This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Karen Emmorey, Dawn Lambson, Barbara Trudell, Marcel R. Giezen, Pawel Scheffler, Roy Clariana, Linda Ventriglia, Eliana D. Rojas, Gabriela Romero, and Christina Passos DeNicolo.
(2015). The Rise and Run of a Computational Understanding of Slope in a Conceptually Focused Bilingual Algebra Class, Educational Studies in Mathematics. This paper uses a multilevel analysis of mathematical reasoning rooted in Cultural Historical Activity Theory to examine how mathematical discourse and student reasoning about linear functions developed across 3¬ weeks in a ninth grade bilingual algebra class. Despite the teacher's expertise teaching with a conceptual focus, and her stated intention to focus on slope as a rate of change, the case study students in her class appeared to appropriate a procedural understanding of slope. By examining the nested activity systems of the students' group discussions, the classroom, school, and district, this analysis shows how external assessment pressures shaped the teacher's selection of tasks, her and her students' use of mathematical discourse, and ultimately, her students' opportunity to learn a critical algebraic concept. [More] Descriptors: Algebra, Computation, Logical Thinking, Grade 9
(2002). The Availability of Spanish Heritage Language Materials in Public and School Libraries, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. Examines how much heritage language material is available for language minority students in the libraries of a large elementary school district in Phoenix, Arizona. Determines whether there is any relationship between a school's instructional approach for its English language learners and the quantity of heritage language reading material offered. Descriptors: Bilingualism, Elementary Education, English (Second Language), Heritage Education
(2017). Reading Comprehension and Immersion Schooling: Evidence from Component Skills, Developmental Science. The present research aims to assess literacy acquisition in children becoming bilingual via second language immersion in school. We adopt a cognitive components approach, assessing text-level reading comprehension, a complex literacy skill, as well as underlying cognitive and linguistic components in 144 children aged 7 to 14 (72 immersion bilinguals, 72 controls). Using principal component analysis, a nuanced pattern of results was observed: although emergent bilinguals lag behind their monolingual counterparts on measures of linguistic processing, they showed enhanced performance on a memory and reasoning component. For reading comprehension, no between-group differences were evident, suggesting that selective benefits compensate costs at the level of underlying cognitive components. Overall, the results seem to indicate that literacy skills may be modulated by emerging bilingualism even when no between-group differences are evident at the level of complex skill, and the detection of such differences may depend on the focus and selectivity of the task battery used. [More] Descriptors: Reading Comprehension, Immersion Programs, Bilingual Education, Second Language Learning
(2016). Sources of Individual Differences in L2 Narrative Production: The Contribution of Input, Processing, and Output Anxiety, Applied Linguistics. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of cognitive task complexity and individual differences in input, processing, and output anxiety (IPOA) on L2 narrative production. The participants were enrolled in a bilingual secondary educational program. They performed two narrative tasks in speech and writing. The participants' level of anxiety was assessed using the IPOA scale (MacIntyre and Gardner 1994). The results demonstrate that spoken and written modalities are influenced differently by anxiety with the impact of output anxiety being significantly stronger in speech than in writing. Another important finding was that input and processing anxiety had both facilitating and debilitating effects on learners' L2 output. As regards the effect of task complexity on participants' narratives, the findings suggest that the different stages of language production need to be taken into account when categorizing tasks on the basis of the cognitive load they impose on learners. [More] Descriptors: Individual Differences, Second Language Learning, Input Output Analysis, Anxiety
(2014). Public Stories of Mathematics Educators: Challenges and Affordances of Learning Mathematics in a Second Language, Journal of Urban Mathematics Education. In this public story, we explore challenges and affordances of learning mathematics when the learner's primary language is not the primary language of instruction. We, the authors, are Mary Truxaw, a predominantly monolingual (English, with limited Spanish) mathematics educator and Eliana Rojas, a bilingual (Spanish and English) bilingual/multicultural educator with expertise in mathematics education. We tell this story predominantly as a first-person narrative from Mary's point of view; however, cogenerative dialogue (Tobin & Roth, 2005) between us informs the story throughout. [More] Descriptors: Affordances, Mathematics Education, Mathematics Teachers, Personal Narratives
(1985). A Functional-Collaborative Approach for the Identification of Teaching Strategies for Staff Development of Teachers of Limited English Proficiency Students. Bilingual Inservice Teacher Education Research Program Final Report. A study of effective strategies for professional development of teachers of limited-English-proficient (LEP) students in the Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts public schools took a functional-collaborative research approach, involving teachers and administrators in examining the study's issues and conclusions. An early survey revealed that teachers desired training to improve the transition process for students moving from native language to English-language instruction, and the study focused on developing techniques for this purpose. A comparison of native-language, English-as-a-second-language, and standard English programs suggested that the transition process is made more difficult by discontinuities in teaching strategies and language skill sequences in and across all program types, and that more careful coordination of instructional chains and sequences across programs would improve both transitioning and interprogram communication. Because of the study's functional-collaborative structure, increased coordination and communication was an immediate result of the research, and this research strategy is recommended for future research efforts in education. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Educational Research, Educational Strategies, Faculty Development
(2012). Evidence and Evolution: Research and Teachers' Intuition Lead to a Bilingual Program, Odyssey: New Directions in Deaf Education. A visit to any classroom at the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf (WPSD) or The Scranton School for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children reveals a host of amazing things–all at the same time. Visitors see dedicated and passionate teachers presenting engaging and relevant material. They see an all-inclusive communication environment, where American Sign Language (ASL) may be as prevalent as spoken English or sign-supported English. They see Smartboards, textbooks, document cameras, laptop computers, papers, pencils, and just about any other tool being used by content, comfortable, and smiling children eager to soak up the lessons of the day. It is no accident that these classrooms include all of these things. They are in place to fulfill the goal of preparing each deaf and hard of hearing student for all aspects of life through a continuum of high-quality, individualized education and extracurricular programs. The challenge facing many institutions devoted to educating deaf and hard of hearing children is just exactly how to remain committed to research-based decisions while continuing with the everyday duties of teaching and remaining in compliance with the seemingly endless amount of state and national mandates. Yet as challenging as it may be, the experiences of WPSD and The Scranton School have clearly affirmed that research is an extremely vital tool and needs to be incorporated into the daily activities, approaches, and decision making used in any school for deaf and hard of hearing children. [More] Descriptors: Special Schools, Partial Hearing, Deafness, Individualized Instruction
(2016). Semantic Integration and Age of Acquisition Effects in Code-Blend Comprehension, Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education. Semantic and lexical decision tasks were used to investigate the mechanisms underlying code-blend facilitation: the finding that hearing bimodal bilinguals comprehend signs in American Sign Language (ASL) and spoken English words more quickly when they are presented together simultaneously than when each is presented alone. More robust facilitation effects were observed for semantic decision than for lexical decision, suggesting that lexical integration of signs and words within a code-blend occurs primarily at the semantic level, rather than at the level of form. Early bilinguals exhibited greater facilitation effects than late bilinguals for English (the dominant language) in the semantic decision task, possibly because early bilinguals are better able to process early visual cues from ASL signs and use these to constrain English word recognition. Comprehension facilitation via semantic integration of words and signs is consistent with co-speech gesture research demonstrating facilitative effects of gesture integration on language comprehension. [More] Descriptors: Semantics, American Sign Language, Bilingual Education, Lexicology
(2014). The Multilingual Education (MLE) Network Phenomenon: Advocacy and Action for Minoritized Language Communities, Multilingual Education. This article examines a new phenomenon in language activism variously called the multilingual education working group or the multilingual education network, and abbreviated as MLEN. After an analysis of the conceptual and organizational contexts for these activist groups, the six MLENs in existence as of 2013 are described. The groups are then analyzed for particular characteristics and trends which they demonstrate. [More] Descriptors: Language Minorities, Advocacy, Multilingualism, Activism
(2016). Implementing Bilingual Pattern Practice, RELC Journal: A Journal of Language Teaching and Research. This article describes how semi-communicative bilingual drills were implemented in a four-month course in pedagogical English for a group of ten Polish adult learners. When the course was over, the learners were asked to evaluate the procedure by filling in a questionnaire. The learners expressed overwhelming approval for bilingual drills in terms of their usefulness. Some of the students indicated that the drills prepared them for communication in English. [More] Descriptors: Adult Learning, Curriculum Implementation, Drills (Practice), English (Second Language)
(2002). Connecting Greek and Canadian Schools through an Internet-Based Sister-Class Network, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. Outlines the basic theoretical principles underlining a sister-class project undertaken between schools in Canada and Greece. The objectives of the project, the problems that arose during the implementation as well as the outcomes thus far are discussed. Descriptors: Bilingualism, Cultural Awareness, Educational Objectives, Foreign Countries
(2015). English Learners (ELs) and Early Learning. Fast Facts. The Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) and Office of Early Learning (OEL) has synthesized key data on English learners (ELs) and early learning into two-page PDF sheets, by topic, with graphics, plus key contacts. The topics for this report include: (1) State-funded preschool programs with highest percentage of ELs: Fall 2013; (2) Support services for ELs and families offered by preschool programs: Fall 2013; and (3) Primary language of Head Start participants at home: FY2014. Some facts included are: (1) Texas had the highest percentage of ELs (42.8 percent) among the state-funded preschool programs reporting the number of enrolled ELs; (2) The majority of state-funded preschool programs (56.6 percent) in the United States may offer bilingual non-English classes; and (3) In FY 2014, 30 percent of Head Start participants' families spoke a language other than English at home. Twenty-five percent of these participants' families spoke Spanish at home. [More] Descriptors: English Language Learners, Preschool Education, Bilingual Education Programs, English (Second Language)
(2015). Does Biliteracy + Mathematical Discourse = Binumerate Development? Language Use in a Middle School Dual-Language Mathematics Classroom, Urban Education. Few studies on the role of bilingualism in mathematics classrooms explore the intersection of biliteracy, language use, mathematical discourse, and numeracy–especially at the middle school level. Drawing from biliteracy development theory and reform mathematics education literature, this qualitative case study of a dual-language mathematics classroom shows how English language learners (ELLs)/bilinguals use their first (L1) and second language (L2) as resources to access advanced mathematical curriculum. The article provides glimpses of instructional strategies that encourage mathematics discourse and biliteracy development. Encouraging secondary bilingual students to solve non-routine mathematical problems collaboratively may not only promote student engagement but also promote binumerate development. [More] Descriptors: Qualitative Research, Case Studies, Bilingual Education, Bilingualism
(2017). Leveraging a Sorting Task as a Measure of Knowledge Structure in Bilingual Settings, Technology, Knowledge and Learning. This descriptive exploratory study considers whether a simple sorting task can elicit readers' knowledge structure in learners' first and second language. In this investigation, knowledge structure is considered from a symbolic connectionist viewpoint as the fundamental pre-meaningful aspect of knowledge, where structure is the precursor of knowledge acquisition and the underpinning of meaningful activity. Chinese-English (C-E) bilingual participants (n¬ =¬ 23) were assigned to one of four counter-balanced conditions to complete two presorting tasks, read an English expository text passage, and then complete two post-sorting tasks including: CE-read-EC, CE-read-EC, EC-read-EC, and EC-read-CE. Data analysis focused on the knowledge structure measures elicited by the four sorting tasks. Results show that both the reading and the sorting elicitation task itself differentially influenced knowledge structure; the Chinese post-sorting task immediately after reading the English text led to a relatively more relational structure than did the English post-sorting task. Individual's knowledge structure elicited by the sorting tasks was not much like those of other students, but each individual's self-to-self structure in Chinese and English were somewhat alike before reading (r¬ =¬ 0.35, 13% overlap) and moderately alike after reading (r¬ =¬ 0.62, 39% overlap). These findings add to the evidence base that sorting tasks can elicit knowledge structures in dual language settings. [More] Descriptors: Task Analysis, Student Evaluation, Bilingual Education, Bilingual Students
(2016). Exploring Instructional Practices in a Spanish/English Bilingual Classroom through "Sitios y Lenguas" and "Testimonio", Urban Review: Issues and Ideas in Public Education. Drawing from Chicana feminist perspectives and Pérez ("Living Chicana theory." Third Woman Press, Berkeley, pp 87-101, 1998) theories of "sitios y lenguas" (space and discourses) the authors reposition understandings of teaching and learning through a qualitative case study of a first grade Spanish/English bilingual classroom. Through analysis of field notes, interviews, and the teacher's "testimonio", the authors examine how "sitios y lenguas" functions as a tool to identify ways that home languages and cultural backgrounds are valued resources for learning in one bilingual classroom. Findings show how theorizing classroom spaces ("sitios") and the interchange of languages ("lenguas") counters hegemonic discourses by providing a narrative that reclaims knowledge production of bilingual and bicultural communities (Anzaldúa in "Borderlands/La frontera: the new mestizo." Aunt Lute Press, San Francisco, 1987: Darder in "Latinos and education: a critical reader." Routledge, New York, pp 331-350, 1997; Villenas in "Chicana/Latina education in everyday life: feminista perspectives on pedagogy and epistemology." State University Press, New York, pp 1-10, 2006). [More] Descriptors: Hispanic Americans, Feminism, Qualitative Research, Case Studies