Emergent Bilingual Learners Research Articles

Is supporting the needs of emergent bilingual learners in mainstream classes a cultural or linguistic issue? How do policy, curricula, and secondary teacher education programmes in Australia and New Zealand compare?

ABSTRACT Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia are similar in many ways. Both were colonised by English-speaking British settlers, and English is a national language in each country. In recent years, both countries have become destinations for immigrants speaking languages other than English and international fee-paying students. Both have a chequered history of maintaining the languages of the tangata whenua (people of the land) or aboriginal people. However, their histories and educational systems diverge on educational programmes and practices supporting citizens and newcomers from non-English heritage cultural and linguistic backgrounds. The linguistic and cultural histories of these two countries have shaped educational policies and practices that, in turn, have impacted how teachers are prepared to teach in linguistically and culturally heterogeneous classrooms. This paper reviews approaches found to support emergent bilingual learners, and those that research suggests are culturally sustaining. It then compares educational documents from Australia and NZ against principles drawn from this literature. It asks whether supporting the needs of emergent bilingual learners in mainstream classes in these countries emerges as a cultural or linguistic issue.

Negotiating the limits of teacher agency: constructed constraints vs. capacity to act in preservice teachers’ descriptions of teaching emergent bilingual learners

ABSTRACT This study analyzes discussions from online language teacher education to understand how conversations between monolingual and bilingual preservice teachers (PSTs) in the US create and delimit structural constraints on teachers’ agency, (re)positioning teachers’ capacity to act in the instruction of emergent bilingual students (EBs). Employing positioning theory within a critical discursive psychology approach, findings demonstrate how bilingual PSTs pushed back on structural constraints introduced as potential barriers to achieving linguistic pluralism in monolingual teachers’ posts, asserting teachers’ agency by simultaneously positioning themselves and others as capable and responsible for education of EBs. These findings inform theoretical understandings of agency as a discursive construct and offer insights for teacher educators as they conceptualize the role of discursive exchanges in developing PSTs’ understanding of structures and agentive possibilities regarding the equitable education of EBs.

Teachers’ perceptions and practices of translanguaging for emergent bilinguals in U.S. multilingual classrooms

Abstract Building on the framework of translanguaging both as individuals’ flexible language practices and classroom pedagogy, this article reports on a case study that examined perceptions and practices of pedagogical translanguaging among a group of teachers from elementary school classrooms with emergent bilingual learners in a Mid-Atlantic U.S. school district. The analysis shows a range of transformations in the teachers’ perceptions and practices as well as their perceived and structural challenges in implementing pedagogical translanguaging for content-integrated literacy instruction. The findings point towards the complexity of pedagogical translanguaging in superdiverse classrooms and address the need for expanded empirical research on pedagogical translanguaging.

Transmodalising pedagogy: Developing STEM disciplinary literacy for young emergent bilingual learners

ABSTRACT This paper explores how transmodalising pedagogy contributes to equitable STEM literacy education for emergent bilingual learners (EBLs). Attending to the urgent call for serving linguistically and culturally diverse learners in STEM classrooms and informed by the supporting theories and practices of transmodalising pedagogy, this paper provides a repertoire of transmodalising pedagogy to support elementary school EBLs’ STEM disciplinary content and literacy learning. Particularly, this paper shares two elementary teachers’ lessons in mathematics and science classrooms to showcase how transmodalising disciplinary literacy instruction for young EBLs can afford equitable access to STEM curriculum while engaging EBLs in disciplinary discourse practices.

Beyond Language and Academics: Investigating Teachers’ Preparation to Promote the Social-Emotional Well-Being of Emergent Bilingual Learners

In recent years, institutions have responded to changing school populations by preparing teachers for the growing number of emergent bilingual learners (EBLs). But this preparation largely focuses on supporting students’ academic learning and language development, despite enhanced attention to social-emotional well-being in wider educational circles. This comparative case study seeks to understand whether and how teachers are prepared to facilitate this integral component of student learning in five schools with linguistically diverse populations and varied program models to serve EBLs. We first probe how teachers draw from various facets of their preparation to support EBLs’ social-emotional well-being, including teacher education, professional development, collaboration with colleagues, and personal experiences. We then consider teachers’ and students’ perspectives on the requisite expertise to facilitate well-being in classrooms. Findings provide insight for university, district, and school stakeholders seeking to enhance teacher preparation as a means to improve the educational experiences of EBLs.

From compliance to resistance: administrator perspectives on implementing structured English immersion and dual language bilingual education programs

ABSTRACT This qualitative case study explored the perspectives of school administrators on implementing structured English immersion (SEI) and dual-language bilingual education (DLBE) programs serving emergent bilingual learners at one urban Arizona elementary school. Using a sociocultural policy perspective, I analyzed findings from a series of interviews examining the ways the participating administrators navigated and implemented restrictive language policies, while simultaneously providing pathways to DLBE opportunities for emergent bilingual learners. I found there was ongoing tension between compliance and resistance to state-mandated policies. In addition, there were differences in how the administrators positioned emergent bilingual learners as a good or bad fit for the DLBE program at the focal school site. The results and discussion underscore both the continued challenges of SEI policy in Arizona and the role of educational leaders in fostering spaces for biliteracy development.

Inclusive Practices in Special Education: Language and Literacies

With a growing population of emergent bilingual learners in the United States, we are seeing more emergent bilinguals qualifying for special education services. Special education teachers must be prepared to meet the linguistic needs of their students in addition to disability related needs. One way of doing so involves adopting Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy to sustain students’ varied linguistic practices in the classroom. The present article outlines five considerations that may help special educators, including monolingual educators, invite students to draw upon their full linguistic repertoires. Considerations include: providing opportunities for students to use their multiple languages in the classroom, making explicit connections across languages, thinking expansively about literacy, modeling the use of multiple languages and literacies, and being critical of texts used in practice.

Critical Language Testing: Factors Influencing Students’ Decisions to (Not) Pursue the Seal of Biliteracy

In this investigation, Kristin J. Davin analyzes current and former emergent bilingual learners’ decisions to take or not take a language proficiency assessment in a home language to pursue a Seal of Biliteracy (SoBL). The SoBL is a policy adopted in forty states to counteract English-only ideologies by recognizing students who graduate high school bilingual and biliterate. Considering the power of assessments and the complexity of the decision to take a test of proficiency in one’s home language, this study uses the history-in-person framework to understand the factors that shape students’ decisions to take, or not take, the “seals test.” Davin’s findings point toward considerations and changes necessary to SoBL implementation to ensure that the policy meets the needs of the emergent bilingual learners it was intended to benefit.

Am I bilingual? Reporting on the self-reflections of Japanese EFL learners

Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: Through use of a written questionnaire, this article examines the personal opinions of tertiary-level Japanese intermediate EFL students regarding the definition and process of becoming bilingual. Design/methodology/approach: This article takes a critical applied linguistic approach to examining the perspectives of emergent bilingual Japanese EFL learners regarding their own status as bilingual speakers in Japan. Data and analysis: This study employed a questionnaire involving both Likert and open perspective questions. The subsequent data analysis involved quantitative analysis of the Likert questions and qualitative analysis of the open-ended questions, according to emerging themes. Findings/conclusions: The results suggest that most of the Japanese emergent bilingual participants did not view themselves as being bilingual, and instead considered the notion of bilingualism to be an out-of-reach goal at their current level. This article suggests the need to educate foreign language (FL) learners of their emergent bilingual status so they may dismiss the idea of attaining native-like competence and embrace their status as competent emergent bilinguals. Originality: Whereas many studies examine (emergent) bilingualism from the perspective of minorities learning a majority language, this article has expanded upon the current body of bilingualism literature by investigating the perspectives of bilingualism from speakers of a majority language learning a minority language, as is the case in all FL education environments. Significance/implications: This article provides an insight into the issue of FL learners’ lack of recognition of their own emergent bilingualism. It brings attention to the need for FL teachers to inform students of their emergent bilingual status to leverage their bilingual languaging strategies so that they can make meaning, express themselves, and learn in their ever-increasing bilingual worlds.

Toward an inclination to advocate: a discursive study of teachers’ stance toward linguistically-responsive pedagogy in online language teacher education

An inclination to advocate is an important orientation for teachers working with emergent bilingual learners; emphasized in both frameworks for teacher education and in teacher education standards. Nevertheless, scholars have only begun to investigate how advocacy is constructed and enacted within online language teacher education coursework designed to promote linguistically responsive pedagogy. This study investigates teacher candidates’ orientations to advocacy by examining asynchronous online discussions to understand how candidates’ personal stances were interactionally constructed. Analysis drew upon critical discursive psychology for its focus on talk/writing as action-oriented and for its emphasis on the ways that constructs traditionally interpreted as cognitive, such as one’s personal beliefs or stance, are made accessible through examining language-in-interaction. Findings demonstrate how candidates oriented to advocacy work as both programmatic and political, while employing specific discursive and conversational features to construct their personal stance within each pattern. This study advances understanding of teacher candidates’ ‘inclination to advocate’ as an essential orientation of linguistically responsive pedagogy and has implications for the planning and design of online language teacher education coursework.

Bilingualism for students with disabilities, deficit or advantage?: Perspectives of Latinx mothers

ABSTRACT While access to bilingual education programs is on the rise, Emergent Bilingual Learners Labeled as Dis/abled (EBLADs) continue to experience English-mostly educational placements. Analysis of interviews with ten Latinx mothers of EBLADs revealed that educators recommended their children be placed in English-only instructional programs to avoid linguistic confusion. The mothers first resisted, but subsequently internalized, educators’ deficit-perspectives about their children’s language skills and accepted decisions to provide special education services to EBLAD children in English-only settings. Findings suggest that bilingual educators have contributed to the shift from perceptions of bilingualism as a deficit to bilingualism as an advantage and from bilingual education as a right to bilingual education as a privilege. These shifts have negatively impacted the education of EBLADs by limiting their access to multilingual instruction. Bilingual educators must advocate to safeguard bilingualism as a basic human right of EBLADs.

A framework for science classroom assessment task design for emergent bilingual learners

AbstractThe Framework for K–12 Science Education (NRC; 2012) placed renewed emphasis on creating equitable science learning opportunities for all learners by engaging in three‐dimensional learning experiences: disciplinary core ideas, crosscutting concepts, and science and engineering practices. Additionally, the Framework calls for a more inclusive approach to science learning that builds upon learners' linguistic practices and funds of knowledge and integrates open‐ended, multimodal approaches to documenting learning throughout the assessment process. To support assessment developers in designing expansive Framework‐aligned classroom‐assessment approaches for emergent bilingual learners—learners developing two or more languages—tools are needed to guide design of assessments from their inception. This paper presents a literature‐based framework for science assessment design for emergent bilingual learners that includes components critical to support these learners. We then operationalize the framework into five categories and analyze nine publicly available Next Generation Science Standards sample classroom assessments. The sample tasks allow us to illustrate how those engaged in classroom assessment design might create more expansive Framework‐based science classroom assessments appropriate for emergent bilingual learners.

Teachers’ Attitudes and Beliefs About Code-Mixing by Bilingual Students

Teachers’ attitudes and beliefs toward student behavior can have a profound effect on how students in their classroom are viewed. This study investigated teachers’ perceptions of code-mixing, or the use of two or more languages in speech, by bilingual and emergent bilingual learners in their classrooms. One hundred and twenty-eight PK-12 teachers in the U.S. rated statements about students’ code-mixing. Results indicated that while teachers had positive views about code-mixing in general, they had more negative ratings for statements related to the effect of code-mixing on student performance and why students code-mix. Findings also revealed that having bilingual and/or English as a second language credentials are the only factor among other demographic and background variables that significantly predicts positive views on code-mixing. This study contributes to the literature on teacher beliefs and attitudes about their bilingual students who engage in this language practice.

Key Elements of Robust Vocabulary Instruction for Emergent Bilingual Adolescents.

Purpose In this clinical focus article, the authors argue for robust vocabulary instruction with emergent bilingual learners both in inclusive classroom settings and in clinical settings for emergent bilinguals with language and literacy disorders. Robust vocabulary instruction focuses on high-utility academic words that carry abstract meanings and appear in texts across content areas (e.g., diminish, ambiguous). For emergent bilinguals, vocabulary instruction should be infused with morphological analysis emphasizing Latin roots to support students to problem-solve meanings of new, unfamiliar words and make connections between semantic clusters of related words in English. An innovative and critical component of this instructional approach is to support emergent bilinguals to leverage their linguistic resources by making connections to their home languages. Five design principles for teaching emergent bilinguals to engage in morphological analysis with Latin roots are presented. These design principles are illustrated with examples of evidence-based practices from intervention materials for instruction. Examples are drawn from varied instructional contexts. We present a synthesis of findings from implementation trials of our instructional program. Finally, application of the approach to clinical settings for speech-language pathologists are addressed. Conclusions Clinical practice with emergent bilingual learners at intermediate and advanced stages of proficiency should incorporate robust vocabulary instruction for emergent bilinguals from a variety of cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Clinicians should focus on high-utility academic words, and they should teach morphological problem-solving skills for generative word learning. Clinicians should leverage emergent bilingual learners' home language resources for developing morphological problem-solving skill. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.9745169.

How Museum Teachers Scaffold Emergent Bilingual Learners’ Meaning-making During Field Trips

ABSTRACTThis study investigates museum teachers’ perceptions of instructional practices for emergent bilingual students (also known as “English language learners”) within a field-trip setting. Through a survey, focus group, and interviews we explore how prepared museum teachers felt to teach emergent bilingual learners and what type of museum practices and resources teachers described as best scaffolds for these students. Findings indicate that museum teachers did not feel confident in their abilities to serve the needs of emergent bilingual learners, but that artifacts and the dialogues surrounding them were perceived as important scaffolds. However, teachers also indicated the constraints of a field-trip setting made scaffolding difficult to enact. The study points to the need for museum teachers to be supported in consistently enacting best practices for emergent bilingual learners.

Learning From Students, Teachers, and Schools: Field-Based Teacher Education for Emergent Bilingual Learners

Today’s schools are more culturally and linguistically diverse than ever before, prompting the need for teachers with the requisite expertise for work with emergent bilingual learners. As students grow in numbers and fill seats in classrooms spanning grades and disciplines, teacher educators must consider ways to prepare an increasing number of teachers, including those spanning licensure areas. This research probed one university’s efforts to prepare all teacher candidates for this growing subgroup of students through a field-based undergraduate teacher education program in the urban Midwest. Using artifact data from 29 program completers and survey and interview data from five focal teachers spanning licensure areas, this study investigated how particular facets of the field-based program promoted or deterred candidates’ learning across the 4-year program and into teachers’ first year of teaching. Implications center on how universities can leverage field-based teacher education to prepare future teachers for diverse classrooms.

Leading Toward Equity in Bilingual Education: Leadership Actions in a Reconceptualization of a Common Literacy Assessment Routine

This article presents a case study that examined leaders’ actions within a Spanish/English two-way immersion program as they guided teachers in a critical analysis of a common literacy assessment routine. The intent of this research was to move toward a more equitable reconceptualization of the literacy assessment routine and ultimately work to disaffirm deficit views of emergent bilingual learners often perpetuated by conventional assessment practices. This examination relied on the framework of transformative leadership and linguistically responsive schooling. Findings reveal the leaders established a critical bilingual stance, enacted bilingual pedagogical spaces, and fostered the development of a bilingual community identity. The authors contend the critically transformative leader is key to the sustainability of equitable practices as they act to support, sustain, and deepen the critical aspect of professional learning communities and influence pedagogical change. Although focused on the ever-expanding field of bilingual education, the outcomes of this work address all leaders who seek to create equity in their diverse school communities and uphold culture and language as assets to learning.

Can we meet our mission? Examining the professional development of social studies teachers to support students with disabilities and emergent bilingual learners

In this paper, we conduct a secondary analysis of The Institute of Educational Sciences’ (IES) 2011-2012 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) data, a self-reported, nationally representative database to examine: (a) the average caseload of students with disabilities and emergent bilingual learners within and across social studies content areas, as well how social studies teachers’ caseloads compare with other content area disciplines and (b) the extent and perceived utility of professional development opportunities social studies teachers receive to support both students with disabilities and emergent bilingual learners.

A Path to Discourse-Rich Communities

A third-grade teacher orchestrates mathematical materials, tasks, and talk to engage her emergent bilingual learners and foster both academic content and linguistic development.

Exploring Linguistic Diversity From the Inside Out: Implications of Self-Reflexive Inquiry for Teacher Education

With a burgeoning U.S. population of emergent bilingual learners and others who use nondominant language forms, the need for language knowledge among teachers is acute. Beginning from the inside out by examining one’s own complex language uses may be a first step toward envisioning and later developing classroom cultures that support diverse language forms for diverse purposes. In all, 262 undergraduate education students used self-reflexive inquiry, documenting ways they and others use language, through language inventories, surveys, and essays. Participants were majority students of color, half bilingual. Students reported awareness of rich diversity and nuances of language uses, purposes, and fluidity across contexts. Although students often used a formal/informal contrast to describe language uses, this distinction was complicated. Understandings of language surfaced in writing as students engaged with linguistically diverse peers and situated their linguistic repertoires in sociopolitical context. Drawing on results and students’ reflections on the writings as tools, we offer implications for teacher education.