students and how there are resources that can aid teachers in educating ELL students in an efficient manner.
- Shakespearean Language: But What Does it Mean?
Nic and Jenny
This project focuses on the challenges of making Shakespearean language accessible to high school students. We have researched approaches to the topic and will represent our understanding of the literature using a two-pronged approach: 1. We have selected four examples of unfamiliar Early Modern phrases such as "will you bite your thumb at me," and have clarified the meaning of these phrases through whiteboard animation. 2. The video artifact will be accompanied by an artist's statement summarizing the research and discussing the merits of this form of production process (whiteboard animation) for understanding the topic in question.
- Interrogating homework as an educational tradition: A wiki installation
Gunita Gupta
My project began as inquiry into the common practice of assigning homework as an educational tradition or tool. In the minds of many educators, administrators, parents, and the public, homework is an ubiquitous occurrence in the life of a student. But is it necessary to the goals of education? Indeed, what are the goals of education and schooling and are these common across disciplines, times, and geographies? These questions formed the basis of my initial inquiry; however, my research has yielded a limited discourse on the topic that tends to be self-referential and ambivalent at best. In order to represent my own inquiry into these issues, I have chosen to create a wiki installation. In this installation I explore the various ways in which information, inquiry, and learning might coexist in a digital environment. Using multi-media, creative expression, and formal writing in concert, my project creates a varied and rich response to the questions surrounding pedagogical common practices that invites collaboration and ongoing dialogue.
- Role Playing as a Means of Understanding
Brian
My inquiry project is on the importance of role play in the classroom. By playing the role of another person -- fictional or real -- students are given the opportunity to explore the thinking and behaviour of another. This exploration offers the perspective needed to reflect on their own roles. To represent the research on role play in the classroom, I wrote a story about a group of dysfunctional teachers who are trapped in their roles and constructs. But there is one teacher who understands the roles people play in life and he promotes this approach to his students and other teachers. In his amorphousness, he is able to maintain an effective balance of playing his role as a teacher, an employee in the school and as a foreigner.
- Intermediality and Aestheticism in Formal Learning Settings
Sarah
I have chosen an area of inquiry that I am incredibly passionate about, both as an educator and an arts advocate. I have always felt that we as educators are forced to neglect the artistic merits of the literature that we are studying in favour of the skills that we are mandated to teach our students (critical-thinking, essay-writing, spelling/grammar, literary devices, etc). The result is that we are forcing our students to dissect these works of art like dead animals and they end up losing the original context of these pieces (therefore, an important aspect of the meaning of the pieces) as works of art. I feel that bringing these artistic conversations into the English Language Arts classroom will make the material more interesting and meaningful for the students and increase their understanding of the art pieces that they are learning about. My research has strongly supported this approach.
My inquiry project is a sort of "multimodal musical essay" in the form a sonata. The sonata will consist of more "traditional elements" of music as well as components derived from the manipulations of visual representations of The Picture of Dorian Gray into musical pitches that will then be integrated into the sonata I am composing. I chose the sonata form to be the framework of my piece because the structure, size, and function of the sonata and the formal five-paragraph essay are comparable in many ways. My audiovisual artifact will be accompanied by an artist's statement summarizing my research and explaining the aforementioned connections.
- Deconstructing First Nations Stereotypes: A case study of Alexie's "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian"
Heather
My inquiry project was motivated by my decision to teach Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian in a English 10 class during practicum. This excellent novel is an accessible coming of age story that addresses First Nations stereotypes and language and contains descriptions of poverty, alcoholism, and violence that the main character experiences on his Spokane Indian reservation. As a teacher, I want to use the novel to explore these issues and focus on the ways that Alexie uses stereotypes to deconstruct ideologies of the dominant culture. I have examined literature focusing on issues articulated above and am creating a website centred around Alexie's novel that will address topics such as using literature to explore history, Aboriginal history and literature, the politics of language, and issues of censorship.
- (Non)standardization in the BC ESL/ELL Curriculum
Rachel
The B.C. Ministry of Education sets the curriculum for students in grades K to 12 through the provincial curriculum. While most subjects have detailed Prescribed Learning Outcomes, ESL/ELL do not. As an ELL/ESL specialist, I am curious as to the reasons for not having a unified PLOs for English Language Learners. Certainly, there are merits and disadvantages of having a set standard for students when it comes to language learning subjects due to different levels, ages, and abilities of students in given classrooms. My inquiry project reflecting my research in this area will take the form of a dialogue between two educators with different perspectives towards standardized curriculum for ELL/ESL classes in written form. If time allows, in follow up to this project, I wish to compare different curricula from various areas and propose a synthesis of these curricula that might work in the BC context.
- Technologies in the ELL Classroom
Sandy Shen
The idea for my project came from the memory of a visit to an ESL literacy class in the computer lab at Sir Charles Tupper Secondary School. Students sat in front of computers to interact with Raz-Kids, a web-based reading program that features audio for the readings on a variety of subjects. The focus of this project is not the ancient debate on whether technologies should be implemented in the ELL classroom, but on the rationale behind ELL teachers’ choice of technologies in the classroom. The purpose of the project is to raise consciousness of why we choose the technologies we use in the classroom. The mode of my presentation is a radio talk show, which features a conversation between two experienced ELL teachers who differ in their views on the technologies that they choose to use and not use in their classes.
- What does it mean to be labelled as ESL?
Kelly
My project focuses on the deconstruction of the educational acronym, ESL, and the impact of labelling students as such wile they are forming their identities. My main goal is to explore if ESL can be seen as a social stigma to some students because of the negative connotation that associates with the acronym. I will discuss the different perceptions of ESL (such as the education institution, parents and more importantly, students') and show how these perceptions affect students' personal, social and academic development. I am going to present my research in the form of a graphic novel, so that everyone, including those who have not been labelled as an ESL can visually experience the struggles that ESL students have been through.
- Learning disability or language difference in the ELL classroom
Jenny Kuan
Even though there is no precise definition for learning disabilities, it generally refers to students’ inability to perform well after many years of instruction. Since the problems are not always outwardly visible, in ELL classrooms, the problem is comparatively more complex as the aspect of language acquisition is added into the learning process. As a result, there is an issue in the over-representation in special needs program, as well as the lack of specialists and appropriate assessment methods for the students who do require additional assistance in the classrooms. My project will compare the process of learning English for ELL students and regular students to identify the difficulties that ELL students encounter and find the overlap between learning disabilities and the usual troubles of language acquisition. I am hoping to distribute the results through the form of a poster that can be easily accessible and understood for both ESL teachers and students.
- How can teachers increase the accessibility and comprehension of Shakespeare for ELL students?
Tina Tong
As a teacher candidate specializing in English and ESL, I have noticed how teachers have been hesitant about teaching Shakespeare to students that are ELL. The ELL curriculum does not include Shakespeare, and teachers have very few resources to rely on. As a result, ELL students are often completely foreign to Shakespeare when they join the mainstream English classes. This makes the integration into mainstream classes especially difficult for ELL students. My project will involve a research paper that explores the rationale of teaching Shakespearean works to ELL students and teacher resources for teaching Shakespeare in the classroom. The focus of the project will be ELL classrooms in BC, but the information will be relevant to any teacher wishing to increase the accessibility of Shakespeare for their students. The research paper will be divided into the following sections: rationale of teaching Shakespeare to ELL students, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Hamlet, The Tempest, Additional Sources. Print and web resources will be provided for each of the five Shakespearean plays commonly taught in BC secondary schools, as well as other plays.
- English-Only Policies
Jackson
For my inquiry project, I will be writing a paper on English-Only policies and their alternatives. My research has led me to interesting findings, as much of the articles I have looked at appear to detract from English-Only policies. However, despite the research, English-Only policies are still prevalent in many institutions and schools. In fact, with recent developments in California and Arizona, it appears that schools are shifting TOWARDS English-only policies, regardless of what the research may say, and regardless of the results produced by the current system (54% of ELL students experience failure and early-school leaving).
There has been much research on the topic, branching out in many different directions, and there is no definitive answer as to what the "correct" method should be. Because of this, the paper I will be writing will not seek to take a stance on the issue, but rather to present different perspectives as well as different proposed solutions (English-only policies, bilingual education, immersion programs, etc.), whereupon the reader will have the opportunity to make a decision for themselves where they stand on the issue.
- How is technology integrated into Provincial and State English Language Arts curriculum, and how are school districts implementing technology?
Justin
My inquiry project tackles how technology is implemented in curriculum. From what I have researched so far, there are mentions to technology in most curriculum, but there is a heavy emphasis on traditional methods (pen, paper, and books). Thus, without direct guidance, it is up to school boards and teachers to implement technology in their schools, which in my hypothesis, makes for a non-linear experience for the student. Therefore, my inquiry question is: what provinces and states are implementing technology in their English Language Arts curriculum, and what school districts are implementing technology in the English classroom? My modalities will a twitter feed, which will link to different forms of online media that I have created.
- Integrating Pop Cultures with Language Classroom: Materials and Problems
Scott
Students’ success in any classroom depends largely on students’ interests to the subject and motivations for learning them. In past 30 years, what students want from Japanese language class has shifted largely: from business centered interests to that of the entertainment. Majority of Japanese language teachers are well aware of this fact, but are still reluctant in fully implementing such cultures into the curriculum. One reason to this is that teachers don’t know how to choose appropriate materials. Language acquisition and cultural studies can be derived from wide range of entertainment, but not every work is suitable or acceptable in the eyes of students, parents, and other educators. Stigmas surrounding Japanese pop cultures exist for reason, but there also exist many works with educational values which cannot be ignored. This project is aimed to present students’ expectations, troubles which may occur when trying to fulfill such expectations, and toolbox of strategies which can be used to minimize such troubles; so Japanese language teachers can provide their students with engaging, yet effective learning experience.
- Inquiry into Writing: A Multimodal Approach
Aimee, Ceilidh, Jessica, & Johnnie
Our general inquiry question is: What is the role of writing in the 21st Century ELA classroom? Our mode of representation is a collaborative blog, where each section deals with issues in four different domains of writing: creative writing, writing and culture, digital literacies, and writing assessment. The use of a blog allows us to take a dialogical approach to exploring these issues.
Aimee (Creative Writing) - I have always been drawn to creative writing. When I took my first creative writing course in university I often wondered why I couldn't write my essays for other classes in a similar format. This inquiry project has allowed me to explore the value and significance of creative writing in the classroom. Much of my research focused on the weight of creative writing in comparison to academic writing. While there are those who will always argue against the use of informal texts in a classroom, it seems that many educators have come to see the value of personal expression and what that adds to the overall environment of a classroom. There is a strong push for more critical and divergent thinking within secondary schools and creative writing has been shown to encourage this frame of mind.
Jessica (Digital Literacies) - My section focuses on issues surrounding the role of digital literacies in the ELA classroom. Within the BC curriculum we see evidence of the shift towards teaching multiple literacies, in contrast to the singular concept of literacy. Still, the dominant form of writing we see in our practice is the traditional pen-and-paper text, and genres of literature studied are generally limited to novels, short fiction, poetry, and drama. Hence, my specific inquiry project addresses the question: Why is it particularly important that part of our mandate as English teachers be to teach and incorporate digital writing?
Johnnie (Assessment) Within our writing group, my focus was concerning assessment. Since writing is varied and highly subjective, assessing it—regardless of method—is no easy task and approaches to this are about as varied. We want our students to become better writers, but what does better even mean? In a grades driven society, the task of assessment is made even more difficult. In theory, we value creativity, but we haven’t decided how much we value it; therefore creative writing forms are often treated as add-ons to the English curriculum. My colleagues have found that classroom attitudes and practices are evolving, and indeed new written forms are emerging, but the challenge of assessment is more difficult as these shifts occur.