166x Filetype PDF File size 1.61 MB Source: dlib.bc.edu
Systemic functional linguistics theory in practice: A longitudinal study of a school-university partnership reforming writing instruction in an urban elementary school Author: Frank Daniello Persistent link: http://hdl.handle.net/2345/2591 This work is posted on eScholarship@BC, Boston College University Libraries. Boston College Electronic Thesis or Dissertation, 2012 Copyright is held by the author, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted. Boston College Lynch School of Education Department of Teacher Education, Special Education, and Curriculum and Instruction Program of Curriculum and Instruction SYSTEMIC FUNCTIONAL LINGUISTICS THEORY IN PRACTICE: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF A SCHOOL-UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHIP REFORMING WRITING INSTRUCTION IN AN URBAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL Dissertation by FRANK DANIELLO Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2012 © Copyright by Frank Daniello 2012 ABSTRACT Systemic Functional Linguistics Theory in Practice: A Longitudinal Study of a School- University Partnership Reforming Writing Instruction in an Urban Elementary School Frank Daniello Dissertation Director: Dennis Shirley The ability to express meaning in prose is a foundational skill in our society. Given the importance of being a competent writer, concern with the quality of writing instruction is a recurring theme among American educators (Cutler & Graham, 2008; Gilbert & Graham, 2010; National Commission on Writing, 2003, 2004, 2006). Research shows that teachers are unprepared to teach writing (Gilbert & Graham, 2010) and devote limited amounts of time to it (Cutler & Graham, 2008; Gilbert & Graham, 2010). In addition, national assessment data indicates that most students are not proficient writers (Salahu-Din, Persky & Miller, 2008). An embedded case study design (Yin, 2009), using mixed methodology (Greene & Caracelli, 2003a, 2003b; Hesse-Biber, 2010), was employed to determine whether a school-university partnership enacted systemic functional linguistics theory guided writing intervention changed fourth and fifth grade teachers’ writing instruction over the course of three years in an urban elementary school. The study further investigated changes to 41 fourth and 27 fifth graders’ writing performance during the third year of the invention. Examination of the relationship between students’ performance in writing and the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) test in English
no reviews yet
Please Login to review.