Bringing a social semiotic perspective to secondary teacher education in the United States

Abstract

Recent economic, demographic, and policy shifts in the United States are making EAP practice increasingly relevant to the preparation of secondary content-area teachers, particularly those serving students labeled English language learners (ELLs). This article describes how some teacher educators in the United States are using Hallidayan principles and practices like a model of text/context dynamics, the concepts of genre and register, functional metalanguage, and genre pedagogy to support secondary pre-service teachers in conceptualizing language teaching and learning in ways that better prepare them to teach ELLs in the content areas. Based on a mixed methods study of this approach, this article highlights two longitudinal findings: (1) studying social semiotic theory and practice facilitated shifts in how secondary content-area teachers conceptualized language teaching and learning in ways that remained relatively stable over time; and (2) participants’ developing knowledge of Hallidayan concepts and pedagogies influenced how they assessed student writing and attempted to incorporate explicit teaching of disciplinary English into their content teaching, though some promising practices regressed over time. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the design of future EAP coursework for secondary content-area teachers that supports reflection and revised pedagogies in the long-term.