Language Minority Students Research Articles

Minority language use in teaching: ethnic minority teachers’ perspectives in Southwest China

ABSTRACT While previous research has emphasised the crucial role of multilingualism in supporting language minority students’ schooling experiences, little is known about the perspectives of teachers from minoritised backgrounds regarding their encounters with and responses to linguistic diversity in education. This article employs in-depth interviews to investigate ethnic minority teachers’ perceptions regarding minority language use in their multicultural and multilingual educational settings in southwest China. Thematic analysis was applied to identify the main themes across the narratives from 12 ethnic minority teacher participants. The findings show that teachers believed ethnic minority language use contributes to teaching ethnic minority students and interacting with ethnic minority parents. However, teachers held a deficit thinking of minority languages when it came to improving students’ Chinese proficiency and school success. Moreover, teachers believed their ethnic minority status does not necessarily play a role in teaching. Instead, sharing the same languages with ethnic minority students could benefit teaching, which is different from the prior studies concluding that sharing the same ethnic background as the students contributes to the reduction of ethnic disparities in education.

The Effect of Ecological Environment on Language-Minority Students’ Math and Reading Development: A Hierarchical Linear Analysis of a Longitudinal Study

ABSTRACT Research Findings: This study illustrated whether and how ecological environments are associated with language-minority students’ (N = 12,500) math and reading development from kindergarten to the eighth grade. Results identified the robust effects of preschool type, kindergarten length, classroom activities, parent-child reading, parent expectation, and teacher-child relationship on reading and math outcomes. In third and fifth grade, all significant predictors of reading outcome are at the family level: parent-child reading time and parent’s expectations. Additionally, parent-child reading time also significantly predicts LMSs’ reading in kindergarten. Meanwhile, predictors for math outcomes have a different pattern in the mid to late elementary periods. All predictors during this period are at the family level: parent-child reading time, parent showing love to children, and parent’s expectations. Lastly, the only significant predictor for eighth grade math is teacher-child closeness. Practice or Policy: The significant findings at different grade levels suggest a multifaceted approach to policy development, including (a) supporting parent engagement, (b) high-quality preschool, and (c) multicultural teacher education and professional development.

“Heroes”, “victims”, and “villains”: policy narratives on inclusion in Norwegian and Italian educational documents

ABSTRACT This paper will investigate how specific narratives on the inclusion of minority language students (MLSs) are constructed in Norwegian and Italian educational policy documents. We will employ the Narrative Policy Framework’s (NPF) analytical categories with an interpretative narrative approach to reconstruct the two national policy narratives and compare their salient features. In response to international trends of inclusive education, Norway and Italy have developed two different educational policy models for the inclusion of MLSs. Norway operationalised inclusion through ‘adapted education’ for all students, while Italian policy defined an ‘Italian path towards the intercultural school’. The results will show that the Norwegian approach to inclusive education is sustained by what we define as a technocratic (efficiency-oriented) narrative, while the Italian intercultural education employs a normative (ideologically-based) narrative. Despite the differences, the two policy narratives share an unresolved tension between a universalistic and particularistic stance. In the policy documents, the inclusive/intercultural education for all students is ambiguously complemented by integration measures designed explicitly for MLSs. The study will illustrate the travelling nature of inclusive and intercultural education in the policy domain and show that the policy shift towards inclusion needs to be understood as an ongoing and non-linear process.

Influence of Bilingualism on Cognitive Abilities in Children in China

Purpose: The aim of the study was to analyze the influence of bilingualism on cognitive abilities in children in China. Methodology: This study adopted a desk methodology. A desk study research design is commonly known as secondary data collection. This is basically collecting data from existing resources preferably because of its low cost advantage as compared to a field research. Our current study looked into already published studies and reports as the data was easily accessed through online journals and libraries. Findings: Research on bilingualism and cognitive abilities in children in China has indicated several significant findings. Studies suggest that bilingualism can enhance executive functioning skills, such as cognitive flexibility and attention control, leading to improved problem-solving abilities. Additionally, bilingual children often demonstrate advanced metalinguistic awareness and language development, with proficiency in both their native language and a second language. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Bilingual advantage hypothesis, socio-cultural theory & neuroplasticity theory may be used to anchor future studies on influence of bilingualism on cognitive abilities in children in China. Implement evidence-based instructional strategies educators should incorporate evidence-based instructional strategies that capitalize on the cognitive benefits of bilingualism. Advocate for bilingual education policies. Policymakers should advocate for the implementation of bilingual education policies that support language minority students' cognitive development.

‘I like exploring other languages’: primary and lower secondary students’ attitudes towards plurilingual education

ABSTRACT While teachers’ beliefs about plurilingual education are widely studied, there is a gap in research exploring learners’ orientations. Drawing on a conceptualisation of plurilingual education distinguishing between three pluralistic approaches to languages and a transversal dimension focusing on learners’ language resources, the article investigates primary and lower secondary students’ attitudes towards plurilingual education in response to plurilingual education being implemented in the students’ language teaching. Based on interview data collected in a multiple-case study from majority and minority language students in Grades 1, 5 and 7, the analysis displays consistent learner positivity towards plurilingual education, especially emphasising the éveil aux langues approach whereas the integrated didactic approach as well as intercomprehension between related languages receive less attention. The findings indicate that the attitudes towards plurilingual education are linked to the learners’ language resources creating a framework for the students’ encounters and comparisons with other languages. Combining the findings and research literature on plurilingualism as a universal criterion for all learners in a modern, globalised world, the article suggests a continuum of the learner's plurilingualism. However, the findings reveal that experienced plurilingual education contexts do not only foster positive attitudes towards linguistic diversity, but that discriminating language-hierarchising attitudes co-exist.

Authorised voices: literacy practices of language revitalisation through education

ABSTRACT Current research on language revitalisation through education has highlighted the impact of the standard language ideology on minoritised language practices. This ideology is intertwined with emerging literacy practices in language revitalisation, leading to debates on what to teach minority language students, and how. The paper argues that language education is as much about the language standard, as it is about the sociolinguistic voices that are raised in the language revitalisation classroom. Some heteroglossic voices become authorised as a language that is worth writing in when educators derive their authority from two sources: anonymity and authenticity [Woolard, K. A. (2016). Singular and plural: Ideologies of linguistic authority in 21st century Catalonia. Oxford University Press]. The analysis shows how anonymous and authentic voices are authorised within a literacy-based language educational programme in North-East Romanian Moldavia; the programme has evolved in the context of the regional Hungarian – often called Csángó – language revitalisation. The authorisation of voices has profound implications for the specific purpose of language education and the content of language classes, its methodology and its desired long-term consequences. By bringing together Woolard's concept of linguistic authority and sociolinguistic voice, the analysis suggests that authorising voice is crucial in understanding emerging literacy practices of language revitalisation through education.

Language learning for language minority students in a globalized world

Language learning for language minority students in a globalized world

Does Developmental Education Reform Help or Hinder the Success of Language Minority Students? An Exploration by Language Minority, ESOL, and Foreign-Born Status

Abstract Community colleges may face challenges supporting the unique needs of language minority (LM) students whose primary language is not English. Florida provides a unique context for examining whether LM students who are considered underprepared for college-level coursework benefit more from traditional developmental education programs in reading and writing, or reformed programs that allow most students to accelerate or even bypass developmental requirements while providing additional support services. Utilizing statewide data from first-time-in-college students at all twenty-eight Florida College System institutions, we use an interrupted time-series design with an analysis of heterogenous effects to compare first year course-taking outcomes in English before and after Florida's developmental education reform for LM versus non-LM students. We also consider the intersecting identities of LM students by further disaggregating results based on whether students took high school courses in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), and for native-born versus foreign-born students. The findings suggest that while the reform's benefits are similar for LM and non-LM students overall, there are important differences among LM subgroups indicating that ESOL and foreign-born students may benefit most.

A transnational multilingual language learning journey

Abstract This study presents the case of a multilingual refugee (Maji) of Kirundi, Swahili, French, and English, from Burundi living in the U.S., and examines the language ideologies and identities embedded in his transnational narratives. We analyze our focal participant’s multi-layered transnational experiences using Darvin and Norton’s (2015) model of investment that foregrounds the intersection of ideology, capital, and identity. Specifically, we center on dominant ideologies in Maji’s discourse and how he negotiated his ethnic, social class, and gendered identities. Our findings revealed that Maji, who adhered to discourses that promoted the English superiority, the prestige of dialectal forms of Swahili, Spanish, and English, and English as a global commodity displayed his awareness of language hierarchies and dominance. Yet, Maji, who drew on French for meaning-making, displayed contradictory ideas by framing French as a useless language in the U.S. as compared to English. Our study sheds light on the complexity of multilinguals’ identity construction and discusses pedagogical implications on how to support language minority students’ multilingualism.

The role of spoken vocabulary knowledge in language minority students’ incidental vocabulary learning from captioned television

Abstract This study was to assess the spoken vocabulary knowledge and its role in incidental vocabulary learning from captioned television. The participants were a total of 87 minority students learning English as a foreign language in Australia. The breadth of their vocabulary knowledge was measured with a vocabulary size test, while the depth of their vocabulary knowledge was through an assessment of collocational and semantic relationships. The results indicated that (1) captioned videos are helpful for incidental vocabulary learning; (2) scores on the breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge and incidental vocabulary learning from viewing captioned television are highly and positively correlated; and (3) scores on the depth of vocabulary knowledge can make a unique contribution to the prediction of incidental vocabulary learning at the form and meaning recognition level, in addition to the prediction afforded by scores on the breadth of vocabulary knowledge. The findings highlight a need to improve the depth of vocabulary knowledge for incidental vocabulary learning from captioned viewing.

Teachers’ Use of Spanish in the Classroom: Implications for Hispanic Dual Language Learners’ Classroom Engagement

ABSTRACT Research Findings: As the population of Hispanic children grows within U.S. preschools, it is increasingly important to understand how these classrooms facilitate school readiness, such as positive engagement with teachers, peers, and tasks, for Spanish-speaking Dual Language Learners (DLLs). A growing literature base indicates that DLL students’ exposure to their native language in the classroom provides deeper access to academic content, and can foster development of essential cognitive, social-emotional, and language skills. Therefore, the current study used an observational measure to examine how teachers’ Spanish language use was related to Hispanic DLLs’ classroom engagement across the academic preschool year. Separate regression models were run for teacher, peer, task, and negative engagement. As expected, results indicated that teachers’ Spanish use was significantly associated with children’s positive engagement to peers. Teachers’ Spanish use was also significantly associated with children’s negative engagement, though the direction of the effect was counterintuitive, as more Spanish use was related to greater negative engagement. Teachers’ Spanish use was not significantly associated with children’s engagement to teachers or tasks. Practice or Policy: The findings of this study are discussed within the context of identifying a set of best practices for facilitating inclusive early learning environments for language-minority students.

Experiences of Epistemic Injustice among Minority Language Students Aged 6–16 in the Nordics: A Literature Review

Background: Scandinavian education systems are recognized as being particularly inclusive. Nevertheless, an inclusive approach to education risks adopting a patronizing attitude that silences the voices of the very people who should be included. To discuss the role of epistemic justice in inclusion, we investigated current knowledge about the epistemic injustice experienced by students from immigrant backgrounds in Scandinavia; teacher perceptions of those students; and whether such perceptions influence student–teacher interactions. Do these perceptions lead to disparities? Method: A literature review was conducted focused on studies about the Nordic countries; teacher perceptions of students from immigrant backgrounds aged 6–16; and student–teacher interaction. The corpus included papers in English and the Nordic languages. Eight papers were included and rated by two independent authors. Results: The findings show that teacher perceptions of students from immigrant backgrounds influence student–teacher interaction in both verbal and non-verbal ways. The negative perceptions that teachers held of students from immigrant backgrounds led to experiences of epistemic injustice and epistemic exclusion. The literature provided no information on disparities in special needs education or assessment. Conclusions: Due to the limited literature on this topic, further research needs to be undertaken in order to fully understand experiences of epistemic injustice in schools. Further research into why students from immigrant backgrounds feel excluded and why they are lagging behind is also required.

Effects of classroom and school climate on language minority students’ PISA mathematics self-concept and achievement scores

Grounded in ecological theory, this study investigated relative contributions of perceived classroom and school climate variables to mathematics self-concept and achievement of English-at-home and English learner (EL) students using PISA 2012 data for American middle-grade students. For both outcomes, results of 3-step hierarchical linear regression models for the combined sample closely mirror those of English-at-home students and mask the unique characteristic of ELs. For self-concept, six (classroom management, cognitive activation, disciplinary climate, teacher support, sense of belonging, and teacher student relations) out of seven predictors were statistically significant and positive predictors for English-at-home students (teacher support being the strongest); only two predictors (disciplinary climate, and teacher student relations) were significant and positive for ELs. Similarly, group discrepancies were found for mathematics achievement. Five variables (classroom management, teacher support, disciplinary climate, sense of belonging to school, and teacher student relations), were significant predictors of English-at-home students. Yet, only three variables (classroom management, disciplinary climate, and teacher support) significantly predicted achievement of ELs. Classroom climate was consistently an important predictor across outcomes and student populations and was the strongest contributor for ELs. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Factors predicting secondary school language course enrollment and performance among U.S. heritage speakers of Spanish.

While a growing body of research indicates that Spanish language courses can promote Spanish maintenance and lead to overall improved educational outcomes among heritage speakers, there is little empirical or longitudinal evidence of factors that shape their enrollment in Spanish language courses at the secondary level. To address this issue, the current study takes a large-scale, longitudinal approach to investigate rates of enrollment in secondary school (6th-12th grade) Spanish and other non-English language courses, as well as factors that predict heritage speakers' enrollment and performance in non-English language courses. We analyzed subsample data from the Miami School Readiness Project (MSRP), a large-scale, longitudinal study consisting of 17,341 heritage speakers of Spanish (47% female, 95.4% Hispanic/Latino, 82.8% received free/reduced-price lunch, and 18.3% with a disability) who were followed from 4 years old until the end of high school. In general, Heritage speakers enrolled in Spanish language courses at a higher rate than other non-English language courses (52.2 and 25.3%, respectively). Enrollment patterns varied across different type of languages and grade level. Student-level factors including disability status, poverty status, early behavioral problems, and prior academic achievement significantly predicted students' enrollment in Spanish and performance in non-English language courses. Findings shed light on the long-term patterns of language study of this growing segment of the US school population with implications for future research and school policies that seek to improve heritage language learning and maintenance as well as equitable access to language education for language-minority students.

Class backwards: linguistic racism and educational malpractice in American schooling

Darder’s depiction of “Linguistic Racialization”, described herein, provides the foundation for this discussion, where raciolinguistic pedagogy has perpetuated a diverse and troubling legacy of educational malpractice against underrepresented language minority students who attend underresourced public schools throughout America. Due, in part, to paradoxical educational practices with differential access to unequal educational resources, the vast majority of linguistically disenfranchised students are often overlooked, or worse, subjected to misguided educational practices that fail to reduce academic disparities that are reinforced by poverty, unequal access to fair housing, and a lack of pedagogical dexterity that might have the potential to promote improved educational outcomes. Some policy proposals conclude this discussion, which, if implemented, could potentially overcome the history of unequal academic achievement that has resulted from a combination of De Jure and De Facto educational apartheid.

Texas Special Education Cap's Associations With Disability Identification Disparities of Racial and Language Minority Students

We used time-varying effect modelling of two very large samples of fourth-grade students ( Nreading = 148,240, Nmathematics = 152,220) to investigate associations between adoption and over-time implementation of a de facto cap on special education service receipt and over-time likelihoods of disability identification from 2003 to 2017 for Texas students including those from historically marginalized communities. Following the cap's adoption, Texas students who are Black or English Language Learners (ELLs) were gradually less likely to have been identified as having disabilities than students in adjoining statues who are Black or ELLs in analyses adjusting for individual academic achievement, family economic disadvantage, school fixed effects, and other explanatory factors. Findings provide additional evidence of the cap's specific associations with disability identification disparities for demographic populations especially likely to have experienced violations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act's Child Find and free and appropriate public education requirements.

Jeg Gotta Like Spille Fortnite, Men I Never Win the Game: Implementing Multilingual Pedagogies in a Norwegian Primary School

Teachers in Norway have been increasingly faced with the challenge of adapting their instruction methods to address the needs of minority-language students. The current body of research on the issue seems to indicate that multilingual practices are being introduced in Norwegian classrooms. However, they often rely on majority languages, such as English and Norwegian. Some teachers have been found to employ minority languages to support learners’ English writing in drafts. As a result, minority languages in Norwegian schools tend to be regarded as less valuable than Norwegian and English. However, more recent projects are being implemented in Norwegian schools to help teachers alter their ideologies of minority languages. This article adds to this body of research by presenting two teachers’ work with multilingual pedagogies, involving the active use of minority languages alongside Norwegian and English in student texts. The data were collected from: teacher reports, student materials, and mentorship meetings. The findings indicate that the teachers successfully implemented multilingual pedagogies by using language portraits, parallel translanguaging in multilingual posters and multimodal dictionaries, and complementary translanguaging in multilingual poetry. These multilingual practices enabled the students to showcase their linguistic identities and multilingual literacy practices. The implementation of multilingual pedagogies benefited from the long-term availability of scholarly input and guidance for teachers and the opportunity to share experiences in a professional network.

Early plurilingual foreign language teaching in mixed classrooms: Linguistic and metalinguistic predictors of foreign language development among majority-language and minority-language students in EFL classes

In a pre-posttest control group study, we test how plurilingual foreign language teaching affects foreign-language development in 258 primary-school students learning English in Germany. We compare general proficiency development in a group of students experiencing plurilingual teaching versus a group having regular, target-language-only teaching over a six-month period. Further, we assess whether and how proficiency in previously-acquired languages and phonological awareness affect learning gains in the plurilingual group. At the group level, the findings show that plurilingual instruction does not yield systematic differences compared to regular English instruction. Majority-language and minority-language students show comparable learning gains in standardized tests of receptive and productive vocabulary and receptive grammar in English. Regression analyses identify phonological awareness as a predictor of learning gains in the context of plurilingual foreign language learning. Further interactions with language background suggest that both proficiency in previously-acquired languages and metalinguistic skills modulate early foreign language learning and should be addressed in the classroom.

Stereotype threat in learning situations? An investigation among language minority students

Stereotype threat (ST) is a potential explanation for inequalities in language competencies observed between students from different language backgrounds. Language competencies are an important prerequisite for educational success, wherefore the significance for investigation arises. While ST effects on achievement are empirically well documented, little is known about whether ST also impairs learning. Thus, we investigated vocabulary learning in language minority elementary school students, also searching for potential moderators. In a pre-post design, 240 fourth-grade students in Germany who were on average 10 years old (MAge = 9.92, SD = 0.64; 49.8% female) were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions: implicit ST, explicit ST without threat removal before posttest, explicit ST with threat removal before posttest, and a control group. Results showed that learning difficult vocabulary from reading two narrative texts was unaffected by ST. Neither students’ identification with their culture of residence and culture of origin nor stereotyped domain of reading were moderators. The findings are discussed with regard to content and methodological aspects such that a motivation effect might have undermined a possible ST effect. Implications for future research include examining the question at what age children become susceptible to ST and whether students have internalized negative stereotypes about their own group, which could increase the likelihood of ST effects occurring.

Examining lecture and inquiry-based laboratory performance for language minority students in science gateway courses.

This study examined the effectiveness of lectures and inquiry-based instruction in supporting learning for language minority (LM) students in science gateway courses at a large public research university. Utilizing institutional data from 6,911 students across nine years, we fitted cross–lagged panel designs to model associations between lecture courses and inquiry-based laboratory courses for both LM and non-LM students in two-course sequences of introductory college Physics and Chemistry. We found that initial performance in lectures and laboratory sessions can be a predictor of subsequent course performance across disciplines and independent of LM status. Notably, while LM students performed worse in the initial lecture course, LM status resulted in neither worse performance in inquiry-based laboratory courses nor in worse performance in subsequent courses in the science gateway course sequence. Thus, this study suggests that interventions intended to support LM students in college science should target the initial courses in the corresponding science gateway course sequences.