Date of Graduation

Winter 12-14-2018

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)

College/School

School of Education

Department/Program

Teaching English as a Second Language

First Advisor

Luz Navarrette Garcia

Abstract

As the population of young Catholics becomes increasingly culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD), Catholic schools must work to become more responsive to the needs of CLD students in order to uphold the tenets of Catholic social teaching and to sustain enrollment in Catholic schools. Catholic school teachers need to become more prepared to serve students from various linguistic backgrounds. As a component of this preparation, teachers must demonstrate positive beliefs toward linguistic diversity and students’ backgrounds as teachers’ attitudes toward students greatly impacts students’ learning and identity development. Using Catholic social teaching as a lens, this study investigated Catholic school teachers’ attitudinal beliefs about linguistic diversity. Data for this study was collected from PK-12 Catholic school teachers across the United States using a 29 item survey. Findings suggest that demonstrating care for all students is highly valued by Catholic school teachers. Although teachers’ attitudes indicated a lack of understanding of second language acquisition research and policies surrounding language, teachers showed a desire to improve their knowledge and practice relating to CLD students. Finally, findings suggest that there is a dichotomy between general and specific implementation of inclusion practices, limiting teachers’ actual application of Catholic social teaching in their work.

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