Disciplinary literacy and multimodal text design in physical education

This article argues that scholarship on literacy in and across the disciplines has disproportionately focused on the core subjects of English, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies rather than on “specialist” subjects such as Physical Education. This disparity in emphasis has provided little guidance to specialist teachers seeking to understand and address the literacy demands of subject areas that often privilege an expanded conception of literacy. To illustrate the affordances of such analysis for PE teachers as well as their literacy colleagues, the reading demands of a particular multimodal text from PE—a three‐part basketball play—are presented in light of key themes from the US Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy. Complexities related to collective, embodied, and sequential meaning construction are explored. Recommendations for instruction and professional collaboration are shared.     

Teaching a Cognitive Strategy for Argument-based Writing in Middle School Social Studies

With the implementation of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy, as well as the onset of the C3 framework from the National Council of Social Studies, social studies teachers are tasked with integrating content and writing instruction in thoughtful and relevant ways. A middle school social studies teacher addressed this complex task by integrating a planning strategy for argument-based writing in his 8th-grade United States History class. To frame the teaching of the planning strategy and social studies content, the six instructional stages from the Self-regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) model were used. This article highlights the teacher's exploratory use of cognitive strategy instruction, SRSD, and impact on student writing.     

Evaluating the geography of gendered achievement using large-scale assessment data from the primary school system of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago

This study analyzed the spatial distribution of gender differentials in Mathematics and Language Arts on national assessments of educational achievement in the primary school system of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. The findings indicate statistically significant medium-sized differences favouring females on Language Arts primarily in the rural regions of east Trinidad and in the island of Tobago and statistically significant, negligible to small differences on Mathematics nationwide. Individual schools reporting medium-sized gender differences were more common in rural, low-performing education districts, where reported poverty was also higher. This pattern of early gendered achievement in language within low-achieving, poor and rural geographic locations points towards the need for placed-based education policies and focused interventions.     

Using educational technology to develop early literacy skills in Sub-Saharan Africa

The research explores the impact of interactive, multimedia literacy software (ABRA) on the reading skills of early elementary students in Kenya. Twelve grade two English teachers and their students from six schools were randomly divided in half: an experimental group (N?=?180) where ABRA was part of their English Language instruction and a control group (N?=?174) where regular instruction was used. After the pre-test student data were collected, a three-day initial training and planning session were held for the experimental teachers on how to use ABRA to teach literacy. Every week each experimental class was bussed to a computer lab with full access to ABRA for one 90-min lesson. Teacher support included the alignment of ABRA lesson plans with the Kenyan English Language norms, weekly web conferences with the trainer, as well as technical and pedagogical help from staff at the lab site. After the 13-week intervention, significant and substantial gains in reading comprehension were found for ABRA students as measured by GRADE, a standardized test of literacy. In addition, ABRA students outperformed their peers in control classes on the core end-of-year subject exams including English, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies.     

Exploring student hand-raising across two school subjects using mixed methods: An investigation of an everyday classroom behavior from a motivational perspective

Student hand-raising is an everyday behavior in classroom interactions with teachers. This research presents two studies that examine the variance in hand-raising and its relation to student motivation in two school subjects, Mathematics and Language Arts. Student hand-raising is introduced as an indicator of behavioral engagement. Study 1 investigated N = 397 high school students in 20 classrooms during a videotaped lesson in each subject. Multilevel regression analysis suggests that student motivation accounts for significant variance in hand-raising. The results show subject-specific differences: Student self-concept predicts hand-raising in Mathematics, while students' situational interest predicts their hand-raising in Language Arts. Students’ externally regulated motivation is predictive across both subjects. In Study 2, N = 14 high school students were interviewed about their hand-raising behavior. The results validate and extend the findings from Study 1. Finally, this research emphasizes the importance of fostering student hand-raising and discusses the implications for future research.     

How pre-service teachers construct Quad Text Sets for use in secondary classrooms

As a multi-disciplinary team of teacher educators (in English Language Arts, English as a Second Language/Foreign Language, science, and social studies), we consider how secondary pre-service teachers (PSTs) perceive content-area literacy integration through practitioner-research study of how PSTs constructed Quad Text Sets (QTS). Results indicated that PSTs envisioned QTS as a means to teach content-specific background knowledge, and to a lesser extent content-specific literacy and general literacy. Despite positive perceptions of QTS, some PSTs, particularly science PSTS, struggled to recognize literacy’s role in content-area classrooms. We explore how teacher educators can help PSTs incorporate literacy strategies into secondary classrooms.     

Building Bridges: A Cross-Disciplinary Peer-Coaching Self-Study

ABSTRACT

Cross-disciplinary self-studies and peer coaching have separately been shown to offer teacher educators meaningful professional development opportunities. However, the teacher educator literature has said little about combining cross-disciplinary self-studies with peer coaching. In this article, the authors report a two-year cross-disciplinary peer-coaching self-study by experienced teacher educators, one from English Language Arts and one from Mathematics Education. The purpose of the self-study was to examine the connections that bridge the two disciplines and the differences between disciplines that offer new perspectives. Results revealed important process connections involving standards for practice and academic vocabulary. The self-study also illuminated meaningful new perspectives about what questions are asked during whole-class discussion and how data is generated during student collaboration. This study demonstrates the benefits of combining cross-disciplinary teacher educator collaboration with peer coaching and has implications for individual teacher educators and teacher education programs.     

Investigating Uniform and Non-Uniform Gender DIF in Computer-Based ESL Writing Assessment

The objective of the present investigation was to examine the comparability of writing prompts for different gender groups in the context of the computer-based Test of English as a Foreign Language? (TOEFL®-CBT). A total of 87 prompts administered from July 1998 through March 2000 were analyzed. An extended version of logistic regression for polytomous items was used to investigate both uniform and non-uniform gender effects. An English Language Ability variable was developed from the multiple-choice components of the TOEFL®-CBT examination and used as a matching variable. Initially, most of the prompts were flagged because of statistically significant uniform gender effects, with some prompts displaying non-uniform effects as well. Nevertheless, the effect sizes were too small for any of those flagged prompts to be classified as having an important group effect. These findings are discussed in relation to prompt content review, gender format differences, and second language learning theories.     

Digital Instructional Strategies and Their Role in Classroom Learning

Research that examines technology use in the context of daily classroom practices is needed to support the effective digital conversion of classrooms. In this study, 65 seventh- through 10th-grade Mathematics and English Language Arts teachers from six districts across six states logged information about digital strategies they incorporated into their lessons to teach specific academic content standards. We describe six major digital instructional strategies and 16 related instructional tactics that teachers used over the course of a year, and analyze how these strategies relate to opportunity to learn. We found teachers tended to use technology for a variety of strategies with varying degrees of frequency. Technology use was usually viewed as central or essential to instruction. Relationships between technology use and opportunity to learn differed between specific strategies and by subject. A discussion of the study limitations and future research needs is provided. (Keywords: digital instructional strategy, digital instructional tactic, opportunity to learn)     

Popular Culture goes to school in Hong Kong: a Language Arts curriculum on revolutionary road?

English teaching and learning has taken an interesting shift in Hong Kong schools with the implementation of the New Senior Secondary (NSS) curriculum under the ‘334’ education reform. Situating the paper within the broader considerations of the intersection of Cultural Studies and English teaching, this paper examines the challenges and prospects of teaching the new Language Arts elective called Learning English through Popular Culture module. It is argued that while the module endeavours to connect and motivate Hong Kong students to learn English through popular culture materials, the official curriculum and schemes of work, however, narrowly articulate the teaching of popular culture texts conceived as ‘text-types’. Such a formulaic approach to using popular culture in the classroom is limiting and locks students into a procedural way of ‘thinking’ and ‘doing’ popular cultural texts. The paper concludes by offering some ways forward that might deliver what is otherwise a revolutionary and innovative curriculum. Beyond the specific case of Hong Kong, the curriculum challenge discussed is instructive for other education systems and curriculum scholars looking to develop new pedagogies from the intersecting disciplines of Cultural Studies and English teaching.     

大学英语教学中教师提问的顺应性研究

教师话语历来是语言学研究的重点,教师提问作为教师话语重要的组成部分近年来亦得到越来越多的关注。试从语用学的角度,利用Verschueren提出的顺应理论,对大学英语教学中的教师提问进行深入地分析和研究。从交际语境的顺应和语言结构顺应两个层面分析教师提问这一动态过程,对大学英语教学提出一些有价值的建议。     

The road to collaborative and integrated education: Success and struggle in a university classroom

Abstract

Although much of the contemporary discourse on collaborative teaching is positive, there is a dearth of information about and research on the practical issues of undertaking such an endeavor at the university level. The authors of this article team taught a course that combined three educational methods classes (Instruction in Elementary Language Arts, Instruction in Elementary Reading, and Instruction in Elementary Social Studies). This undertaking evoked positive experiences for the instructors and students but also evinced areas that caused conflict and concern, including conflicts regarding student assessment, amount of time required, and lack of administrative support. As we continue to incorporate and refine collaborative teaching at the university level, economics, recognition, and status issues also need to be examined.     

Is language learning a feminine domain? Examining the content and stereotype threat effect of female-language stereotypes among EFL learners in China

In various societies, language domains are stereotypically associated with females. Yet, few studies have investigated the exact content of such female-language stereotypes, or whether they lead to stereotype threat effect among language learners. A questionnaire was distributed to 1,165 learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) from eight high schools in China, and participants were found to stereotypically regard female learners more positively in three aspects of English learning: aptitude, affect and achievement. Compared to boys or junior students, girls and more senior ones had stronger stereotypes. A subsequent field experiment was conducted on 427 students from a ninth school, revealing that priming female-language stereotypes prior to an English test impaired boys’ performance when English competence was controlled for. The studies suggest that male EFL learners were adversely portrayed and affected by the female-language stereotypes. Educational implications, particularly for language learners and educators, and policy-makers, are discussed.     

Teaching second-grade students to write sequential text

With the adoption of the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards, writing has become an increasingly important area of instruction. Moreover, there has been an increased sophistication in the types of writing required of young children and the use of textual evidence expected in student writing. Historically, children have not been routinely taught explicit strategies for writing, but have been exposed to less rigid writing instruction such as Writer's Workshop. The current study examined an explicit writing strategy, the Read-to-Write Strategy, to determine its effectiveness in teaching young children how to write sequential text. A single subject design (N = 40) was used to compare the writing of second graders before and after instruction. Results indicated that the Read-to-Write Strategy significantly increased the quality of sequential text from the pre- to post-instruction with a large effect size reported. Implications and recommendations for educators and researchers are provided.     

“Promoting Acceptance” or “Preparing Warrior Scholars”: Variance in Teaching for Social Justice Vision and Praxis

A growing body of research explores theoretical models of teaching for social justice in P-12 classrooms and in teacher education. However, many of these models fail to account for the relationship between teachers’ social justice frameworks and their classroom practices. In this article, I use vignettes drawn from a recent study of secondary English Language Arts teachers to illustrate how differences in social location and sociopolitical emphasis affect teachers’ approaches to justice-oriented curriculum, pedagogy, and social action. This article concludes with implications for teaching and teacher education, including strategies for using these findings in preservice classrooms.     

A familiar face: Student-teacher rematches and student achievement

We use administrative data from Indiana to test whether student-teacher rematches in consecutive years affect student achievement. Using models that control for student and teacher fixed effects, we show that student-teacher rematches increase test scores in math and English Language Arts. The positive effects of rematching are constant over elementary and middle-school grades and more pronounced for historically underserved students. Our findings directly support strategies that aim to keep students and teachers together for longer periods of time during K-12 education. They are also consistent with the broader hypothesis that students benefit from increased student-teacher familiarity.     

美国“共同核心州立标准”中K～2年级语言标准简介

美国2010年颁布的"共同核心州立标准"包括《共同核心州立数学标准》和《共同核心州立英语语言标准》。本文介绍了《共同核心州立英语语言标准》的目标、结构以及K～2年级的具体内容。这份标准对我国《3～6岁儿童学习与发展指南》的制订与实施有借鉴意义。     

Swain输出假设理论对师范生英语口语教学的启示

英语口语能力是英语专业师范生的一项基本素质要求,但国内英语教学普遍存在着重语言输入轻语言输出的现象,这对于学生英语口语能力的培养是十分不利的。本研究对福建幼儿师范高等专科学校三年专外语系和艺术系学生英语口语现状开展问卷调查,并进行成因分析,认为Swain的＂输出假设＂理论对师范生英语口语教学具有重大启示意义。     

Developing special needs provision in an international school

Abstract

Although all multicultural, multilingual, and multinational students in international schools can have special needs, the International School of Brussels wanted to increase support for particular ‘at risk’ students. This population seemed to include: students who passed standardized English as a Foreign Language tests but were not literate enough for regular classes, students with learning problems not identified in previous language or culture, and students who experienced temporary learning disabilities because of a discrepancy between what they brought to the school programme and what the school programme asked of them. The existing secondary school options included English as a Foreign Language and English as a Second Language (EFL/ESL) to prepare students for entry into regular classes, and also small group or individualized instruction to support students with special needs in regular classes. Adapting Curriculum‐Based Assessment (CBA) in an international school caused staff to review: curriculum offerings, examinations and activities, enabling objectives and minimum competency skills, and multinational approaches to special needs. The CBA philosophy supported an emphasis on local needs and the development of a school‐appropriate standard of performance for students despite culture, language, or nationality.