A Design-Based Approach to Enhance the Academic Writing of Emergent Bilinguals

• In Event: Extending and Evaluating a Theoretically Based, Online Intervention to Improve Latino Middle-Schoolers’ Writing

Abstract

The aim of this poster is to present the goal, theoretical underpinnings, and conceptual framework underlying a design-based, multilayered research approach to support ELL adolescents’ academic writing.
Our overarching goal is to support the English writing of Latino ELLs—emergent bilinguals (García & Author, 2010)—by developing and testing a web-based space that integrates knowledge about teaching academic writing and emergent bilingual adolescents.
The theoretical underpinnings of this intervention are based in social studies of literacy. “New Literacy Studies” (Street, 1995) acknowledges the socially-constructed nature of literacies; academic literacy is society's dominant literacy, sanctioned by the norms of the dominant group. Our work focuses on helping students develop academic literacy—a gate-keeping practice for success in school. We also recognize students’ other literacy practices, drawing on their home language and other funds of knowledge (González, Moll, & Amanti, 2005) as sites of knowledge construction (Delgado-Gaitan & Trueba, 1991). Our research shows how, when brought into the classroom, these resources can support academic literacy (August & Shanahan, 2006). “Multiliteracies” (Cope & Kalantzis, 2000) recognizes the influence of new technologies and multimodality (Kress, 2010) on the complex literacy practices of youth (Authors, 2009; Bruce & Levin, 2003; Ito et al., 2010). Multiliteracies pedagogy (NLG, 1996) posits that multimodal resources and new technologies can help all students attain academic literacy. Many emergent bilinguals have no technology access at school (Gándara & Contreras, 2009); those who do are reported to improve their writing with these tools (Foulger & Jimenez-Silva, 2007).
Anchored instruction (CTGV, 1997) and situated cognition (Author, et al., 2006; Brown, Collins & Duguid, 1989; Lave, 1993) provide a context where teacher and students experience a situation that becomes the springboard for future learning and follow the principle that appropriate instructional contexts are motivational for learners (Bransford, et al., 1992). Each instructional module in our system includes a relevant video-anchor segment, which students view before exploring additional digital resources and using the scaffolded writing space. The STEPS+G framework, implemented within the anchored instruction model, guides our curricular and interface design. STEPS provides a scaffold, alleviating cognitive load for writers who often state they have nothing to write about. It presents a way to address skills of argumentation, cohesion, content to positively affect academic writing. Examination of the STEPS elements
—Social, Technological, Economic, Political, Scientific, Geographic—stimulates research, note-taking, writing.
Our research is a concurrent process of system testing and observation of student use during instruction. System design (Poster 2) has been iterative with students testing the software from its earliest stages. Eighth-graders participated in instructional sessions using the developing system to write about social-studies topics (Poster 3). Latino student-consultants and a classroom cohort from a Bronx, NY middle-school tested the system’s alpha-version during Year One. In Year Two, Latino student-consultants from a Harlem middle-school and a classroom cohort from the Bronx school tested the beta version of the software (Poster 4). Findings show positive effects and project significance (Posters 5 and 6).
An extensive bibliography will be provided at this poster station.

Authors

• Jo Anne Kleifgen, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Charles K. Kinzer, Teachers College, Columbia University