Dynamic Bilingualism as the Norm: Envisioning a Heteroglossic Approach to Standards‐Based Reform

Abstract

Abstract:Standards-based reforms in many Anglophone nations have been informed by monoglossic language ideologies that marginalize the dynamic bilingualism of emergent bilinguals. Recent developments in applied linguistics that advocate for heteroglossic language ideologies offer an alternative for standards-based reform. This article argues that standards-based reform initiatives will not be able to address the needs of emergent bilingual students unless they create ideological spaces that move away from monoglossic language ideologies toward heteroglossic language ideologies and implementational spaces that provide concrete tools for enacting this vision in the classroom. With a particular focus on the Common Core State Standards in the U.S. context, the article develops a vision for standards-based reform that begins to affirm and build on the dynamic bilingualism of emergent bilingual students. Specifically, the article explores two classrooms and the New York State Bilingual Common Core Initiative as starting points for theorizing how to develop ideological and implementational spaces that infuse heteroglossic language ideologies into standards-based reform initiatives while also emphasizing the role of monoglossic approaches to assessments in ultimately undermining the attempts that are currently being made. Many Anglophone nations have adopted standards-based educational reform initiatives that include English language learners (henceforth referred to as emergent bilinguals 1 ). These reform initiatives are often framed as necessary for preparing students for our increasingly globalized

Reimagining English‐Medium Instructional Settings as Sites of Multilingual and Multimodal Meaning Making

“…Nevertheless, it is important to find ways to help them overcome this challenge. However, based on the cases presented here and on other research (e.g., Flores & Schissel, 2014;Garc ıa & Wei, 2013), two things seem to be essential: first, an orientation towards valuing multilingualism as an asset and, second, the incorporation of emergent bi/multilinguals' semiotic repertoires in classroom activities. It is also important that, in parallel, teachers develop what Canagarajah (2013) calls translingual dispositions-mindsets that consider the use of multiple languages and multimodal resources to be an integral part of instruction.…”

Symposium: Language Assessment in Standards‐Based Education Reform

“…Moreover, assessment of English proficiency and academic content operates from a monolingual, monoglossic (García, ) paradigm, setting expectations that bilinguals should learn and perform on assessments the same ways monolinguals do (see also Flores & Schissel, ). Yet recent research highlights how bilinguals' cognitive and linguistic practices differ from monolinguals' (Blackledge & Creese, ; Brutt‐Griffler & Varghese, ; Cook, ; García, ).…”

An Exploration of Elementary Teachers’ Views of Informal Reading Inventories in Dual Language Bilingual Programs

“…The importance of a dynamic bilingual perspective for the education of emergent bilinguals is critical to teachers' total understanding of emergent bilinguals (Flores & Schissel, 2014;García, 2009;Hopewell, 2011;Soltero-González, Escamilla, & Hopewell, 2012). The move away from parallel monolingualism where students are taught literacy and language skills in each of their languages separately to dynamic bilingualism is an important one for instruction.…”

“…Despite the abundance of research on the importance of transfer in the acquisition of language and literacy skills for emergent bilinguals, recent scholarship has reframed this discussion through a focus on dynamic bilingual practices (Flores & Schissel, 2014;García, 2009;Hopewell & Escamilla, 2014). Under the framework of dynamic bilingualism, language is considered "action and practice" (García & Li Wei, 2014, p. 1).…”