The Love and Science of Reading: A Promising Instructional Approach for Adolescent Multilingual Learners

2022 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Lama K. Farran ◽  
Robert A. Griffin
Keyword(s):  
Literacy Instruction ◽  
Literacy Practices ◽  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Achievement Gaps ◽  
Language And Literacy ◽  
Second Language Literacy ◽  
Targeted Instruction ◽  
Frequent Use ◽  
Sociocultural Development ◽  
Development Of Language

Purpose: Adolescent multilingual learners are at high risk for reading difficulties as evidenced by persistent achievement gaps. This article calls for a paradigm shift and aims to elucidate what constitutes promising second-language literacy instruction for multilingual adolescents, comprising effective literacy practices grounded in research, combined with an emphasis on individual learners and their sociocultural development. Cast in ecological systems and functionalist perspectives, this article provides a model for language and literacy instruction that is grounded in basic tenets of reading science within a sociocultural context. We outline strategies that focus on language as a basis for reading development followed by examples of authentic learning experiences designed to motivate students and nurture their love of reading. Conclusions: A solution to existing achievement gaps may be a promising approach that emphasizes both the science and love of reading, which entails targeted instruction rooted in the research evidence integrated into engaging and meaningful learning experiences, central to which is the acknowledgement of multilingual learners as individuals. The authors call for an intentional focus on accelerating the development of language through frequent use of and a genuine love for both the science of reading and the science of teaching reading.

Living Dialogues in One Neighborhood: Moving toward Understanding across Discourses and Practices of Literacy and Schooling

2000 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theresa Rogers ◽  
Cynthia Tyson ◽  
Elizabeth Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Literacy Instruction ◽  
Classroom Practices ◽  
Literacy Practices ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Discourse Communities ◽  
Language And Literacy ◽  
Complex Interplay ◽  
School Based ◽  
Inclusive School ◽  
Theoretical Frame

Drawing on a critical discourse perspective, we examine the “living dialogues,” or the complex interplay between discourses, in one neighborhood to recontextualize the often polarized debates about literacy instruction within education. Focusing on three children, their families, teachers, and classrooms, we argue that the creation of more inclusive school literacy practices requires a consideration of how discourses function within and across homes, communities, and schools. Thus we focus less on the merits or limits of one instructional method than on how living dialogues reflect particular and situated beliefs about language and literacy practices. Within this theoretical frame, classrooms arise as contextualized spaces where the living dialogues of unique discourse communities intersect, and where the relational discourses that shape and reflect classroom practices have the potential to open up or close down instructional spaces for children. A critical discourse perspective re-situates debates around literacy instruction and allows us to engage in complex ways with the dilemmas and possibilities of school-based literacy practices. Perhaps the most insidious and least understood form of segregation is that of the word. For if the word has the potency to revive and make us free, it has also the power to bind, imprison, and destroy. - Ralph Ellison

“Very easy, it’s an English class, therefore they should not rely on a French text”

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Payant ◽  
Philippa Bell
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Literacy Instruction ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Literacy Practices ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Complex Skill ◽  
Development Of Language ◽  
High Level

Abstract In the context of additional language (AL) learning, teachers need to focus on the development of language proficiency as well as on high-level literacy skills, for example, comprehending and evaluating information and creating new meaning. From a plurilingual perspective, AL learners’ first language (L1) is conceputalised as a useful tool in the development of target language proficiency; however, limited information exists concerning AL teachers’ beliefs towards the use of the L1 for high-level literacy instruction despite its potential utility for complex skill development. The aim of the present exploratory study was to examine the beliefs of in-service teachers of English as an additional language (EAL) working in the Quebec primary and secondary school system in francophone Canada regarding plurilingual approaches for classroom literacy practices and to uncover the factors that influence their beliefs. An online survey was distributed to in-service EAL teachers (N = 57) working in the province of Quebec, Canada. Findings suggest that teachers believe that it is most beneficial to adopt a monolingual lens to literacy instruction, a belief that denies learners’ use of their L1 and this, in a bilingual country. Implications for teacher education programs that challenge a monolingual lens are explored.

scholarly journals Being and Becoming American: Triangulating Habitus, Field, and Literacy Instruction in a Multilingual Classroom

2006 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lara Handsfield
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Literacy Instruction ◽  
Literacy Practices ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Language And Literacy ◽  
Third Grade Students ◽  
Performative Space ◽  
Multilingual Classroom ◽  
Sociopolitical Structures

This case study research documents how one teacher’s personal language and literacy practices and the sociopolitical structures of her profession intersect in her literacy instruction for her multilingual third grade students. Centering my analysis on Graff’s (1987) notion of the “literacy myth,” I discuss how the dialectic between Bourdieu’s habitus and field unfolds in the performative space of the classroom, challenging this discourse in small but significant ways. Complimenting research exploring students’ out-of-school language and literacy practices, this paper addresses how a teacher’s literate life history is performed in the classroom and who stands to benefit from these discursive performances.

scholarly journals Effective language and literacy instruction: Evaluating the importance of scripting and group size components

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 256-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorthe Bleses ◽  
Anders Højen ◽  
Philip S. Dale ◽  
Laura M. Justice ◽  
Line Dybdal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Group Size ◽  
Literacy Instruction ◽  
Language And Literacy ◽  
Language And Literacy Instruction

scholarly journals Teen Culture, Technology and Literacy Instruction: Urban Adolescent Students’ Perspectives

2015 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jia Li ◽  
Catherine Snow ◽  
Claire White
Keyword(s):  
Academic Success ◽  
Literacy Instruction ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Linguistically Diverse ◽  
The United States ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Language And Literacy ◽  
Adolescent Students ◽  
Use Of Technology

Modern teens have pervasively integrated new technologies into their lives, and technology has become an important component of teen popular culture. Educators have pointed out the promise of exploiting technology to enhance students’ language and literacy skills and general academic success. However, there is no consensus on the effect of technology on teens, and scant literature is available that incorporates the perspective of urban and linguistically diverse students on the feasibility of applying new technologies in teaching and learning literacy in intact classrooms. This paper reports urban adolescents’ perspectives on the use of technology within teen culture, for learning in general and for literacy instruction in particular. Focus group interviews were conducted among linguistically diverse urban students in grades 6, 7 and 8 in a lower income neighborhood in the Northeastern region of the United States. The major findings of the study were that 1) urban teens primarily and almost exclusively used social media and technology devices for peer socializing, 2) they were interested in using technology to improve their literacy skills, but did not appear to voluntarily or independently integrate technology into learning, and 3) 8th graders were considerably more sophisticated in their use of technology and their suggestions for application of technology to literacy learning than 6th and 7th graders. These findings lead to suggestions for developing effective literacy instruction using new technologies.

“Make Sure You See This”: Counternarratives of Multilingual Black Girls’ Language and Literacy Practices

2021 ◽  
pp. 238133772110382
Author(s):  
Vivian E. Presiado ◽  
Brittany L. Frieson
Keyword(s):  
Bilingual Education ◽  
Literacy Practices ◽  
Black Girls ◽  
Language And Literacy ◽  
Social Worlds ◽  
Bilingual Programs ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Critical Scholarship ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Dominant Narratives

Critical scholarship in bilingualism and bilingual education has documented multiple ways that the rich language and literacy practices of Black children participating in bilingual education programs are often erased in favor of dominant narratives about the literacy practices of their White Mainstream English–speaking peers. Utilizing Black girl literacies, raciolinguistics, and translanguaging as theoretical orientations, and counternarratives as an analytical tool, this article presents a cross-case analysis of two ethnographic case studies that explored how multilingual Black American girls enrolled in an elementary dual-language bilingual education program employed their literacies to navigate their social worlds, by challenging raciolinguistic ideologies and hegemonic systems of oppression in their daily lives. It also presents the nuanced nature of multilingual Black girls’ literacies and the various roles that they serve, which are often ignored in multilingual spaces. The need to learn from multilingual Black girls’ counternarratives is emphasized by engaging in a deeper sociopolitical understanding of the complex issues that Black girls face on a regular basis, which are often extended in bilingual spaces. Specifically, we call for educators to create critical translanguaging spaces that honor multidimensional counternarratives and intimately connect with the unique epistemologies and literacies that Black girls in bilingual programs bring to the table.

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