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Becoming BiliterateA Study of Two-Way Bilingual Immersion
Education-Bertha Pérez
Preface
Intended for multiple audiences- from researchers to teachers and administrators
“offers readers an analysis of the implementation of two-way bilingual immersion education in two schools and an analytical examination of the classroom instructional practices within these schools.” - Perez Limiting the study to the program itself is a characteristic of qualitative research
Overview Introduction- gives background about of the study and explains researchers’ role
Chapter 1- literature review, theoretical background of study
Chapter 2- development of the two-way program Chapter 3- Role of parents, sociopolitical climate of schools
Chapters 4-6- description of classroom life Useful for teachers, language and literacy researchers
Chapter 7- pressures of testing and accountability for students and teachers
Chapter 8- role of teachers in developing & maintaining program
The San Antonio Context:
•Value of Mexican/Mexican-American culture has been appreciated- San Antonio has been considered a bicultural city
•Role of Spanish has not been appreciated in schooling or society
- English associated with education, Spanish encouraged mainly for commerce and media purposes (advertising)
• Code-switching between English & Spanish, use of “Spanglish” is common
- criticized by Mexican nationals (affluent tourists, businesspeople)
Sociopolitical Context
Linguicism- the ideologies, structures and practices, which are used to legitimate, effectuate, regulate and reproduce an unequal division of power and resources… on the basis of language (Shutnabb-Kangas, 2000)
In the US, this has to do with political attitudes towards socioeconomic status of the speakers than with pedagogical effectiveness
Texas schools have historically enforced a subtractive policy (loss of L1 in favor of English)
In 1995, superintendent in San Antonio identified goals for bilingual education task force:
To determine the current status of the bilingual program in SAISD
To explore model programs throughout the district, the state and the nation through research and through exploration at model program sites; and
To make recommendations for bilingual education program improvement from prekindergarten through Grade 12
Third Goal redefined by subgroup examining bilingual
instructional methods- “to restructure our program so that as a result of our instruction- A) our students become biliterate, bicultural citizens
B) our students are able to think at higher levels, thus becoming effective problem solvers
C) our promotion rates increase at all levels D) our students and our program are perceived as positive contributors to the total San Antonio ISD education program
School Profiles: Data from 1995
Storm Elementary: Average of 548 students Located on the poor west
side of San Antonio Railroad tracks, public
housing, apartments are some neighborhood features
98% Mexican American 50% speak Spanish at
home 99% economically
disadvantaged High mobility Teachers in dual language
program were all Mexican-American
Bonham Elementary: Average of 340 students Located near near the historic
King Williams district Mix of single family wood-frame
houses, old homes, buildings converted into businesses, public housing, a homeless shelter, and historic homes surround the school
School is a combination of old 2-story building and new additions
92% Mexican American 30% speak Spanish
93% economically disadvantaged High mobility Teachers in dual language
program were all Mexican-American
Initiation of the programs
Two-Way Dual Language Programs In 1995, Bonham started two-way immersion program in kindergarten
1996- Storm began the same program in kindergarten
Title VII System-wide Improvement Grant funded both programs from 1996-1999
All LEP students can participate in 2-way dual language, monolingual English students encouraged to participate
At the beginning, both schools offered a late-exit maintenance program and English K-5 grade strand as well
Campus Leadership Team
Constant parental involvement & influence
Instructional Coordinator Administrators Teachers Community
Local residents, leaders from business and public sectors
Parental Input
Opposition When are you going to teach my child English?
I’m not sure the 90-10 model is the best.
How will parents help their child with homework if they don’t know the language?
Support Trust in teachers
Constant communication
Value of Bilingualism
Students
Total of 216 children in both schools (2001) from grades K-5 197 Mexican American 17 white 2 African American 7 were special-needs or at risk students Most began in kindergarten cohorts, other Spanish dominant students were admitted at all grade levels on a space available basis
Mexican and Mexican American students share many
common cultural features
Language Distribution
90-10 model selected for K-1st Grades Intention: Spanish would become a prestige language
with status within the school so that social pressure for children to use English would be balanced
Spanish as primary language of instruction At Storm, 2-way teachers exchanged students with
transitional bilingual teachers during ESL time 70 or 80% Spanish for 2nd & 3rd Grades
Self-contained at both schools 50-50 in 4th & 5th Grades
Self-contained at Storm Classes were departmentalized at Bonham
2-way immersion teacher provided language arts & math in Spanish
Other teachers taught social studies & science in English
Oral Language Practices Native speakers of each language stimulated their peers
Teachers encouraged risk-taking, especially for 2nd language learners
Teachers made sure to stimulate language use through interaction Primary grades- centers, environment Intermediate- centers, mixed language grouping
Teaching children to self-monitor language development ask questions, get clarification, restate, translate when necessary
Oral Language Practices: Teacher-
Student Communication Wait Time Say it in Any Language Think in Spanish/English
Teachers guided students using their L1 as a basis
Ask Someone Pass & Return Use of Print for Oral Communication
Oral Language Practices:
Instructional Language Comprehensible Input
Total Physical Response Gestures, objects, pictures Short, specific statements
Open ended questions Preview, Review “These are just good teaching practices, you provide context, you demonstrate, you repeat, and you check for understanding” -3rd Grade Teacher
Developing Literacy
Teachers and administrators reviewed & discussed research articles for guidance on how to structure reading lessons
Used Cummins’ (1981) interdependence hypothesis as a basis
How it was done…
K-2: Children taught to read & write in Spanish, with English reading introduced incrementally Many students expressed interest in English reading before then.
Teachers decided to respond by providing resources and encouraging this, but did not formally teach reading in English until children had developed literacy in Spanish (literacy will transfer to L2)
Many children could read & write in English before formal teacher-directed English
3-5: Balanced literacy- integrated literature, content materials into reading and writing Small group instruction Cooperative activities Independent reading
Primary Grades
Spanish literacy taught through syllabic method, phonemic instruction, segmentation, etc. Focus on accents and tildes
Used writing as a cultural activity Integrated hybridized culture of San Antonio
Emphasis on language separation Purposeful code-switching in informal writing (letters, signs, etc.)
Literacy Transfer
Cummins’ “common underlying proficiency”
Strong basis in Spanish literacy had a positive consequence during English literacy development at both schools Lots of experimentation in primary grades with interpreting English text & writing in English
Phonics lessons in English starting in 2nd grade
Academic Biliteracy: Intermediate Grades
Teachers had to follow balanced literacy framework (school district) while attending to bilingual immersion model (50-50) Content areas covered in literacy block, strategic integration of subjects
Pressures of TAAS test influenced learning opportunities
Intermediate Focus: helping students internalize their
language skills while using them to learn academic content
Strategies: Using text features and contextual clues, cognates,
summarizing & re-telling, translating and transferring information across languages
As children became more proficient in English, they read & produced work in L2 Often used both languages in their work (start in one
language and extend in another) Teachers often taught a lesson in Spanish and
extended it in English through another content area
Balanced Literacy in Intermediate Grades
Guided Reading- teachers called attention to language concepts to reinforce rules & patterns Used student responses to guide grammar lessons
Literature- balance of English & Spanish read-aloud/independent reading with journal entries TAAS practice integration
Spelling- theme-based word lists in both languages Emphasis on accents and punctuation
Writing in Intermediary Grades
Heavily influenced by TAAS test Numerous samples examined, evidence of cross-linguistic, cross-cultural influences Applied language rules of Spanish to English writing (propositi for purpose)
Used language to convey cultural significance even though they knew of the correct word in both languages (field day= día de campo)
Borrowed words from another language and conjugated them (cacharías, cachaste)
Data used in the Study
Ethnography- can yield a rich description of the culture of a community
Extensive observations Interviews Student work (especially writing samples) Case studies of specific students Standardized testing scores
TAAS, ITBS, Aprenda NCE, Tejas Lee, etc. Running Records (reading)
Influence of TAAS
Instruction was often guided by TAAS objectives
Pressure from school district- performance rating
Issue of language of testing Results
Both schools made steady improvements over time
Students performed academically at grade level in all subjects (TAAS) in both languages when compared with peers
Teacher Role and Impact
Teachers expressed need to explain their program and practices
Participated in choices and decision making
All were Mexican American
Storm Academy435 Brady BoulevardSan Antonio, TX
“Two Languages and College Preparation....Creating Choices and Expanding Opportunities”
K-5
Bonham Academy925 South Saint Mary’s St.,
San Antonio, TX "Quien Sabe Dos Idiomas Vale Por Dos”
2-Way Dual Language Program since 1995
Now offers dual language education through 8th grade (chartered)
Questions I still Have…
Perez mentions that 6 teachers left the program and tells where they went, but does not give insight as to why.
Bonham Academy now goes all the way to 8th grade. I would like more information about student progress in secondary grades and high school.
Are the students from these schools still bilingual? I assume that some students may not have been as
successful as others in becoming biliterate. While the book offers information about the program, there isn’t detailed information about struggling learners.
How would two way dual language immersion look with a more diverse population?
What would be different if teachers had not all been Mexican-American?