Opportunities and Outcomes: The Role of Peers in Developing the Oral Academic English Proficiency of Adolescent English Learners

Abstract

Although researchers often acknowledge the importance of linguistically rich interactions in the academic language development of emergent bilingual students, few studies have explicitly examined the role of linguistic peer support and the underlying structure of social relationships in the second language learning experiences and outcomes of immigrant adolescents in schooling contexts. This mixed methods study investigates the role of peers-including bilingual peers-in the development of oral academic English during adolescence. Using social network analysis, this study describes the unique contribution of peer linguistic resources to the oral Academic English Proficiency of 102 adolescent Spanish-speaking immigrant students. Findings show that having bilingual peers who collaborated on academic tasks with participants, in English or Spanish, contributed to academic English proficiency beyond individual predictors of second language acquisition (age, time in the United States, gender, and maternal education). Peer social network composition indexed the opportunities adolescent English learners encountered at school to learn and use academic English.

Creating Classroom Communities in Linguistically Diverse Settings: Teacher-Directed, Classroom-Level Factor Effects on Peer Dynamics

“…Crosslanguage-status relationships, on the other hand, may be valuable to EL students as a source of interaction with experienced English speakers that supports the development of language skills necessary for school success (Haneda & Wells, 2008;Valdés, 2004). Consistent with this, Carhill-Poza (2015) found that among Spanish-speaking immigrant students, time spent speaking English with peers was a significant predictor of their standardized assessed English proficiency levels. While theory and evidence underscore the potential for bridging and bonding peer relationships to be leveraged for language acquisition and academic growth, there is limited work exploring how particular classroom conditions may foster or hinder these different types of relationships.…”

Building Linguistically Integrated Classroom Communities: The Role of Teacher Practices

“…Institutional mechanisms in U.S. schools that sort students into courses or academic tracks according to assessed language proficiency often further limit students’ access to peers who are linguistically different from themselves (e.g., Kibler & Valdés, 2016; Valdés, 2001). And while social and academic connections with other language learners can provide space for learning and shared struggle without “competition from native speakers” (García & Bartlett, 2007, p. 6), interaction with English-dominant or bi/multilingual peers is also important, both as a key resource for access and exposure to how English is used in the context of U.S. education (e.g., Carhill-Poza, 2011, 2015; Hawkins, 2004; Valdés, 2004), and as a source of connectedness to classmates that facilitates greater school engagement (e.g., Benner, 2011; Tsai, 2006). Because cross-language peer relationships often also cross racial/ethnic boundaries, findings from this body of research are relevant to the current study, and there is evidence that relationships both within and across racial/ethnic groups provide unique benefits to all involved.…”

“I Know There's Something Like That in Spanish”: Heritage Language Learners' Multifaceted Interactions with Linguistically Diverse Peers

“…Our study is informed by a vibrant body of research that has demonstrated the importance of peer interactions especially among adolescent multilingual students (Carhill‐Poza, 2015, 2018; Kibler et al, 2018; Kibler, Atteberry, Hardigree, & Salerno, 2015; King, Bigelow, & Hirsi, 2017; Martin‐Beltrán, 2013, 2014). This body of work has largely focused on adolescents who are classified as English learners (ELs), although these scholars are critical of terminology that perpetuates deficit orientations (Kibler & Valdés, 2016).…”

“…This critical work sheds light on the importance of interactions among culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) adolescents but has rarely focused on HLLs as a distinct population (Valdés, 2005). Prior research has shown how adolescent peer interactions can offer expanded opportunities to engage a wider linguistic repertoire and how using languages other than English (LOTEs) affords opportunities to develop English (e.g., Carhill‐Poza, 2015, 2018). Rather than focus on English development, our current study seeks to understand how CLD adolescents also engage and develop LOTEs.…”