Dual Language Classroom Research Articles

Translanguaging and positioning in two-way dual language classrooms: a case for criticality

ABSTRACTThis article examines the role of translanguaging practices and pedagogies in two-way dual language classrooms. Much of the recent expansion of dual language programs across the US has occurred in mid-sized cities and rural communities where English monolingualism is the norm; however, the extant literature on flexible language practices in bilingual learning spaces has largely ignored the implications of translanguaging in these contexts. This case study of a Midwestern dual language classroom provides evidence that flexible language practices can both bolster and hinder the aims of two-way programs. Drawing from these findings, I argue for the creation of a critical translanguaging space, a sociolinguistic learning environment that interrogates micro- and macro-level power flows in the classroom and establishes strategic spaces for language use.

Becoming “Spanish Learners”: Identity and Interaction Among Multilingual Children in a Spanish-English Dual Language Classroom

ABSTRACTThis article explores the interactional co-construction of identities among two first-grade students learning Spanish as a third language in a Spanish-English dual language classroom. Drawing on ethnographic and interactional data, the article focuses on a single interaction between these two “Spanish learners” and two of their Spanish-speaking classmates that took place within the context of a classroom literacy event. Analysis involved examining the sequential organization of talk, as well as identifying the particular linguistic resources that speakers recruited in their conversational turns. Findings showcase the interactional mechanisms by which students’ identities were variously asserted, contested, and negotiated in everyday classroom talk. The article ends by offering implications and raising further questions with respect to the implementation of dual language education for multilingual students.

Dual language teachers’ stated barriers to implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy

ABSTRACTCulturally relevant pedagogy receives limited attention in many U.S. dual language classrooms. This article focuses on understanding the barriers eight elementary Spanish-English dual language teachers saw as preventing the implementation of culturally relevant pedagogy in their urban classrooms. Employing critical sociocultural theory and drawing on pláticas as a method, four primary barriers were identified: lack of time, lack of culturally relevant materials, lack of knowledge, and the belief that social justice topics were inappropriate for young children. The individual and contextual issues surrounding these barriers and their implications are discussed for teacher educators and those involved in dual language education.

Writing Through Partnership

A critical function of schooling is to provide young writers with opportunities to explore real-life, out-of-school experiences through writing. However, literacy instruction in U.S. schools primarily (and sometimes almost exclusively) focuses on the tested skills, with little recognition of children’s diverse backgrounds and experiences. The predominance of English-only instruction further limits the potential for many children who speak languages other than English at home to develop a sense of agency that is fundamental to academic development. Although bilingual and bidialectal children bring rich linguistic and cultural repertoires that could serve as resources for the development of school-based reading and writing, curriculum is seldom structured to take advantage of these resources. This study reports on two minoritized kindergarten students in a dual language (DL) classroom. The study documents how the teacher’s use of “buddy pairs” created a classroom environment where students could take risks and participate in translanguaging. Results show that both emergent bilingual students benefited from a classroom environment in which their home language was valued and translanguaging was encouraged.

Special ways of knowing in science: expansive learning opportunities with bilingual children with learning disabilities

The field of bilingual special education is currently plagued with contradictions resulting in a serious underrepresentation of emergent bilinguals with learning disabilities in professional science fields. This underrepresentation is due in large part to the fact that educational systems around the world are inadequately prepared to address the educational needs of these children; this inadequacy is rooted in a lack of understanding of the linguistic and cultural factors impacting learning. Accepting such a premise and assuming that children learn in unexpected ways when instructional practices attend to culture and language, this study documents a place-based learning experience integrating geoscience and literacy in a fourth-grade dual language classroom. Data sources include transcribed audio-taped conversations from learning experience sessions and interviews that took place as six focus children, who had been identified as having specific learning disabilities, read published science texts (i.e. texts unaltered linguistically or conceptually to meet the needs of the readers). My analysis revealed that participants generated responses that were often unexpected if solely analyzed from those Western scientific perspectives traditionally valued in school contexts. However, these responses were also full of purposeful and rich understandings that revealed opportunities for expansive learning. Adopting a cultural historical activity theory perspective, instructional tools such as texts, visuals, and questions were found to act as mediators impacting the learning in both activity systems: (a) teacher-researcher learning from children, and (b) children learning from teachers. I conclude by suggesting that there is a need to understand students’ ways of knowing to their full complexity, and to deliberately recognize teachers as learners, researchers, and means to expansive learning patterns that span beyond traditional learning boundaries.

Constructivist Approaches in a Dual-Language Classroom

Dual-language programs are becoming increasingly popular among educators and the public in general. In these programs, students aim at attaining full proficiency in English and another language while reaching an academic achievement at or above grade level. This article describes a series of pedagogical practices in the context of dual-language classrooms. We set the discussion across three defining characteristics of our constructivist perspective: learning as collaboration, teachers as facilitators, and language and culture as intertwined elements in schools. In sum, we postulate that dual-language programs bring equity to schools.

Who’s Holding El Marcador? Peer Linguistic Mediation Gone Awry in a Dual Language Classroom

Within dual language education programs, well-structured peer interactions can facilitate the learning of language and curricular content simultaneously. Research has found that even very young bilingual students can engage in peer linguistic mediation to help less proficient classmates participate in small group work. In this article, I analyze two academic discussions among emergent bilingual first graders in a Spanish-medium dual language classroom. This analysis demonstrates that, contrary to previous research, the language used by students did not facilitate learning. Rather, it foreclosed the possibility of effective communication across languages. Findings suggest that peer linguistic mediation is influenced by multiple factors and cannot be taken for granted. Questions are raised about the ways in which emergent bilingual students are grouped and the skills they need to successfully mediate their peers’ learning. Implications from these findings go beyond dual language education to apply to mainstream classrooms with minority language speakers in them.

Building Interactional Space in an ESL Classroom to Foster Bilingual Identity and Linguistic Repertoires

This article draws on data from a yearlong case study of a Mexican American ESL teacher’s practice in a K–5 school in the southeastern United States. The study examines how the teacher established bilingual interactional space in her ESL pullout class consisting of six 9- to 11-year old students of Mexican descent. The analysis shows the ways in which she affirmed her students’ bilingual identity and made strong connections between in-school and out-of-school experiences. Findings illustrate how the teacher’s explicit attention to bilingualism and cross-linguistic transfer created potential for pride in Spanish and motivation to develop English. The author recommends building bilingual interactional space in ESL and dual language classrooms to promote positive bilingual identity and opportunities for expanding linguistic repertoires.

Language Modeling and Reading Achievement: Variations Across Different Types of Language Instruction Programs

This study investigated the degree to which the quality of teachers’ language modeling contributed to reading achievement for 995 students, both English language learners and native English speakers, across developmental bilingual, dual language, and monolingual English classrooms. Covariates included prior reading achievement, gender, eligibility for free lunch, and ethnicity. A 2-level hierarchical linear modeling analysis revealed that (a) prior achievement, Latino ethnicity, and eligibility for free lunch contributed significantly to the model but gender did not; (b) students gained 3 points for each unit increase in the quality of language modeling across classrooms; and (c) reading achievement for English language learners was not significantly different than that for native English-speaking students. In addition, cross-level interactions revealed that the slope of the quality of language modeling and reading achievement for students in monolingual English classrooms and developmental bilingual classrooms was stronger than that for students in dual language classrooms. We discuss classroom implications of bilingualism and language modeling in improving reading outcomes.

Reframing the Debate on Language Separation: Toward a Vision for Translanguaging Pedagogies in the Dual Language Classroom

Reframing the Debate on Language Separation: Toward a Vision for Translanguaging Pedagogies in the Dual Language Classroom

Reframing the Debate on Language Separation: Toward a Vision for Translanguaging Pedagogies in the Dual Language Classroom

The policy of strict separation of languages for academic instruction dominates dual language bilingual education programming. This article explores the dynamic bilingual practices of two experienced bilingual teachers in a two‐way dual language public school in Texas and contributes to current research problematizing language separation. Data included interviews, field notes, and classroom interaction video in a pre‐kindergarten and a first grade classroom. The instructional practices of the two teachers suggested powerful strategies to promote bilingual identities. Drawing on identity theory, particularly the notions of positioning and investment, we attempt to contribute to recent research offering teachers potential translanguaging instructional strategies. These strategies include: (a) modeling dynamic bilingual language practices, (b) positioning students as bilingual (even before they are), and (c) celebrating and drawing attention to language crossing. In combining these strategies, teachers move toward using students' bilingual language practices as a resource for academic instruction.

The Effect of Dual-Language and Transitional-Bilingual Education Instructional Models on Spanish Proficiency for English Language Learners

The effects of “transitional-bilingual” and “dual-language” educational models on proficiency in students’ home language (Spanish) were examined in a study of English language learners in the first and second grades in a large urban elementary school. In each grade, students were taught with either a transitional-bilingual model or a dual-language one, with a Spanish proficiency assessment administered on a pre/post basis. ANOVA results showed that both models produced significant increases in multiple dimensions of Spanish proficiency (alphabet/sight words, reading, writing, listening, and verbal expression). However, second-grade students in dual-language classrooms (who had longer exposure to the instructional model relative to first graders) scored significantly higher in verbal expression skills. In light of research linking proficiency in the home language with achievement in English language skills and content learning, dual-language instruction appears to be more effective than transitional-bilingual education, although the advantage is limited to the facilitation of home-language verbal expression associated with the dual-language model.

A Critical Look at Dual Language Immersion in the New Latin@ Diaspora

Two-way immersion (TWI), an approach that combines language-minority students and native English speakers in dual-language classrooms, is growing in popularity in schools of newly Latinized regions of the U.S. Using North Carolina as an example, this critical review of the literature posits that as neoliberal trends increasingly shape the communities of the new Latin@ diaspora, the uncritical implementation of TWI can serve as a double-edged sword that commodifies Latin@s’ linguistic resources. The article discusses these dangers, as well as critical issues that should be considered to increase TWI’s potential for Latin@ empowerment in new gateway regions.

Dual-Language Education for Low-Income Children: Preliminary Evidence of Benefits for Executive Function

This investigation is an initial examination of possible enhancement of executive function through a dual-language (50:50) education model. The ethnically diverse, low-income sample of 120 children from Grades K, 2, and 4 consisted of approximately equal numbers of children enrolled in dual-language and traditional classrooms. Dual-language students in Grades 2 and 4 performed better on a measure from the Trail Making Task requiring inhibition and rule-switching. The results indicate that the established benefits of bilingual exposure can be generalized across SES and ethnicity and can be acquired within the context of elementary school programs.

Transfronterizo literacies and content in a dual language classroom

The purpose of this article is to discuss the ways in which young transfronterizo students who live between the two worlds of El Paso (USA) and Ciudad Juárez (Mexico) bring their literacy practices and content to the classroom. Drawing on the data gathered during a 3-year ethnographic study, we illustrate how transfronterizo texts and content are used for academic purposes, in particular in the context of learning narrative writing. We present the case of one transfronteriza teacher who successfully facilitated literacies crossing numerous borders. We frame our discussion of transfronterizo literacy practices drawing on literature from dual language education, the Continua of Biliteracy Model, and the New Literacy Studies. We show the recontextualization and transcontextualization of texts and practices. These processes help us understand biliteracy development in this border area, which is both global and local. We argue that developing awareness of how transfronterizo literacies are used in classrooms can provide teachers and researchers of linguistically minoritized students in other contexts with a better and complex understanding of the resources students bring to school in order to recognize ways in which to capitalize on these mobile resources for relevant educational experiences.

Function, Type, and Distribution of Teacher Questions in Dual-Language Preschool Read Alouds

This exploratory study investigated the nature and distribution of dual-language preschool teachers' questions across parallel Spanish- and English-medium read-aloud activities. The notions of comprehensible input (Krashen, 1985) and language output (Swain, 1985), along with a reciprocal interaction model of teaching (Cummins, 2000), guided our understanding of teachers' use of questions to engage students in book-based extended dialogue in each target language. We utilized digital video recordings and field notes to capture the naturally occurring teacher–child interactions of read-aloud activities in two dual-language preschool classrooms over a period of two months. Findings revealed that teachers asked a variety of questions, exhibiting a multitude of functions and levels of cognitive challenge; however, question types were not equitably distributed across the two instructional languages as teachers asked significantly more inference-based and factual questions during Spanish-medium read alouds and more experience-based and word-focused questions in English-medium read alouds. Implications for practice are discussed.

Using Inquiry and Tenets of Multicultural Education to Engage Latino English-Language Learning Students in Learning About Geology and the Nature of Science

ABSTRACT Traditional school science instruction has been largely unsuccessful in reaching diverse student groups and students from, in particular, underrepresented backgrounds. This paper presents a case study of an urban, dual-language middle school classroom in which the teacher used an alternative instructional approach, involving her students in an authentic geological investigation with fossils. In this instructional setting, the teacher successfully engaged her English-language learning students from Latino backgrounds in science learning through inquiry, instructionally congruent science teaching strategies, and explicit instruction in nature of science. Students participating in the geological investigation interacted with practicing scientists. This instructional approach modeled the activities of science and better connected diverse students to the scientific community of practice. The practices used in this classroom provide a compelling example of how science instruction can be carried out in a way that makes science accessible despite linguistic differences and engages students in the activities of science, who otherwise might not be.

Language experience narratives and the role of autobiographical reasoning in becoming an urban science teacher

One of the central challenges globalization and immigration present to education is how to construct school language policies, procedures, and curricula to support academic success of immigrant youth. This case-study compares and contrasts language experience narratives along Elena’s developmental trajectory of becoming an urban science teacher. Elena reflects upon her early language experiences and her more recent experiences as a preservice science teacher in elementary dual language classrooms. The findings from Elena’s early schooling experiences provide an analysis of the linkages between Elena’s developing English proficiency, her Spanish proficiency, and her autobiographical reasoning. Elena’s experiences as a preservice teacher in two elementary dual language classrooms indicates ways in which those experiences helped to reframe her views about the intersections between language learning and science learning. I propose the language experience narrative, as a subset of the life story, as a way to understand how preservice teachers reconstruct past language experiences, connect to the present, and anticipate future language practices.

What Language Counts in Literature Discussion? Exploring Linguistic Mediation in an English Language Arts Classroom

As classrooms across the U.S. are becoming increasingly more multilingual and multicultural, there is a need for research that provides insight into literacy instruction that builds on students' linguistic knowledge. The qualitative study of a fourth-grade dual-language classroom examined the ways that peer mediation in Spanish and English impacted participation in literature discussion groups. The study findings indicated that in the discussion groups students developed forms of linguistic mediation, enabling them to take risks in using their language of lesser proficiency, and promote a higher level of engagement of members within the discussion groups. Literacy instruction that engages students in negotiating multiple languages and language forms enables bilingual students to demonstrate the depth of their communicative and linguistic knowledge, increases participation of all students, and challenges the hegemony of English.

Interpreting the “Sounds of Silence” in Dual Language Preschools in Qatar: Teacher's Use of Story Retelling and Language Sampling

Abstract Analysis of English and Arabic story retelling in eight dual-language preschool classrooms in Qatar indicated that this method might provide useful data for monitoring children at risk for language delay. Language samples, elicited by teachers during five repeated story-retelling sessions, were obtained from a larger study of the vocabulary data of 157 children. Measures of language productivity included analysis of Total Utterances (TU) and number of Different Word Roots (DWR). Results revealed that 13% of the children who gave no response (NR) in English during the initial session were still non-productive 4 months later, at mid-year. Twenty-one percent of the children demonstrated English DWR more than 1 standard deviation below class means at mid-year and 17% remained below the mean at the end of the year. Review of concurrent Arabic language sampling at mid-year revealed that 7% of the children were non-productive in both languages and 13% achieved Arabic DWR levels that were more than 1 standard deviation below their class mean, with minimal change noted at the end of the year (12%), in spite of daily Arabic and English instruction. Recommendations are offered for SLP-supervised language sampling that facilitates dual language instruction in early childhood classrooms.