Researchers have demonstrated a much-needed shift in pedagogical practices to incorporate literacy strategies. This dissertation provides additional empirical evidence to expand the body of research by utilizing a comparative readability analysis that examines the academic language of a popular calculus textbook. A sample from the published…

Up until third grade, reading instruction is focused on learning to read, while in fourth grade and up, students begin reading to learn (Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2024; Grunke et al., 2013). This reading with purpose includes increasing critical thinking skills and using newfound reading skills to understand complex subjects such as math and…

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to determine the extent to which preservice teachers could identify various academic language markers (general academic and discipline-specific vocabulary, passive voice, nominalization, logical connections, and referents--pronouns and synonyms) in complex texts and describe the language that make texts…

The ability to use citations correctly becomes an essential skill that needs to be learned by all students, American or international, enrolling in an institution of higher learning in the United States. The difficulties that student writers, particularly second-language writers, experience with source use in academic writing have been widely…

High school classroom teachers with English language learners (ELLs) assigned to their classrooms might not be using effective instructional strategies to increase reading comprehension scores of ELLs. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore the use of strategies that high school classroom teachers use to teach cognitive…

In a district where only 5% of ELLs were deemed language proficient, the problem was the need to understand teacher perceptions of best practices to increase English language learner (ELL) achievement in reading and writing. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine teacher perceptions of best practices to support ELLs in improving…

While research demonstrates the importance of vocabulary knowledge for reading comprehension (Anderson & Freebody, 1981; Guo, Roehrig, & Williams, 2011), many studies suggest wide reading exposure for vocabulary acquisition (Nagy, Herman, & Anderson, 1985; Stahl & Nagy, 2006). However, there is compelling evidence for the benefits…

Many adolescents struggle to comprehend text, a fact which has led educational researchers to speculate that these reading struggles might be linked with students' levels of familiarity with the vocabulary and language found in these texts. However, few studies have identified the school-relevant language skills beyond vocabulary that contribute…