This annotated bibliography is reformatted and customized by the Center for Positive Practices. Some of the authors featured on this page include Lisa M. Dorner, Huang Jian, Robert C. Kleinsasser, Caroline Linse, Ramon Antonio Martinez, Janice Silva, Andria Phesia, Paul McCold, Francisco Lorenzo, and Paul Delleman.
(2013). What Are the Goals of Language Teaching?, Iranian Journal of Language Teaching Research. For many centuries people who speak more than one language, that is to say second language (L2) users, have been admired. In the 16th century an advisor to Elizabeth I of England said: "For even as a hawk flieth not high with one wing, even so a man reacheth not to excellency with one tongue." (Roger Ascham, "The Scholemaster," 1570). In the 21st century the education minister for Elizabeth II proclaimed: "It is literally the case that learning languages makes you smarter. The neural networks in the brain strengthen as a result of language learning." (Michael Gove, UK Education Secretary, 2011). Yet, despite these public statements, bilingualism is more often seen as a problem to be solved than an asset to be developed. Second language (L2) users indeed have problems, whether social, psychological or economic–like everyone else. But few of these stem from their bilingualism itself. [More] Descriptors: Second Language Instruction, Student Educational Objectives, Bilingual Education, Multilingualism
(2014). Language of Instruction as a Moderator for Transfer of Reading Comprehension Skills among Spanish-Speaking English Language Learners, Bilingual Research Journal. This three-year longitudinal study investigated the role of language of instruction in moderating the relationships between initial levels of English oral language proficiency and Spanish reading comprehension and growth in English reading comprehension. The study followed Spanish-speaking English language learners in English-only literacy instruction, an early-exit bilingual program, or a late-exit bilingual program, from third through fifth grade. Students in all groups experienced significant growth in English reading comprehension. For the English-only group, initial levels of Spanish reading comprehension were not related to growth in English reading comprehension. However, for students in the two bilingually instructed groups, those who began with stronger Spanish reading comprehension skills grew faster in English reading comprehension than students without initial strong Spanish reading comprehension skills. [More] Descriptors: Language of Instruction, Reading Comprehension, Spanish, Bilingual Education
(2013). Preparing English Language Learners for Complex Reading, Educational Leadership. Although the Common Core state standards' goal of ensuring that every student leaves high school prepared to meet the demands of college and career is laudable, it's daunting for teachers who serve English language learners. The authors, educators at a private bilingual school in Mexico, describe how they used short excerpts of longer works giving pro and con opinions on compelling issues to engage their native Spanish-speaking middle school students and help them become familiar with the rhetorical approach and style of informational texts written in English. Excerpts were downloaded from ProCon.org, a nonprofit that presents such excerpts for educators' use. Silva and colleagues created five tasks aligned to five reading skills their students needed: identifying support for main ideas, detecting bias, distinguishing arguments from counterarguments, evaluating arguments, and drawing conclusions. Students worked through each task with three compelling topics-value of social networking sites, whether tablets should replace textbooks in schools, and whether drinking milk is healthy. They learned strategies as they tackled argumentative texts in a second language. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, English Language Learners, Private Schools, Bilingual Education
(2014). Mother Tongue Education in Singapore: Concerns, Issues and Controversies, Current Issues in Language Planning. In 1966, the Singapore Government implemented the English-knowing bilingual policy which made it mandatory for all Chinese students to study English as a "First Language" and the Chinese language (CL) as a "Mother Tongue Language" in Singapore schools. Using key literature relevant to Singapore's bilingual educational policy and adopting a wider sociohistorical, sociocultural and sociopolitical analysis [May, S. (2006). "Language Policy and Minority Rights." In T. Ricento (Ed.), "An Introduction to Language Policy" (pp. 255-272). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing], this paper critically evaluates mother tongue education in Singapore. It argues that maintaining additive bilingualism in multilingual Singapore is problematic because English, a majority language with greater political power, privilege and social prestige in the local linguistic landscape, has come to replace the range and functions of Chinese, a minority language within the linguistic ecology of Singapore. The inevitable result is that speakers of Chinese experience a "shift" to speaking the majority language and there is a fear that Chinese will erode further as an increasing number of younger Chinese Singaporeans display a lack of interest in learning their mother tongue due to a dominant English education and the overwhelming presence of English in Singapore's society. This paper draws attention to the need to accord protection to the CL in order to maintain additive bilingualism in Singapore. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Native Language Instruction, English (Second Language), Chinese
(2013). "Dude, It's Not a Appropriate Word": Negotiating Word Meanings, Language Ideologies, and Identities in a Literature Discussion Group, Linguistics and Education: An International Research Journal. This study explored how ideologies of language and literacy and social and academic identities were constructed and contested during a literature discussion. In the event, a group of five (and later six) boys in a fourth grade bilingual classroom attempt to identify an unknown word in their novel: booger. Microethnographic discourse analysis and analyses of participants' movements across the classroom were conducted, and interpretations were informed by spatializing theories of social practice and identities. Findings illustrate how the students' and teacher's physical and discursive moves involved the negotiation of multiple ideologies of language learning. Findings suggest the need for a deeper understanding of the micro-level processes in which academic and social identities and learning opportunities for students are forged. [More] Descriptors: Educational Opportunities, Bilingual Education, Discourse Analysis, Discussion Groups
(2003). Effective Reading Programs for English Language Learners. A Best-Evidence Synthesis. This report reviews experimental studies of reading programs for English language learners, focusing both on comparisons of bilingual and English-only programs and on specific, replicable models that have been evaluated with English language learners. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Reading Programs
(2013). Linguistic Capital Pays Dividends, Phi Delta Kappan. Some 37 million U.S. residents speak Spanish at home and more than 55% of them say they also speak English. That creates what is called linguistic capital. Although linguistic capital is difficult to quantify, it is enormously valuable and is determined by an individual's language competency, and is too frequently wasted instead of being preserved and cherished. [More] Descriptors: Language Skills, Spanish, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning
(2011). Contested Communities in a Debate over Dual-Language Education: The Import of "Public" Values on Public Policies, Educational Policy. This study examines how public debate can shape school district policy. Using qualitative methods and an interdisciplinary framework that weaves an interpretive approach to policy implementation with the language policy and planning literature, the analysis demonstrates that immigrant voices were mostly absent in a debate over a new dual-language program. Instead, English-dominant participants alluded to various "community" values and persuaded policy makers to implement dual-language classes throughout the district rather than in sites favored by policy advocates, including immigrant families. The article concludes that language policy implementation is a value-laden process in which public deliberation reflects dominant cultural "discourses," which can shape what a policy ultimately becomes. [More] Descriptors: Qualitative Research, Interdisciplinary Approach, Debate, Participation
(2013). A Case Study of Native-ASL Deaf Child's Play in an ASL/English Bilingual Preschool Classroom: Play Behaviors, Interactions, and Language Use, ProQuest LLC. The focus of this mixed method study was to investigate the play behaviors, play interactions, and language use–within a bilingual AS L/English classroom–of a Deaf child who is a native user of American Sign Language (ASL). Play is an essential element in all children's development. Previous research suggests that there is a strong relationship between play, language development, social development and cognitive development. In particular, language is required in all social interactions, including play. Native-ASL Deaf children have been reported, in previous studies, to have language, social, and cognitive development similar to that of their hearing peers. In the current study, it was the position that a native-ASL Deaf child attending a bilingual, ASL/English classroom had the advantage of early exposure and access to language–both at home and in school. Consequently, the assumption was that this very early exposure and access to language (which many deaf children are not yet provided in the current system in the United States and many other countries), would affect the nature of play behaviors, interactions, and language use. To date, there is no research evidence on the nature of the play behaviors, interactions, and language use of native-ASL Deaf preschoolers. Prior research compared the play of deaf children with that of their hearing peers, without considering language as an important element. Researchers concluded that deaf children's play was cognitively limited in complexity, content, and play patterns. In addition, deaf children's play was reported as less socially interactive and lasting a relatively short span of time. In this study, the play of a native-ASL Deaf child was observed, documented, and analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative methods simultaneously. The findings provided a detailed, descriptive report on the nature of the child's play behavior, interactions, and language use. In addition, the study demonstrated how the child's play was influenced by the reciprocal interactions that took place due to the presence of language access and language use during play. [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: Preschool Children, Bilingual Students, Bilingual Education, Deafness
(2013). Teacher Agency in Bilingual Spaces: A Fresh Look at Preparing Teachers to Educate Latina/o Bilingual Children, Review of Research in Education. This review poses an increasingly common–and increasingly urgent–question in the field of teacher education: How can teachers best be prepared to educate Latina/o bilingual learners? The answers that the authors offer here challenge some of the prevailing assumptions about language and bilingualism that inform current approaches to teacher preparation. To work effectively with bilingual learners, the authors argue, teachers need to develop a robust understanding of bilingualism and of the interactional dynamics of bilingual classroom contexts. Unfortunately, the conceptions of language and bilingualism portrayed in much of the teacher-directed literature fall short of offering teachers access to such understandings. In this review, the authors will make the case for developing materials for teachers that reflect both more up-to-date theoretical understandings of language practices in bilingual communities and a more critically contextualized understanding of the power dynamics that operate in bilingual classroom contexts. The authors recognize that helping teachers come to these more robust understandings of bilingual language practices and the interactional dynamics of bilingual contexts implies an ideological shift for educators–and teacher educators–in the United States. Here, the authors will explore the power and limitations of teacher agency in opening up spaces for rich, authentic learning for bilingual children in school. [More] Descriptors: Bilingual Education, Bilingualism, Teacher Educators, Teacher Education
(2013). Language Teachers: Research and Studies in Language(s) Education, Teaching, and Learning in "Teaching and Teacher Education," 1985-2012, Teaching and Teacher Education: An International Journal of Research and Studies. The article reviews twelve of 79 articles focusing on language teachers, language(s) teacher education, teaching, and learning published in "Teaching and Teacher Education" since 1985. The twelve articles, divided into three sections, include narrative inquiry and identity, teacher education topics, and contexts. The articles provide local and contextual expressions that taken together begin to compose a landscape or sphere where various language education researchers share wonderments and puzzlements, queries and inquiries, and insights and understandings. The "TATE" articles provide puzzle pieces lending evidence to a plausible postdisciplinarity sphere of growing and developing research and studies in language(s) teacher education. [More] Descriptors: Teacher Education, Bilingual Education, Language Teachers, Second Language Instruction
(1998). Bilingual Children's Reflections on Writing and Diglossia, Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. Investigation of the development of metalinguistic consciousness examines bilingual children's perceptions of language contact in a situation of marked social imbalance between their first and second languages. The exploratory investigation focused on how school-age bilinguals view written forms in Spanish and Nahuatl. Forty-five Spanish/Nahuatl bilinguals were assessed on a series of language-awareness tests and interviews. Descriptors: Bilingualism, Diglossia, Evaluation Methods, Interviews
(2013). Update: Transitional Bilingual Instruction Program (TBIP) 2012-2013, Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. When students with little or no previous exposure to the English language enter schools in Washington, they are often unable to fully benefit from content instruction provided in English. They are at a high risk of academic failure unless the necessary language support is provided. The Transitional Bilingual Instruction Program (TBIP) provides additional instructional supports to help English language learners (ELLs) in acquiring the English language needed to access mainstream curriculum and assessments. In 2012-13, 104,025 English language learners (ELLs) received state services through the Transitional Bilingual Instruction Program (TBIP). This was an increase of just over 9% from the previous year. Most students live in urban areas along Interstate 5 corridor and in rural areas like the Yakima Valley. The Washington English Language Proficiency Assessment (WELPA) measures ELLs' proficiency in reading, writing, listening and speaking and is given to current TBIP students annually in February and March. Test results determine a student's continued eligibility or transition from TBIP. About 12.5% of ELLs who took the WELPA transitioned out of the TBIP in 2012-13. In the 2012-13 school year, the state provided $82.5 million in supplemental funding for services to English language learners. This was an 8.2% increase from 2011-12, but only 3.6% more than 2010-11. Ninety-seven percent of program funding is primarily used for salaries and benefits of instructional staff in districts and schools. There was a 2.4% increase in teacher Full-time Equivalents (FTE) and a 3.9% increase in instructional aide FTE in 2012-13. [More] Descriptors: Transitional Programs, Bilingual Education, English Language Learners, English for Academic Purposes
(2013). Factors Influencing the Trilingual Education in Leshan Ebian Yi Autonomous County, English Language Teaching. Language is symbolic of nationality culture (Claire, 2000). Trilingual education to the minority students is necessity for inheriting and developing their national culture. This survey studies the trilingual education in practice, analyses the existing trilingual education problems in Sichuan Leshan minority areas and indicates the prospect of the future studies, so as to offer valuable references for the trilingual education practice and language policy making. [More] Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Multilingualism, Minority Group Students, Bilingual Education
(2011). On Complexity in Bilingual Research: The Causes, Effects, and Breadth of Content and Language Integrated Learning–A Reply to Bruton (2011), Applied Linguistics. This article proposes that a complex issue such as bilingualism gives rise to a need for complex research. Complexity theories, both in the psycholinguistic and educational fields, may inspire new empirical studies on bilingualism that will likely provide data otherwise unattainable through classic pre-test/post-test methods. The article also warns against hardcore educational egalitarianism which may seriously harm Content and Language Integrated Learning programmes if they become one-size-fits-all models. The article has been written in response to a reply to these authors' original article Lorenzo et al. (2010). [More] Descriptors: Equal Education, Bilingualism, Teaching Methods, Content Area Reading