Forms pertaining to thesis requirements

¶ … ESOL Learner's Language & Reading Skills

You are invited to participate in a research project being conducted by researchers from Western Governors University. The researchers are conducting research to determine the most effective ways to improve the English reading abilities of immigrant students.

The purpose of this research is to survey ESL teachers, students, and parents in order to identify how much time students spend speaking in their native languages and the impact this has on their fluency in reading English. This research project will require students to read sample chapters aloud on two different occasions. Students may also be asked to increase the amount of time spent using their English speaking skills. The research will be conducted over a week period, where parents, faculty, and students will be interviewed and provided with surveys. Students will be required to continue all of their routine classroom activities with two additions of reading aloud. Teachers will be surveyed, parents will be interviewed, and students will be tested.

Benefits and Risks of this study:

The benefits of this study include the ability to identify your child's reading abilities and determine which habits will help increase your child's fluency in English. More importantly, teachers will be able to review and explore their curriculum and identify changes which need to be made in addition to identifying which practices have worked well in the past. There is very little associate risk to the participants in this study. If anything students may be hesitant to read in front of their peers. This will be an opportunity for them to practice their public speaking skills.

Confidentiality:

Participants should know that all records are confidential. The final report will aggregate the data and the conclusions drawn will be based on this aggregated data. Whenever a specific case is discussed the anonymity of the family, teacher, and student will be preserved. For instance, in the report as discussion of the children's reading abilities will discuss average rates of improvement and any outliers involved without using any names.

Voluntary participation and withdrawal:

Please note that there is no such thing as a wrong or right answer, honest and accurate answers will be helpful. You should read and understand each question thoroughly and answer to the best of your ability. Participants may choose to participate in or withdraw from the video or audio taping of interviews. Finally, participants may decide not to participate at any stage. Parents are not required to force students to participate in the ESOL curriculum changes; there is no penalty for choosing not to participate.

Questions, Rights and Complaints: Provide information about how participants or their legal guardians can contact you as the researcher. Provide a name, phone number, and email address.

All of the data and conclusions from this study will be made available to all of the participants in report format via email and in paper upon request.