This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Eileen Kennedy, Ellen Cook, Heather Simmons, Minda Morren Lopez, Nancy Hornberger, Candace Simon, Katya Karathanos, Pamela Wolfberg, Brooks Katie, and Mario Camarena.
(2009). Teacher-Researchers Promoting Cultural Learning in an Intercultural Kindergarten in "Aotearoa" New Zealand, Language, Culture and Curriculum. This article discusses six teaching strategies identified by teacher-researchers as supporting their goal to improve learning and teaching for all children in the intercultural setting of a kindergarten in "Aotearoa" New Zealand. As a Centre of Innovation, the kindergarten received government funding for a 3-year action research project focused on the participation of Samoan children, who also attended a nearby Samoan language immersion early childhood setting. The programme was guided by two perspectives: the sociocultural philosophy that underpins the early childhood curriculum, and an additive approach to bilingual education that provides support for first-language maintenance as well as building English language competence. The six strategies are illustrated with data extracts focused on language and literacy learning and discussed with reference to the sociocultural concepts of co-construction and cultural tools. It is proposed that a core strategy "Teachers help children to revisit their learning experiences" sustains children's engagement in learning, in conjunction with several mediators: interactions with peers and teachers, as well as cultural, community and centre resources. The findings suggest that children actively engage in knowledge creation through these mediators and that cultural learning outcomes occur for both children and adults. [More] Descriptors: Language Maintenance, Action Research, Early Childhood Education, Bilingual Education
(2005). The Ameliorating Effects of High Socioeconomic Status: A Secondary Analysis, Bilingual Research Journal. A secondary analysis of previously published data shows that high-socioeconomic status (SES) English language learners (ELLs) outperform low-SES fluent English speakers on tests of math, and they do about as well on tests of reading. Thus, for ELLs, SES can offset the effects of language proficiency on standardized tests of math and reading. This result suggests that we can improve the performance of all ELLs by providing aspects of high SES known to impact school performance. This can be done by improving the print environment and providing bilingual education. [More] Descriptors: Second Language Learning, Standardized Tests, Language Proficiency, English (Second Language)
(2013). Bilingual and Special Educational Needs in Inclusive Classrooms: Some Critical and Pedagogical Considerations, Support for Learning. In the light of educational reforms aimed at promoting greater inclusive policies and practices, it is important to put a more pronounced emphasis on the needs of English language learners (ELLs) with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Simultaneously, a focus should also be placed on understanding and dealing with the disproportional representation of English language learners in special education categories. This dual and arguably sometimes mutually reinforcing phenomenon, along with its potential implications for education policy and practice, needs to be discussed against a convergent analytical framework drawn from bilingual and special education. The cross-fertilisation of these disciplinary fields can provide a multimodal and comprehensive approach to meeting the intersectional needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students with special educational needs. To this end, it is important that issues of culture and language should become indispensable aspects of the special education knowledge base in inclusive classrooms. [More] Descriptors: Disabilities, Special Education, Second Language Learning, Bilingualism
(2005). Translating Competence in a Critical Bilingual Classroom, Anthropology & Education Quarterly. This article describes the work of a bilingual educator who "translated" herself from a teacher working within the deficit structures of bilingual education to an individual who worked creatively within those structures so that she and her students could resituate themselves in positions of authority and value. This one-year study of a bilingual classroom included discourse analysis of translation. This study offers educational anthropologists an understanding of translation as both a revision and an invitation to communicate through and beyond language. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Hispanic Americans, Culturally Relevant Education, Discourse Analysis
(2009). Innovations in Inclusive Education: Two Teacher Preparation Programs at the San Francisco State University, International Journal of Whole Schooling. This article introduces two innovative teacher preparation programs that emphasize inclusive education at San Francisco State University. The Combined Elementary and Special Education program has as its main goal to provide specialized cross training for special and general educators who work in highly diverse inclusive public school settings. The training allows teachers to earn credentials in (a) elementary education, (b) special education, and (c) bilingual education. By combining and redesigning three existing programs at SFSU, the students now earn credentials in each of these three areas faster, while benefiting from the strengths of these multiple disciplines. The Autism Spectrum graduate program is designed to prepare highly qualified educators and related professionals to meet the unique needs of learners with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in diverse settings. This interdisciplinary program is offered at an advanced level for students pursuing any area of special education or a related field. The program enables candidates to earn a (a) Master of Arts (b) Clear Education Specialist Credential Autism and (c) Autism Spectrum Certificate. Through participation in this program, students demonstrate working knowledge of state-of-the-art training models, strategies and philosophies to guide them in implementing appropriate educational programs for learners with ASD in inclusive settings. [More] Descriptors: Credentials, Inclusive Schools, Elementary Education, Autism
(2005). Country Update: Israel 2005, Intercultural Education. Country Updates is a new section of "Intercultural Education." Starting in "Intercultural Education," Volume 16 No. 5, this column will focus on recent developments during the last two to three years in the field of intercultural education in one particular country. These updates can include recent policy decisions, the main results of important surveys, reports, evaluations and groundbreaking research. This update focuses on a specific topic: recent research that has examined the realities of bilingual education in Israel/Palestine in the wake of Yassar Arafat's death. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Multicultural Education, Educational Policy, Bilingual Education
(2009). What Do I Lose if I Lose My Bilingual School? Students' and Teachers' Perceptions of the Value of a Slovene Language Maintenance Program in Italy, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. The Italian-Slovenian border represents a dynamic vantage point from which to observe how cultural and linguistic contact takes place and how minority groups have created educational strategies to preserve their cultural and linguistic diversity while striving for respectful coexistence with the dominant society. Slovene-medium schools have been in existence since the 1800s, and, since 1961, they were recognized as K-13 Italian public schools devoted to the promotion of the cultural and linguistic heritage of the Slovene national minority and have successfully educated generations of ethnic Slovenes in both their mother tongue and the national language. This study unveils teachers' and students' language attitudes and ideologies that have permitted the language minority-based schools to persist and function as a viable alternative to the national mainstream schools. Framed by this sociolinguistic background, the study seeks to contribute to the debate on the benefits of bilingual education by examining teachers' and students' beliefs related to the role of mother-tongue education for (a) academic achievement in the minority and dominant language; and (b) minority language maintenance. These questions were explored in a Slovene-medium high school in Gorizia, Italy, in an attempt to contribute to the understanding of secondary language minority education as a context that is increasingly becoming a central focus of research, yet still merits much greater attention (Faltis and Wolfe 1999). [More] Descriptors: Educational Strategies, Language Minorities, Language Maintenance, Bilingual Schools
(2009). "We Teach Reading This Way because It Is the Model We've Adopted": Asymmetries in Language and Literacy Policies in a Two-Way Immersion Programme, Research Papers in Education. In the USA there has been widespread growth in Two-Way Immersion (TWI) programmes in all states, including those who have outlawed bilingual education. The model offers language majority students the opportunity to become bilingual alongside their language minority peers. Research has shown TWI programmes to be the most equitable and effective for teaching both native English speakers and linguistically subjugated populations. A central goal is that all students become proficient in oral and written communication of two languages. In this mixed methods study of a TWI programme in Texas, official discourse and policies reflected social justice and equitable language and literacy goals for students. However, there was marked incongruence between the interpretation and enactment of policies. There were asymmetrical language and literacy outcomes as the strict observance of programmatic goals constrained the English language and literacy development of Spanish-dominant students but did not constrain the Spanish language and literacy development of English-dominant peers. As a result, Spanish-dominant students and their families became disillusioned and questioned their participation in the TWI programme. Findings suggest that educators must examine literacy ideologies in policies and practice and be reflexive in regards to the local implementation of policy, particularly in meeting the language and literacy needs of students from linguistically subjugated communities. [More] Descriptors: Social Justice, Language Minorities, Immersion Programs, Bilingual Education
(2009). Multilingual Language Policy and School Linguistic Practice: Globalization and English-Language Teaching in India, Singapore and South Africa, Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education. This paper explores tensions in translating multilingual language policy to classroom linguistic practice, and especially the paradoxical role of and demand for English as a tool of decolonization for multilingual populations seeking equitable access to a globalizing economy. We take an ecological and sociolinguistic approach, depicting tensions between multilingualism and English across three national cases, at both policy and classroom level. Despite India's egalitarian Three Language Formula (TLF) of 1968, many Indian children are being educated in a language which is not their mother tongue. Singapore's bilingual education policy with English medium of instruction and mother tongues taught as second languages nevertheless leaves the linguistic capital of multilingual children who speak a pidginized variety of English called "Singlish" out of the equation, since the school medium is standard English. South Africa's Constitution of 1993 embraces multilingualism as a national resource, raising nine major African languages to national official status alongside English and Afrikaans, yet with the freedom of movement accompanying the dismantling of apartheid, large numbers of African language-speaking parents seek to place their children in English-medium instructional contexts. Given the push for English and simultaneous official valuing of multilingualism in all three cases, we briefly consider illustrative classroom examples and argue that multilingual classroom practices can be a resource through which children access Standard English while also cultivating their own local languages. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Language Planning, Linguistics, Educational Policy
(2009). Succeeding with English Language Learners: Lessons Learned from the Great City Schools, Council of the Great City Schools. School districts have been struggling with the challenges of teaching English Language Learners (ELLs) for decades. Yet few studies have examined strategies for districtwide instructional reform for ELLs. To address this need, the Council of the Great City Schools sought to explore the experiences of large, urban districts with differing levels of success in raising ELL student achievement to shed light on potential strategies for ELL reform. Specifically, the study aimed to investigate the district-level policies and practices, as well as the historical, administrative, and programmatic contexts of school systems that showed growth in ELL student achievement from 2002 to 2006. At the same time, these experiences were contrasted with the experiences of districts that did not show as much growth in ELL achievement during the study period. The results suggest that programming for ELLs has to be collaborative and it has to span the curriculum. Districts need to develop and communicate a clear vision and strategy for ELL instructional improvement, and work to provide schools with the tools, support, and oversight necessary to drive these reforms into the classroom. Appendices include: (1) Members of the Research Advisory Committee; and (2) CGCS Executive Committee Officers and English Language Learners and Bilingual Education Task Force Chairs. [More] Descriptors: Advisory Committees, Instructional Improvement, Educational Change, English (Second Language)
(2009). Language, Parents' Involvement, and Social Justice: The Fight for Maintaining Minority Home Language: A Chinese-Language Case Study, Multicultural Education. English-only policies and the expiration of the "Bilingual Education Act," which is now replaced by "No Child Left Behind," make it clear that English is the official language of schools in the United States with the emphasis moved from the goal of maintaining students' home languages while learning English to a focus of ignoring minority students' home languages. The bottom line is that the dominant group determines what language or languages will be learned in school. In order to maintain their home language, culture, and identity, minority groups have had to fight for their home languages and for broader issues of social justice. Speaking and maintaining a home language has been asserted to be a basic human right of minority students and their families. This article investigates the efforts of Chinese American students and their parents and community members in seeking the right to learn Chinese as a foreign language. This article also examines the assimilative and oppressive nature of school language policies, the importance of learning Chinese as a foreign language for Chinese American students who are losing their home language, and the broader importance of fighting for social justice. [More] [More] Descriptors: Social Justice, Federal Legislation, Second Language Learning, Bilingual Education
(2009). The Culture of Teaching ELL Students Successfully: A Two-Way bilingual, Online Submission. The purpose of this study was to examine the short and long term effects of a Two-Way bilingual education program on the literacy development of students in K-3 and high school. Two groups included students in English Language Learners (ELL) as well as students who were not ELL. Both groups were instructed in equal 50-50 percent English/Spanish. The academic performance of these students was focus on short-term look at grades K-3 but also follow groups of students through the middle and high school years. Results indicate that there is little difference between programs in the early grades but also the researchers found "very large, cumulative, long-term differences in student achievement; these students were in Two-Way bilingual program during their elementary school years" (Thomas and Collier, 1998, p. 49). Results show that students in the ELL program make adequate academic progress, confirming the usefulness of the Two-Way bilingual program in reducing the achievement gap between ELL students and others. Educators who use the enrichment models that were initially developed for English learners are beginning to see the power of these models for students. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Academic Achievement, Second Language Learning, Bilingualism
(2005). Empowerment, EAL and the National Numeracy Strategy, International Journal of Bilingual Education & Bilingualism. This paper concerns the relationship between learning English as an additional language (EAL) and school mathematics. In bilingual education, Cummins has proposed a distinction between coercive and collaborative power-relations as an important consideration in the education of such students, advocating collaboration as a means to empower such students, and so enable more effective learning. In this paper, I explore these ideas through a discursive examination of two texts: extracts from the National Numeracy Strategy (NNS) concerning EAL; and extracts from a transcript of two EAL students working on a mathematics classroom task. My analysis highlights the multilayered nature of collaborative and coercive power relations within mathematics classrooms. [More] Descriptors: Numeracy, English (Second Language), Bilingual Education, Mathematics Instruction
(2009). Building on the Cultural and Linguistic Capital of English Learner (EL) Students, Multicultural Education. Currently, public schools in the U.S. are experiencing dramatic increases in the number of English learner (EL) students they serve. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES, 2006), between 1979 and 2004, the overall number of school children in U.S. public schools increased 18 percent. While the nation has a long history of competing ideologies and political controversies related to English immersion programs versus bilingual education, scholars contend that these two educational approaches need not be conceptualized as dichotomous. Rather, when educators consider what approaches and strategies will provide the best opportunities for particular students to learn in particular contexts, they must bear in mind that for EL students, their native languages and cultures are key resources to draw upon for teaching both content and language. While encouraging native language development and use among students may initially seem daunting or present challenges to monolingual teachers, creative solutions can help teachers to overcome potential barriers to this practice. In this article, the authors provide detailed strategies and considerations that monolingual teachers, or teachers who do not speak all of the native languages of their students, can utilize to help EL students learn new concepts and develop their language skills by building on students' cultural and linguistic schema. [More] [More] Descriptors: Public Schools, Immersion Programs, Cultural Capital, Bilingual Education
(2005). Lessons From La Maestra Miriam: Developing Literate Identities through Early Critical Literacy Teaching, Journal of Latinos and Education. In the 1990s, teacher educators began to hear about the importance of studying and reporting on "best practices" in literacy learning to narrow the gap between high-and low-performing students. Of the studies produced, few of them looked to research in areas such as bilingual education for guidance on how to improve teaching reading for Spanish-dominant children. This year-long, qualitative study attempts to offer insight about how an exemplary Mexican bilingual teacher mobilizes her 1st-grade students' linguistic and cultural resources in Spanish to develop critical literacy skills that foster healthy literate identities and classroom communities for these Latino students. [More] Descriptors: Literacy Education, Spanish Speaking, Teaching Methods, Critical Theory