Language Arts Classes Research Articles

Adopting an Empathizing Stance in Classroom Argumentation: Pedagogical Constructs and Affordances

Although a growing body of research recognizes the importance of viewing argumentation as a means of understanding rather than combating others, little is known about how teachers cultivate this practice in classroom conversations when teaching argumentation. This study examines how argument can be taught in classroom discourse with an empathizing stance and generates associated pedagogical constructs. Adopting a microethnographic approach to discourse analysis, this study examines the key instructional events in an argumentative writing unit in two high school English language arts classes. The analysis demonstrates that the empathizing stance is introduced in the relationship between arguers and their warrants and the differences existing between arguers. It also generates four pedagogical constructs related to the teaching of argument with the stance: (1) identifying the connection between arguers’ warrants and backgrounds; (2) transposing oneself into others’ backgrounds; (3) exploring interlocutors’ common and divergent grounds; and (4) situating argument in a broader context. It concludes with a discussion of the affordances of teaching argument with an empathizing stance.

Parental Support in Language Skills Development: Scale Development and Validation

The present study aims to develop a measurement tool that involves parental support for the language skills development process in mother tongue education or language arts classes (Turkish course in Türkiye, L1). Family is an undeniable factor in a child’s academic performance. In this context, there is no measurement tool that examines the support provided by families to their children in the field of language arts (mother tongue education). Considering that such a measurement tool would be useful for researchers and teachers, the study set out to develop it. The scale is not language specific, but in order to apply it to the Turkish parents it was created in Turkish. In order to develop the measurement tool, first, a literature review was conducted. The relationship between family and academic achievement, family social support, and parental academic support were investigated. In addition, interviews were conducted with five parents on a voluntary basis, and the actions that parents can take to support language skills were investigated. Thus, the item pool of the measurement tool was formed as 32 items. These items were prepared within the framework of the relevant literature and interviews with parents in a way to cover the following topics: parents’ guiding and activities that can support language skills, parents’ emotional support to the child, parents’ material support that can enhance language skills, parents’ support to the child in homework assignments in language arts classes (Turkish course in Türkiye). The items were presented to the inspection of two field experts and one measurement and evaluation expert. In addition, the items were presented to a field expert and two parents for the inspection of language and expression, and measures were taken to ensure that there were no incomprehensible items. After these stages, a total of 439 parents formed the participants of the study. While 204 of these participants were used for item analysis and EFA (exploratory factor analysis), 235 of them were used for CFA (confirmatory factor analysis), convergent validity and reliability analysis. Based on the findings obtained, 24-item, 4-factor “Parental Support in Language Skills Development Scale” can be considered as a valid and reliable measurement tool.

The multilingual poetry task: Innovating L2 writing pedagogy in the secondary classroom

This multiple case-study explores how a multilingual poetry task can be used to support multilingual writers in mainstream U.S. high school English language arts (ELA) classes. The purpose of the investigation is to closely examine the affordances of a multilingual poetry task and discuss its innovative pedagogical aspects in terms of the results that the task achieves—the learning it promotes—as well as highlight interdisciplinary collaboration between (English as a second language (ESL) and ELA teachers. I argue that the multilingual poetry task can innovate L2 writing pedagogy, address common problems that multilingual writers and their teachers face, and provide resident immigrant learners with affordances such as innovative developments in multilingual writing techniques, an understanding of compositional aspects of writing via open poetic forms, and an opportunity to explore humanistic aspects of language learning. A qualitative evidence-based approach is applied to analyze samples of multilingual poetry from two resident immigrant writers of diverse backgrounds (e.g., Belarus and Myanmar). This analysis is offset with learner immediate post-course and delayed interviews, learner reflective writing, and classroom observations and interactions. Finally, utilizing data from post-course ELA teacher interviews, the article discusses how interdisciplinary ELA-ESL teacher collaboration can better support emergent multilingual writers and move the field of second language writing forward.

Capturing the Shift: Interviews During Pivotal Covid-19 Debut

During a two-term observational study of my Secondary English Language Arts (ELA) class, I introduced “surrealism” to the existing curriculum. Jot notes, personal interviews, and a self-study comprised my data strands. The Covid-19 pandemic struck shortly before my scheduled in-person interviews. This uncertainty disrupted my doctoral study plans, but offered a valuable opportunity for critical reflection. The fears and questions prompted by the pandemic were captured in the vulnerable “safe space” of our at-home Zoom interviews. This process thus prompted my contemplation about interviews as a continued method for combatting the stagnancy of educational spaces.

Experiences of Alienation and Intimacy: The Work of Secondary Writing Instruction

Drawing on critical theories of labor and commodification, this qualitative embedded case study explores how students experience alienation and intimacy in the work of writing for an English language arts class. Analysis of fieldnotes from 30 observations, student writing products, and reflective interviews with focal students and the teacher illuminated the meaningful assemblages where conditions of intimacy permeated instruction. Two practices supported intimacy in working conditions: knowledge about writing built through a collective process of noticing, and open-ended work time characterized by “managed nonmanagement” (, p. 176), or calculated flexibility in rules and expectations. Findings illustrate how a literacy practice might contribute to students’ experience of alienation or intimacy (or both) while writing, depending on conditions of industrialization and commodification. Even as the teacher strove to deindustrialize work, commodification through grades and standardized assessments heightened alienation in the writing environment. The study provides an example of an educational context governed by an industrial system of assessment where local actors (the teacher and students) disrupted alienation by working in smaller scales and more closely with texts.

Structured Student Conversations and their Impact

This action research described how a middle school teacher integrated five discussion protocols including structured controversy, pair communication, triad protocol, personal experience panel, and Socratic seminar into her sixth-grade Language Arts classes. Collected data from three different sources indicated an overall improvement of both student conversational skills and relationship skills when various discussion protocols were implemented in the classroom. Discussions and teacher's reflections were included.

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.

Computer‐supported knowledge building to enhance reading motivation and comprehension

AbstractReading motivation can greatly impact reading comprehension, but it tends to diminish in and beyond elementary school. This study employs knowledge building pedagogy to advance reading motivation and comprehension in an elementary Chinese language arts class. Participants were twenty‐four third graders who spent one class period (ie, 40 minutes) for 18 weeks in Knowledge Forum to study 10 lessons in a reading textbook. Data mainly came from: a reading motivation questionnaire, online interaction logs, online discourse and PILRS reading comprehension assessments. It was found that knowledge building enhanced children's reading motivation (particularly in terms of reading competence) and reading comprehension (especially at the higher levels). Most students demonstrated spontaneous engagement in advanced online activities demanding high‐level agency. A correlation was also identified between children's motivation to read and more advanced online discourse behaviours requiring higher agency, leading to a deeper understanding of reading. Implications for fostering a motivated reading community that values collective knowledge advancement are discussed.Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Innovating classroom‐based instruction for enhancing learners' reading motivation and comprehension has been an important challenge in reading education. Reading motivation is positively associated with reading comprehension but tends to diminish in and beyond elementary school. Technology‐supported reading and learning are further enhanced by interactive online discussions among learners. Engaging learners in collective knowledge building activities can facilitate their reading comprehension. What this paper adds Learner engagement in knowledge building activities, particularly advanced online activities, is associated with higher reading motivation (especially intrinsic reading competence). The process analysis shows that learners' online discourses focus more on higher‐level reading comprehension with extended use of knowledge building pedagogy. Learners exhibit better reading comprehension across all levels of reading comprehension with the implementation of knowledge building pedagogy. Implications for practice and/or policy Knowledge building pedagogy, featuring assuming agency, working with ideas, and fostering community practices, can be a viable approach to reading motivation and comprehension. The design of digital platforms should aim not just to foster knowledge‐acquiring and ‐sharing from reading but also to extend reading into knowledge building activities that highlight idea improvement.

Identifying the assets of emergent bilingual middle school students’ writing: opportunities to validate students’ linguistic repertoires and identities

ABSTRACT We highlight how the use of holistic biliteracy and translanguaging perspectives can be applied in the assessment of emergent bilingual middle school students’ writing to counter deficit views of their divergent repertoires. The study took place in a Mountain West middle school with a large Latinx population. We analyzed eleven emerging bilingual students’ (EBs) responses to a writing prompt in an English language arts class. Findings include EBs’ use of translanguaging [García, O. 2009. Bilingual Education in the 21st Century: A Global Perspective. Wiley-Blackwell], or strategic languaging, in which the students used different codes/languages in their writing. Additionally, this study found that EBs might show different patterns of spelling development as they learn to access the different alphabetic patterns of their respective repertoires. Finally, the study highlights how EBs draw from diverse discourse patterns as they compose. The analysis revealed the cultural and linguistic knowledge(s) EBs bring to developing their writing, which are often not part of monolingual English writing rubrics. Thus, the implications suggest that teachers need to develop critical sociolinguistic responsive practices as the field seeks to equitably assess the writing of EBs. Moreover, we suggest that critical cultural and linguistic awareness is needed in order to nurture the identities and competencies of EBs.

“It Made Me Think in a Different Way”: Bilingual Students’ Perspectives on Multimodal Composing in the English Language Arts Classroom

AbstractThis study examined 94 bilingual and emergent bilingual 10th grade students’ perspectives on multimodal composing for academic purposes in their English Language Arts class. A social semiotics theoretical framework was employed to understand students’ views of the affordances and constraints when composing three digital multimodal projects—a hypertext poetry analysis, a persuasive podcast, and a video literary analysis. Qualitative analysis of interviews and written reflections revealed how students overwhelmingly held a positive view of composing with multiple modes for academic purposes. Students detailed the unique semiotic resources of nonlinguistic modes for supporting their understanding of the content and innovative meaning‐making. A majority of students described how communicating through multiple modes offered impactful opportunities to express their bilingual/bicultural identities as well as explore the affective dimensions of the English Language Arts content. Additionally, students explained how the process of multimodal composing fostered peer collaboration and creating meaningful connections to other works and their lives. Along with affordances, students also described a variety of challenges when designing their digital projects, including technical difficulties, uncertainty of expectations, and sufficiently representing their ideas multimodally. This study concludes with implications for how educators can learn from listening to emergent bilingual students’ perspectives when integrating technology in the classroom.

Measuring Teaching Practices at Scale: A Novel Application of Text-as-Data Methods

Valid and reliable measurements of teaching quality facilitate school-level decision-making and policies pertaining to teachers. Using nearly 1,000 word-to-word transcriptions of fourth- and fifth-grade English language arts classes, we apply novel text-as-data methods to develop automated measures of teaching to complement classroom observations traditionally done by human raters. This approach is free of rater bias and enables the detection of three instructional factors that are well aligned with commonly used observation protocols: classroom management, interactive instruction, and teacher-centered instruction. The teacher-centered instruction factor is a consistent negative predictor of value-added scores, even after controlling for teachers’ average classroom observation scores. The interactive instruction factor predicts positive value-added scores. Our results suggest that the text-as-data approach has the potential to enhance existing classroom observation systems through collecting far more data on teaching with a lower cost, higher speed, and the detection of multifaceted classroom practices.

Encouraging Independent Readers: Combining Reading Workshop and Textbook‐Based Lessons in a Japanese High School Classroom

AbstractIn Japan, the workshop‐style approach for teaching reading has drawn recent attention. However, the obligation to use Ministry of Education–approved textbooks makes applying this method in classes difficult. In this study, we aimed to investigate the possibilities of incorporating workshop‐style lessons into a Japanese language arts class and its benefits for high school students. Based on findings from questionnaires and interviews undertaken with students and reflective dialogues with the teacher, the benefits of incorporating reading workshop–style lessons were examined and compared with the traditional textbook‐style lesson. The main finding is that reading self‐selected books accompanied by teacher/student conferences nurtures good reading habits. Although this study indicates the importance of workshop‐style lessons, it also highlights the benefits and importance of traditional textbook‐style lessons. Finally, how to integrate them into the curriculum is discussed.

Translanguaging design in a third grade Chinese Language Arts class

Abstract Traditionally strict language separation policies in dual language bilingual education (DLBE) programs reflect parallel monolingualism and have been criticized as failing to recognize the sociolinguistic realities of bilingual students (García, Ofelia & Angel M. Y. Lin. 2017. Translanguaging in bilingual education. In Ofelia García, Angel M. Y. Lin & Stephen May (eds.), Bilingual and multilingual education, 117–130. Cham: Springer International Publishing). To recognize the dynamic nature of bilingualism and leverage bilingual learners’ full semiotic and linguistic repertoire as a resource, this study looks at how to strategically and purposefully develop flexible and multilingual educational spaces in a third grade Chinese Language Arts (CLA) class in a Mandarin-English DLBE program in the New England area, U.S. Drawing upon Sánchez, María Teresa (Maite), Ofelia García & Cristian Solorza. 2018. Reframing language allocation policy in dual language bilingual education. Bilingual Research Journal 41(1). 37–51. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2017.1405098, translanguaging allocation policy framework, the researcher and the teacher co-designed and implemented translanguaging documentation, translanguaging rings, and translanguaging transformation spaces in the CLA class throughout the school year of 2018–19. Taking the form of participatory design research (Bang, Megan & Shirin Vossoughi. 2016. Participatory design research and educational justice: Studying learning and relations within social change making. Cognition and Instruction 34(3). 173–193. https://doi.org/10.1080/07370008.2016.1181879), this collaborative inquiry demonstrates that translanguaging pedagogies could promote student engagement, contribute to their academic learning, and build home-school connections. It aims to provide authentic, sustainable knowledge for both researchers and practitioners to better serve bilingual learners in DLBE programs.

Bi-literacy and motivation as predictors of bilingual students’ talk during classroom discussion

ABSTRACT This study investigated the relations between bilingual students’ amount of talk during classroom discussion, motivation, and self-reported bi-literacy skills (i.e. reading, writing skills in their native and school languages). Sixth-grade Spanish-English bilinguals in the United States (N = 121; M age = 12.119 years old; SD = 0.358) reported on their reading and writing skills in both Spanish and English. Self-reported motivation was assessed using the Motivation for Classroom Discussion Questionnaire (MCD-Q). Audio-recordings of bilinguals’ speech during their English Language Arts class period were used to measure amount of talk during classroom discussion. Results demonstrated that the relation between motivation and amount of talk during classroom discussion varied as a function of self-reported bi-literacy. At high levels of motivation, bi-literate students were more likely to engage in greater amounts of talk during classroom discussion than their non-bi-literate peers.

(Responding to) Youth epistemologies to create a third space: a reclamation of learning in an English language arts classroom

PurposeThis paper aims to focus on the construction of a third space within a high school. Specifically, the authors consider how youth of color engage the educational context of an 11th grade English language arts (ELA) class as a basis for (re)imagining their history, culture and themselves to construct counter-narratives away from framing their lived educational experiences as failures, deficient and depicted in “damage-centered” (Tuck, 2009) ways. The research engages the process and challenges of creating this type of space within a school setting, as well as examining the ways in which students envision these locations.Design/methodology/approachCritical ethnography centered the emphasis on youth engagement for social change, as well as the inquiry on how the classroom space was constructed, shared and navigated by the students and ourselves (Madison, 2005). In addition, the research design reflects critical ethnography through the use of prolonged participation in the field (nine and half months), a focus on culture (specifically school and classroom culture/climate) and a critical theory-based framework [hybridity, third space and youth participatory action research (YPAR)].FindingsThree major themes emerged from the data that demonstrate how instructors and students collectively engaged in a third space through the YPAR project. These themes include developing an ethic of care with students and among instructors, cultivating an atmosphere of social justice awareness and the contrast of the classroom space with the wider-Hillside Vocational High School environment.Originality/valueThe study engages the use of YPAR within a high school class that became a unique space for students to learn and develop. The ELA class did not just reflect adding the first space and second space together or merging the two. Instead, it seemed to demonstrate the creation of a new type of space or the development of a third space. In this space, students could bring and bridge their out-of-school and in-school experiences to develop new knowledge and ways of seeing the world.

Understanding behavioural engagement and achievement: The roles of teaching practices and student sense of competence and task value.

Different teaching practices, such as autonomy support and structure, provide students with a positive learning context supporting their engagement, which can operate through their underlying motivation, including sense of competence and task value. This study aims at investigating the best configuration (unique or synergistic) between autonomy support and structure to support student behavioural engagement, including compliance, participation, and misbehaviour, and reading achievement. A second objective is to assess students' sense of competence and task value as mediators linking teaching practices to student engagement and achievement. The samples included 1,666 7th-grade students and their 85 teachers. Students answered questionnaires and tests at the beginning and the end of the school year. Students' perceptions of the use of autonomy support and structure by their Language Arts teacher were aggregated at the classroom level. Students rated their sense of competence and task value in Language Arts class. Twice during the school year, they also reported three facets of their behavioural engagement (compliance, participation, and misbehaviour) and answered a reading comprehension test. Multilevel path analyses using Mplus7 allowed accounting for the nested structure of data. Student sense of competence mediated the association of student classroom-aggregated perceptions of teacher structure and autonomy support with self-reported participation in the classroom. Task value mediated the association between both teaching practices and student misbehaviour and compliance, as reported by students. Sense of competence was directly associated with later reading achievement, but the indirect effect of teaching practices was not significant. We foundnosignificant interaction (synergistic effect) between teacher autonomy support and structure. Student classroom-aggregated perception of teacher autonomy support and structure is important to nurture behavioural engagement. However, we found no extra benefit of combining these two dimensions of teaching practices. The processes linking these teaching practices to the three facets of student behavioural engagement were different. As such, to support the various aspects of student engagement, the actions of teachers, as reported by their students, should tap into the mechanisms that are most strongly related to each type of behaviour.

国語科における「物語の創作」指導カリキュラムに関する試論 : 内田伸子の論を手がかりとして

国語科における「物語の創作」指導カリキュラムに関する試論 : 内田伸子の論を手がかりとして

Cross-Domain Trajectories of Students' Ability Self-Concepts and Intrinsic Values in Math and Language Arts.

Different cross-domain trajectories in the development of students' ability self-concepts (ASCs) and their intrinsic valuing of math and language arts were examined in a cross-sequential study spanning Grades 1 through 12 (n=1,069). Growth mixture modeling analyses identified a Moderate Math Decline/Stable High Language Arts class and a Moderate Math Decline/Strong Language Arts Decline class for students' ASC trajectories. Students' intrinsic value trajectories included a Strong Math Decline/Language Arts Decline Leveling Off, a Moderate Math Decline/Strong Language Arts Decline, and a Stable Math and Language Arts Trajectories class. These classes differed with regard to student characteristics, including gender, family background, and math and reading aptitudes. They also resulted in different high school math course enrollments, career aspirations, and adult careers.

Dismantling anti-black linguistic racism in English language arts classrooms: Toward an anti-racist black language pedagogy

ABSTRACTIn this article, the author historicizes the argument about Black Language in the classroom to contextualize the contemporary linguistic inequities that Black students experience in English Language Arts (ELA) classroom. Next, the author describes anti-black linguistic racism and interrogates the notion of academic language. Following this, the author provides an ethnographic snapshot that shows how Black students in a ninth grade English Language Arts (ELA) class perceptions of Black Language reflected internalized anti-black linguistic racism. The author offers Anti-Racist Black Language Pedagogy as an approach that English Language Arts teachers can implement in an effort to dismantle anti-black linguistic racism and white cultural and linguistic hegemony in their classrooms using Angie Thomas’ (2017) novel The Hate U Give. The author concludes with thoughts about how an Anti-Racist Black Language pedagogy can help ELA students develop useful critical capacities.

“To Be, or Not to Be”: Modernizing Shakespeare With Multimodal Learning Stations

AbstractIn an eighth‐grade English language arts class, 100 students used virtual reality headsets, augmented reality–capable smartphones, tablets, desktop computers, online scavenger hunts, and print‐based texts as an introduction to William Shakespeare's life and works. The authors highlight the need for educators to offer multimodal instruction that responds to literary appetites of adolescent readers. A preservice teaching candidate and two teacher educators experimented with multimodal instruction to support introductory activities that helped adolescent readers develop meaningful relationships with challenging texts. Findings showcase literacy engagement characterized by immersion, collaboration, and modernization of content. Recommendations are made for future research in the area of multimodal literacy learning.