Becoming BiliterateA Study of Two-Way Bilingual Immersion

Education-Bertha Pérez

Preface

Intended for multiple audiences- from researchers to teachers and administrators

“offers readers an analysis of the implementation of two-way bilingual immersion education in two schools and an analytical examination of the classroom instructional practices within these schools.” - Perez Limiting the study to the program itself is a characteristic of qualitative research

Overview Introduction- gives background about of the study and explains researchers’ role

Chapter 1- literature review, theoretical background of study

Chapter 2- development of the two-way program Chapter 3- Role of parents, sociopolitical climate of schools

Chapters 4-6- description of classroom life Useful for teachers, language and literacy researchers

Chapter 7- pressures of testing and accountability for students and teachers

Chapter 8- role of teachers in developing & maintaining program

The San Antonio Context:

•Value of Mexican/Mexican-American culture has been appreciated- San Antonio has been considered a bicultural city

•Role of Spanish has not been appreciated in schooling or society

- English associated with education, Spanish encouraged mainly for commerce and media purposes (advertising)

• Code-switching between English & Spanish, use of “Spanglish” is common

- criticized by Mexican nationals (affluent tourists, businesspeople)

Sociopolitical Context

Linguicism- the ideologies, structures and practices, which are used to legitimate, effectuate, regulate and reproduce an unequal division of power and resources… on the basis of language (Shutnabb-Kangas, 2000)

In the US, this has to do with political attitudes towards socioeconomic status of the speakers than with pedagogical effectiveness

Texas schools have historically enforced a subtractive policy (loss of L1 in favor of English)

In 1995, superintendent in San Antonio identified goals for bilingual education task force:

To determine the current status of the bilingual program in SAISD

To explore model programs throughout the district, the state and the nation through research and through exploration at model program sites; and

To make recommendations for bilingual education program improvement from prekindergarten through Grade 12

Third Goal redefined by subgroup examining bilingual

instructional methods- “to restructure our program so that as a result of our instruction- A) our students become biliterate, bicultural citizens

B) our students are able to think at higher levels, thus becoming effective problem solvers

C) our promotion rates increase at all levels D) our students and our program are perceived as positive contributors to the total San Antonio ISD education program

School Profiles: Data from 1995

Storm Elementary: Average of 548 students Located on the poor west

side of San Antonio Railroad tracks, public

housing, apartments are some neighborhood features

98% Mexican American 50% speak Spanish at

home 99% economically

disadvantaged High mobility Teachers in dual language

program were all Mexican-American

Bonham Elementary: Average of 340 students Located near near the historic

King Williams district Mix of single family wood-frame

houses, old homes, buildings converted into businesses, public housing, a homeless shelter, and historic homes surround the school

School is a combination of old 2-story building and new additions

92% Mexican American 30% speak Spanish

93% economically disadvantaged High mobility Teachers in dual language

program were all Mexican-American

Initiation of the programs

Two-Way Dual Language Programs In 1995, Bonham started two-way immersion program in kindergarten

1996- Storm began the same program in kindergarten

Title VII System-wide Improvement Grant funded both programs from 1996-1999

All LEP students can participate in 2-way dual language, monolingual English students encouraged to participate

At the beginning, both schools offered a late-exit maintenance program and English K-5 grade strand as well

Campus Leadership Team

Constant parental involvement & influence

Instructional Coordinator Administrators Teachers Community

Local residents, leaders from business and public sectors

Parental Input

Opposition When are you going to teach my child English?

I’m not sure the 90-10 model is the best.

How will parents help their child with homework if they don’t know the language?

Support Trust in teachers

Constant communication

Value of Bilingualism

Students

Total of 216 children in both schools (2001) from grades K-5 197 Mexican American 17 white 2 African American 7 were special-needs or at risk students Most began in kindergarten cohorts, other Spanish dominant students were admitted at all grade levels on a space available basis

Mexican and Mexican American students share many

common cultural features

Language Distribution

90-10 model selected for K-1st Grades Intention: Spanish would become a prestige language

with status within the school so that social pressure for children to use English would be balanced

Spanish as primary language of instruction At Storm, 2-way teachers exchanged students with

transitional bilingual teachers during ESL time 70 or 80% Spanish for 2nd & 3rd Grades

Self-contained at both schools 50-50 in 4th & 5th Grades

Self-contained at Storm Classes were departmentalized at Bonham

2-way immersion teacher provided language arts & math in Spanish

Other teachers taught social studies & science in English

Oral Language Practices Native speakers of each language stimulated their peers

Teachers encouraged risk-taking, especially for 2nd language learners

Teachers made sure to stimulate language use through interaction Primary grades- centers, environment Intermediate- centers, mixed language grouping

Teaching children to self-monitor language development ask questions, get clarification, restate, translate when necessary

Oral Language Practices: Teacher-

Student Communication Wait Time Say it in Any Language Think in Spanish/English

Teachers guided students using their L1 as a basis

Ask Someone Pass & Return Use of Print for Oral Communication

Oral Language Practices:

Instructional Language Comprehensible Input

Total Physical Response Gestures, objects, pictures Short, specific statements

Open ended questions Preview, Review “These are just good teaching practices, you provide context, you demonstrate, you repeat, and you check for understanding” -3rd Grade Teacher

Developing Literacy

Teachers and administrators reviewed & discussed research articles for guidance on how to structure reading lessons

Used Cummins’ (1981) interdependence hypothesis as a basis

How it was done…

K-2: Children taught to read & write in Spanish, with English reading introduced incrementally Many students expressed interest in English reading before then.

Teachers decided to respond by providing resources and encouraging this, but did not formally teach reading in English until children had developed literacy in Spanish (literacy will transfer to L2)

Many children could read & write in English before formal teacher-directed English

3-5: Balanced literacy- integrated literature, content materials into reading and writing Small group instruction Cooperative activities Independent reading

Primary Grades

Spanish literacy taught through syllabic method, phonemic instruction, segmentation, etc. Focus on accents and tildes

Used writing as a cultural activity Integrated hybridized culture of San Antonio

Emphasis on language separation Purposeful code-switching in informal writing (letters, signs, etc.)

Literacy Transfer

Cummins’ “common underlying proficiency”

Strong basis in Spanish literacy had a positive consequence during English literacy development at both schools Lots of experimentation in primary grades with interpreting English text & writing in English

Phonics lessons in English starting in 2nd grade

Academic Biliteracy: Intermediate Grades

Teachers had to follow balanced literacy framework (school district) while attending to bilingual immersion model (50-50) Content areas covered in literacy block, strategic integration of subjects

Pressures of TAAS test influenced learning opportunities

Intermediate Focus: helping students internalize their

language skills while using them to learn academic content

Strategies: Using text features and contextual clues, cognates,

summarizing & re-telling, translating and transferring information across languages

As children became more proficient in English, they read & produced work in L2 Often used both languages in their work (start in one

language and extend in another) Teachers often taught a lesson in Spanish and

extended it in English through another content area

Balanced Literacy in Intermediate Grades

Guided Reading- teachers called attention to language concepts to reinforce rules & patterns Used student responses to guide grammar lessons

Literature- balance of English & Spanish read-aloud/independent reading with journal entries TAAS practice integration

Spelling- theme-based word lists in both languages Emphasis on accents and punctuation

Writing in Intermediary Grades

Heavily influenced by TAAS test Numerous samples examined, evidence of cross-linguistic, cross-cultural influences Applied language rules of Spanish to English writing (propositi for purpose)

Used language to convey cultural significance even though they knew of the correct word in both languages (field day= día de campo)

Borrowed words from another language and conjugated them (cacharías, cachaste)

Data used in the Study

Ethnography- can yield a rich description of the culture of a community

Extensive observations Interviews Student work (especially writing samples) Case studies of specific students Standardized testing scores

TAAS, ITBS, Aprenda NCE, Tejas Lee, etc. Running Records (reading)

Influence of TAAS

Instruction was often guided by TAAS objectives

Pressure from school district- performance rating

Issue of language of testing Results

Both schools made steady improvements over time

Students performed academically at grade level in all subjects (TAAS) in both languages when compared with peers

Teacher Role and Impact

Teachers expressed need to explain their program and practices

Participated in choices and decision making

All were Mexican American

Storm Academy435 Brady BoulevardSan Antonio, TX

“Two Languages and College Preparation....Creating Choices and Expanding Opportunities”

K-5

Bonham Academy925 South Saint Mary’s St.,

San Antonio, TX "Quien Sabe Dos Idiomas Vale Por Dos”

2-Way Dual Language Program since 1995

Now offers dual language education through 8th grade (chartered)

Questions I still Have…

Perez mentions that 6 teachers left the program and tells where they went, but does not give insight as to why.

Bonham Academy now goes all the way to 8th grade. I would like more information about student progress in secondary grades and high school.

Are the students from these schools still bilingual? I assume that some students may not have been as

successful as others in becoming biliterate. While the book offers information about the program, there isn’t detailed information about struggling learners.

How would two way dual language immersion look with a more diverse population?

What would be different if teachers had not all been Mexican-American?