Language & Literacy Studies

• SED LS 735: Teaching Struggling Readers and Writers in the Elementary School
  Examination of theory and research that guides instruction of struggling readers and writers in K- 6 classrooms. Includes study of the effects of various grouping practices, types of texts, and instructional strategies and routines.
• SED LS 750: Culture, Language, and Cognition
  This course focuses on theoretical and empirical work investigating relationships among culture, language, and cognition in literacy development. It considers research in various traditions of inquiry, including cultural psychology, cognitive psychology, anthropology, sociocultural theory, activity theory, and learning sciences.
• SED LS 751: Universals of Language
  The nature of language universals and its effect on the human biological capacity for language. Special attention paid to the relationship of the following topics to language universals: child language acquisition, second language acquisition, language simplification, pidgins and creoles, and language change. Investigates the syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic foundations of human language and communication.
• SED LS 762: Literacy Acquisition and Development: Addressing Strengths and Needs
  Focuses on the strengths and needs of elementary, middle, and secondary school the individual struggling/striving readers and students who experience difficulty with reading and writing in some contexts. Emphasizes effective literacy interventions practices across learning contexts, including in and out of school. Includes examination and discuss of both theoretical and practical readings. 4 cr.
• SED LS 763: Field Experience in Literacy Education: Clinical Interventions
  Focuses on the application of research and theory to practice in clinical/tutorial instructional settings with a focus on developing and applying knowledge of best practices in literacy assessment and instruction for students who experience difficulty in reading and writing in some contexts. Participants administer and interpret the results of various screening and diagnostic instruments within a tutoring context; plan and implement effective instructional practices to support areas of students' identified strengths and needs; engage in video analysis to prompt a reflective stance toward instruction and professional growth; prepare and share a final case report that summarizes assessment results and provides a detailed report of the instructional practices implemented and student progress. 2 cr. Pre-requisite is LS762
• SED LS 764: Roles and Responsibilities of the Literacy Specialist: Leadership, Coaching, Teaching
  Examines a variety of roles assumed by literacy specialists as they work to support student learning. Participants engage in three types of activities: observation, reflection, and analysis of an in-service literacy professional's practice; consider and discuss observed practices within the context of existing theory and research; and a plan to promote professional learning and improve literacy instruction in schools and classrooms. Field experience. Permission required. 4 cr.
• SED LS 780: Processes of Literacy: Reading and Responding
  Investigation of the theory and research related to the processes of reading and responding. Exploration of implications for assessment, instructional design, and educational planning. 4 cr.
• SED LS 790: Literary Assessment to Inform Instruction
  Explores the theoretical underpinnings of literacy assessments and ways to use formal and informal assessments to identify learner's strengths and needs. Emphasizes assessment practices that are grounded in teaching interventions or "trials" that provide insight into instructional practices that support. 4 cr.
• SED LS 792: Teaching Adolescent Readers and Writers
  Explores current theory and research regarding reading and writing processes and practices among adolescents in and out of school. Particular attention will be given to the integration of literacy instruction within content disciplines and the relevance of out-of-school literacies to in-school instruction. 4 cr.
• SED LS 793: Field Experience in Literacy Education: School-based Intervention
  The application of research and theory to practice in clinical and school- based instructional settings with a focus on developing and applying knowledge of best practices in literacy assessment and instructional intervention to their work with students who experience difficulty in learning to read and write in some context. Participants will administer and interpret results of various screening and diagnostic instruments during individual and small group instructional contexts and intervention sessions within schools. They will also plan and implement effective instructional interventions based on children's identifiable areas of strengths and needs and create a final case report that summarizes assessment results, provides a detailed report of the instructional practices implemented during intervention, and report on student progress. Video analysis will be integrated throughout the semester to prompt a reflective stance toward instruction. Prereq: SED LS 763. 2 cr.
• SED LS 801: Design-Based Research as Educational Inquiry, Part I
  This course is part of a two-semester sequence, LS801 & LS802. We have designed the two courses as a coherent whole to be taken in sequence. Students who enroll in the two-course sequence will a) develop an understanding and critical appreciation of different approaches to design-based research, and b) design and carry out a small-scale design study, either individually or as a team. Students may enroll in Part I only, which will provide them with an understanding of different approaches to design-based research. Students cannot enroll in LS802 without having taken LS801. These courses are open to PhD students and, with the permission of the instructors, EdM students. Part I of this course introduces students to the varieties of design-based research methods that have arisen over the last three decades as an important mode of educational inquiry and theory development in the field of the learning sciences. These methods centrally involve the orchestration and study of complex educational interventions in learning settings of various kinds. Through a combination of readings, discussions, conversations with design-based researchers at BU and other institutions, site visits, and class exercises, we will delve into widely practiced models of design-based research, and consider the theoretical, methodological and practical challenges of the models, including their relation to issues of equity, diversity, and power in learning and teaching.
• SED LS 802: Design-Based Research as Educational Inquiry, Part II
  This course is part of a two-semester sequence, LS801 and LS802. Students who enroll in the two-course sequence will a) develop an understanding and critical appreciation of different approaches to design-based research, and b) design and carry out a small-scale design study, either individually or as a team. Students may enroll in Part I only, which will provide them with an understanding of different approaches to design-based research. Students cannot enroll in LS802 without having taken LS801. These courses are open to PhD students and, with the permission of the instructors, EdM students. LS802 provides students with an intensive research experience. This includes carrying out a small-scale design-based research project in a local learning setting: establishing relationships with potential partners, formulating research questions, studying what takes place, analyzing data, responding to and critiquing each other's work with the purpose of ongoing refinement, and making plans for dissemination of the findings. The class will be organized around deep reading in the literature and participation in small research groups as an ongoing, critical part of the research process. We will delve into widely practiced models of design-based research, and consider the theoretical, methodological and practical challenges of the models, including their relation to issues of equity, diversity, and power in learning and teaching.
• SED LS 902: Seminar in Early Literacy
  Surveys the research and theory that shaped U.S. preschool and kindergarten literacy programming form 1900 to 1990 and covers in more depth the research and theory from 1990 to the present, which provided the foundations for today's preschool and kindergarten literacy programs. 4cr, 2nd sem.
• SED ML 530: Supporting and Assessing Second Language Development
  Examines the use of the WIDA and other assessments to plan ESL instruction for children at different proficiency levels. Develops skill at ESL instruction using sensory, graphic and interactive supports. Explores how to incorporate funds of knowledge and family support into the ESL curriculum. 3 cr.
• SED ML 535: First and Second Language Acquisition
  Explores theories and research in first and second language acquisition in a variety of sociocultural contexts. Examines stages of second language acquisition with attention to contextual and individual factors affecting pace and outcomes. Considers developmental trajectories in phonology, grammar, lexicon and pragmatics, as well as in receptive and expressive language. 3 cr.

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