Language and Literacy Education Commons^™

Heritage Language Learners In The Foreign Language Classroom, Annabel Noar

Journal of Graduate Education Research

Heritage language learners are a heterogenous group themselves, and prevalent contrasts exist between them and foreign language learners. This presents challenges for the amalgamation of heritage language learners and foreign language learners within a single language classroom. Reviewing relevant literature, this paper discusses the differences between heritage language learners and foreign language learners, and how these can be accounted for by educators. It argues that, without specific, individualised differentiation, the foreign language classroom is inappropriate for the heritage language learner due to its inability to sufficiently account for their heterogeneity, diverse backgrounds and unique motivations for language learning. The difficulty …

Field Notes In Professional Development: Lets Read, Bob Gallagher

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

This article explores the evolving landscape of reading education through a blend of personal reflection and systemic critique by Bob Gallagher, Student Teaching Supervisor at Buffalo State University and a veteran educator with decades of experience as a teacher and administrator in Buffalo Public Schools, Coordinator of Professional Development at Sweet Home Schools, and Assistant Superintendent for Instruction at Niagara Wheatfield Schools. Drawing from his journey as an educator thrust into teaching reading without training in the 1960s, Gallagher examines the persistent challenges in fostering literacy amidst a declining cultural emphasis on reading. Highlighting the tension between illiteracy and aliteracy—where …

Teaching Information Literacy In A Genai World: A 5cs Framework For Fostering Critical Engagement, Paul Cook, Adam Maksl

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

Teaching Information Literacy in a GenAI World:
A 5Cs Framework for Fostering Critical Engagement

This interactive workshop will equip participants with a robust framework for teaching students the knowledge and skills necessary to understand the modern, multifaceted information ecosystems upon which GenAI is built and operates. The 5Cs of news literacy (context, creation, content, circulation, and consumption), as outlined in Tully, Maksl, Ashley, Vraga, and Craft (2021), will be adapted to information literacy more broadly and we will explain how that framework presents an excellent foundation upon which broader information literacy knowledge and skills can be built. As GenAI becomes …

Weeding Out Dishonesty: Rhetoric And Information Literacy For The Age Of Disinformation, Victoria M. Tischio

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

We live in what some call a post-fact world where what is presented as true becomes true and circulates widely. Politicians lie because they have calculated that they gain more than they lose, and media outlets repeat those lies because they profit from them (Adair 2024). Fear and suspicion make individuals vulnerable to these lies (Young 2017). Like an invasive species, it is nearly impossible to eradicate these lies once released into the media ecosystem. While fake news is not new (think P.T. Barnum and 17th-century canards), its virulence has reached epidemic proportions, infiltrating all aspects of society. This constitutes …

Restoring School Librarians: Challenges And Strategies, Debrah E. Kachel

Learning Hub

The article examines efforts to restore school librarian positions across eleven urban U.S. school districts, despite significant financial and administrative obstacles. It documents strategies used by district library leaders to advocate for staffing, funding, and policy changes, emphasizing equity in access to certified school librarians. Through structured interviews and analysis, the report highlights key barriers, advocacy methods, and funding mechanisms that have influenced school library staffing. The study's findings contribute to the ongoing discourse on educational equity and policy reform in K-12 library services.

Navigating The World Of Online Information: A Braided Approach To Research And Writing In Ela Classrooms, Ana Katz, Brittany Malloy

The Utah English Journal

As ELA teachers, we know that teaching students how to write well goes beyond grammar and thesis statements–it is about empowering students to think critically in a world overflowing with information. Whether it is news headlines, social media posts, or academic articles, our students are constantly navigating a sea of facts, opinions, and misinformation. The challenge? Equipping them with the skills to tell the difference. One approach that positively impacted our classrooms was integrating research and writing into a single process. This “braided” method teaches students how to evaluate sources and build strong arguments while keeping their engagement high and …

The Summer Of Ya Love: Young Adult Romance, Tiktok, And The Classroom, Annika Nielson

The Utah English Journal

Where teenagers are, there romance will be also. As a high school English teacher, I constantly witness the intensity of adolescence as young people start to explore their own identities. It is impossible to separate this time of teenagerdom from romance, since “adolescents are fascinated with developing sexuality and love” (Litton, 1994, p. 28). Even if they are not experiencing it firsthand, teens are hearing about it constantly from their friends, in school hallways, in the movies and tv shows they consume, and especially in the literature they read. Even the core texts in high school echo this desire for …

Book Reviews: From The Editor, Justin Scholes

The Utah English Journal

What a wonderful time to be an English Language Arts teacher! There has never been a time with such a flourishing offering of young adult literature as well as digital and multimodal texts!

Thank You, James, Leah Parks

The Utah English Journal

Brightest, kindest

Wise beyond your years

Knowledge of content and people

Potential

Book Review: Alebrijes, Shauna Christensen

The Utah English Journal

400 years into the post-apocalyptic future, 13 year-old orphan Leandro and his younger sister, Gabi, struggle to survive in a barren San Joaquin Valley. Like the other Spanish-speaking lower class field workers, they are forced to farm vegetables for the elite ruling class, or risk exile or death in the harsh desert, a barren wasteland filled with terrifying man-eating wyrms. Leandro’s plan to escape with Gabi is thrown into disarray when Gabi is caught stealing a single strawberry in the market. Leandro takes the blame and is sentenced to banishment, or he can choose to have his consciousness transferred to …

Book Review: Good Different, Jan Jenson

The Utah English Journal

Good Different is a beautiful and poignant free verse by neurodivergent author, Meg Eden Kuatt, and is beloved by all students, but especially by students with neurodiversity.

A Cohort Of The Willing: How Secondary Schools Might Face The Literacy Crisis, Michelle A. Barney

The Utah English Journal

Experts like Louisa Moats and anyone who has recently completed LETRS (Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling) training, know that 95% of children can be taught to read (Louisa Moats, 2023). As a secondary educator, it’s tempting to see this statistic and ignore it. Surely, this must be someone else’s problem. In fact, if all goes according to plan in the world of elementary education, students become proficient at foundational reading skills before fourth grade, especially if one considers Kilpatrick’s work which establishes this benchmark for the development of advanced phonological awareness skills (Kilpatrick, 2015, p. …

Helping Students Learn What They Already Know: Uncovering The Magic Of Analyzing Author’S Craft, Joseph Wiederhold

The Utah English Journal

In my first-year teaching, I put a sentence on the board from Megan McDonald’s picture book My House Has Stars: “I hear the water lapping the sides of our boat, lapping the sides, lapping the sides” (McDonald, 1996, p. 2). It’s an exciting sentence. I was sure that students would have plenty to say about how it was crafted.

The Silent Stakeholders In Censorship: Insights In Letting Young Adults Join The Censorship Conversation, Mercedes Medel

The Utah English Journal

I grew up enjoying Judy Blume’s books: Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Superfudge, Blubber, and many more. There was not much conversation in my community or at home about what books or authors should be read; instead, I was given free range to explore libraries and choose what I was interested in, what I was needing, throughout my adolescence. It wasn’t until I was sitting in Chris Crowe’s Studies in Young Adult Literature class this past spring that I discovered, to my surprise, that Judy Blume was at the center of many controversies throughout her career. …

Getting Teens To Read: Date A Book, Joëlle Beard

The Utah English Journal

“I hate reading!” “I will never read a book again after graduation; why do I have to read in your class?” “Reading is so boring; there aren’t any good books!” If you are a secondary English teacher, comments like this are nothing new. So many of our students do not enjoy reading and do not see the value of reading a book. Part of this is due to the curriculum push to read novel excerpts rather than full novels, or sometimes eliminate fictional texts altogether and read solely informational texts. The feeling of not wanting to read a book or …

Writing Prompts In The Healing-Centered Classroom, Elizabeth Hancock

The Utah English Journal

As I began the 2013-14 school year, I encountered students with a full range of life experiences. My students’ lives ran the gamut from having the 1950s version of traditional middle- class families to being part of the Utah foster care system. Their challenges included depression over not making the school dance team, dyslexia or other learning disabilities, and responding to trauma with self-harm by using a heated curling iron. I wondered what I could do to help struggling students make it through the minefields in their lives, and remembered the character of Ponyboy, who writes about his friends’ traumatic …

Voice And Reflection: Innovating Peer Review With Think-Aloud Group Discussions, Marissa Palmer

The Utah English Journal

“Ok guys, get out your Chromebooks and pull up your rough drafts. Today we are peer reviewing!”

As the students start getting things ready, there are a few groans from around the room and a few panicked “what if I’m not done yet?”s. The beginning of every peer review day starts the same: help kids get their essays properly formatted, demonstrate how to put their document in suggesting mode, and go over the protocols for the day.

Book Review: Monstrous: A Transracial Adoption Story, Amanda Thomas

The Utah English Journal

Sarah is a little girl with a vibrant inner life and explosive energy and creativity. From her first realization that The Little Mermaid was made by teams of artists drawing thousands of illustrations, she sees life and power in her art. Sarah relies on that power as she navigates the confusing and sometimes harsh realities of being one of few non-white kids growing up in her small Maryland town. Adopted from Korea as an infant, Sarah struggles to understand how she is different from the other kids and even from her older adopted sister, Liz (also from Korea). Every time …

From The Editors: Turning Pages, Turning Hearts, Mandy Luszeck, Jon Ostenson, Rachel Knecht

The Utah English Journal

When my students complete reflections on their readings, my favorite responses usually say something along the lines of, “I never saw it that way before, but now I do.” As English Language Arts teachers, we are well aware that literature is more than mere stagnant text, rather it is dynamic. It is transformative. Perspectives, experiences, ways of being that might otherwise be shielded from our students are illuminated in the stories they read, allowing them in turn to see and understand the world around them in a new light. According to Steven Wolk (2009), “As educators, we need to help …

Seasons, Emily Feveryear

The Utah English Journal

Fall:

The falling leaves

Bring a familiar crunch and

A familiar warmth.

This time I am ready.

Flames, Lorena Lesué

The Utah English Journal

She had worked herself thin,

hunched over a keyboard or the students’ desks

for fifty hours a week.

By year nineteen,

the muscles atop her shoulders

bookended her neck

like turtle shells.

Book Review: There Goes The Neighborhood, Feliciana Lopez-Goodman

The Utah English Journal

Rhea’s motives seem simple—save her best friend from eviction and stop the neighborhood from falling apart. As is true for all complex characters, there is more to Rhea, Zeke, and Malachi as they create a fake gang in their South LA neighborhood of Kofa Park. In Jade Adia’s debut novel There Goes the Neighborhood, gentrification is front and center as three teenagers take on the responsibility of saving their neighborhood and their chosen family.

Minoritized Students’ Internship Experiences In World Languages: A Call For Research, Mathias Guerreiro-Aires, Paula Garrett-Rucks

Dimensions

Higher education has undergone important shifts over the past two decades, with U.S. universities placing more emphasis on career readiness and internships becoming an integral part of academia (National Association of Colleges and Employers [NACE], 2021). Moreover, the student population in U.S. universities has become more diverse (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2023), which has drawn more attention to issues of equity and access to career readiness initiatives such as internships (Greenman et al., 2022). Disparities exist for students from historically marginalized racial and ethnic communities, such as Black, Latinx, and Afro-Latinx students, from their White peers not only …

Functional Grammar And Artificial Intelligence: A Vision For Enhancing The Teaching Of Arabic In Universities For Non-Specialists, Dr. Fathi Ahmed Alshormani

Faculty Peer-Reviewed Papers | بحوث هيئة التدريس المحكمة

No abstract provided.

Kendrick Lamar Brings New Literature To The Ela Classroom, Chris A. Peck

The Utah English Journal

Until April of 2017 I was only mildly aware of Kendrick Lamar. I had listened to and enjoyed songs like “Alright” and “Swimming Pools” but had little experience past these songs. After his album D.A.M.N. came out, I began to see several posts regarding the importance of this album, many responses by professors and teachers I knew well and trusted.

Co-Creating A Community Of Learners Through Interactive Read-Alouds Of Expository Texts, Kari Allsup

The Utah English Journal

I am reading aloud Zombie Makers: True Stories of Nature’s Undead (Johnson, 2013) to a group of 7th grade students. The text describes the larva stage where a young jewel wasp feasts on the cockroach’s insides. As I read, there are scattered exclamations of “ewwww,” “sick,” and audible gasps. I stop reading to dig into these reactions.

Sentence Detective: Investigating Sentence Structure To Support Reading Comprehension, Rachel Knecht

The Utah English Journal

Jacob was honest about his usual reading strategies. Like Jacob, readers with a history of reading difficulties may deal with challenging, long, or unfamiliar sentences by skipping or stumbling over them (Nomvete & Easterbrooks, 2020; Vaughn et al., 2022). But, Jacob offered another strategy— Sentence Detective. Over the past six weeks, Jacob had learned how to use Sentence Detective, a strategy for breaking sentences down into meaningful, more manageable parts. Although skipping or skimming may have been his go-to strategy for sentence-level comprehension, he now had another tool to try out.

Good Practice For All Sentence Frames To Support Multingual Students In The Ela Classroom, Genevieve Palestino

The Utah English Journal

The struggle to meet student needs is an ever- present concern for all teachers. Besides English 9, I teach English Language Development (ELD), and I frequently find myself in conversations with other teachers about how to support our school’s multilingual (ML) population. One thing I try to emphasize in my conversations with teachers is that most “extra steps” for MLs are best-practice strategies that will benefit all students. A strategy that can be especially beneficial for students is leveled sentence frames.

Me Between The Lines: An Intertextual Search For Self, Jamie Jo Porter

The Utah English Journal

In the winter of 2023, I noticed a general struggle among my AP Literature students to connect and identify with characters and events we were reading about in class. Upon further investigation, I realized that this wasn’t because my students weren’t reading relatable texts, but more because they were still developing a sense of self; in their search for identity, they were not seeing pieces of themselves reflected in the world around them. As a teacher, it pained me to realize that my students weren’t even anticipating that there were things out there in the world that they could relate …

Thinking And Writing With Ai As A Dialogue Partner, Jon Ostenson, Johnny Allred

The Utah English Journal

When generative AI burst onto the public stage in late 2022, it took many of us by surprise. After we had time to see what chatbots like ChatGPT were capable of, they filled many writing teachers with a sense of dread. Some of us realized that assignments we had relied on for years would no longer work because they could easily be completed by a chatbot. All of us worried about how this new technology would influence our students’ writing and the way we taught writing.