English Language Arts Classroom Research Articles

Empowering Students Through the Construction of a Translanguaging Space in an English as a First Language Classroom

Abstract Despite the extensive research on translanguaging in bi/multilingual classrooms, research on the context of first language (L1) classrooms remains scarce. This study fills the research gap by examining how a translanguaging space was created in an L1 classroom to prepare students to inhabit a world with different linguistic and cultural practices. The data were based on a linguistic ethnographic project in a first-grade L1 English Language Arts classroom in the U.S. Multimodal Conversation Analysis and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis methods were employed for data analysis. This study revealed that such a translanguaging space encouraged students to view diverse languages as resources and appreciate linguistic and cultural diversity in the community. The teacher’s ability to create a translanguaging space for her L1 English students was shaped by the pedagogical translanguaging knowledge gained from her teacher training programme. As such, we posit the significance for all pre- and in-service teachers to acquire knowledge of translanguaging to develop students’ social-emotional well-being and their identities as citizens in this multilingual and multicultural world.

Illustrating linguistic dexterity in “English mostly” spaces: how translanguaging can support academic writing in secondary ELA classrooms

PurposeLittle research has been done exploring the nature of multilingual students who are not categorized as English language learners (ELLs) in English language arts (ELA) classes. This study about a group of multilingual girls in an ELA class led by a monolingual white teacher aims to show how, when a teacher makes space for translanguaging practices in ELA, multilingual students disrupt norms of English only.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use reconstructive discourse analysis to understand translanguaging across a variety of linguistic productions for a group of four focal students. Data sources include fieldnotes from 29 classroom observations, writing samples and process documents and 8.5 h of recorded classroom discourse.FindingsStudents used multilingualism across a variety of discourse modes, frequently in spoken language and rarely in written work. Translanguaging was most present in small-group peer talk structures, where students did relationship building, generated ideas for writing and managed their writing agendas, including feelings about writing. In addition, Spanish served as “elevated vocabulary” in writing. Across discourse modes, translanguaging served to develop academic proficiency in writing.Originality/valueThe authors proposed a more expansive approach to data analysis in English-mostly cases – i.e. environments shaped by multilingual students in monolingual school contexts – to argue for anti-deficit approaches to literacy development for multilingual students. Analyzing classroom talk alongside literacy allows for a more nuanced understanding of translanguaging practices in academic writing. They also show how even monolingual teachers can disrupt monolingual hegemony in ELA classrooms with high populations of multilingual students.

Using Dialogic Writing Assessment to Support the Development of Historical Literacy

AbstractThough discipline‐specific approaches to literacy instruction can support adolescents' academic literacy and identity development, scant attention has been paid to ways of targeting such instruction to address individual student needs. Dialogic writing assessment is an approach to conducting writing conferences that foregrounds students' composing process so that teachers can assess and support that process with instructional feedback. Because such feedback is immediate, teachers can observe how students take it up. While dialogic assessment has shown promise as an approach to revealing and supporting students' writing processes in English Language Arts classrooms, it remains to be explored how this approach can support developing writers in other subject areas. This paper offers an analytic narrative account of how a high school social studies teacher used this method to support the writing process of one student, exploring what the method revealed about the challenges the student faced in writing about history, the gaps and misconceptions in their understanding of history and the intersection between the two. We discuss how certain ‘mediational moves’ the teacher employed enabled the student to compose collaboratively with the teacher, and in this collaborative composing, to capture ideas that she later used in her independent writing.

Antiracist Reading in English Language Arts Classrooms: A Disciplinary Literacy Response to Inoue (2020)

ABSTRACT This paper is a response to Inoue’s (2020) article, Teaching Antiracist Reading. Our focus is to contextualize his framework using a disciplinary literacy lens for reading literary text in secondary and postsecondary English Language Arts (ELA) classrooms. After briefly explaining the recommendations made by Inoue (2020) and disciplinary literacy, specifically in English Language Arts, we suggest opportunities for incorporating Inoue’s framework when reading literary text to support antiracist reading and interpretive practices. We also provide two caveats. First, interpretations must be student-led, which includes the form in which those interpretations are communicated. Second, literary theory has been rooted in racist practices, which necessitates new lenses to interpret the texts.

Texts used in the English language arts classroom of an American Islamic school

In this article, we examine what texts were selected for use by a middle school language arts teacher working in an American Islamic school. The literature has found that schools play an important role in supporting immigrant students to navigate a new culture, especially by selecting and providing appropriate texts for learning. Since students’ interaction with texts can mediate knowledge and identity construction, what cultural information and whose culture is embedded in the texts matter for language learning. As such, we wondered what texts a teacher would use to bridge the minority culture of the students with the majority culture in which the students lived. One teacher’s language arts class with 20 students at one American Islamic school was observed for one academic quarter and then described using a case study method. We qualitatively analyzed classroom observations, field notes, teacher interviews, and teacher and student work samples. We found that the teacher was able to use both academic texts, virtual texts, and teacher-created documents to explore some of the issues that the students face on a daily basis. This study further adds to the existing knowledge that culturally relevant texts may mediate students’ understanding of the larger socio-historical contexts in which they reside including a chance to develop language skills necessary for communication and learning.

How different are English learners from their native English-speaking peers? Evidence of equivalent lexical competence in classroom conversations

ABSTRACT We address the concern that classification of English learners (ELs) primarily based on standardized tests does not accurately reflect what students know and can do with English. While qualitative classroom discourse analyses show that ELs’ language-in-use is not as limited as test scores indicate, available evidence is sparse and prone to unintentional biases. Informed by sociocultural theory, we performed a series of quantitative analyses of student conversations during academic tasks at a larger scale. We analyzed 833 conversation transcripts between pairs of K-12 students in science and English language arts (ELA) classrooms. To uncover patterns of lexical resources in different interactions, word frequency and correlation analyses were performed for three dyadic configurations: two English-only students (EO-EO), two ELs (EL-EL), and the heterogeneous combination (EO-EL). Results showed that lexical size was only significantly different among grade-level bands despite EL-EL dyads’ conversations being shorter in length in ELA. Relative to EO-EO dyads’ language use, in general, EL-EL dyads maintained better word-frequency correlations in science-specific language, while EO-EL dyads maintained strong correlations in ELA-specific language. The findings suggest that attention to authentic language use between peers in class could be more informative than discrete tests and more effective to scaffold EL learning.

Online Writing Spaces as “Walled Gardens” in English Language Arts Classrooms

Two central tensions—structure and privacy—emerged when a group of teachers developed Write4Change, an online writing space that connected students in the United States, Italy, and South Korea.

“Literacy to me is about power”: reading book-length fiction and non-fiction texts in a disciplinary literacy teacher education course

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the reading of a book-length fiction or non-fiction text in one disciplinary literacy (DL) teacher education course. This paper considers how the assignment may help pre- and in-service teachers understand literacy as multifaceted and connected within and beyond their content areas (Moje, 2015). The research explores how reading a book-length text may help support DL, equity-oriented curricula that consider literacy as empowerment and connected to lived and communal experiences (González et al., 2005; Muhammad, 2020).Design/methodology/approachThis work is grounded in a qualitative, humanizing methodology and thematic analysis approach (Braun and Clarke, 2006; Paris and Winn, 2014). This approach examines student work in one DL course, considering how teachers within and beyond English language arts (ELA) respond to the task of reading a book-length text.FindingsFirst, the assignment offered space for participants to redefine literacy as empowerment and enjoyment. Second, the assignment helped participants connect literacy within and beyond their content areas and to see literacy as active and interdisciplinary. Third, the assignment includes clear limitations for a DL approach, particularly when participants focus mainly on connections to their content area. This sometimes obfuscated participants’ enjoyment of reading.Originality/valueThe study offers a new perspective on a task that is often seen as specifically “ELA”: reading a book-length text. This project offers space for ELA educators to consider literacy from a DL, equity-oriented framework focused on enjoyment in literature within and beyond ELA classrooms.

Shifting pedagogy, shifting practice: teachers’ perceptions of project-based learning in English language arts

PurposeThis paper aims to explore teachers’ shifts in pedagogy and practice as they implemented a project-based learning (PBL) approach to teaching English Language Arts (ELA) for the first time.Design/methodology/approachThe authors interviewed 10 ninth-grade ELA teachers in three schools after their first year enacting PBL. Initial codes were developed deductively from the interview questions and others emerged from the data. The authors also used memos to contextualize the interviews and triangulate findings.FindingsTeachers described embracing new, expansive approaches to teaching ELA as they shifted from focusing on skills to big questions, and from literary analysis to “real-world” writing and assessment. These data illuminated three tensions around “traditional” versus PBL approaches to ELA: What counts as ELA? What counts as student success? And is PBL for everyone?Originality/valueFew studies have explored teacher perceptions of PBL in secondary ELA classrooms. This paper uniquely illuminates some pathways for addressing the tension between “traditional” and PBL approaches. The authors call for deliberate, ongoing and gradualistic approaches to engaging in PBL routines that support educators to make meaningful shifts in instruction.

Student perceptions of project-based learning in inclusive high school language arts

ABSTRACT Project-based learning (PBL) in inclusive classrooms has the potential to provide meaningful and collaborative learning experiences that develop students’ academic and social-emotional learning skills. This qualitative study focuses on the voices of secondary students with disabilities (SWDs) by examining their perceptions of PBL in English language arts when compared to their peers without disabilities. We analysed interviews from 36 students in five 9th-grade, inclusive English language arts classrooms. Students in both groups expressed positive views about learning in PBL classrooms. Key themes included opportunities to feel creative, to expand their ideas about the world, to increase important literacy skills, to collaborate with peers and to make choices in their learning. SWDs differed from their peers without disabilities in their desire for scaffolded learning and teachers who are responsive to their individual needs. Additionally, SWDs shared a broader range of perspectives within each theme. Implications for PBL instruction in inclusive classrooms and special education teacher knowledge are discussed.

Research: ELA Teachers and Whiteness: Hesitancy as Barrier to Teacher Agency Development

This study examines ways preservice teachers transfer their developing agentive identities—specifically around race/ism, inequity, and whiteness—from the teacher education context to secondary English language arts classrooms, as well as barriers preventing that transfer. This inquiry utilized qualitative case study methods to conduct in-depth analysis of six ELA preservice teachers’ written reflections, class discussions, and student-instructor conferences. While the preservice teachers showed evidence of developing “theoretical agency” in the teacher education context, they often struggled to maintain their agentive poses within secondary ELA contexts. Their struggles manifest as hesitancy connected to their awareness of and navigation of their own whiteness. Findings suggest preservice teachers need opportunities to interrogate whiteness through curricula and structural inequities and to engage in agency development across a variety of contexts.

Oh, God: evangelical teachers, textual interpretation, and ELA classrooms

PurposeThis paper aims to examine how evangelical teachers’ religious identities influence their interpretation and teaching of texts in high school English Language Arts classrooms. Further, this paper examines how evangelical teachers make choices about how to balance the demands of their religious and teacher identities as they interact with texts in their own classrooms.Design/methodology/approachUsing Derridean deconstruction of the concept of ethical decision-making, the author uses critical discourse analysis to examine a conversation between two evangelical teachers as they talk about the tensions they feel as they teach The Crucible with their high school–aged students.FindingsThe findings show evangelical teachers’ religious and teaching identities were in tension across three themes: literary analytic frameworks, authorial intent and eternal truths and evangelism and fellowship.Originality/valueBy highlighting how evangelical teachers’ religious and teaching identities influence their classroom decisions, teaching practices and textual interpretations, this study offers another pathway through which teacher educators and researchers might examine the connection between teachers’ religious and teaching identities with the intent to invite more complexity into literary analysis.

Beyond Marx: Cultural Social Class Analysis in the English Language Arts Classroom

Beyond Marx: Cultural Social Class Analysis in the English Language Arts Classroom

Teachers’ Perceptions of Integrated Reading-Writing Instruction for Emergent Bilinguals

Integrated Reading-Writing Instruction (IRWI) is an approach for English Language Arts (ELA) instruction that has gained much attention since the adoption of college and career standards. Previous studies have shown that connecting reading and writing during instruction positively affects students’ literacy outcomes as related cognitive processes are engaged in the construction of meaning. This qualitative study of five 4th grade elementary ELA classrooms serving diverse students, including emergent bilinguals, explored the transition from the previous form of writing instruction to IRWI, or analytical text-based writing in elementary classrooms when implementing college and career standards. The findings indicated that IRWI introduced several affordances for the five teachers’ instruction, such as an explicit connection between reading and writing, and for their emergent bilingual students, overall improvement of reading comprehension and preparation for more college-like writing. Also, participating teachers reported several disadvantages for their emergent bilingual students stemming from how IRWI was implemented in the district. These disadvantages included the absence of creativity and genre variety for writing instruction, writing that was dependent upon English reading comprehension, and difficulties with teaching how to write evidence and elaboration.

Teaching Argumentation with a Dialogic Stance: A Case of an 11th-Grade English Language Arts Classroom

Teaching Argumentation with a Dialogic Stance: A Case of an 11th-Grade English Language Arts Classroom

Video Games in the Secondary English Language Arts Classroom: A State‐of‐the‐Art Review of the Literature

AbstractEnglish language arts (ELA) teachers and literacy researchers are increasingly attending to the ways that digital technologies may be integrated into the curriculum. Video games, which now feature extensive narrative structures, interactive play systems, and complex multimodal semiotics, offer one avenue through which ELA teachers can expand upon the texts and literacy practices included in language arts curricula. However, professional resources and research on the use of video games in literacy classrooms remain scarce. To understand how educators have begun to integrate games into ELA curriculum and instruction, the authors conducted a state‐of‐the‐art review of the emerging literature on video games in secondary ELA classrooms. Through an inductive search and coding process, 21 studies were identified and analyzed. Two major findings emerged regarding both the specific instructional practices that instructors in the studies employed and the overall effects on students' learning described in the studies. First, the studies highlighted examples of video game instruction through the use of game analysis, game design and production, text production, and inquiry/research. Second, studies emphasized students’ expanded conceptions of literacies, development of literacy practices, growth of critical and analytical thinking skills, enhanced engagement, and increased opportunities for peer collaboration and mentoring. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for literacy instruction and research.

Critically Reading the Canon: Culturally Sustaining Approaches to a Prescribed Literature Curriculum

AbstractCulturally sustaining pedagogy (Paris, 2012) has emerged as an essential way to value the evolution of culture among diverse learners. Discussions around teaching in a culturally sustaining manner in the English language arts classroom, specifically when teaching literary analysis, often address the need to incorporate multicultural literature so that students are exposed to stories told from diverse perspectives. However, the reality in many schools is that teachers do not have ownership over their curriculum in a way that allows them to choose which texts they read and study with students. In this context, culturally sustaining teaching presents a difficult challenge. In this literature review, the author presents classroom strategies that apply a critical literacy lens to analysis of canonical literature as a way to create a place for culturally sustaining teaching within a prescribed curriculum.

Moving Beyond Interpretive Monism: A Disciplinary Heuristic to Bridge Literary Theory and Literacy Theory

In this essay, authors Todd Reynolds, Leslie S. Rush, Jodi P. Lampi, and Jodi Patrick Holschuh provide a disciplinary heuristic that bridges literary and literacy theories. The secondary English language arts (ELA) classroom is situated at the intersection between literary theory and literacy theory, where too often literary theory does not include pedagogical practices and literacy theory does not take disciplinary differences into account. Reynolds and coauthors propose an English Language Arts heuristic for disciplinary literacy to guide teachers toward embracing student-led interpretations. They explore the connections among the Common Core State Standards, New Criticism, and the ELA classroom and focus on the prevalence of interpretive monism, which is the belief that only one interpretation is appropriate for students when reading a literary text. The essay explicates a heuristic for ELA literacy that centers on students actively creating interpretations of and transforming literary texts. By embracing this heuristic, the authors assert, teachers can focus on student-led interpretations of literary texts and thus empower their students.

Antiracist Teaching in English Language Arts: Toward a Full Humanity for All Students

This column explores the question: “Is antiracist teaching a downer?” Though not easy, antiracist teaching can be joyful as it allows students to achieve their full potential. Antiracist teaching recognizes the full humanity of all students by dismantling oppressive structures in schools while affirming, celebrating, and advocating for all students. Here, the authors provide three examples of antiracist teaching that can be reflected through reading and writing practices in K-8 English language arts classrooms.

Opportunity Centered Teaching for Racial Justice in Elementary English Language Arts Classrooms

This column advances tenets of opportunity centered teaching to help educators in the work of racial justice disrupt opportunity gaps in elementary ELA classrooms.