Toward asset‐oriented and definitionally clear terminology: A comment on <scp>González‐Howard</scp> and Suárez (2021)

Grapin, Scott E.

doi:10.1002/tea.21686

Cited by 10 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 5 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…These researchers instead favor terms that foreground the assets that students bring, such as ML and "emergent bilingual" (e.g., García & Li, 2014). However, a challenge with newer terms is that, while more asset oriented, they are less clearly defined (e.g., an ML may or may not be bureaucratically classified as an EL in school; Grapin, 2021). Still other researchers across STEM education (e.g., Takeuchi et al, 2022) and multilingual education (e.g., Flores et al, 2020) advocate interrogating the colonial logics and racializing processes that create such terms in the first place.…”

Section: Demographic Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Science education with multilingual learners: Equity as access and equity as transformation

et al. 2023

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Research in science education with multilingual learners (MLs) has expanded rapidly. This rapid expansion can be situated within a larger dialogue about what it means to provide minoritized students with an equitable education. Whereas some conceptions of equity focus on ensuring all students have access to the knowledge, practices, and language normatively valued in K‐12 schools (equity as access), increasingly prominent conceptions focus on transforming those knowledge, practices, and language in ways that center minoritized students and their communities (equity as transformation). In this article, we argue that conceptions of equity provide a useful lens for understanding emerging research in science education with MLs and for charting a research agenda. We begin by tracing how conceptions of equity have evolved in parallel across STEM and multilingual education. Then, we provide an overview of recent developments from demographic, theoretical, and policy perspectives. In the context of these developments, we provide a conceptual synthesis of emerging research by our team of early‐career scholars in three areas: (a) learning, (b) assessment, and (c) teacher education. Within each area, we unpack the research efforts in terms of how they attend to equity as access while pushing toward equity as transformation. Finally, we propose a research agenda for science education with MLs that builds on and extends these efforts. We close by offering recommendations for making this research agenda coherent and impactful: (a) being explicit about our conceptions of equity, (b) paying attention to the interplay of structure and agency, and (c) promoting interdisciplinary collaboration.

show abstract

Section: Demographic Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Science education with multilingual learners: Equity as access and equity as transformation

et al. 2023

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…drew on his personal experiences and identities as a second-generation immigrant and chemistry graduate student when designing the study and its research questions, interviewing participants, analyzing the data, and developing this manuscript. Throughout the study, we examined participants’ experiences with asset-oriented framing, focusing on how systems of power (e.g., the expectation to use English in science) shape the experiences of participants (Eng+ chemistry trainees), as well as how these systems might change to better serve members from diverse language backgrounds. ,− For example, we use the term “English-as-an-additional language” in lieu of other terms like “English-as-a-second language” and “English language learner” to better acknowledge the experiences, identities, and skills/knowledge Eng+ trainees already have before entering classrooms, research environments, etc. , We also deliberately pursued ways to honor participants’ experiences and account for our own biases and assumptions (e.g., member-checking with participants) …”

Section: Positionality Statementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…10,28−31 For example, we use the term "English-as-an-additional language" in lieu of other terms like "English-as-a-second language" and "English language learner" to better acknowledge the experiences, identities, and skills/knowledge Eng+ trainees already have before entering classrooms, research environments, etc. 32,33 We also deliberately pursued ways to honor participants' experiences and account for our own biases and assumptions (e.g., member-checking with participants). 34 ■…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“I Am Working 24/7, but I Can’t Translate That to You”: The Barriers, Strategies, and Needed Supports Reported by Chemistry Trainees from English-as-an-Additional Language Backgrounds

Deng

Flynn

2023

J. Chem. Educ.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Having a shared language such as English facilitates the globalization of science, but it can also limit science by posing barriers for those who have learned English-as-an-additional language (Eng+). Research on the experiences of Eng+ graduate students and postdoctoral researchers ("trainees") is needed as our scientific community becomes more diverse and continues working toward improving equity and inclusion; without such research, we risk losing out on perspectives and expertise that might otherwise strengthen scientific progress. We investigated three research questions: (1) What are Eng+ chemistry trainees' language experiences before entering English-dominant research programs? (2) What language barriers have trainees faced in learning, communicating, and doing chemistry? and (3) What strategies and supports have been helpful or needed? In focus groups and interviews with 18 Eng+ trainees, participants described having diverse language experiences before entering English-dominant research programs and faced challenges working in an English research environment. Participants reported avoiding interactions with colleagues, exacerbated feelings of imposter syndrome, needing extra time to learn or communicate, and not being able to fully express their knowledge. Participants expressed an ongoing desire to learn English and described various independent strategies to navigate challenges. All participants believed that research supervisors and institutions needed to play a larger role in supporting Eng+ trainees, such as supervisors who offer personal and professional support, and institutional supports that provide chemistry-specific knowledge-building and networking opportunities. Based on the findings, we recommend approaches that supervisors and institutions can enact that may improve linguistic equity in the chemical sciences.

show abstract

“…Specifically, MLs participate meaningfully by deploying multiple modalities, including gesture (e.g., Ünsal et al, 2018), visual representation (e.g., Ryoo & Bedell, 2018), and embodied representation (e.g., Varelas et al, 2022); multiple registers of language, including both everyday and specialized registers (e.g., Brown & Ryoo, 2008; Cardozo‐Gaibisso et al, 2020); and multiple named languages, such as Spanish and English (e.g., Rutt & Mumba, 2022; Suárez, 2020)—all in the context of goal‐directed interactions with peers (e.g., González‐Howard & McNeill, 2016) and artifacts in their environment (e.g., Ryoo & Bedell, 2018). This shift from a deficit‐oriented to asset‐oriented view of MLs is evident in the evolving terminology used to refer to these students (González‐Howard & Suárez, 2021; Grapin, 2021; WIDA Consortium, 2020), from “English learner,” which emphasizes what students are perceived to be lacking (i.e., English), to “multilingual learner,” which emphasizes what resources they bring (i.e., multiple and varied meaning‐making resources).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multilingual learners' epistemologies in practice in the context of computational modeling in an elementary science classroom

et al. 2023

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) have spurred renewed interest in the epistemologies that students adopt as they engage in science practices. One framework for characterizing students' epistemologies is the epistemologies in practice framework (Berland et al. (2016), Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 53(7), 1082–1112), which focuses on students' meaningful use of four epistemic considerations: Nature, Generality, Justification, and Audience. To date, research based on the framework has primarily examined students' use of the epistemic considerations in the context of diagrammatic modeling. However, with computational technologies becoming more prevalent in science classrooms, the framework could be applied to investigate students' engagement in computational modeling. Moreover, computational modeling could be particularly beneficial to a fast‐growing population of multilingual learners (MLs) in the U.S. K‐12 context, who benefit from leveraging multiple meaning‐making resources (e.g., code, dynamic visualization). This study examined MLs' meaningful use of four epistemic considerations in the context of computational modeling in an elementary science classroom. Fifth‐grade MLs (N = 11) participated in two interviews about computational models they had developed as part of two NGSS‐designed instructional units that integrated computational modeling (in addition to other model types). Findings indicated that, while students used all four epistemic considerations across the interviews, some considerations (Nature and Generality) were used more frequently than others (Justification and Audience). Beyond diagrammatic modeling, computational modeling offered unique affordances for MLs to meaningfully use the considerations as well as to communicate this use, though not without some emergent challenges. Overall, this study highlights the promise of computational modeling for providing a rich sense‐making and meaning‐making context for MLs to use epistemic considerations. The study also highlights the importance of attending to both epistemic and linguistic aspects of MLs' science learning as well as the potential of interdisciplinary research for studying this learning.

show abstract

Toward asset‐oriented and definitionally clear terminology: A comment on González‐Howard and Suárez (2021)

Cited by 10 publications

References 5 publications

Science education with multilingual learners: Equity as access and equity as transformation

Science education with multilingual learners: Equity as access and equity as transformation

“I Am Working 24/7, but I Can’t Translate That to You”: The Barriers, Strategies, and Needed Supports Reported by Chemistry Trainees from English-as-an-Additional Language Backgrounds

Multilingual learners' epistemologies in practice in the context of computational modeling in an elementary science classroom

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About