Using narrative and poetic inquiry as methods for data collection an analysis, this dissertation documented the stories of four poets and their engagement in Spoken Word practice as well as how they utilized this art form to engage in learning individually and collectively. Each dissertation participant shared stories through conversational…

Purpose: This study focused on factors that contributed to writing quality in adults who were pursuing a General Educational Development (GED) diploma through an adult basic education program and university students who were pursuing a college degree. We explored the role of transcription (handwriting and spelling), working memory, oral language,…

The problem addressed through this study was that, in English as a foreign language (EFL) classrooms, adult learners in an intensive English program often suffer from tiredness, mental overload, and not having enough time for learning, these are factors which negatively impact their ability to learn English successfully. The purpose of this study…

This dissertation examines the extent to which lexical aspect and grounding influence the acquisition of tense and aspect by ninety-four instructed adult learners of Italian in two academic settings in North America. The semantic notions of tense and aspect have been extensively investigated in the domain of second language acquisition. After more…

This mixed-methods study examined the beliefs and performance of 10 adult Japanese speakers of English regarding the phenomenon of contraction in spoken English. Over the course of three months, a collective case study approach involving listening tasks and semi-structured interviews was employed to investigate the topic from multiple dimensions,…

This dissertation addressed the question of how the virtual world of Second Life used in combination with a distance learning course platform contributed to improving the oral communication skills of adult learners in an English as a second language context. Over recent years, research in the field has attempted to explore the different classroom…

Foreign language educators have been striving to improve practices that support language teaching for adults for many years. Common knowledge insists that children are better language learners than adults. Creation of the new field of neurolinguistics at the end of the 20th century brought about new opportunities for both teachers of foreign…

This study explored the experience of Black female adult learners and how spirituality influenced their academic journeys. Research concerning Black female adult learners in higher education is ostensibly partial. These data offered an extended understanding of Black female adult learners' academic experiences, while also investigating common…

This mixed-methods study examined the lived experience of adult English Language Learners (ELLs) in classrooms led by native speaking teachers, compared with their experience in classrooms led by non-native teachers. The socio-cognitive approach to language and emergent common ground framed the development of the English classroom as a Community…

The population of English Language Learners (ELLs) globally has been increasing substantially every year. In the United States alone, adult ELLs are the fastest growing portion of learners in adult education programs (Yang, 2005). There is a significant need to improve the teaching of English to ELLs in the United States and other English-speaking…

Dynamic assessment (DA) is based on Vygotsky's (1978) sociocultural theory and his Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). ZPD is the range of abilities bordered by the learner's assisted and independent performances. Previous studies showed promising results for DA in tutoring settings. However, they did not use proficiency-based rubrics to measure…