This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Jing Xiao, Karen N. Nemeth, Norma Presmeg, Ria van Besselaar, Xiucheng Yu, Joy Esquierdo, Virginia Snodgrass Rangel, Zulmaris Diaz, Daan Hermans, and Michael Whitacre.
(2011). Profiles in Emergent Biliteracy: Children Making Meaning in a Chicano Community. Educational Psychology: Critical Pedagogical Perspectives. Volume 9, Peter Lang New York. How do young children learn to read, write, speak, and listen in two languages? How do emergent readers and writers make meaning within multilingual communities? This book examines the emergent biliteracy development of two kindergarteners growing up in a New Mexican neighborhood. Using ethnographic accounts, the book portrays the familial, communal, and academic contexts in which the children appropriated dual proficiencies in English and Spanish, and provides a window into the homes and lives of these working-class boys and the political, philosophical, and pedagogical world of their bilingual kindergarten. The complexity of emergent biliteracy as a sociocultural-semiotic process is elaborated through Vygotskian theory, the multiple voices of these children, and the action research of their teacher. [More] Descriptors: Action Research, Educational Psychology, Multilingualism, Emergent Literacy
(2011). Readings on L2 Reading: Publications in Other Venues 2010-2011, Reading in a Foreign Language. This feature offers an archive of articles and books published in other venues during the past year and serves as a valuable tool to readers of "Reading in a Foreign Language" ("RFL"). It treats any topic within the scope of "RFL" and second language reading. The articles are listed in alphabetical order by author, each with a complete reference as well as a brief summary. The editors of this feature attempt to include all related articles that appear in other venues. However, undoubtedly, this list is not exhaustive. [More] [More] Descriptors: Reading Comprehension, Reading, Second Language Learning, English (Second Language)
(2011). Teaching in a Language that Is Not Their Own: Experiences from Teachers in California and the Basque Country (Spain and France), ProQuest LLC. Concerns about bilingual and multilingual programs have been an issue all over the world. Efforts to improve the educational achievement of students from different language backgrounds have created educational settings where teachers are now teaching in a language that is not their own. In the 20th century, many groups have expressed their rights to learn and be taught in their first language. Teachers have been learning second languages in order to be able to teach in their students' first language, which was not necessarily their own first language. This study focused on the experience of several teachers from three different countries, the United States, France and Spain. Volunteers for the study from schools in these three countries shared one characteristic in common: they were all teaching in a language that was not their first language. These teachers were asked to tell their stories about how they felt teaching in a second language, the way they learnt this language, the difficulties that they encountered in their way and the recommendations that they gave to school administrators and other teachers all over the world who were not teaching in their mother tongue. Although the teachers' experiences and decisions they made varied widely, all teachers from all the three countries shared common feelings and needs, thoughts and beliefs. Their willingness to be part of the new culture and language was deep in all of them. They all wanted to be good teachers, capable of teaching their subjects in the new language; that required a lot of learning and preparation form their parts, none of them complained at any moment and felt proud of themselves. Finally, the teachers' responses indicated that schools should accept all languages, and that bilingual programs, in their opinions, are positive and enriching, rather than being a handicap. Second language speakers feel the sense of pride, enjoyment and competence that several authors refer to in the literature. The data validates the literature used in this paper. Teachers gave recommendations that schools and school administrators should take into consideration. The most important refer to having good material in the content areas that they were teaching in, having on-going meetings among teachers who were teaching in a second language and having specific teacher training programs for second language teachers. Relevant work and interesting teachers gave the suggestions that are crucial for teachers in different countries who are teaching in the same type of situation. Their voices are the key part of this dissertation. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: www.proquest.com/en-US/products/disserta… [More] Descriptors: Second Languages, Multilingualism, Bilingual Education Programs, Foreign Countries
(2011). Examining the Effects of Language Brokering on Student Identities and Learning Opportunities in Dual Immersion Classrooms, Journal of Language, Identity, and Education. In settings where speakers of two or more different languages coexist, language brokering, the act of interpreting and translating between culturally and linguistically different speakers, is commonly practiced. Yet the examination of language brokering and its implications in classroom settings have not received much attention in the literature. The purpose of this study is to better understand how language brokering functions as an organizational tool in dual immersion classroom interactions to position second language (L2) students in ways that support or constrain learning opportunities. Our data suggest that although language-brokering events enable L2 learners to gain access to critical information in learning contexts, they also work to position the language broker as being more "able" in relation to the student receiving the brokering services, whose opportunities to publicly construct an "able" student identity are restricted. However, in dual immersion programs, the continual shifting of linguistic contexts across subject matter provide opportunities for all students, regardless of linguistic background, to take on the role of the broker, thereby, enabling students to renegotiate and reposition their public student identities. The analysis makes possible an understanding of the intended and unintended consequences of language-brokering processes that may provide insights into how to promote more equitable learning opportunities and positive student identities. [More] Descriptors: Immersion Programs, English (Second Language), Bilingual Education, Second Language Learning
(2011). The Educational Realities of Hmong Communities in Vietnam: The Voices of Teachers, Critical Inquiry in Language Studies. This article presents the language policy and sociolinguistic realities of Hmong people in Lao Cai province, Vietnam. Minority children, who have their own mother tongue, are educated in Vietnamese, a language that few understand. In response to this situation, the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam in collaboration with UNICEF, implemented in 2006 a bilingual educational reform integrating minority languages at the beginning of preschool and throughout elementary to improve the quality of education for minority ethnic groups. Based on a field experience, the author brings the narratives and the visual representation (photos and drawings) of the teachers working and living in Hmong communities. This article explores the questions: What issues ethnic minority teachers faced in their daily practices? The purpose of this article is to illustrate qualitatively what the statistical data cannot reveal on the educational realities of linguistic minority learners in Vietnam. [More] Descriptors: Language Minorities, Language Planning, Hmong People, Minority Group Children
(2013). Using Technology as a Teaching Tool for Dual Language Learners in Preschool through Grade 3, Young Children. Miss Jessie was hired because she was bilingual, but she was placed in a class where most of the children did not speak English or her home language of Spanish. The children spoke Arabic, Korean, or Polish most of the time. Where does she start? Early childhood educators across the United States are asking similar questions. Teachers often report that they have three, four, or more languages in their classroom–and those languages keep changing from year to year. To add to the challenge, multilingual materials can be hard to find and costly. It is important for teachers to have as many tools as possible to help them meet the language needs of all children in this ever-changing landscape. In addition to books and other materials on hand, technology tools allow teachers to find multilingual resources and create activities and materials that can be adapted quickly and inexpensively to meet changing language needs. There are also software applications (apps) for computer, phone, or other electronic devices, and interactive websites that can support children's dual language experiences. In this article, the authors describe ways to use the technology teachers might already have and offer some new ideas to inspire them. [More] Descriptors: Educational Technology, English (Second Language), Multilingualism, Early Childhood Education
(2011). Reflections from an International Immersion Trip: New Possibilities to Institutionalize Curriculum, Teacher Education Quarterly. One of the main challenges confronted by higher education in the 21st century is to internationalize its programs and to make students more globally competent. This challenge is not new, but it has become increasingly complex. Gutek (1993) explains how the efforts to internationalize the university in the United States became particularly important in the second part of the 20th century. The purpose of this article is to further support the need to internationalize the undergraduate curriculum in teacher education programs by explaining some of the curricular issues identified in an education course with a study tour component to Bolivia. As many other courses involving an immersion experience, this class was developed as an effort to bring an international perspective to our program by providing preservice teachers with more opportunities to experience realities outside their own. Organized mainly around visits to schools in Bolivia, students' evaluations and comments indicated that this course has contributed, in very significant ways, to their understanding of the world, of themselves, and of teaching. Based on these experiences and reflections, this article identifies some of the issues that could help educators to rethink the curriculum in their teacher education programs to aid their students in the development of a stronger sensitivity and knowledge toward global and local realities. Aware that only a very limited number of students have access to immersion trips abroad, the author argues that courses that include these experiential international components offer a unique perspective from which to rethink their curriculum and its value in preparing globally competent teachers. [More] [More] Descriptors: Preservice Teacher Education, Preservice Teachers, Undergraduate Study, Teacher Education Programs
(2011). Teaching Mathematics in Two Languages: A Teaching Dilemma of Malaysian Chinese Primary Schools, International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education. This paper discusses a teaching dilemma faced by mathematics teachers in the Malaysian Chinese primary schools in coping with the latest changes in language policy. In 2003, Malaysia launched a new language policy of teaching mathematics using English as the language of instruction in all schools. However, due to the complex sociocultural demands of the Malaysian Chinese community, mathematics is taught in both Mandarin and English in the Malaysian Chinese primary schools. Teachers faced the dilemma of code-switching between English and Mandarin particularly in low-performing classes. A substantial amount of class time was spent in translating, especially the mathematical terminologies. Findings of this study imply that further research studies are needed to examine the effectiveness of teaching mathematics bilingually versus monolingually in a Malaysian context. [More] Descriptors: Language Planning, Language of Instruction, Foreign Countries, Mandarin Chinese
(2013). Passage Reading Fluency in Spanish and English: The Relation to State Assessment Outcomes in English for Students in a Dual-Language Context, ProQuest LLC. The United States is experiencing an increase in young students developing literacy in English and Spanish. Schools providing dual-language English/Spanish instruction need technically adequate tools to assess reading skills in the languages of instruction, and interpretation of results needs to acknowledge the complexity of cross-linguistic learning. Although passage reading fluency in English strongly predicts overall reading proficiency in English in the primary grades and there is some indication that passage reading fluency in Spanish provides equivalent information regarding Spanish reading skills, rarely have the two been examined simultaneously and within a dual-language instructional context. The current study examined predictive and concurrent validity of passage reading fluency in English and Spanish within third grade within a dual-language instructional environment. Using a state assessment of reading as the criterion measure, a correlational design was used to investigate the relation between passage reading fluency in English and Spanish and performance on the statewide assessment of reading in English. Findings indicate that within a dual-language context, passage reading fluency in English is the stronger predictor of performance on the state assessment in English, regardless of the student's home language. Spanish reading fluency is also strongly related to English reading fluency but did not explain additional variance in predicting performance on the statewide large-scale assessment of reading in English beyond what English fluency explained. Results are consistent with the idea that same language assessments are more predictive of reading performance than cross-language assessments are, but the benefits of formative assessment in the language of instruction remain. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: www.proquest.com/en-US/products/disserta… [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Students, Bilingualism, Bilingual Education, Spanish
(2013). Acknowledging Spanish and English Resources during Mathematical Reasoning, Cultural Studies of Science Education. As English-only efforts continue in the US schooling system, dual-language programs have served as attempts to preserve students' home language. An after-school, dual-language, Spanish-English, mathematics program, Los Rayos was developed in a predominantly Mexican/Mexican-American neighborhood in Chicago. As participant observers with a sociocultural perspective, we explored the linguistic and personal resources used by participating 4th grade bilingual Latina/o students. We found that students used imaginative, playful, and hybrid linguistic resources to make sense of and solve probability tasks when engaged within a zone of mathematical practice. Results challenge narrow perspectives on bilingual students' linguistic resources. Language implications are discussed. [More] Descriptors: Language of Instruction, Spanish Speaking, English, Mexican Americans
(2013). Pre-Service Teachers: An Analysis of Reading Instruction in High Needs Districts Dual Language Classrooms, Online Submission. Pre-service teachers need opportunities to apply theory and connect to best practices as they teach in classroom settings be it, whole or small group. For many pre-service teachers often times their experience is limited to simply watching instruction or working with small groups of students (Pryor & Kuhn, 2004). The student teaching experience is a critical component of the teacher preparation program. Through the use of the English Language Learner Classroom Observation Instrument (ELLCOI), and researcher observation the hope is that these will aid in bringing to light the instructional activities used by pre-service teachers during reading instruction with ELLs. This study explores how pre-service bilingual teachers connect theory into practice by examining their instruction in the following categories: Instructional Practices, Interactive Teaching, English-Language Development, and Content Specific to Reading as listed in The English Language Learner Classroom Observation Instrument (ELLCOI) developed by Haager, Gersten, Baker, and Graves (2003). To capture these instructional events video tape recordings of eight South Texas pre-service teachers were taken during a reading language arts lesson in order to observe instruction in high need districts' dual language/bilingual classrooms. Data were compiled to capture the nature and quality of instruction on key essential elements, as well as reading instructional practices specific to the teaching/learning process in the dual language classroom. The findings portray the results of the ELLCOI with bilingual/ESL pre- service teachers and how they make sense of their instructional practices as a means to instruction in one-way dual language public school classrooms. [More] Descriptors: Theory Practice Relationship, Reading Instruction, Teaching Methods, Student Teaching
(2011). On Quality Education Reform in International Trade Major, International Education Studies. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the existing problems of quality education of specialization of international trade in current colleges and universities of China, and then propose several pieces of corresponding suggestion on educational reform. According to the characteristics of college and university education, we shall emphasize on the importance of quality education. Finally, we bring forward a series of countermeasures and proposals on the aspects of lecture mode, bilingual teaching, and training practical operation ability on instruction of specialization of international trade. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, International Trade, Majors (Students), College Students
(2013). Korean-English Dual Language Immersion: Perspectives of Students, Parents and Teachers, Language, Culture and Curriculum. This qualitative study examines the experiences of Korean-American students, parents and teachers in a newly instituted 50/50 Korean-English dual language immersion programme, where the majority of the students are of Korean descent. Based on home and school observations, as well as interviews with six Korean-American students and their parents and teachers, the data provided insights into the perceived benefits and challenges of participation in a dual language immersion programme. Although parents and children recognised the potential of the programme to develop bilingualism and biculturalism and foster stronger ethnic identity, they also perceived inequities in the ways in which the programme was organised and instruction was executed. The characteristics of the programme brought forth tensions for the parents and teachers in terms of expectations for language development in English vs. Korean, academic outcomes of bilingual vs. English-only education, parental involvement among Korean vs. non-Korean parents and instructional needs of Korean vs. non-Korean students. Furthermore, the analysis highlighted both shared perspectives as well as perspectives that were unique to children, parents and teachers arising from their different roles in the school. Implications for improved practices and policies for dual language immersion programmes for the less commonly taught languages are provided. [More] Descriptors: Ethnicity, Language Acquisition, Immersion Programs, Parent Participation
(2011). High Stakes Accountability and Policy Implementation: Teacher Decision Making in Bilingual Classrooms in Texas, Educational Policy. This article contributes to an emerging body of literature on the impact of high stakes testing accountability policies on implementation and teaching practice. It uses a theory of implementation, sense-making, to highlight the process by which policy and context shape teacher decision making. We focus on teachers in bilingual classrooms in an urban district in Texas where we found that teachers make decisions in an environment that exerts both formal and informal pressures to limit the curriculum they offer their students and privilege test preparation. Teachers struggle to reconcile their context, constituted by their students' specific pedagogical and linguistic needs, with the pressures of their high stakes testing environment. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, High Stakes Tests, Decision Making, Accountability
(2011). Lexical Activation in Bilinguals' Speech Production Is Dynamic: How Language Ambiguous Words Can Affect Cross-Language Activation, Language and Cognitive Processes. Is the bilingual language production system a dynamic system that can operate in different language activation states? Three experiments investigated to what extent cross-language phonological co-activation effects in language production are sensitive to the composition of the stimulus list. L1 Dutch-L2 English bilinguals decided whether or not a particular phoneme was part of the L2 English name of the picture. The phoneme was either part of the English name of the picture (/b/ or /t/ in "bottle"), the Dutch name of the picture (/f/ in "fles" [bottle], the cross-language condition), or was not part of either the English or Dutch names of the picture (/p/, the unrelated condition). In Experiment 1, we added a set of filler pictures with noncognate names in Dutch and English. In contrast, the filler pictures in Experiment 2 all had cognate names in Dutch and English. In Experiment 3 the fillers consisted of a mixture of pictures with cognate (25%) and noncognate (75%) names. Cross-language phonological co-activation appeared sensitive to the composition of the stimulus list: Phonological co-activation effects were observed in Experiments 2 and 3, but not in Experiment 1. The results indicate that the bilingual language production system dynamic and can operate in different modes, depending upon the composition of the stimulus list. We discuss implications for experimental paradigms used in the field of bilingual language production, and for current bilingual language production models. [More] Descriptors: Speech, Phonemes, Bilingual Education, Indo European Languages