On Ethnographic Studies and Multicultural Education

Bias in Problem Solving and the Social Process of Student Study Teams

“…Among the situations that microethnographies focus on are the effect that social forces have on "the way that participants understand the unspoken requirements of social interactions" (Murray et al, 1985, p. 20) and how "the accomplishment of order, no matter how institutionally regressive, can be understood in terms of an effort on everyone's part to make sense in common with others around them, given their contexts" (R. P. McDermott, 1977, p. 54). Trueba and Wright (1981) discuss how human behavior serves a function and makes sense in a given context and quote Frake's (1964) definition of ethnography: to "account for the behavior of a people by describing the socially acquired and shared knowledge, or culture, that enables members of society to behave in ways deemed appropriate by their fellows" (p. 132).…”

Science knowledge and cognitive strategy use among culturally and linguistically diverse students

“…Others may understand the concepts but use discourse patterns incompatible with the ways in which science content is discussed in English Michaels & O'Connor, 1990). Still others may have both the concepts and the discourse patterns but lack the social pragmatic knowledge of how to participate in class activities and display their understanding in classroom contexts (Au & Kawakami, 1994;Tharp & Gallimore, 1988;Trueba & Wright, 1992).…”

Process research in second-language classrooms

“…(Edmondson, 1980, makes a theoretical argument for understanding the multiple ' discourse worlds' of the classroom; empirical studies with an ethnographic perspective are reported by Cicurel, 1984 b, andVan Lier, 1984. ) Theoretical arguments for the adoption of a qualitative, ethnographic approach to the study of L2 classroom processes have been advanced by Mehan (1977Mehan ( , 1981, Trueba and Wright (1981) and Trueba (1982). Trueba and Wright, and also Erickson and Mohatt (1982), make an extended case for the use in schools of so-called 'microethnography'.…”

“…Enright (1984), in his review of sociolinguistic and anthropological studies of classroom life, is critical of what he considers the premature adoption of a process-product approach in the evaluation of bilingual programmes. Other reviewers of ethnographic studies of bilinguals and their behaviour in bilingual/bicultural classrooms include Cazden, Carrasco, Maldonado-Guzman and Erickson (1980); studies of language use patterns in bilingual classrooms); and Trueba and Wright (1981: microethnographic classroom studies).…”