The purpose of this study was to understand messages about the role of language and literacy in the Next Generation Science Standards and the C3 Framework for Social Studies standards documents. We engaged in a content analysis of (a) framework documents that provide the theoretical basis for the standards and (b) learning expectation statements for elementary grade students. Findings indicated a substantial emphasis on supporting language and literacy for disciplinary learning, with emphases on discipline-specific practices and apprenticing children into these practices, often through classroom discussion, beginning in the elementary grades. Although student expectations use similar terminology across science and social studies—for example, explain, argue, and ask—framework documents clarify disciplinary differences in the ways that these practices are enacted. Supporting students’ disciplinary language and literacy development in alignment with these ambitious standards will likely require substantial instructional change in elementary classrooms.
This mixed-methods study analyzed how elementary-school children translated while reading Spanish-English dual-language books (DLBs). Specifically, it investigated the types of strategies students used to translate words in DLBs, strategies’ success, and differences in strategy use based on grade, home language(s), and oral reading accuracy. Sixty-three Spanish-English biliterate third and fifth graders participated in the study. Verbal protocols/think-alouds explaining their translation strategies were analyzed qualitatively using discourse analysis and quantitatively to establish trends. Findings suggest that strategies used most frequently by third graders and/or students with lower oral reading accuracies focused on textual features, whereas strategies used most frequently by fifth graders and/or students with higher accuracies were informed by linguistic knowledge. Results discuss how strategies reflect developing metalinguistic knowledge, linguistic assumptions, and ways that participants drew upon their linguistic repertoires to translate and engage in translanguaging. Also discussed are instructional implications for supporting biliteracy development and for dual-language programs.
Engaging in discussions of texts featuring diverse expressions of bilingualism is important at the elementary level to move away from historical conceptions of bilingualism focused on language proficiency and instead embrace a translanguaging view focused on linguistic practices. To successfully engage in these conversations, understanding bilingualism’s complexities is important. To choose books that reflect students, it is also key to learn more about their language practices, as they are often more complex than what home language surveys may capture. To these ends, the authors present ways to supplement home language surveys and engage students in text discussions about bilingualism (including providing book recommendations and potential discussion questions).
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