Education Commons^™

Testing English Language Learners: Another Special Case Of Bias, Evangeline Harris Stefanakis

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

Book Reviewed:

Menken, K. (2008). English learners left behind: Standardized testing as language policy.

Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters, LTD.

Transient Ells: A Teacher’S Inquiry Into Literacy Instruction, Dianne Maysonet

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

This narrative describes my learning process in becoming a teacher-researcher as I worked with an ELL, Jayla, who experienced a transient lifestyle. As a member of a teacher-inquiry group, the Bilingual Teacher-Research Forum I collaborated with other bilingual and ESL teachers from schools in a large city in the northeastern part of the United States. I learned to systematically investigate my practice to identify instructional strategies that promoted ELL students’ literacy in English. My first inquiry was guided by one query: What instructional strategies may promote the language and literacy development of transient ELLs? In this article I describe how …

The Development Of The Bilingual Special Education Field: Major Issues, Accomplishments, Future Directions, And Recommendations, Chun Zhang, Su-Je Choh

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

In this paper, we review various challenges in regard to educating children with and without disabilities from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds. The challenges discussed include (1) biased assessment that results in mis- or overrepresenting CLD students in special education, (2) difficulty distinguishing between disability and differences, and (3) lack of competent bilingual special educators. As recommended practices, we propose to use the response to intervention model in identifying and instructing CLD children with and without disabilities. We point out that future research should examine how collaborative service delivery models contribute to referrals of CLD children into special education …

Depositioning The "Foreign": Considering The Challenges And Opportunities Of A Postmodern Foreign Language Education, Manuela Wagner, Terry A. Osborn

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

This article focuses on how attitudes toward HLLs have changed, both with regard to program development and in learning and teaching. First, the ambiguity towards heritage language preservation is illustrated by examining historical aspects of heritage languages in the United States. Secondly, a closer look at two examples of heritage language learning, namely Korean and Spanish, reveals the complexity of language policies and funding decisions regarding HLL. Finally, research in language teaching and linguistics confirms that a shift in attitude toward the HLL is underway. Rather than considering HLL as a pedagogical challenge or problem, researchers and practitioners start investigating …

Bilingualism In Education In The Multilingual Apple: The Future Of The Past, Ofelia García

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

This article traces the ways in which New York City schools have responded to the multilingualism of its children in the last forty years. I review here the past to construct the future—the future of the past. I argue that in the predominantly Puerto Rican community of the 1960s and 1970s a simple approach toward languages and bilingualism in education was an appropriate response to meet the needs of language minority children. Thus, subtractive and additive bilingual education programs might have been sufficient. However, in the 21st century, with the demographic shifts and the technological advances of a globalized world, …

The Importance Of Disseminating Knowledge: An Issue Of Mission, Voice, And Passion, Aida A. Nevárez-La Torre

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

No abstract provided.

Letter To Nysabe Members And Colleagues, Margarita Reyes

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

No abstract provided.

Letter To Nysabe Members And Friends, Nancy Villarreal De Adler

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

No abstract provided.

Journal Of Multilingual Education Research, Aida A. Nevárez-La Torre Editor

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

Title page, verso, and Table of Contents of Volume 1, 2010.

Notes On Contributors To This Issue

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

Notes on Contributors to This Issue; Description; Guidelines for Submission

Book Review. No Easy Answers: Bilingualism Or Language Delay?, Patricia Velasco

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

Introduction to book review.

Educators Taking The Lead To Transition High School Emergent Bilingual Learners With Disabilities, Diane Rodríguez, Lora Lee Smith Canter, Karen Voytecki, Kimberly Floyd

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

This article seeks to improve transition services for Emergent Bilinguals (EBs) with disabilities in secondary education. The authors provide recommendations to school administrators and educators on how to design a promising transitional context within classrooms and schools for EBs with disabilities. This article considers transition issues from multiple perspectives and urges secondary school educators to broaden their programmatic and teaching practices in order to increase successful transition of their multilingual students from school to work or to post-secondary education.

Native And Emergent Bilingual University-Level English Speakers Reading Online: The Influence Of Hypertext On Comprehension, Miriam Eisenstein Ebsworth, Tommy Mcdonell

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

Our study contributes to our understanding of Internet reading by Emergent Bilinguals (EB) and Native English speakers (NS) by investigating their recall of two Internet reading passages containing additional information available through either hypertext links or footnotes. Participants included 25 EB and 25 NS college students. Answers to cued recall questions were scored on the basis of the number of correctly recalled propositions (Kintsch, 1998). Additional interpretive data came from semi-structured interviews with four NS and four EB participants. Quantitative results showed that both groups of students recalled significantly more propositions with linear text than with hypertext. However, although descriptive …

Promising Pedagogical Practices For Emergent Bilinguals In Kindergarten: Towards A Mathematics Discourse Community, Sandra I. Musanti, Sylvia Celedón-Pattichis

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

In the current U.S. context, it is relevant to disseminate research that portrays in detail how bilingual teachers create challenging and safe mathematics learning environments for emergent bilinguals. It is critical to identify pedagogical approaches that foster emergent bilinguals’ participation in mathematics conversations and discourse practices where language is considered a pedagogical resource. This is possible when teachers understand that young Latino/a students come to school with a wide range of cognitive and linguistic tools, which they can use to help them make sense of problems posed in the classroom. Using case study methodology, we define and provide a detailed …

Where Have All The Bilingual Programs Gone?!: Why Prepared School Leaders Are Essential For Bilingual Education, Kate Menken, Cristian Solorza

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

Enrollment in bilingual education has declined significantly in New York City in recent years, in spite of state and city policies that support it. To better understand this alarming trend, we interviewed school leaders, particularly principals, who have dismantled their school’s bilingual education programs in recent years. We also interviewed school leaders who have managed to preserve their bilingual education programs within the same time period. We examined these leaders’ knowledge and understandings about bilingual education and their emergent bilingual students, and their rationale for the respective language education policies they have adopted. Our research points to the very important …

Editorial: Necessary Paradigm Shifts In Bilingual Education: Rethinking Language, Aida A. Nevárez-La Torre

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

No abstract provided.

Journal Of Multilingual Education Research

Journal of Multilingual Education Research

No abstract provided.