It is often said that a picture
is worth a thousand words. Snapshots not only capture the moment, but
also provide an everlasting impression. Likewise, instructional snapshots
can provide the pre-service teacher-trainee with a glimpse of instructional
and pedagogical strategies employed by teachers. If the intent is to
improve instructional practices, teacher performance must be viewed
within different contexts. The primary goal of a retreat held in Monterrey,
Nuevo León, México, was to provide pre-service teachers
with an opportunity to gather observational data of Mexican students
and teachers in educational settings. Because of demographic changes
and teachers' lack of educational experiences with immigrant LEP children,
bilingual teachers are faced with instructional challenges. It was hoped
that these observations would provide the pre-service teacher with a
better understanding of these learning needs. The purpose of this article
is to provide a brief account of impressions gathered through an observational
method: Instructional Snapshot (IS). The impressions answer the
following: What do we see in the different pictures of schools and classroom
structures? and, What do we see when we sharpen our focus on specific
classroom techniques and strategies?
THE
ROLE OF PREVIOUS EDUCATIONAL LEARNING EXPERIENCES ON CURRENT ACADEMIC
PERFORMANCE AND SECOND LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY OF INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL LIMITED
ENGLISH PROFICIENT STUDENTS
Irene C. Cota
The role of students'
previous educational learning experiences on current academic performance
and second language proficiency was studied with intermediate school
limited English proficient (LEP) students who were receiving their second
year or more of specially-designed academic instruction in English (SDAIE).
The findings suggest the following: (a) the students recognize the importance
of learning English as a second language; (b) the students perceive
their parents as recognizing the value of learning English as a second
language; (c) the students use of English out of the classroom is determined
by the English language proficiency of their parents, siblings, and
friends; (d) the students perceive their parents as not having specific
plans for them after high school graduation; (e) the students' siblings
are the main persons to help them with homework assignments and quiz
and examination preparation; (f) the majority of the students do not
participate in extracurricular school activities nor in out-of-school
organized activities; (g) frequent absences influenced school grades
and standardized test scores; and (h) the number of years of English
language instruction influenced standardized reading test results. Based
on the research of LEP students, who are receiving their second year
or more of SDAIE instruction, specific suggestions are made regarding
how to provide students with educational experiences that will promote
academic success and continued English language development.
LANGUAGE WARS: THE IDEOLOGICAL
DIMENSIONS OF THE DEBATES ON BILINGUAL EDUCATION
René Galindo
The debates over the future of bilingual education
call for conceptual frameworks that can illuminate the variety of issues
that are implicated in those debates. Building from the fields of sociology
of language, language policy, and language ideology, a conceptual framework
is presented and employed in the analysis of the ideological debates,
ocurring in Colorado and California. The analysis is concerned with
the identification of different ideological positions regarding the
value of bilingualism and bilingual education, the Spanish language,
and the linguistic capital of working-class Latino-immigrant families.
The debates are seen as competition for value between different constituencies
that takes place through the manipulation of symbolic assets such as
language(s) and in which Latino parents are displaced from their position
as legitimate participants in their children's education through the
devaluing of their linguistic capital.
THE
STATUS OF CHILDREN'S FICTION LITERATURE WRITTEN IN SPANISH BY U.S.
AUTHORS
Margarita Gonzalez-Jensen
This study seeks to problematize the paucity
of children's literature written in Spanish by U.S. Hispanic authors
and its effect on the quality of bilingual education programs. Findings
of the study indicate that (1) many of the available books come from
Spanish speaking countries or are translations of English works into
Spanish; (2) a high degree of imbalance exits among the genres; (3)
few books are published for students in late exit or maintenance bilingual
programs; (4) evidence of a lack of "author balance" exists
with several prominent authors writing many more books than others and
few male authors represented; and (5) relatively few of the children's
books were written by Mexican-American authors. It is suggested that
U.S. Hispanic teachers respond to the challenge by authoring children's
books themselves in order to change the trends in children's literature
written in Spanish.
THE
EFFECT OF WHOLE LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION ON THE WRITING DEVELOPMENT OF SPANISH-SPEAKING
AND ENGLISH-SPEAKING KINDERGARTNERS
Yazmin Elizabeth Kuball Sabrina Peck
A year-long, case study investigated the comparative
effects of Whole Language-based instruction upon the writing development
of eight Spanish-speaking kindergarten children and of eight English-speaking
kindergarten children. Writing development was divided into three subsets
of assessment: self-concept of students as writers, compositional literacy,
and grapho-phonemic literacy. The study provided descriptive information
to answer the following questions: (1) Will the use of Whole Language-based
instruction have the same effects upon the writing development of Spanish-speaking
kindergarten children as it will for English-speaking kindergarten children?
(2) If the writing development of the Spanish group does differ from
the writing development of the English group, to what extent does it
differ? (3) In what areas of the writing development are the differences
evident? Findings indicated that the writing skills of Spanish-speaking
children in a Whole Language based program developed as well as the
writing skills of the English-speaking children. This study refutes
certain rationales used by schools to place Spanish speaking students
in skill-based programs.
BALKANIZATION, BILINGUALISM,
AND COMPARISONS OF LANGUAGE SITUATIONS AT HOME AND ABROAD
John E. Petrovic
In this article, I address the "balkanization
argument" made by conservatives for English-Only legislation and
against bilingualism. The argument here is that the United States faces
the sort of linguistic divisions found in other countries. Most frequently
invoked are the cases of Canada and Belgium. The claim that the United
States should take warning from these countries and avoid the promotion
of bilingualism has been made by a number of people, including Linda
Chavez, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., and Newt Gingrich. I argue that this
claim is alarmist, at best. Data from Canada and Belgium indicate that
the linguistic situations in these two countries are far too different
to make reasonable comparisons to the United States. I make my case
by using data of language shift, language demographics, and language
prestige. These data indicate just how far the United States is from
being on the same road towards linguistic division. This is not to say,
however, that linguistic division cannot occur, and I point out the
lessons we should draw from the cases of Canada, Belgium, and
other multilingual nations.
INVOLVING HISPANIC PARENTS
IN EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES THROUGH COLLABORATIVE RELATIONSHIPS
Alicia
Salinas Sosa
This article is based on a literature review
of school districts' successful practices in involving Hispanic parents,
particularly migrant and immigrant parents, in their children's school
activities. It presents a brief overview of the tradition of parental
involvement, followed by a force field analysis of factors, which facilitate
or hinder the involvement in education of this population. Finally,
the author presents promising practices which result in higher levels
of involvement and, most importantly, foster positive relationships.
HISPANIC CHILDREN'S RECOGNITION
OF LANGUAGES AND PERCEPTIONS ABOUT SPEAKERS OF SPANISH, ENGLISH, AND
CHINESE
Mary E. Stafford,
Lalima B. Jenckes, and Sheryl L. Santos
The purpose of this study
was to examine perceptions that Spanish- and English-speaking Hispanic
students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds have about speakers of
Spanish, English, and Chinese. The extent to which reactions of monolingual
and bilingual English- and Spanish-speakers differ according to age/grade
levels and prior exposure to the languages in question was examined.
Chinese speech samples were included to gain information about perceptions
of a language that was likely to be unfamiliar and to provide a diversion
to the focus on attitudes toward Spanish and English. Results indicate
that the greater the prior experiences students have with a language,
the more favorable are their attitudes toward the language, solidarity
with speakers of the language, and perceptions of status associated
with the language. Developmental effects were found only for English
speakers. Both English and Spanish monolingual speakers expressed more
favorable attitudes toward English than toward Spanish and Chinese.