This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Romilia Dominguez De Ramirez, Oneyda M. Paneque, Iliana Reyes, Donna Christian, Tara Williams Fortune, William R. Black, Integrated Education, Melissa A. Holmes, M. Ruiz-Cantero, and Emilio Ferreiro-Lago.
(2014). Steps toward Unifying Dual Language Programs, Common Core State Standards, and Critical Pedagogy: Oportunidades, Estrategias Y Retos, Association of Mexican American Educators Journal. Recent education reforms have begun to reframe academic discussion and teacher practice surrounding bilingual educational approaches for preparing "21st century, college and career ready" citizens. Given this broader context, in this article we examine ways that we might join implementation of dual language programs, Common Core State Standards, and critical pedagogy at the school and classroom levels via a teacher, school administrator, and teacher professional development program. We focus on a concrete example of a partnership between a progressive dual language school along the U.S.-Mexico border, known as Chula Vista Learning Community Charter School, and a bilingual teacher education program in the College of Education at San Diego State University, which prepares teachers and administrators to implement and develop dual language instruction aligned (but not beholden) to Common Core State Standards. We include discussion of a Freirian-based instructional program that helps unite the opportunities presented by dual language programs and standards-based reform initiatives in a deeper equity and social justice framework for educating students. We discuss opportunities ("oportunidades"), strategies ("estrategias"), and challenges ("retos") encountered during this collaborative work between the bilingual teacher preparation program, a Dual Language school, and one exemplary fourth grade teacher team and their enactment of a critical pedagogy-based curriculum. We conclude with a discussion of implications of our work for education of multilingual learners and the educators that work with them. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Educational Change, State Standards, Charter Schools
(2004). Parents' Attitudes Toward Chinese-English Bilingual Education and Chinese-Language Use, Bilingual Research Journal. This study surveyed 86 parents who enrolled their children in a Chinese-English bilingual preschool in San Francisco. The participants were asked their opinions on bilingual education, the reasons for sending their children to a Chinese-English bilingual school, their attitudes toward bilingual education, their use of Chinese and English, and their expectations for their children and the language environment at home. It was found that parents strongly support Chinese-English bilingual education and understood the purpose and underlying principles of bilingual education. Although there were some differences between the English-dominant and Chinese-dominant parents' responses, the major reasons parents enrolled their children in Chinese-English bilingual school were the practical advantages of being bilingual (e.g., better career opportunities), positive effects on self-image, and development of skills enabling effective communication within the Chinese-speaking community. The majority of the parents intended to encourage their children to speak Chinese at home. However, a gap existed between expectation and actual practice. Parents' expectation of their children's level of Chinese competency varied due to differences in parents' Chinese proficiency and the availability of Chinese resources at home. The results suggest that both English-dominant and Chinese-dominant parents are very supportive of developing bilingualism in their children. The implications of this study for community Chinese heritage language programs and for Chinese-English bilingual schools are that schools need to work in concert with parents to establish more effective home-school partnerships to meet the different language needs and expectations of the parents and students, and to provide students with the necessary language and literacy experiences in a meaningful way. [More] Descriptors: Parent Attitudes, Employment Opportunities, Bilingualism, Bilingual Education
(2011). Negotiating Worlds: A Young Mayan Child Developing Literacy at Home and at School in Mexico, Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education. In Mexico almost ten million people speak an indigenous language. Recognizing the pluralistic nature of the nation, the Mexican Constitution mandates bilingual-intercultural education; in reality, however, the school system typically imposes the Spanish language and dominant culture on indigenous children. For these children their academic success comes at the expense of their own language and culture. In this article we share the case study of Yadira, a Mayan girl living in Yucatan, Mexico, whom we met when she was in first grade. Using ethnographic tools we document the different literacy events in which Yadira participates at home and at school, and how these shape her understandings about print. We discuss how Yadira negotiates between two worlds using informal sources of Maya and Spanish to construct meaning from written language. [More] Descriptors: Multicultural Education, Indigenous Populations, Written Language, Maya (People)
(2009). Language Use by Bilingual Special Educators of English Language Learners with Disabilities, International Journal of Special Education. Using an exploratory case study approach, the language use of five bilingual special education teachers of English Language Learners (ELLs) with disabilities was examined. Audio tapes, classroom observations, and teacher interviews yielded data on the language used by the bilingual teachers. Data revealed information on the frequency of the use of English and Spanish, patterns of language use for each language, and differences in the way English and Spanish were used in the classroom. Implications for teacher preparation programs are discussed. [More] Descriptors: Language Patterns, Second Language Learning, Special Education Teachers, Bilingual Teachers
(2013). Teacher Perceptions of Struggling Readers Who Do Not Qualify for Special Services, ProQuest LLC. The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine teachers' perceptions about struggling readers who do not qualify for special services, their perceptions of these students' ability to learn to read, and their perceptions of their ability to instruct these students in their general education classrooms. Participants for this study were eight general education elementary teachers who had previously taught a struggling reader who did not qualify for special services. Research procedures incorporated semi-structured, open-ended interviews as well as focus groups. This study was performed from a constructivist stance. Analysis for this study was conducted inductively. Heuristic inquiry was the process utilized because of its highly personal nature. This phenomenological analysis involved several steps, which were followed in this study. The findings concluded that participants perceived that this population of students could learn to read but required so much repetition and one-on-one explicit instruction that general education teachers did not have the adequate time or personnel resources to accommodate this need. Additionally, the participants did not have prior knowledge about struggling readers who do not qualify for special services so they had to learn what worked and what did not over the course of the school year. When asked about their own ability to teach this population of students, perceptions varied. Those with special education or bilingual education experience perceived they had the skills but not the time or resources. Those who did not have that extra academic foundation did not believe they could adequately instruct these students. Based on this information, the implications of this study indicate that teachers need specific professional development about these students. They need to know how to best instruct these students so they are able to graduate from high school. Teachers also require more communication between the general education teachers and specialists/special education teachers. Finally, teachers must have the time and support to adequately progress this population of students. Even if professional development specifically targeting these students is conducted, a lack of progress for these students will continue if teachers do not have the time and support to carry out these recommendations. [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: Teacher Attitudes, Elementary School Teachers, General Education, Elementary School Students
(2011). Immersion Education: Practices, Policies, Possibilities. Bilingual Education & Bilingualism, Multilingual Matters. This volume builds on Fortune and Tedick's 2008 Pathways to Multilingualism: Evolving Perspectives on Immersion Education and showcases the practice and promise of immersion education through in-depth investigations of program design, implementation practices, and policies in one-way, two-way and indigenous programs. Contributors present new research and reflect on possibilities for strengthening practices and policies in immersion education. Questions explored include: What possibilities for program design exist in charter programs for both two-way and indigenous models? How do studies on learner outcomes lead to possibilities for improvements in program implementation? How do existing policies and practices affect struggling immersion learners and what possibilities can be imagined to better serve such learners? In addressing such questions, the volume invites readers to consider the possibilities of immersion education to enrich the language development and educational achievement of future generations of learners. [More] Descriptors: Program Design, Immersion Programs, Bilingual Education, Program Implementation
(2007). Cross-Language Relationship between Spanish and English Oral Reading Fluency among Spanish-Speaking English Language Learners in Bilingual Education Classrooms, Psychology in the Schools. This study examined whether oral reading fluency in a child's first language (Spanish) as assessed by Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) was related to oral reading fluency in a second language (English) and whether Spanish oral reading fluency probes administered in the fall were predictive of English oral reading fluency outcomes for spring of the same academic year. A total of 68 bilingual education students across grades 1 through 5 were assessed in Spanish and English during the fall, winter, and spring. Results showed that reading in Spanish and English across grades and time periods correlated moderately high with the exception of fourth grade. In addition, Spanish oral reading fluency at the beginning of the year significantly predicted English reading outcomes at the end of the year. These findings suggest that CBM can be a valuable tool for evaluating the relationship between oral reading fluency in both the first and second language. [More] Descriptors: Second Language Learning, Curriculum Based Assessment, Bilingualism, Bilingual Education
(2003). Mother Tongue Education and the Law: A Legal Review of Bilingualism with Reference to Scottish Gaelic, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. Focuses on the legal framework supporting the development of bilingual education. Reviews minority language issues and relevant issues from international law and regional law establish the legal parameters of its promotion. Practical ramifications of this are illustrate with reference o Scottish Gaelic. Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Bilingualism, International Law, Laws
(2004). Language Policy and Local Planning in South America: New Directions for Enrichment Bilingual Education in the Andes, International Journal of Bilingual Education & Bilingualism. This paper discusses bilingual education model types in South America with a special focus on the Andean region, and examines the recent language planning decisions by one Ecuadorian indigenous group to formally instruct Quichua as a second language in community schools. Specifically I argue that this type of localised planning–which promotes an enrichment model of bilingual education and use of students' heritage languages–merits greater attention from researchers and language planners as a potential avenue for equalising opportunity and sustaining linguistic diversity. The paper is divided into four sections. First, I briefly overview these local language planning decisions and their larger political context. Next, I draw comparisons between these decisions and recent shifts in US language planning and policy, and outline the shared challenges of what have been termed "heritage language initiatives" across the Americas. Lastly, I discuss the connections between these policy shifts and recent developments within the field of language policy and politics, and argue that this new form of bilingual education and local language planning represents the best hope for small language survival in the face of globalisation. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Community Schools, Bilingualism, Bilingual Education
(2009). Enhancing Advocacy Skills of Teacher Candidates, Teaching Education. This case study explores the dynamics of enhancing the capacities of teacher candidates in the Bilingual/Bicultural Education Students Interacting to Obtain Success (BESITOS) recruitment and retention program to advocate for culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students. Herrera and Murry's advocacy framework provides the theoretical framework for this study and comprises three components–currency, defensibility, and futurity. This study serves as a documentary account of the efforts of one Midwestern university to increase the number of highly qualified teachers prepared to address the challenges that confront CLD students. Moreover, this paper identifies potential strategies for the future design and implementation of advocacy skills development curricula. [More] Descriptors: Multicultural Education, Advocacy, Skill Development, Bilingual Education Programs
(2013). Teaching and Learning the Language of Science: A Case Study of Academic Language Acquisition in a Dual Language Middle School, ProQuest LLC. English language learners (EL) are the fastest growing sub-group of the student population in California, yet ELs also score the lowest on the science section of the California Standardized Tests. In the area of bilingual education, California has dramatically changed its approach to English learners since the passage of Proposition 227 in 1998, which called for most EL instruction to be conducted in English (Cummins, 2000; Echevarria, Vogt, & Short, 2008). In reality, this means that EL students are often placed in programs that focus on basic language skills rather than rigorous content, meaning that they are not getting access to grade level science content (Lee & Fradd, 1998). As a result, many EL students exit eighth grade without a strong foundation in science, and they continue to score below their English-speaking peers on standardized achievements. While the usefulness of the academic language construct remains controversial (Bailey, 2012), the language used in science instruction is nevertheless often unfamiliar to both EL and English proficient students. The discourse is frequently specialized for discipline-specific interactions and activities (Bailey, 2007; Lemke, 1990). This qualitative case study examined academic language instruction in three middle school science classrooms at a dual language charter school. The goal was to understand how teachers integrate academic language and content for linguistically diverse students. The findings from this study indicate that targeting language instruction in isolation from science content instruction prohibits students from engaging in the "doing of science" and scientific discourse, or the ability to think, reason, and communicate about science. The recommendations of this study support authentically embedding language development into rigorous science instruction in order to maximize opportunities for learning in both domains. [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: Middle School Students, Immersion Programs, English (Second Language), Scores
(2011). Understanding Deaf Bilingual Education from the inside: A SWOT Analysis, International Journal of Inclusive Education. This article reports on a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis using a nominal group process undertaken to identify and tackle significant factors, both internal and external, affecting those current Deaf bilingual practices in Spain which promote or prevent the processes through which more inclusive (barrier-free) education for Deaf children can be successfully implemented. Seventeen school representatives (eight Deaf, nine hearing) from nine school sites with leading Deaf bilingual initiatives for Deaf children from different parts of the country participated in the study. Ways to improve accessibility to the whole SWOT process were explored to ensure that genuine and significant participation of All school representatives was actually possible. The main strengths pointed out the importance of participation and involvement of staff and others in the educational community. The primary weakness was found in the lack of a learning environment fully accessible to Deaf children. Notable opportunities included a growing acceptance of the bilingual and inclusive school concept by regional educational administrations and societal and parental changes towards bilingualism and sign language. The lack of official recognition of sign language was reported as a major threat. Understanding these four internal and external interrelated factors can: (1) help insiders reflect on their practices and use the findings to improve their practice; (2) guide policy decisions on matching resources and capabilities to the environment in which schools catering for Deaf children operate; and (3) provide the starting point upon which policy-making and further research could be built. [More] Descriptors: Inclusion, Form Classes (Languages), Sign Language, Bilingual Education
(2006). Constructing Accountability Performance for English Language Learner Students: An Unfinished Journey Toward Language Minority Rights, Educational Policy. In this article, I examine the assimilationist assumptions embedded in the development and implementation of the Texas Reading Proficiency Test in English (RPTE). The RPTE was designed as a developmental bridge for English language learner (ELL) students to perform on the English Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS). These assumptions are revealed in the policy language and modification process. They are also negotiated and reconstructed in a school site, Marquez Elementary. I draw from a prior ethnographic study of Marquez to portray local practices and discourses of ELLs and accountability. As these accountability performance policies targeting ELLs circulate through a particular school, the space available for bilingual education is subsumed to performance-oriented mandates, symbols, and ideology. Consequently, the RPTE to TAKS accountability policy design privileges assimilationist discourse and subtly promotes the imposition of earlier transition models of bilingual and ELL education at the local level. [More] Descriptors: Acculturation, Accountability, Language Minorities, Language Proficiency
(2011). Thinking and Speaking in Two Languages. Bilingual Education & Bilingualism, Multilingual Matters. Until recently, the history of debates about language and thought has been a history of thinking of language in the singular. The purpose of this volume is to reverse this trend and to begin unlocking the mysteries surrounding thinking and speaking in bi- and multilingual speakers. If languages influence the way we think, what happens to those who speak more than one language? And if they do not, how can we explain the difficulties second language learners experience in mapping new words and structures onto real-world referents? The contributors to this volume put forth a novel approach to second language learning, presenting it as a process that involves conceptual development and restructuring, and not simply the mapping of new forms onto pre-existing meanings. Following an Introduction by the editor, the contents of this book include: (1) Cognitive Restructuring in Bilingualism (Panos Athanasopoulos); (2) Language-specific Patterns in Event Construal of Advanced Second Language Speakers (Barbara Schmiedtova, Christiane von Stutterheim, and Mary Carroll); (3) Language-specific Patterns in Event Conceptualization: Insights from Bilingualism (Emanuel Bylund); (4) Thinking, Speaking and Gesturing about Motion in more than One Language (Marianne Gullberg); (5) The Art and Science of Bilingual Object Naming (Barbara C. Malt and Eef Ameel); (6) (Re-)naming the World: Word-to-referent Mapping in Second Language Speakers (Aneta Pavlenko); and (7) Thinking and Speaking in Two Languages: Overview of the Field (Aneta Pavlenko). [More] Descriptors: Speech Communication, Second Languages, Bilingual Education, Multilingualism
(1980). Bilingualism Policy in Sweden. Discusses immigrant and bilingual education policy in Sweden. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Educational Policy, Immigrants