“She Doesn’t Have the Basic Understanding ofaLanguage”: Using Spelling Research to Challenge Deficit Conceptualizations of Adolescent Bilinguals

Abstract

This article examines the alternative English spelling practices of a student who is considered to be a long-term English learner. It draws on a theoretical framework that integrates a social perspective on spelling with a rejection of idealized conceptions of bilingualism. The analyzed English spellings presented in this article were identified in eight texts that the focal student composed during her English language arts class. Notably, this examination was contextualized within the focal student's linguistic and schooling history. The resulting findings document that the focal student was a simultaneous bilingual who had a troubled history with formal schooling-the place where many young people learn spelling conventions. The predominant practice that characterized her alternative spellings was her use of conventional English sound-to-letter relationships to create a written echo of the speech patterns of her home, school, and community. When her alternative spelling did not reflect these Englishes, they typically illustrated her familiarity with the normative spelling of particular words. Yet the practices that characterized her spelling meant that they strayed from accepted conventions (e.g., transposition/omission/insertion of letters). The focal student's alternative spelling practices illustrated her familiarity with the English writing system and the depth of her knowledge of multiple Englishes.

The Impact of English Learner Reclassification on High School Reading and Academic Progress

“…Many ELs end up in long-term status not because of their own effort or ability but because schools fail to provide them with appropriate support (Olsen, 2010). Students who maintain EL status into secondary school tend to be perceived by teachers and counselors not as bilingual but as semilingual, and, as a result, are not given access to rigorous academic courses and materials (Brooks, 2017; Kim & Garcia, 2014; Thompson, 2015). In addition, a disproportionately large fraction (e.g., 17.4% in my sample) of long-term ELs are identified as having a disability (Umansky, Thompson, & Diaz, 2017).…”

Understanding young children’s everyday biliteracy: “Spontaneous” and “scientific” influences on learning

“…This study has several implications for teachers. Some teachers may be unaware of the social, educational and linguistic influences shaping bilingual children’s orthographic development; and perceive their inventive spelling as concerning or indicative of a linguistic deficit (Brooks, 2017; Kalmar, 2015). However, studies of bilingual children’s writing over time show that they move through unconventional approximations in each language towards conventional forms in both (Gort, 2006; Howard et al., 2012).…”

Shared Book Reading and Bilingual Decoding in Latinx Immigrant Homes

“…9. Brooks's (2017) and Sebba's (2007) work has made a similar argument for conceptualizing orthography as a social practice, contending that orthography is also deeply situated within social and political contexts and reflects writers' unique backgrounds and experiences.…”