Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons^™

Teacher Education And Professional Development In The Context Of Argentinean Educational Policies: Current Trends And Challenges, Monica Pini, Sandra I. Musanti, Jorge Gorostiaga, Myriam Feldfeber, Dalila Andrade Oliveira

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications

The purpose of this chapter is to explore the trends and challenges in teacher education and teacher professional development in the context of recent Argentinean educational reforms. This chapter synthesizes several of our studies on the matter. First we analyze the implications of teacher education as a political project, discuss the central components of the educational policies that characterize this century and the present features of the teaching force. Secondly, we discuss the process of educational reform in the 90´s and the impact of international agencies in the main policy decisions in Argentina. In addition, we discuss the new scenario …

Collaboration And Teacher Development: Unpacking Resistance, Constructing Knowledge, And Navigating Identities, Sandra I. Musanti, Lucretia Pence

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications

This article presents a study of the Collaboration Centers Project (CCP), which is a pseudonym for a three-year, federally-funded program that focused on helping in-service teachers better address the needs of English language learners (ELLs) in their classrooms. The CCP is important to study because of its clear intention to integrate real teachers--their understandings, voices, selves, and practices--into professional development by providing an experiential, collaborative and school-centered context for ongoing reflection on teachers' practice. It is important to understand the complexities of teacher development in the context of a project that sought to break with the short-term transmission model that …

Culturally Relevant Books: Connecting Hispanic Students To The Curriculum, Alma D. Rodríguez

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications

Minority students in the United States (US) need to connect with the curriculum in order to have a meaningful schooling experience. This paper promotes the integration of culturally relevant books into the bilingual and English as a second language (ESL) curriculum for Hispanic English language learners (ELLs). A study was conducted with bilingual and ESL pre-service teachers who learned about the benefits of using culturally relevant books in their teacher preparation program. Pre-service teachers realized that culturally relevant books connect Hispanic ELLs to the curriculum and engage them in reading. Through the study, participants gained confidence working with ELLs and …

Synculturation: The Residual Variable Of Bilingualism, Claudia Coronado

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The language acquisition system is intricate; bilingualism is the meta-synthetic process of culture elements, linguistic components and cognitive abilities. Proficiency in a second language is not only the recognition of environmental elements in that language, but an ability that requires the mutation of different components. We cannot perceive the phenomenon of bilingualism in a linguistic isolated perspective. The purpose of the study was to find the interconnectedness of linguistic proficiency, cultural elements, and cognitive development. The cognitive advantages associated with balanced bilingualism should not be uniquely explained by the isolation of language proficiency. The referential packages of the cultural synthesis …

Percepcion De Maestros Y Padres Hispanos Sobre La Participacion En La Educacion De Sus Hijos En Relacion Con Sus Logros Academicos, Maria Roxana Avalos

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Este estudio examino las percepciones de maestros y padres hispanos sobre la participation en la educacion de sus hijos. Los participantes fueron padres de alumnos de 5to grado y sus maestros de 4to y 5to grado de una escuela primaria ubicada al sur de estado de Texas, Estados Unidos. Se recabaron los datos en forma cualitativa por medio de entrevistas en grupo y cualitativamente a traves de un cuestionario de participation escolar para padres y maestros. Se realizaron comparaciones entre las percepciones de los maestros y padres, encontrando diferencias significativas entre ellas. Fueron utilizados los resultados de los examenes TAKS …

Literacidad Crítica Y Literatura Culturalmente Relevante: Una Combinación Que Empodera A Los Aprendices De Inglés [Critical Literacy And Culturally Relevant Literature: A Combination That Empowers English Learners], Alma D. Rodríguez, José Manuel Ocampo

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications

Este artículo propone el uso de literatura culturalmente relevante para desarrollar la literacidad crítica como parte de la enseñanza de inglés como segunda lengua o lengua extranjera. Así mismo, explica el método de lectura creativa, un enfoque holístico de la formación en literacidad, desarrollado por Alma Flor Ada, para proporcionar a los aprendices de inglés una formación en literacidad crítica. Además, sugiere cómo usar literatura culturalmente relevante en la aplicación de dicho método de lectura.

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This paper proposes the use of culturally relevant literature in order to develop critical literacy as part of teaching English as a second or …

How Optional Usage Of The Web Affects Reading Comprehension, Jocelyn K. Tenorio

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The purpose of this investigation is to consider whether using web-enhanced material improves proportionally students' reading comprehension skills. In addition student attitudes are considered. Two groups of students at the University of Montemorelos, Nuevo Leon, Mexico were chosen as a census: a group of nursing students taking a course on reading comprehension of nursing articles in English and a group of students studying to be teachers of English as a foreign language. Reading selections were uploaded on the internet using the WebCT platform. The students were to read the selections and answer quizzes. The students took a pre- and post-test …

Cultural Relevance In The Lep-Ld Classroom, Blanca Estella Rojas

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This investigation considered Mexican-American students classified as Limited English Proficient (LEP) and Special Education Learning Disabled (LD) on achievement in and attitudes toward reading. Two students used culturally matched materials and two students used non-culturally matched, grade appropriate materials. The individuals who received treatment were paired with those who did not receive treatment on key variables as closely as possible. Qualitative descriptive information answered the following questions: (1) Will the use of a culturally matched novel have the same learning effects as use of a non-culturally matched novel? (2) Will the use of the culturally matched novel lower the affective …

Connecting Students To Culturally Relevant Texts, Yvonne Freeman, David Freeman

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications

Yvonne Freeman and David Freeman argue the importance of providing students with culturally relevant books and discuss their criteria for deciding if a book is culturally relevant to a particular child.

Chapter Eight: Are Schools Prepared To Support Excellence For Nonmainstream Children? Latino/A Voices As A Response, Miryam Espinosa-Dulanto

Bilingual and Literacy Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Multi-Sensory Teaching Practices On The Reading Fluency And Comprehension Of Bilingual 2Nd Grade Students, Gloria Gonzalez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Language, the heart of the educational process, is the vehicle through which students are primarily being educated and prepared throughout their schooling (Lam, 1996). Language acquisition is described as having four processes: socio-cultural, linguistic, and academic and cognitive. Teaching, learning, and curriculum content must; therefore, be culturally meaningful, interactive, and collaborative. Since a student's learning style is a major contributing factor in teaching and not all students learn in the same manner, educators must know and understand the bilingual and bicultural child's identities and emphasize interdisciplinary, cooperative, and multi-sensory lessons in their classrooms (Chamot,1994). Educators must incorporate the wealth of …

Relationship Between Cognitive Performance And Sociocultural And Linguistic Variables In Bilingual Mexican American Children, Lorraine Geralyn Boudville

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This study investigated the relationship between cognitive ability (dependent variable) and 5 independent variables: acculturation, socioeconomic status (SES), oral acquisition of syntactic structures, family size, and family structure. Instruments used were the WISC-III, Bilingual Syntax Measure (BSM), Sociocultural Scales in the System of Multicultural Pluralistic Assessment (SOMPA). The sample consisted of 96 bilingual Mexican American children aged six and seven years, randomly selected from five school districts in south Texas; 47 were female, and 49, male. The method of analysis was multiple linear regression. The null hypothesis was tested at the .05 level of significance, using a F distribution. Results …

Mexican-American Language : Usage, Attitudes, Maintenance, Instruction, And Policy, Pan American University At Brownsville. Rio Grande Series In Language And Linguistics

Rio Grande Research Group for Language and Linguistics Series

Golden Age, Boom, Sesquicentennial: Texas Spanish as a Natural Resource for the Humanities / Chesler C. Christian, Jr. -- Archaic Lexical Variants In The Spanish of the Lower Rio Grande Valley / George K. Green -- Archaic Forms With A Parallel Ponderative Function In The Spanish of the Lower Rio Grande Valley / George K. Green -- Parallel Ponderative Forms In The Spanish of The Lower Rio Grande Valley and The General Spanish System of Nuancing In Fixes / George K. Green -- Meaning and Placement of Standard and Kansas Spanish Adjectives / Gerald L. Denning -- Linguistic Attitudes and …

El Ensenar A Escuchar, A Hablar, A Leer Y A Escribir. Cuadernos Para El Entrenamiento De Maestros De Educacion Bilingue. Cuardernos 1, 2 Y 3, Serie D. (Teaching Listening, Speaking, Reading, And Writing. Training Packets For Bilingual Teachers. Packets 1, 2 And 3, Series D.), Maria Barrera, Graciela P. Rosenberg

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

This teacher training guide includes three major units that deal with the teaching of listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills in Spanish in the bilingual classroom. Each packet includes objectives, materials, and activities that help develop and promote students' receptive and productive skills. Other major topics covered include: the elements of language, including prosody, orthography, analogy, syntax, and semantics; aspects of oral language and activities for its development, including conversations, games, use of pictures and drawings, dramatization, and improvised dialogs; and methodology of reading, including syntactic methods, phonetic methods, onomatopeic methods, analytical and global methods, eclectic procedures and the experiential …