This dissertation explores clear speech which is defined as a specific speaking style people adopt when fluent communication could be compromised for various reasons. Although acoustic properties and their perceptual benefits of clear speech produced by monolingual speakers of English are well documented, there has only been a small body of past…

This study examined the effectiveness of a pilot program utilizing practice standardized test questions for 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders in an economically disadvantaged school and evaluated the impact of the pilot program on pre- and post-test practice tests in language arts literacy and on the 2009 New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of specific cognitive abilities and reading comprehension across a variety of norm referenced tests that align with Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory of cognitive abilities and integrative models of reading. Data from existing studies was analyzed by comparing the relationships of four…

Concern over worldwide literacy rates prompted the United Nations to establish the UN Literacy Decade (2003-2012) with one area of focus being to provide support to schools to develop effective literacy programs (UNESCO, 2005). This study addressed the area of providing support to schools to develop effective literacy programs by exploring the…

This study investigated the impact of a Kindle e-book reader on the reading rate, comprehension and e-reader acceptance of five postsecondary students with reading disabilities. A single-case Alternating Treatments Design was employed to measure reading rates and reading comprehension. Students were exposed to a series of controlled reading…

Earlier research has shown that cultural schemata affect readers' comprehension from an expository text (e.g., Carrell, 1984, 1987; Swales, 1990). Previous research also suggested that there are shared features of well-designed text across cultures (Chambliss & Calfee, 1998) and that reader characteristics like background knowledge affect text…

In this research study I explore: (a) beliefs Korean ESL readers have about reading in L1 and L2 prior to the Retrospective Miscue Analysis (RMA) sessions, (b) how their beliefs about reading affect the way they read in L1 and L2 and their evaluation of themselves as readers in L1 and L2 reading, and (c) change of their beliefs about reading and…

Studies by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP, 2009) indicate that the inability to comprehend text is one of the primary reasons students perform poorly in school Reading difficulties often persist into adulthood with 23% of U.S. adults only meeting basic reading proficiency levels (NCES, 2004). To address this problem, it is…

Teaching math problem solving has been a challenge for many educators, especially in Title I schools. Textbooks provided by the district under study were the primary source of math instructional material. Moreover, the instruction of computation was the method used for preparing students for success with later problem solving lessons. The lack of…

Healthful living has been a cornerstone of Seventh-day Adventist belief and practice almost from the very beginning of the church's history. The problem was that no one had studied the role healthful practices play in Seventh-day Adventist education using the entire Seventh-day Adventist student population. The correlations between four aspects of…

Social cognitive research has linked students' perceived academic capabilities, or self-efficacy, to academic choices, self-regulation, and performance in diverse contexts from reading comprehension to mathematical problem solving. This study addressed a need to investigate the interactions among prior achievement, self-efficacy, calibration (the…

This dissertation examined the relationship between language and reading in bilingual English-Arabic children. The dissertation followed a two chapter Review and Research Format. Chapter One presents a review of research that examined the relationship between oral language and reading development in bilingual English-Arabic children. Chapter Two…

Serious reading problems exist among middle school learners as evidenced by declining national reading scores and increased dropout rates. In response to the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) expectations in reading, several experts have promoted a scripted repeated reading strategy such as readers' theater as a possible approach to improving student…

The goal of this study is to understand ten Taiwanese graduate students' personal experiences with language anxiety and cultural adjustment while studying in an American university. This study focuses not only on language anxiety but also on cultural factors in participants' daily lives inside and outside of the classroom. The study utilized an…