Abstract
In this qualitative study, mainstream teacher candidates in a secondary teacher education program were asked to incorporate academic English instruction into their lesson planning and implementation in fieldwork placement classrooms. Teacher candidates attended a training session in which one method for identifying academic English features was taught. Artifacts, classroom observations, and interviews from four teacher candidates were analyzed to determine what features of academic English were identified and how these were taught to high school students. While all four teacher candidates accurately identified features of academic English in their lessons, only two participants taught features of academic English to students. The experiences of the participants illustrated that teacher candidates need, in addition to the ability to identify features of academic English, knowledge about how to teach language, a commitment to teaching language in their lessons, and the support of university supervisors and supervising practitioners who possess the same knowledge and commitment.
Highlights
Knowledge of Academic English (AE), the ways of using English that are valued in the various contexts of schooling, is necessary for students to be successful in American schools
Classroom observations, and interviews from four teacher candidates were analyzed to determine what features of academic English were identified and how these were taught to high school students
The findings of this study suggest that program coherence - providing teacher candidates’ (TCs) with the knowledge and the support required for implementing language instruction in the training, their university coursework, and their collaboration with supervisors and supervising practitioners - was more influential on the TCs’ implementation of instruction in AE than any one factor on its own
Summary
Knowledge of Academic English (AE), the ways of using English that are valued in the various contexts of schooling, is necessary for students to be successful in American schools. Exposure to AE outside of school seems to accelerate the process of learning this language, as students whose parents are fluent in AE tend to be more successful in school (Zacarian, 2013). Learners of AE, those students who have limited exposure to AE outside of school, make up much of what Enright (2011) referred to as the “New Mainstream” in American schools. Success in school is more challenging for this population of students, because “their language experiences at home are not aligned with those at school” Within this “New Mainstream” population are non-native English speakers, both those classified as English language learners (ELLs) and those who are fluent in English and their home language. To be inclusive of all students who make up the “New Mainstream”, the term culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students will be used to describe them in this article
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