What Meaning-Making Means Among Us: The Intercomprehending of Emergent Bilinguals in Small-Group Text Discussions

2017 ◽  
Vol 87 (4) ◽  
pp. 482-511 ◽  
Author(s):  
MAREN AUKERMAN ◽  
LORIEN CHAMBERS SCHULDT ◽  
LIAM AIELLO ◽  
PAOLO C. MARTIN
Keyword(s):  
Small Group ◽  
English Language ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Second Graders ◽  
Classroom Teachers ◽  
Bilingual Students ◽  
Emergent Bilingual ◽  
First Time ◽  
Emergent Bilingual Students

In this study, the authors examine how emergent bilingual second graders collaboratively constructed textual understandings, a phenomenon they call intercomprehending, by building on each other's contributions and positioning their ideas in relation to peer ideas. The study traces the interrelationships of the utterances of emergent bilingual students discussing text in English for the first time in the context of a small-group discussion focused on English-language picture books. The textual ideas students shared were highly contingent on peer ideas and at the same time drew substantially on the text itself, particularly the illustrations. The authors argue that intercomprehending may serve as a fruitful way for emergent bilingual students to build on what they know as they read and learn in school and that classroom teachers may do well to build on that resource.

Emergent bilingual students in secondary school: Along the academic language and literacy continuum

2013 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 438-476 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate Menken
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Secondary Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Academic Language ◽  
Poor Performance ◽  
Bilingual Students ◽  
Language And Literacy ◽  
Emergent Bilingual ◽  
Emergent Bilingual Students

This article offers a critical review of research about emergent bilingual students in secondary school, where the academic demands placed upon them are great, and where instruction typically remains steadfast in its monolingualism. I focus on recent scholarship about the diversity within this student population, and center on ‘students with interrupted formal education’ (SIFE, new arrivals who have no home language literacy skills or are at the beginning stages of literacy learning) and ‘long-term English language learners’ (LTELLs, primarily educated in their receiving country yet still eligible for language support services). Little has been published about these students, making this a significant area of inquiry. Moreover, both groups are characterized by poor performance and together illustrate the characteristics of secondary students at various points along an academic language and literacy continuum. While existing research provides important information to help us improve secondary schooling for emergent bilinguals, it has also perpetuated deficit views of these students by focusing solely on their perceived academic shortcomings. Grounded in a new body of research in applied linguistics that examines the students’ complex, creative, and dynamic language and literacy practices, I apply a translanguaging lens to critique the positioning of such students as deficient, with implications for research and practice.

Translanguaging space in a bilingual program in New York City Chinatown middle school

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaodi Zhou ◽  
Danling Fu
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
York City ◽  
Grade Level ◽  
Classroom Teachers ◽  
Bilingual Students ◽  
Emergent Bilingual ◽  
Past Data ◽  
Emergent Bilingual Students

Abstract This study explores how translanguaging pedagogy was practiced in a New York City Chinatown middle school to engage emergent bilingual students (EBs) with diverse language literacy backgrounds in their study of the grade level social studies curriculum. The data were collected over the past two decades while we worked with classroom teachers in search of effective ways to improve EBs’ school performance. We revisited this data utilizing a translanguaging lens to reconceptualize this past work and reframe our analysis to deepen understanding of translanguaging teaching praxis. Therefore, this research not only seeks possible ways to meet challenges in the education of EBs in U.S. schools but also to add to a research method that looks back at past data as an approach to looking ahead in scholarship.

scholarly journals Recontextualizing Quality Talk for an Eighth-Grade English Classroom in China

2020 ◽  
pp. 209653112097017
Author(s):  
Liwei Wei ◽  
P. Karen Murphy ◽  
Shenghui Wu
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Small Group ◽  
English Language ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Eighth Grade ◽  
Pedagogical Approach ◽  
Language Class ◽  
English Classroom

Purpose: Conducting meaningful interactions in the target language is essential for language learning. However, in many English language classrooms in China, it is rare that students are provided with such opportunities. In the current study, we presented and critically evaluated the implementation of a small-group discussion approach called Quality Talk (QT) in an eighth-grade English language classroom in China. Design/Approach/Methods: One eighth-grade English teacher and 82 eighth-grade students in a public middle school in Beijing participated in the study using a pretest-posttest, quasi-experimental design. Recordings of teacher coaching sessions and student discussions, researchers’ field notes, and participating teacher’s written reflections were used to identify successful practices and lessons learned with respect to the implementation of QT. Implications for future directions were also discussed. Findings: The results revealed that to successfully implement a discourse-intensive pedagogical approach in a large English language class, it is essential that (a) the materials used for discussion closely align with the school curriculum, (b) students are grouped heterogeneously and scaffolded to engage in discussions both in their native and target languages, and (c) student leadership be leveraged to facilitate discussion in each small group. Originality/Value: The present study delineated the details with respect to implementing a discourse-intensive pedagogical approach in an eighth-grade English classroom in China. We derived several key insights from recontextualizing QT in an English learning, large class context in China. These insights might hold the potential to improve the effectiveness of English teaching and learning in China.

Diversity Ideology and School Leadership: Obscuring Inequities for Emergent Bilingual Students in Career and Technical Education

2021 ◽  
pp. 0013161X2110525
Author(s):  
Mark R. Emerick
Keyword(s):  
Academic Success ◽  
Career And Technical Education ◽  
Equal Opportunity ◽  
Technical Education ◽  
State Level ◽  
Bilingual Students ◽  
Career And Technical ◽  
Emergent Bilingual ◽  
Diversity And Inclusion ◽  
Emergent Bilingual Students

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to examine the ways in which school leaders in career and technical education (CTE) conceptualized diversity and inclusion for emergent bilingual students (EBs) and how their beliefs about diversity manifested in institutional support (or lack thereof) for EBs. Research Method: This study draws on data collected during a year-and-a-half long qualitative case study at a large, nationally recognized CTE center. The primary sources of data were interviews with administrators, teachers, and students; local artifacts, student records, and state-level enrollment data were also used. Findings: CTE administrators adhered to diversity ideology when discussing issues of diversity and EBs' inclusion at their institution and believed that they cultivated an inclusive educational environment. This ideology resulted in superficial diversity and inclusion initiatives that did not ensure that EBs had equitable access to CTE program nor that teachers had a sufficient system of support to ensure EBs’ academic success, despite the administration's stated commitment to equal opportunity and inclusion. Implications: These findings suggest the need for administrators to critically examine their conceptualization of diversity and equity when considering how to support EBs in CTE programs.

Critical Bilingual Leadership for Emergent Bilingual Students

2015 ◽  
pp. 446-470 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Wiemelt
Keyword(s):  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Literacy Development ◽  
Transformative Leadership ◽  
Leadership Theory ◽  
Bilingual Students ◽  
Language And Literacy ◽  
Emergent Bilingual ◽  
Language And Literacy Development ◽  
Emergent Bilingual Students

The overarching goal of this chapter is to examine and understand the role that school leadership plays in fostering the educational space where language and literacy development are central to the vision of a school community for emergent bilingual students. With this in mind, traditional school leadership theory and practice are insufficient to truly foster the culturally and linguistically responsive schools that are needed for emergent bilingual students. Therefore, this chapter presents critical bilingual leadership theory as an innovative conceptual framework aimed at answering this challenge. Drawing from transformative leadership and Latin@ critical race theory, this framework situates the role of equity-oriented leadership in the context of fostering language and literacy development for emergent bilingual students.

Critical Bilingual Leadership for Emergent Bilingual Students

2016 ◽  
pp. 1606-1631
Author(s):  
Joseph Wiemelt
Keyword(s):  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Literacy Development ◽  
Transformative Leadership ◽  
Leadership Theory ◽  
Bilingual Students ◽  
Language And Literacy ◽  
Emergent Bilingual ◽  
Language And Literacy Development ◽  
Emergent Bilingual Students

The overarching goal of this chapter is to examine and understand the role that school leadership plays in fostering the educational space where language and literacy development are central to the vision of a school community for emergent bilingual students. With this in mind, traditional school leadership theory and practice are insufficient to truly foster the culturally and linguistically responsive schools that are needed for emergent bilingual students. Therefore, this chapter presents critical bilingual leadership theory as an innovative conceptual framework aimed at answering this challenge. Drawing from transformative leadership and Latin@ critical race theory, this framework situates the role of equity-oriented leadership in the context of fostering language and literacy development for emergent bilingual students.

Role of Immigrant Parents' Attitudes and Practices in Emergent Bilingual Students' Language Use and Translanguaging Performance

2022 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Chaehyun Lee
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Immigrant Parents ◽  
Bilingual Students ◽  
Attitudes And Practices ◽  
Emergent Bilingual ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
Classroom Language ◽  
Emergent Bilingual Students

Given the issue of heritage language (HL) development or attrition among children of immigrants in the U.S., this study examines Korean emergent bilingual students' HL use and translanguaging practices in an HL classroom. To extend our understanding of immigrant families' vital roles in their children's establishment of bilingualism, the study further explores the role of immigrant Korean families' language practices and attitudes towards their children's bilingualism. The chapter addresses the following research question: What was the relationship between the parents' attitudes toward bilingualism and their children's language use and translanguaging performance in an HL classroom? The findings show the emergent bilingual students' classroom language use, including their translanguaging performance and the immigrant parents' views and practices towards their children's development of bilingualism. The findings indicate that there is a close relationship between parents' attitudes and practices at home and the children's language use and development both in Korean and English.

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