Download - Making Connections: Biliteracy Instruction for Spanish-Speaking English Language Learners
Patrick Proctor & Claudia VargasBoston CollegeAmy Desmond
Waltham, MA Public Schools
‘Every inhabitaunt within saide towne indevor theym selfe to speke Englyshe, and
to use theym selfe after the Englyshe facion; and specyally that you, and every of
you, do put forth your child to scole, to lerne to speke Englyshe’
◦ Note to the people of Galway from Henry VIII discouraging the use of Gaelic, 1536 (Corcoran, 1916)
The English language is the common public language of theUnited States of America and of the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts. It is spoken by the vast majority ofMassachusetts residents, and is also the leading world
languagefor science, technology, and international business, therebybeing the language of economic opportunity…. Therefore it
isresolved that: all children in Massachusetts public schools
shallbe taught English as rapidly and effectively as possible.
◦ Note to the people of California, Arizona, and Massachusetts from Ron Unz discouraging the use of any language other than English (MGL Ch 71A, 2002)
Question 2 in Massachusetts
Thoughtful research on bilingualism and second language acquisition
Language policy in the Netherlands
1) Provide supplementary Spanish literacy instruction to native Spanish speaking English language learners enrolled in a structured English immersion program.
2) Create a culturally-relevant curriculum designed to specifically meet the needs of the participating students.
Metalinguistic and metacognitive focus◦ Instruction that explicitly compares and
contrasts Spanish and English in their spoken and written forms, e.g. cognates (Nagy, García, Durgunoğlu, & Hancin-Bhatt, 1994; Proctor & Mo, 2009)
Breadth and depth of vocabulary instruction◦Semantic depth (Proctor, Uccelli, Dalton, & Snow,
2009)
◦Morphology (Kieffer & Lesaux, 2006) Culturally relevant pedagogy (Bartolomé, 1994;
Brisk & Harrington, 2007)
Note. Curriculum was not pre-set. Based on Tenet 3, themes and content were determined as we learned more about the students
Ninety minutes per week, once a week, for 16 weeks
Eight 4th grade Spanish-speaking English language learners enrolled in a structured English immersion classroom – Pilot students
Three Haitian and 1 Brazilian ELLs – Non-pilot students
School demographics: 70% Anglo, 16% Latino, 7% African American, 6% Asian
Spanish-Language Instruction Vocabulary instruction (20 mins)◦Vocabulary maps
Phonics/phonemic awareness (15 mins)◦Creapalabras
Discussion-based read alouds (30 mins)◦Papelucho
Group project work (25 mins)◦Dialogic interactions◦Sensemayá la culebra
Guided Reading Instruction:◦SIOP (Sheltered Instruction Observation
Protocol) Small group instruction.
◦Culturally relevant book selection for reading groups
◦Comprehension strategy instruction: predict summarize clarify question
Vocabulary Instruction:◦Reading Vocabulary Notebook◦ Debugging the text◦Text Features
Comprehension Strategy Instruction◦Reading Strategy Cards◦Margaret Bouchard: Sequencing, character
analysis, summary◦Subtexting
Relevant activities:◦Literacy Puzzles◦Word/Sentence Building◦ Just Right Books
◦Reading Response Journals◦Modifications related to English Proficiency Level◦Beginner students have native language reading
and writing options◦Buddy Reading: Allow students to buddy read and
think, pair, share◦ Independent reading (“Just let kids read!”,
Krashen).
Brisk and Harrington (2007) Interview Protocol◦Pre administration
Woodcock-Muñoz Language Survey – Revised (WMLS-R; Woodcock, Muñoz-Sandoval, Ruef, & Alvarado, 2005). Letter-Word Identification, Picture Vocabulary, and Passage Comprehension subtests ◦ Indicators of decoding, expressive vocabulary,
and reading comprehension, respectively, in Spanish and English. Results are presented in standard scores, in which the norming sample mean is 100 with a standard deviation of 15.
* All names are pseudonyms. Data gathered using interview protocol from Brisk & Harrington (2007)
Freedom of speech◦Language of instruction◦Use of preferred language◦ Increased opportunities for expression and
understanding◦ Initiation of comments and relating to
personal life◦Use of Spanish to develop English skills◦Linguistic merging
◦Support parent involvement in the school by providing child care and flexible scheduling for parent activities. (Zeljo & Doctoroff, 2008)
◦Stresses of single-parenthood interacts with the immigrant experience
◦Awareness of a certain level of at risk for literacy development.
◦Provide support before the student follow behind his/her peers.
Change in student’s affect◦ Initially reserved behavior Increased
participation◦100% participation in final project◦Students volunteered to present project at
whole school assembly◦Typical in most classrooms
Preservation of heritage language – Nicolas Challenge and benefits of working in groups –
Karen Syntactic and grammatical differences across
languages- Nicolas Learning words in Spanish helps learning
words in English - Antonio