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Effective Reading Programs for English Language Learners and Other Language-Minority Students
Alan Cheung
Success for All Foundation, Center for Data-Driven Reform in Education
Robert E. Slavin
Johns Hopkins University, Center for Data-Driven Reform in Education
This article systematically reviews research on elementary reading programs for English language learners and other language-minority students. It focuses on studies that compared experimental and control groups on quantitative reading measures. Among beginning reading models, research supported structured, phonetic programs emphasizing language development in both native-language and English instruction. Tutoring programs were also supported. For upper-elementary reading, research supported a broad range of programs, but particularly effective were programs using cooperative learning, extensive vocabulary instruction, and literature.
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Bilingual Students' Articulation and Gesticulation of Mathematical Knowledge During Problem Solving
Higinio Domínguez
University of Texas at Austin
This research focuses on eliciting bilingual students’ problem-solving reasoning by providing mathematical tasks designed to involve the students in the action described in the problem by making connections to contexts familiar to them. Results showed these tasks allowed children to articulate their mathematical reasoning through gestures and speech. Two questions guided this investigation: (a) How do second-grade bilingual students communicate their mathematical reasoning? and (b) What is the role of the mathematical tasks in eliciting this mathematical reasoning? Analysis of seven second-grade Spanish–English bilingual students solving addition and subtraction problems showed that students simultaneously used words and gestures to communicate their mathematical reasoning to others and to regulate their own cognitive activity. In general, the students demonstrated that their developing bilingual proficiency did not constitute an impediment for guiding mathematical tasks to resolution; rather, students imparted mathematical meaning to each task by mutually supporting their verbal and nonverbal behaviors. The paper discusses how researchers and teachers can benefit from parallel attention to bilingual students’ verbal and nonverbal communication. Both processes invite reflection on what it means to know and learn mathematics bilingually in early grades.
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Arizona Elementary Teachers' Attitudes Toward English Language Learners and the Use of Spanish in Classroom Instruction
Ana G. García-Nevarez
California State University, Sacramento
Mary E. Stafford and Beatriz Arias
Arizona State University
This study focused on the attitudes that elementary teachers have toward their English language learner (ELL) students’ native languages (e.g., Spanish) and their use in instruction. A 27-item Likert-scale survey was administered to 152 first- through fourth-grade teachers from five school districts in Maricopa County, Arizona. These school districts have a large number of schools with students learning English as a second language. The researchers found that teachers’ attitudes toward their ELL students differ significantly with the type of certification or endorsement they hold. The bilingual-certified teachers were more supportive of their ELL students using their native language in the classroom than were traditional and English as a Second Language–certified teachers. In contrast to previous studies, the researchers found that the more years a teacher taught, the more his or her attitude became negative toward his or her students’ native language. Implications for training of bilingual teachers are discussed.
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Dual-Dimension Naming Speed and Language-Dominance Ratings by Bilingual Hispanic Adults
Henriette W. Langdon
San José State University
Elisabeth H. Wiig
Boston University (Emerita)
Niels Peter Nielsen
Department of Psychiatry, Hvidovre Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark
This study compared the efficacy of measures of naming speed, verbal fluency and self-ratings for establishing language dominance in 25 bilingual English–Spanish adults with college degrees. Naming speed was measured by total naming times (in seconds) for five Alzheimer’s Quick Test tasks (Wiig, Nielsen, Minthon & Warkentin, 2002) and verbal fluency with the Word Listing by Domain (Lambert, Havelka, & Crosby, 1958; Fishman & Cooper, 1969). Self-ratings of English–Spanish competence (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) and frequency of use of each spoken language served as standards for comparisons. For the aggregate sample, color–form, color–animal, and color–object naming times were significantly shorter for English than Spanish (p < .01). There was 100% agreement in language-dominance judgments between self-ratings of language competence and frequency of use, and color–form, color–animal, and color–object naming-time differences in the two languages. Word Listing by Domain quotients for language dominance showed a lower degree of agreement (52%) with self-ratings and naming-time differences. The findings suggest that cross-linguistic comparisons of naming times for color–form, color–animal, and color–object naming may be helpful in screening adults for language dominance for psychoeducational assessment purposes.
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Equity of Literacy-Based Math Performance Assessments for English Language Learners
Clara Lee Brown
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville This article reports findings from a study that investigated math achievement differences between English language learners (ELLs) and fully English proficient (FEP) students on a literacy-based performance assessment (LBPA). It has been assumed that LBPAs are superior to standardized multiple-choice assessments, but it has not been determined if LBPAs are appropriate for measuring the math achievement of ELLs. The most salient characteristic of LBPAs is that students read multi-level questions and explain how they solve math problems in writing. Thus, LBPAs place great literacy demands upon students. Because most ELLs have underdeveloped literacy skills in English, these demands put ELLs at a great disadvantage. Analysis revealed that socioeconomic status (SES) had a significant impact on all students, but the impact was larger on FEP students than on ELLs; high-SES FEP students outperformed high-SES ELLs, but there was no significant difference between low-SES ELLs and low-SES FEP students. High SES generally means more cognitive academic language proficiency, because of the influence of non-school factors such as the presence of a print-rich environment. High-SES ELLs did not do as well as high-SES FEP students because of a lack of academic English. The nature of the examination masked their true abilities. The finding of no difference between low-SES ELLs and low-SES FEP students, however, could be a result of the fact that neither group had the advantage of high cognitive academic language proficiency; the FEP students’ only “advantage” was superior conversational English, of little use for performing academic tasks. This article concludes that LBPAs, together with the current assessment-driven accountability system, seriously undermine equal treatment for ELLs.
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Latino Parents' "Choice" for Bilingual Education in an Urban California School: Language Politics in the Aftermath of Proposition 227
Lilia D. Monzó
University of California, Los Angeles
This paper examines the choices parents have made regarding language of instruction in their children’s classrooms, particularly in California after the implementation of Proposition 227. The data for this study are drawn from a 2-year ethnography of eight Latino families from an urban immigrant Latino community. The parents in the study held a high value for bilingual education, particularly in the elementary grades. However, parents’ choice for language of instruction was not always a choice but rather determined by lack of access to information and school-community power relations.
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Lisa Pray
Utah State University This research examines three tests commonly used to assess the English oral-language proficiency of students who are English language learners (ELLs): the Language Assessment Scales—Oral, the Woodcock-Muñoz Language Survey, and the IDEA Proficiency Test. These tests were given to native English-speaking non-Hispanic White and Hispanic students from varied socioeconomic levels. Since these tests use native-language proficiency as the standard by which responses are evaluated, it is reasonable to expect native English speakers to perform extremely well on these instruments. The extent to which the native speakers of the language do not perform well on these instruments calls their validity into question. Findings indicated that none of the native English-speaking children who took the Woodcock-Muñoz Language Survey scored in the “fluent” or “advanced fluent” English ability. One hundred percent of the students scored in the “fluent English speaking” range of the Language Assessment Scales—Oral, and 87% of the students scored in the “fluent English speaking” range of the IDEA Proficiency Test.
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Francisco Ramos
Loyola Marymount University Five Spanish teachers working in California elementary schools participated in this project. Although they were assigned to teach in mainstream English programs, they noticed that some of the Latino students in their classrooms were officially classified as English language learners (ELLs) and, as such, had difficulties understanding their explanations. This realization led the teachers to provide these students with additional explanations in Spanish to bridge the existing language gap. The purpose of this study was twofold: to examine the teachers’ opinions about the role of Spanish in the English acquisition process of their ELLs and to analyze and compare their support for several theoretical and practical principles of native-language instruction before and after their first year teaching in California schools. In their responses, the teachers showed support for the tenets of bilingual education and concurred that their use of Spanish helped improve the academic progress, English acquisition, and behavior of their ELLs.
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John A. Sutterby, Javier Ayala, and Sandra Murillo
University of Texas at Brownsville This paper describes the development of Spanish-language proficiency in bilingual preservice teachers at a university on the Texas–Mexico border. A survey with open-ended questions was administered to preservice teachers in bilingual and English as a Second Language certification programs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the paths that heritage Spanish-speaking preservice teachers take to become bilingual in a border community university. The analysis of their responses suggests that they are individuals negotiating their identities between language communities. The influences of community, family, and school on their Spanish-language development are presented. In addition, implications for improving Spanish-language proficiency for bilingual teachers are discussed.
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María E. Torres-Guzmán and Tatyana Kleyn
Teachers College, Columbia University
Stella Morales-Rodríguez
New York City Department of Education
Annie Han
Borough of Manhattan Community College, City University of New York The United States has seen a tremendous growth in dual-language programs over the last decade. This rapid growth brings up questions about the congruency between labels and implementation. Our experiences observing some of the programs and listening to teachers talk about the programs in New York City led us to propose that many of the self-designated dual-language programs stray from even the minimal guidelines for such programs. Our study investigated this, and within this paper we will juxtapose those programs that are congruent with the minimal standards with those that are less faithful to the model in order to gain a better understanding of how schools and districts can work to create dual-language programs that foster an authentic transformation of the instructional environment.
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Research
in Practice
Michael Courtney
Springdale Public Schools
This paper is a case study in the form of a teacher’s personal diary of experiences during a semester teaching a class of academically at-risk high school students. It focuses on the interactions among the teacher, the class, and Roberto, a student with negligible English skills. Because of his lack of proficiency in English, discovered later, Roberto began the semester withdrawn and unengaged. As the weeks passed, Roberto started to emerge and finally became an engaged member of the class. The experiences relate to linguistic, social, pedagogical, and personal phenomena inside the classroom. These factors provided an environment conducive to Roberto’s emergence from isolation.
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Book Reviews
Becoming Biliterate: A Study of Two-Way Bilingual Immersion Education
By Bertha Pérez
Reviewed by Mary Esther Huerta
University of Texas at San Antonio
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Beyond "Bilingual" Education: New Immigration and Public School Policies in California
By Alec Ian Gershberg, Anne Danenberg, & Patricia Sánchez
Reviewed by Deborah K. Palmer
University of Texas at Austin
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