Language, Culture, and Teaching


Book Description

Distinguished multiculturalist Sonia Nieto speaks directly to current and future teachers in this thoughtful integration of a selection of her key writings with creative pedagogical features. Offering information, insights, and motivation to teach students of diverse cultural, racial, and linguistic backgrounds, this text is intended for upper-undergraduate and graduate-level students and professional development courses. Examples are included throughout to illustrate real-life dilemmas about diversity that teachers face in their own classrooms; ideas about how language, culture, and teaching are linked; and ways to engage with these ideas through reflection and collaborative inquiry. Each chapter includes critical questions; classroom activities; and community activities suggesting projects beyond the classroom context. Over half of the chapters are new to this edition, bringing it up-to-date in terms of recent educational policy issues and demographic changes in our society.




The Work of Language in Multicultural Classrooms


Book Description

How does language comprise the implicit or explicit curriculum of teaching and learning in multicultural science settings? Building on a growing interest in the ways in which language and literacy practices interact with science teaching and learning to facilitate or obstruct successful student outcomes, this book contributes to scholarship on the role of language in developing classroom scientific communities of practice, expands that work by highlighting the challenges faced specifically by ethnic- and linguistic-"minority" students and their teachers in joining those communities, and showcases exemplary teaching and research initiatives for helping to meet these challenges. Offering teacher practitioners and researchers in the fields of science education and multicultural education lenses through which they can critically consider the myriad of classroom settings, instructional approaches, curricular materials, and scientific topics involved in what it means to teach science while pointedly addressing concerns about equity of educational opportunity, this volume serves as a powerful resource for linking theory and practice. End-of-chapter reflection questions and engagement activities facilitate discussion round these issues and provide rich opportunities for the reader to consider the implications of each chapter for science instruction and research and to apply insights developed in a real-world science teaching and learning contexts.




Teaching and Learning in Two Languages


Book Description

This is the most comprehensive, up-to-date volume on the state of bilingual education in the United States and, in particular, on effective curriculum and instructional approaches. Eugene García, renowned authority, depicts the vast scope and complexity of the problem of educating English language learners. He sets forth a conceptual framework to guide educational policy and practice that reflects democratic ideals and values. This authoritative reference: provides a comprehensive review of theory, research, practice, and policy that accurately characterizes the education of bilingual students in U.S. schools; presents an analysis of teachers, classrooms, schools, and communities that have successfully educated bilingual children by employing diverse instructional strategies; addresses language, social, and cognitive issues as they intersect with various instructional practices; and identifies the characteristics of effective bilingual education programs, presenting examples of school programs that exemplify these characteristics.




Language, Culture, and Education


Book Description

Exploring language, culture and education among immigrants in the United States, this volume discusses the range of experiences in raising children with more than one language in major ethno-linguistic groups in New York. Research and practice from the fields of speech-language pathology, bilingual education, and public health in immigrant families are brought together to provide guidance for speech-language pathologists in differentiating language disorders from language variation, and for parents on how to raise their children with more than one language. Commonalities among dissimilar groups, such as Chinese, Korean, and Hispanic immigrants are analyzed, as well as the language needs of Arab-Americans, the home literacy practices of immigrant parents who speak Mixteco and Spanish, and the crucial role of teachers in bridging immigrants' classroom and home contexts. These studies shed new light on much-needed policy reforms to improve the involvement of culturally and linguistically diverse families in decisions affecting their children's education.




Language, Culture, and Community in Teacher Education


Book Description

Published by Routledge for the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education This volume addresses the pressing reality in teacher education that all teachers need to be prepared to work effectively with linguistically and culturally diverse student populations. Every classroom in the country is already, or will soon be, deeply affected by the changing demographics of America’s students. Marilyn Cochran-Smith’s Foreword and Donaldo Macedo’s Introductory Essay set the context with respect to teacher education and student demographics, followed by a series of chapters presented in three sections: knowledge, practice, and policy. The literature on language education has typically been discussed in relation to preparing ESL or bilingual teachers. Typically, needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students, including immigrants, refugees, language minority populations, African Americans, and deaf students, have been addressed separately. This volume emphasizes that these children have both common educational needs and needs that are culturally and linguistically specific. It is directed to the preparation of ALL teachers who work with culturally and linguistically diverse students. It not only focuses on how teachers need to change but how faculty and curriculum need to be transformed, and how to better train teacher education candidates to understand and work efficaciously with the communities in which culturally and linguistically diverse students tend to be predominant. The American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) is a national, voluntary association of higher education institutions and related organizations. Our mission is to promote the learning of all PK-12 students through high-quality, evidence-based preparation and continuing education for all school personnel. For more information on our publications, visit our website at: www.aacte.org.




Teaching and Learning in Two Languages


Book Description

This is the most comprehensive, up-to-date volume on the state of bilingual education in the United States and, in particular, on effective curriculum and instructional approaches. Eugene García, a renowned authority on bilingual education, depicts the vast scope and complexity of the problem of educating English language learners. He sets forth a conceptual framework to guide educational policy and practice that reflects democratic ideals and values. This authoritative reference: Provides a comprehensive review of theory, research, practice, and policy that accurately characterizes the education of bilingual students in U.S. schools.Presents an analysis of teachers, classrooms, schools, and communities that have successfully educated bilingual children by employing diverse instructional strategies.Addresses language, social, and cognitive issues as they intersect with various instructional practices. Identifies the characteristics of effective bilingual education programs, presenting examples of school programs that exemplify these characteristics. “A valuable resource for teachers, administrators and researcher . . . an excellent text for a graduate class.” —TC Record “Teachers, administrators, school counselors, and policymakers urgently need resources to guide the formulation of culturally and linguistically compatible classroom practices. Teaching and Learning in Two Languages is just such a resource.” —Carlos J. Ovando, Arizona State University “A comprehensive examination by one of the top experts in the field. This book provides guidance to American schools at a time when the need for bilingual bicultural citizens is most needed in the democratic sphere.” —Lourdes Diaz Soto, The Pennsylvania State University




Multicultural Issues in Literacy Research and Practice


Book Description

This volume brings together researchers and participants from diverse groups, reflecting the different ways in which the field of multicultural literacies has been interpreted. A common theme across the chapters is attention to the ways in which elements of difference--race, ethnicity, gender, class, and language--create dynamic tensions that influence students' literacy experiences and achievement. The hope of the editors is that readers will build on the experiences and findings presented so that the field of multicultural literacies will have a greater impact of literacy research, policy, and practice.




Language Issues in Comparative Education


Book Description

This volume compiles a unique yet complementary collection of chapters that take a strategic comparative perspective on education systems, regions of the world, and/or ethnolinguistic communities with a focus on non-dominant languages and cultures in education. Comparison and contrast within each article and across articles illustrates the potential for using home languages – which in many cases are in non-dominant positions relative to other languages in society – in inclusive multilingual and multicultural forms of education. The 22 authors demonstrate how bringing non-dominant languages and cultures into schooling has liberatory, transformative potential for learners from ethnolinguistic communities that have previously been excluded from access to quality basic education. The authors deal not only with educational development in specific low-income and emerging countries in Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, the Philippines Thailand and Vietnam), Latin America (Guatemala and Mexico) and Africa (Mozambique, Senegal and Tanzania), but also with efforts to reach marginalized ethnolinguistic communities in high-income North American countries (Canada and the USA). In the introductory chapter the editors highlight common and cross-cutting themes and propose appropriate, sometimes new terminology for the discussion of linguistic and cultural issues in education, particularly in low-income multilingual countries. Likewise, using examples from additional countries and contexts, the three final chapters address cross-cutting issues related to language and culture in educational research and development. The authors and editors of this volume share a common commitment to comparativism in their methods and analysis, and aim to contribute to more inclusive and relevant education for all. “A richly textured collection which offers a powerful vision of the possible, now and in the future.” Alamin Mazrui, Rutgers State University of New Jersey, USA “This book takes the local perspective of non-dominant language communities in arguing for a multilingual habitus in educational development. Benson and Kosonen masterfully extend theories and clarify terminology that is inclusive of the non-dominant contexts described here.” Ofelia García, City University of New York, USA




Bilingual Education


Book Description

Bilingual Education: From Compensatory to Quality Schooling, Second Edition maintains its original purpose of synthesizing the research on successful bilingual education in order to demonstrate that quality bilingual education is possible and desirable. Findings from a wide range of studies are integrated to provide a clear picture of bilingual education in today's schools, and a professional understanding of the foundations and issues surrounding bilingual education programs. The recommendations offered provide a comprehensive basis for planning, developing, improving, and evaluating bilingual programs. For clarity, these recommendations are discussed with respect to the whole school, the curriculum, and the classroom, but it is stressed that they need to be applied in a holistic way because they depend on each other. All educators who work or will work with bilingual students--classroom teachers, administrators, and curricula developers--will find the information in this text essential and will appreciate the straightforward approach and easy reading style. New in the Second Edition: *A new Chapter 1, Pursuing Successful Schooling, includes the definition of success that frames the content of the book, and a review of how the research on bilingual education has changed. *Chapter 2, Bilingual Education Debate, is substantially revised to address major changes in demographics and legislation. *Chapter 3, Contextual and Individual Factors: Supports and Challenges, is updated to include important new research on the external and internal factors affecting learners and a new section on peers. *Chapter 4, Creating a Good School, is reorganized and updated. *Chapter 5, Creating Quality Curriculum, is updated throughout, particularly the sections on teaching content areas and assessment. *Chapter 6, Creating Quality Instruction, includes extensive new material in the sections on "Teaching English and In English" and "Teaching Students with Limited Schooling." *Chapter 7, Beyond the Debate, has an extensive new section describing and analyzing how the framework for quality education can be used as a guide to help create a new program.