Supporting social strengths amid emerging bilingualism: effects of Word Generation on social perspective taking in English learners’ writing

Abstract

ABSTRACT Bilinguals often outperform monolinguals at apprehending the perspectives of others—an apparent consequence of their experiences moving across linguistic and sociocultural contexts. Whether English learners' (ELs') use of such skill in academic writing may be affected by literacy curriculum is the focus of this study. The study explored students' use of social perspective taking (SPT) in writing by examining their responses to a novel argumentative writing task, the iPad–Take A Stand assessment (iTAS). The iTAS was designed to assess the efficacy of the Word Generation curriculum (WG), which provides supports for discussing and deploying multiple perspectives, during its 2012–2014 randomized controlled trial. iTAS essays produced in that study by 4th–7th-grade ELs and their non-EL peers were coded along two dimensions of SPT, acknowledgment and articulation. Analyses revealed a positive impact of WG irrespective of language status on social perspective acknowledgment, the less sophisticated dimension; in contrast, a ‘bilingual boost' of the curriculum was detected in students' use of social perspective articulation, the more sophisticated dimension. These findings suggest ELs may draw on their SPT skills when constructing written arguments, at least in the presence of WG’s sociocognitive and linguistic supports.