English Language Development Standards: Teachers’ Conceptualization and Contestation of Standards-Based Notions of Academic Language

• In Event: Transforming the Problem-Based Notion of Academic Language and Literacy to a Resource-Based Perspective

Abstract

The objective of this study is to understand teachers’ perceptions of what academic language is, why it is important for language learners, and how it should be addressed in the classroom. The study takes place in a few states where English language development standards, which outline the features of academic language, have been adopted and are being implemented. The study will use the lens of critical pedagogy (Freire, 1997; Salazar, 2013) to explore how standards conceptualize academic language and how teachers adopt and contest those concepts.
Data will be collected through teacher focus groups from various instructional program models for language learners and various school contexts using semi-structured interview techniques and open coding analysis. The goal of these interviews will be to better understand teachers’ personal understandings of academic language and its role in instruction. Teachers will also be asked to share how their own understandings align with what standards are asking them to do and how these two perspectives interplay in their daily planning and instruction.
The findings of this study will support the ongoing efforts to understand the concept of academic language through the experiences of those in charge of teaching it and making it accessible for students. This study will also help guide the ongoing development, design and dissemination of academic language standards in a consortium of 31 states and territories. The findings will be useful in examining the most current reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Act (July, 2013) and the impact this authorization will have on the education of students identified as English language learners and their educators as well as the evaluation systems for these educators.

Author

• Mariana Castro, University of Wisconsin - Madison