Secondary English as a Second Language (ESL) students commonly face obstacles that put them at greater risk for learning gaps in computer assisted learning (CAL). These obstacles include but are not limited to computer attitudes, computer self-efficacy, digital empathy, and connectivity gaps. Student attitudes towards computers as learning devices…

Duolingo is arguably the most popular language learning app available today, as measured by its metric of achieving 500 million downloads in 2020, yet remarkably little research has been conducted regarding its implementation or efficacy as a language-learning tool. The handful of studies that do exist have found positive outcomes, although…

The Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 requires high standards, but academic achievement among English Language Learners (ELL) falls below that of their peers in Texas. These students' lower academic achievement may lead to their dropping out of high school, not going to college, or being underemployed, a problem that led to this study. The…

The study abroad (SA) context is often assumed to foster pragmatic development in a second language (L2), yet previous scholarship confirms that pragmatic norms are culturally-shaped and often remain imperceptible to uninstructed SA students (Bataller, 2010; Cohen & Shively, 2007; Shively, 2010). Because pragmatics is not traditionally taught…

This dissertation looks at the effects of the flipped classroom model on foreign language learners at the introductory level. Specifically, the project examined students' learning outcomes in reading, writing, speaking, and listening when exposed to the flipped classroom format for one or two semesters of introductory German classes at the college…

Using a quantitative ex post facto causal comparative research design, this study analyzed the effects of the Academy of Reading software program on students' reading achievement. Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) reading scale scores of students in the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades from 2013-2014 were utilized in this study. The…

The field of Instructed Second Language Acquisition (ISLA) has expressed interest in pursuing a research agenda that expands the current heritage language (HL) strand of research to investigate how this heterogeneous population re-learns their family language, and how this experience differs from that of second language (L2) learners. This…

This study investigated the effects of concurrent audio and equivalent onscreen text on the ability of learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) to form associations between textual and aural forms of target vocabulary words. The study also looked at the effects of learner control over an audio sequence on the association of textual and…

The outcome of American students' performances during international comparisons consistently scoring inadequately in mathematics exposes the crisis of deficient mathematics achievement thus causing deep concerns. Learners who acquire a strong theoretical foundation in mathematics at the primary level thrived later in more advanced level…

The ever increasing popularity of virtual worlds, also known as 3-D multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs) or simply virtual worlds provides language instructors with a new tool they can exploit in their courses. For now, "Second Life" is one of the most popular MUVEs used for teaching and learning, and although "Second Life"…

The following study examined the difference in science vocabulary acquisition comparing computer-assisted learning and a traditional study review sheet. Fourth and fifth grade students from a suburban school in central Texas were randomly selected and randomly assigned to either experimental group or control group. Both groups were given a…

Less than 50% of students from an inner-city high school in a southeastern US state who took the GATEWAY mathematics exam (2001-2007) earned a passing score on the first attempt, prompting teachers at the school to begin a summer intervention program based on Bandura's Self Efficacy Theory, to help them succeed on a subsequent reexamination. The…

This study investigated the impact of Fast ForWord[R] products, specifically Fast ForWord[R] Literacy (FFL) and Fast ForWord[R] Reading Level 2 (FFR2), on sixth grade students' use of Standard Edited American English (SEAE). Fast ForWord[R] is a computer-based program that focuses on phonological awareness and makes use of modeled…

The purpose of this quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group study was to test theories of constructivism and motivation, along with research-based teaching practices of differentiating instruction and instructing within a child's Zone of Proximal Development, in measuring the effect of computer-aided instruction on fifth grade students'…

Teacher feedback and interaction are factors of success and satisfaction in online courses, but courses designed for computer-assisted instruction (CAI) require less communication between a teacher and student. The goal of this research was to examine the impact of teachers' feedback in online self-paced secondary math courses where CAI was…