Language and Literacy Education Commons^™

Pennies In The Bank: Building Background Knowledge, Brooke Lee Webster

Journal of English Learner Education

Abstract

Across the United States, teachers are met with stringent time requirements that may not align with the needs of the students inside the classroom. This paper explores the efforts of condensing and prioritizing in a diverse classroom. Through a reflective narrative of teaching comprehension to emerging bilingual students, this paper presents a structure that leverages morning meetings and discussion as prongs for maximizing the benefit of students within limited instructional minutes. Tasks that build competence, confidence, and connection cycle to foster the environment that students need to thrive. Additionally, this paper investigates the role of building background knowledge in …

Supporting English Language Learners: A Comprehensive Guide For Long-Term Success, Yana Shifrina-Piljovin

Journal of English Learner Education

Abstract

This literature review provides a thorough examination of the various multifaceted challenges encountered by Long-Term English Language Learners (LTELLs) in educational settings. It critically analyzes the effectiveness of current support systems and instructional strategies, synthesizes relevant recent research findings, and offers targeted recommendations aimed for educators and policymakers striving to improve educational outcomes for LTELLs. The review evaluates the efficacy of existing support frameworks and teaching methodologies, synthesizes contemporary research findings, and presents actionable recommendations for educators and legislators to enhance the learning outcomes of these students.

Supporting English Language Learners LTELLs) in classroom settings requires a deep understanding …

Are Testing Accommodations Helping Or Not? A Review Of English Learner (El) Accommodations On Standardized Tests, Cole Forbes

Journal of English Learner Education

This paper examines and critiques English Learner (EL) testing accommodation policies. They have been ineffective at increasing test scores and accessibility. The policies have mandated that EL students participate in high-stakes assessments with accommodations, and sometimes without them. The purpose of the accommodation is to create an even playing field for all test-takers, so that no subgroup is put at a disadvantage, which would compromise their scores and lead to misclassification of students. Laws and Acts such as the Bilingual Education Act of 1968, No Child Left Behind, and the Every Student Succeeds Act have updated and mandated a more …

Differentiated Instruction For Multilingual Learners: A Thematic Analysis Of Research And Practice, Mohsine Bensaid, Jiayuan Jiang

Journal of English Learner Education

Differentiated instruction (DI) is widely promoted as a means of supporting diverse learners, yet its enactment for multilingual learners (MLs) remains uneven and under-theorized in mainstream classrooms. This study examines how DI is conceptualized and implemented to support MLs by attending to learners’ linguistic, cultural, and academic profiles. Using reflexive thematic analysis, this qualitative synthesis examines 20 peer-reviewed empirical studies published between 2010 and 2024 in English-medium K–12 contexts in the United States, with particular attention to elementary settings when specified. Analytic interpretation was supported by practitioner-based reflection functioning as an interpretive lens rather than a separate data source. Four …

A Quasi-Experimental Study On The Effectiveness Of Achieve3000 On The Reading Comprehension Scores Of Ells With Ld, Paula P. Fields

Journal of English Learner Education

The purpose of this quasi-experimental pretest-posttest study was to determine if a significant difference existed in the comprehension scores of secondary English Language Learners with learning disabilities after treatment. The problem addressed is that a significant correlation exists between English language learners and learning-disabled students’ low reading proficiency scores and student achievement, leading to decreased graduation rates. Schema theory served as the theoretical foundation of this research because when the appropriate schema is activated, it helps increase comprehension. The research question guiding this study was: Is there a significant difference between the reading comprehension scores of high school English language …

Reading Comprehension Interventions For Multilingual Learners With Disabilities: A Systematic Review, Sariya Shabnam, Jennifer E. Smith, Samiratu Bashiru

Journal of English Learner Education

Multilingual learners with disabilities (MLWDs) face substantial barriers to reading comprehension given the intersecting challenges of language acquisition and disability (Artzi et al., 2022; Frates et al., 2024). Students with disabilities often need explicit, strategy-based instruction with modeling, guided practice, and scaffolding (Frates et al., 2024; Wawire et al., 2024; Moura, 2024). When learners are also multilingual, interventions must be linguistically accessible and responsive to diverse cognitive profiles (Moura, 2024; Sarisahin, 2020). MLWDs comprise 15.8% of English learners in U.S. public schools (NCES, 2024), yet research on effective comprehension interventions remains limited; most studies treat multilingual learners or students with …

Investigating The Impact Of Gamification And Humor On Student Engagement In An Esl Classroom, Joshua F. Filipowski

Wellspring: A Practitioner-Oriented Journal of Literacy and Language Education

This study explores the impact of gamification and humor on middle school students' engagement, participation, and learning outcomes. The researcher, an ESL teacher, sought to address students' boredom and disengagement by introducing games and humor into the classroom. The study involved 12 middle school English learners and employed both qualitative and quantitative methods, including journal entries, focus groups, and participation tracking. Findings indicated that students were more engaged and willing to participate during gamified activities, with slight but significant improvements in quiz scores. Students expressed a preference for jokes and games over traditional methods. The research suggests that incorporating humor …

From Automation To Imagination: Empowering Student Creativity In The Digital Age, Annie Yon

New Jersey English Journal

In today’s digital age, literacy extends beyond traditional reading and writing to encompass collaboration, multimodal communication, and the ability to create meaning through diverse media. As AI becomes more integrated into education, we must reconsider its impact on student thinking, work ethic, and writing, while redefining meaningful writing and assessments. Rather than relying on traditional five-paragraph essays, projects like literary magazines that blend writing with multimodal components showcase how educators can prioritize creativity, expression, and personal reflection. This approach ensures that even in the age of AI, students continue to create and engage in ways that are authentically their own.

Beyond Black And White: Embracing Every Hue Through Words, Stories, And Unapologetic Truths, Darius M. Phelps

New Jersey English Journal

Literacy shapes how students interpret and engage with the world, yet traditional education often compartmentalizes it. This article explores racial literacy and poetry as transformative, interdisciplinary tools for critical inquiry and identity formation. Grounded in scholarship and practical strategies, it calls for reimagining literacy instruction as empowerment across disciplines and lived experiences.

Moving Beyond Reading And Writing: Incorporating Historically Responsive Literacy Into Literacy Instruction In Content Area Classrooms, Andrea Lemahieu Glaws

New Jersey English Journal

This article describes the practices on teacher educator used to incorporate a historically responsive literacy framework into a disciplinary literacy course offered for pre-service teachers. This article begins with an overview of disciplinary literacy and Dr. Muhammad’s historically responsive literacy framework. Following, this article describes three assignments that the teacher educator used within her classroom to support pre-service teachers across multiple content areas in making connections between HRL and their content area discipline. These three assignments include: lab reflections, curriculum analysis, and mini-lesson facilitation. Connections to implications beyond teacher education are made.

A Model For Artificial Intelligence (Ai) Literacy Education: Reflections On Teaching Graduate-Level Teacher Education Courses, Hyunjin Jinna Kim

International Journal of Transformative Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

This practice-oriented self-study examines the development of an artificial intelligence (AI) literacy education model grounded in my reflective teaching practices and journey in graduate-level teacher education courses. As AI tools become increasingly embedded in educational and everyday technologies, both teachers and learners often remain unaware of the algorithms, data ethics, and biases that shape AI-driven systems (Ghallab, 2019; Ng et al., 2022). Recognizing that many teachers and teacher candidates responsible for educating the next generation have a minimal understanding of AI tools’ limitations and the ethical risks involved in AI use, I drew on my own experiences and knowledge as …

Policy: District, State, And National: A Selected Annotated Bibliography For English Learner Research, Policy, And Practice, Center For Equity For English Learners

Annotated Bibliographies

Policy: District, state, and national: A Selected Annotated Bibliography for English Learner Research, Policy, and Practice is comprised of 26 annotations from recent and seminal literature regarding policies across various levels impacting the education of English Learners (ELs) and Multilingual Learners (MLs). These annotations build on the annotations regarding policy in CEEL’s 2022 annotated bibliography, Ensuring Equity and Excellence for English Learners: An Annotated Bibliography for Research, Policy, and Practice (Center for Equity for English Learners, 2022) to include publications from 2022-2025. This selected annotated bibliography serves as a resource for researchers, policymakers, educators, and advocates who are working for …

English Language And Literacy Development/Proficiency: A Selected Annotated Bibliography For English Learner Research, Policy, And Practice, Center For Equity For English Learners

Annotated Bibliographies

English Language and Literacy Development/Proficiency: A Selected Annotated Bibliography for English Learner Research, Policy, and Practice is comprised of 16 annotations from recent and seminal literature English language and literacy development and proficiency for English Learners (ELs) and professional development for teachers of ELs. These annotations build on the annotations regarding English language and literacy development and proficiency in CEEL’s 2022 annotated bibliography, Ensuring Equity and Excellence for English Learners: An Annotated Bibliography for Research, Policy, and Practice (CEEL, 2022) to include publications from 2022-2025. This selected annotated bibliography serves as a resource for researchers, policymakers, educators, and advocates who …

Comprehensive National Research: A Selected Annotated Bibliography For English Learner Research, Policy, And Practice, Center For Equity For English Learners

Annotated Bibliographies

Comprehensive National Research: A Selected Annotated Bibliography for English Learner Research, Policy, and Practice is comprised of 4 annotations from national research publications regarding English Learners (ELs) and Dual Language Learners (DLLs). These annotations build on the annotations of comprehensive national research in CEEL’s 2022 annotated bibliography, Ensuring Equity and Excellence for English Learners: An Annotated Bibliography for Research, Policy, and Practice (Center for Equity for English Learners, 2022) to include publications from 2022-2025. This selected annotated bibliography serves as a resource for researchers, policymakers, educators, and advocates who are working for equity and excellence for ELs and DLLs.

The …

Biliteracy And Bilingualism: A Selected Annotated Bibliography For English Learner Research, Policy, And Practice, Center For Equity For English Learners

Annotated Bibliographies

Biliteracy and Bilingualism: A Selected Annotated Bibliography for English Learner Research, Policy, and Practice is comprised of 25 annotations from recent and seminal literature regarding biliteracy and bilingualism. These annotations build on the annotations regarding biliteracy and bilingualism in CEEL’s 2022 annotated bibliography, Ensuring Equity and Excellence for English Learners: An Annotated Bibliography for Research, Policy, and Practice (Center for Equity for English Learners, 2022) to include publications from 2022-2025. This selected annotated bibliography serves as a resource for researchers, policymakers, educators, and advocates who are working for equity and excellence for ELs.

The contributors provide a comprehensive selection of …

Teaching/Professional Development: A Selected Annotated Bibliography For English Learner Research, Policy, And Practice, Center For Equity For English Learners

Annotated Bibliographies

Teaching/Professional Development: A Selected Annotated Bibliography for English Learner Research, Policy, and Practice is comprised of 36 annotations from recent and seminal literature regarding teaching English Learners (ELs) and professional development for teachers of ELs. These annotations build on the annotations regarding teaching and professional development in CEEL’s 2022 annotated bibliography, Ensuring Equity and Excellence for English Learners: An Annotated Bibliography for Research, Policy, and Practice (Center for Equity for English Learners, 2022) to include publications from 2022-2025. This selected annotated bibliography serves as a resource for researchers, policymakers, educators, and advocates who are working for equity and excellence for …

Digital Learning For English Learners: A Selected Annotated Bibliography For English Learner Research, Policy, And Practice, Center For Equity For English Learners

Annotated Bibliographies

Digital Learning for English Learners: A Selected Annotated Bibliography for English Learner Research, Policy, and Practice is comprised of 17 annotations from recent and seminal literature regarding digital learning resources for English Learners (ELs) and Multilingual Learners (MLs). These annotations build on the annotations regarding digital learning in CEEL’s 2022 annotated bibliography, Ensuring Equity and Excellence for English Learners: An Annotated Bibliography for Research, Policy, and Practice (Center for Equity for English Learners, 2022) to include publications from 2022-2025. This selected annotated bibliography serves as a resource for researchers, policymakers, educators, and advocates who are working for equity and …

“Slowly, Slowly, Slowly It Becomes This Is What Accepted Practice Is”: Factors Affecting Functional Grammar Teacher Training In Australian Schools, Anne-Coleman Webre

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Australia has a long history of scholars bringing a functional approach to teaching grammar into pedagogy to support student literacy. This study explores how the ideas and practices from the approach make their way into teaching by investigating the implementation of a teacher training program, Lexis Education, through the perspective of the teacher trainers. Using nine interviews with twelve trainers, the study asks what factors have supported and challenged the implementation of the program in the Australian context. Utilising the substantialising framework as an analytic tool to categorize factors affecting teacher education into domains of influence reveals aspects of the …

Becoming An Effective Literacy Educator: A Qualitative Study In Elementary Education, Lillian Petry

2026 Honors Symposium

Background: This thesis explores the personal journey of one childhood education teacher candidate becoming an effective teacher through both childhood experiences and formal preparation through an elementary teacher preparation program within a R1 University in the Southeastern United States. Arkansas continues to face literacy challenges making it significant to understand how future teachers can be better prepared to face the diverse needs of students in the classroom. Purpose: This research was based on the question: How do pre-service teachers’ childhood reading experiences, combined with their literacy instruction during teacher preparation, contribute to their development as effective literacy educators? Existing research …

Ecosystem Of The Loch Ness Monster, Ava Bauch, Cami Mayo, Sean Savage

OER Materials

This lesson plan provides an engaging interdisciplinary learning experience for fourth-grade students by combining language arts and science through the theme of the Loch Ness ecosystem. Using the 5E instructional model students build understanding of ecosystems, food webs, and informational text comprehension. The lesson aligns with standards focused on making inferences with text evidence and constructing arguments about how plants and animals use structures for survival, growth, and reproduction. Students begin by analyzing an image of the Loch Ness Monster and discussing what they see, think, and wonder. This introductory activity activates prior knowledge from earlier lessons while encouraging curiosity …

The Impact Of High-Quality Phonological Awareness Professional Learning On In-Service Teachers' Content Knowledge And Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Roberta S. Thomas

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This convergent mixed-method study examined the impact of high-quality phonological awareness professional learning on Montessori primary lead, associate, and team associate teachers’ content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge of phonological awareness. Eleven teachers (4 lead, 4 associates, and 2 team associates) from a private school in northeast Florida participated in four professional sessions with a content focus on the levels of phonological awareness, including word, syllable, onset and rime, and phoneme awareness. In contrast to previous studies that reported low levels of teacher content knowledge prior to professional learning, participants in this study demonstrated relatively high levels of content knowledge. …

Meaningful Work: A Phenomenological Study Of Embedded Writing Peer Mentors, Susan S. Detwiler

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

This phenomenological case study examines the experiences of writing peer mentors who are embedded in a first-year inquiry-based writing seminar. It aims to understand how peer mentors who are engaged in the complex practice of supporting first-year writers in a writing classroom make sense of themselves and writing. At a large R-1 diverse university, I interviewed 6 writing peer mentors 3 times over 1 calendar year. I traced their development from mentees, (first-year writing students), through their three semesters of peer mentoring. They also shared written reflections from their training praxis course (a course for peer mentors focusing on their …

Perspectives Of Russian Language Educators On Meeting The Needs Of Heritage And L2 Learners In Mixed Classes, Maria Goebert

Russian Language Journal

In less commonly taught languages, such as Russian, heritage and non-heritage learners often share the same classes. Teachers in these settings must differentiate instruction to meet the diverse needs of their students. Online teaching adds an additional layer of complexity that instructors must address in their course design. This qualitative study explores the perspectives of 12 Russian language educators, working across various educational settings, on the language learning needs of heritage and non-heritage learners in mixed classes. It examines how these teachers adapt their instruction to support their students and meet the demands of different teaching modalities. The study also …

Developing Digital Feedback Literacies In Language Teacher Education: Peer And Partnership Approaches In The Postdigital Age, Jennifer Schluer

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Critical media literacy needs to be seen as a central component of language teacher education, especially in the postdigital age. One underexplored dimension, however, is digital assessment literacy and in particular digital feedback literacy (Schluer, 2022a). Even though recent years witnessed a proliferation of digital technologies for feedback exchanges, pedagogical guidance for the use of digital feedback remains almost non-existent (but see Schluer, 2022a; 2023; 2024a). Theoretically, this paper connects the concept of Digital Feedback Literacies (DFL) to the frameworks of Critical Media Literacies (CML) and Postdigital Literacies (PDL). Empirically, it presents insights from research on digital peer feedback as …

Beyond The Episode: A Case For Serial Literacy In Efl Education Classrooms, Julie Intveen, Tim Illigens

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Serial storytelling, characterized by its interplay of vertical (episodic) and horizontal (long-form) narrative structures, offers a unique opportunity for media literacy in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) education. This paper argues for the development of a serial literacy framework, a concept that expands traditional film literacy models to accommodate the distinct demands of serialized narratives. By using Inventing Anna (Rhimes, 2022) as a case study, the study explores how serial storytelling fosters engagement with themes of identity construction, ethical ambiguity, and transmedial storytelling. This paper elaborates on serial literacy, considering its implications within foreign language learning contexts. The study …

When Two Worlds Collide: A Narrative Inquiry Into The Teacher Identity Development Of Graduate Students Of Additional Languages, Hannah L. Garver

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

This study explores a population that has been understudied in teacher identity research: native English-speaking graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) of additional languages who assumed this role with no prior teaching experience. Influenced by my own experience as a GTA, the purpose of this study is to gain insight into how this population’s experiences shape their identities as teachers and later careers. This qualitative study uses narrative inquiry as a method by which to examine their experiences through the stories told by participants: six former GTAs of French and German.

Using data in the form of semi-structured interviews and some participants’ …

Once Upon An Early Writing Experience: Connecting Memory With Literacy Instruction In Pre-Service Teacher Education, Jue Wang, Jingru Lu

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

Through a narrative-based case study design, this research connects pre-service teachers’ early writing memories with their studies in writing instruction to explore how multi-layered and multi-faceted writing experiences across time and space influence teaching beliefs and practices. This article invites audiences to vicariously experience these pedagogical encounters, reflect on journeys to becoming writing teachers, and shed light onto the implications of teaching early writing. Comic artifacts and interview data were collected from nine pre-service teachers who learned to teach early writing/language arts in a four-year public university in the Inland Northwest. Based on the participants’ comics and narratives, four themes …

Editorial Review Board Vol. 64 Issue 3

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

No abstract provided.

Where Do I Go Next With This Writer? Preservice Teachers’ Responses At The Start And End Of A Writing Methods Course, Nicole M. Martin, Lisa K. Hawkins, Diane M. Bottomley, Brendan Shanahan, Jennifer Cooper Mrs.

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

This mixed-methods study sought to extend what is known about preservice teachers’ (PSTs’) preparation for teaching writing by examining their responding to individual children’s narrative, informative, and persuasive writing at the start and end of a writing methods course. Participants were 115 elementary PSTs. Their selections of teaching foci and instructional strategies on a beginningand end-of-semester course task were examined. Overall, PSTs showcased differences in their selections at the two time points, displaying a lessened focus on local features (e.g., spelling, punctuation) and reliance on laypeople’s helping practices (e.g., telling, correcting writing) and a greater focus on global features (e.g., …

Beyond The Red Pen: Investigating The Formation Of Reader And Writer Identity Development In Preservice Teachers, Sarah Rutt Williams, Pengtong Qu, Lydia Denning

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

The influence of identifying as a reader and writer in being a literacy teacher has been emphasized in the literature (Graves, 1983). However, few studies have explored how teacher education programs develop these identities in preservice teachers (PSTs). Grounded in Demerath’s (2006) epistemological identity theory, this study explored the fluid process of teacher identity formation, focusing on nurturing PSTs’ identities as readers and writers. The study took place over one semester in an English Education course. The researchers analyzed three PST participants’ weekly reflections about their beliefs regarding teaching and learning literacy. These statements revolved around topics that aligned with …