Education Commons^™

Language, Literacy, Attentional Behaviors, And Instructional Quality Predictors Of Written Composition For First Graders, Young-Suk Kim, Stephanie Otaiba, Jessica Sidler, Luana Greulich

Faculty Publications

We had two primary purposes in the present study: (1) to examine unique child-level predictors of written composition which included language skills, literacy skills (e.g., reading and spelling), and attentiveness and (2) to examine whether instructional quality (quality in responsiveness and individualization, and quality in spelling and writing instruction) is uniquely related to written composition for first-grade children (N = 527). Children's written composition was evaluated on substantive quality (ideas, organization, word choice, and sentence flow) and writing conventions (spelling, mechanics, and handwriting). Results revealed that for the substantive quality of writing, children's grammatical knowledge, reading comprehension, letter writing automaticity, …

Students Talk About Energy In Project- Based Inquiry Science, Benedikt W. Harrer, Virginia J. Flood, Michael C. Wittmann

Faculty Publications

We examine the types of emergent language eighth grade students in rural Maine middle schools use when they discuss energy in their first experiences with Project-Based Inquiry Science: Energy, a research-based curriculum that uses a specific language for talking about energy. By comparative analysis of the language used by the curriculum materials to students’ language, we find that students’ talk is at times more aligned with a Stores and Transfer model of energy than the Forms model supported by the curriculum.

Teachers As Language-Policy Actors: Contending With The Erasure Of Lesser-Used Languages In Schools, Kara Brown

Faculty Publications

On the basis of an ethnographic study of the Võro-language revitalization in Estonia, this article explores the way teachers function as policy actors in the broader context of the school. As policy actors, the language teachers' appropriation of regional–language policy helps simultaneously to reproduce and challenge existing ideologies in the school environment. I explore the teachers' understandings of their power and freedom to inform their navigation of the circumscribed choices offered in a post-Soviet educational system. [language, anthropology of policy, teachers, Baltic]

Teaching English Language Learner Students In Us Mainstream Schools: Intersections Of Language, Pedagogy, And Power, Katya A. Karathanos

Faculty Publications

This study explored to what extent two groups of mainstream teachers in the midwestern region of the USA with differing degrees of English Language Learner (ELL) specific universitypreparation reportedly engaged in practises that incorporated the native languages (L1) of ELL students in instruction. The study further examined specific strategies reported by mainstream teachers in promoting L1 use in instruction as well as challenges identified in implementing this practise. The study utilized a mixed-method design that included analyses of survey data from a quantitative study (n=227) and qualitative analyses of teacher discourse from course documents and open-ended survey questions. Findings indicated …

Living Among Guatemalan Mayans Is Fascinating Experience, Irene Scharf

Faculty Publications

I have just lived a dream. Five years ago I learned of a school where students of all ages could study Spanish intensively while living among the Guatemalan Mayans. Peace Accords had been signed in 1996, the government was encouraging tourism, and it was, finally, safe to visit.

Why a dream? Because, 25 years ago, when I traveled through Central and South America, I promised my family I would avoid Guatemala because of the perceived was dangers. During that trip, as I met my Europeans and other who had visited, remained safe, and found it a fascinating country, I vowed …