Kicking around an idea for this semester's pilot study leading into my dissertation topic. Still looking at cultural competency, but looking more through the lens of the successful ESL teacher. Here's what I have so far. Let me know what you think.. work in progress..always is :)
Abstract
The purpose of this
pilot study is to identify successful strategies and pedagogical techniques
used by ESL teachers in their classrooms. In greater detail, this study is
designed to investigate specific methods which ESL instructors incorporate as
part of their lesson planning to engage their students. The research gathering strategies
used for this study will consist of interviews with teachers and students,
observations, and a short narrative from each teacher describing their favorite
strategy. This study will be based on the constructivist design while applying
the framework of critical reflexivity, which requires teachers to examine how
their past experiences have shaped their ideas on their roles and
responsibilities as teachers. This framework has been shaped by several prominent
educational researchers.
Research
Problem
Classrooms
across the United States are becoming more diverse. While a number of cities,
such as Miami, Los Angeles, El Paso, and Phoenix have enjoyed a long transition
into diversity, some areas of the country are not. One such area is the Hampton
Roads region of Virginia. While other northern regions in the state enjoy
diverse learning communities, the percentages of Hispanic and Asian students in
Hampton Roads schools are still low. For example, the most recent demographic
of the Newport News school system shows only 9.9% Hispanic students, and 2.9%
Asian (2010). By comparison, in the city of Alexandria, these percentages are
30.7 and 5.0, respectively (2010).
However, the percentages of minority students
in the Hampton Roads region are rising and will continue to do so. To continue
preparing for this change in demographics, school systems in southeastern
Virginia will need to hire more ESL teachers in the near future. Currently,
there are very few ESL teachers in the area. An inquiry to one school system
with four high schools, seven middle schools and 24 elementary schools elicited
a response that there were 3-4 ESL teachers currently employed in the entire
system – one for each level.
At this time, it is not
believed that any research has been conducted on the expected growth of
Hispanic and Asian students to this region. There is also little evidence of
any planning for this shift in demographics at the regional level. The
intention is to examine the situation in one school system. By examining a locality
with only several teachers, I intend to capture the essence of what is working.
These results will be compared to results in a larger study, which will be
conducted in a larger school system, probably in Northern Virginia. By
identifying the successful methods and techniques which are brought into the
classroom by ESL teachers in more diverse regions, the objective as a
researcher is to make comparisons to the methods and techniques used by
teachers in the Hampton Roads and determine which methods and background techniques
are working successfully. This information can be presented to school
administrators who will be in the position to seek and retain successful ESL
teachers in the next several years.
Purpose
Statement
Ladson-Billings
(1995) notes the importance of cultural competency in the classroom by stating
that “not only must teachers encourage academic success and cultural
competence, they must help students to recognize, understand, and critique
current social inequities.” (p. 476)
Studies have shown that because of the
conflict with language understanding, literacy can be gained with ESL students
by making the topic in literacy relevant to the student’s life and interests (Smallwood,
1998; Singleton, 2000). Keeping the participatory approach conceived in the
Frierian model of ESL curriculum in mind, other educators have developed
multi-step plans to help ESL language learners develop better command of the
English language (Rominski & Vazquez, 1997; Frederick & Huss-Lederman,
1998). Some of these techniques have been emulated at the school system level
(NYCBE, 1997).
Some
of these programs and techniques concentrate on the reading aspect of learning
English, while others make the transition to putting the newly learned material
into writing form. As noted by Bello (1997), “by integrating writing with
content at every level of instruction, teachers help learners find their own
voices in their new language and develop the ability to communicate effectively
in different contexts and with different audiences.” (ERIC DIGEST, p.5). While
translating to a new language, it is imperative to note that teachers are responsible to be aware of their
students’ perceptions of what
helps them progress and somehow to incorporate these perceptions into their
teaching (Diab, p. 40).
While ESL teaching is unique, many
of the methods and techniques used by these teachers could fall under the
larger framework of cultural competency. According to Ladson-Billings (2008), “culturally
relevant teaching must meet three criteria: an ability to develop students
academically, willingness to nurture and support cultural competence, and the
development of a sociopolitical or critical consciousness.” (p.
483)
My
previous research has focused on topics relating to cultural competency issues
for teachers, and the culturally competent characteristics exhibited by high
school coaches. My intention with this study is to identify positive methods
used by ESL teachers to communicate with their students.
Research
Question
My
main research question for this study will be:
·
What are the personal and pedagogical
characteristics specifically focused toward teaching ESL students? (compared to
a traditional classroom teacher)
Interview
Questions
Questions to be used for each teacher
(8-10) will include the following:
- · Tell me why you became an ESL teacher. (Warm-Up – should provide some personal background)
- · Describe a typical day in your school (Warm-Up – might help to shed light on how school system/Title III funding affects one’s job)
- · Describe the classroom methods or strategies that you use to teach ESL students?
- · What role does resources play in helping you develop lesson plans to teach ESL students?
- · How do you use the resources available to you to teach ESL students in your classroom?
- · Do you think your school system properly provide you with the necessary resources to work in an ESL classroom? (is improvisation important?)
- · Do you think there are differences between the classroom needs of ESL students and students for whom English is a first language?
- · Do you think that your cultural and social background plays a role in the classroom? Why or why not?
- · What is your favorite lesson to teach to ESL students? (can ask…might be more for background)
- · What is the greatest challenge you face as an ESL teacher?
- · What are some of the ways you work to overcome this challenge?
- · What are some of the ways that you utilize the course curriculum? Is there room for creativity and thinking “outside of the box?” Give me some examples.
- · How would your students describe you as a teacher?
The
data gathered from the answers to these questions is intended to lead to potentially
relevant follow-up questions and provide the subjects an opportunity to reflect
before making further comments, either in oral or written form. Because this is
a pilot study, I will probably not have follow-up questions.
The
other part of my fact-finding strategy is to conduct a 30-45 minute observation
of each teacher in class. The purpose is to see him/her put the methods
described into practice.
References
Bello, T. (1997). Improving ESL Learners’ Writing
Skills, ERIC Digest. Washington, DC:
National Clearinghouse for ESL Literary
Education.
Demographic statistics (2010-2011), Alexandria City
Public Schools, Retrieved from
Diab, R. (2005). Teachers’
and students’ beliefs about responding to ESL writing: A case study.
TESL Canada
Journal, 23, 1, pp. 28-43.
Frederick, C. & Huss-Lederman, S. (1998). The
Participatory Approach to Workplace and
Vocational ESL. Washington, DC: Center for
Applied Linguistics.
Hoang-Thu, T. (2010). Teaching Culture in the
EFL/ESL Classroom. Presented at The Los
Angeles
Regional California Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages,
Fullerton,
CA.
Ladson-Billings, G. (1995). But that’s just good teaching! The case for culturally relevant
pedagogy. Theory
into Practice, 34, 3, pp. 159-165.
Ladson-Billings, G. (2008). Toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. American
Educational Research Association, 32, 3, pp.
465-491.
New York City Board of Education. (1997). STARS for
ESL. Strategies, Techniques and
Resources:
Meeting Higher Standards in Grades 6-8.
Rominski, C. & Vazquez, M. (1997). Improving
Reading and Writing Skills of Mainstreamed
ESL Students. M.A. Research Project, Saint
Xavier University and IRI/Skylight.
Singleton, K. (2000). Teaching Literacy Students in
Your ESL Class. Presented at the Virginia
Adult
Institute for Lifelong Learning – English as a Second Language (VAILL-ESL)
Conference.
Smallwood, B.A. (1998). Staff Training for
Alexandria Head Start in ESL Methodology.
Alexandria
Early Childhood Commission.
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