A Comparative Analysis of Conceptions of the Knowledge Base for Mainstream Teachers of English Language Learners

• In Event: 73.025 - Access for All? Preservice Teachers' Sources of Knowledge and Instructional Decisions for English Language Learners

Abstract

Purpose
This paper seeks to advance the preparation of mainstream teachers of English language learners (ELLs) through a comparative analysis of several frequently cited conceptions of the knowledge base for teaching ELLs.
Theoretical Framework
There is little debate that all teachers need expertise for teaching ELLs (Lucas & Grinberg, 2008; Valdes, Bunch, Snow, & Lee, 2005). Several recent conceptual works have attempted to articulate what mainstream teachers of ELLs need to know and be able to do (Bunch, 2010, 2013; de Jong & Harper, 2005, 2011; Lucas & Villegas, 2011; Lucas, Villegas, & Freedson-Gonzalez, 2008; Turkan, de Oliveira, Lee, & Phelps, 2014; Wong-Fillmore & Snow, 2000). Because these works take different perspectives on the issue, they may overwhelm rather than inform teacher educators (Bunch, 2013). To bring greater clarity to the knowledge base for teaching ELLs, this paper’s authors examine and compare these different conceptions, using the analytic lens of research as social practice, as defined by Cochran-Smith & Villegas (in press). With this theoretical frame, the authors examine the socially situated nature of these conceptions and the influence of the scholars’ interests, commitments, and positioning on what they consider essential knowledge for teachers of ELLs.
Methods, Techniques
The authors analyzed each of the conceptual frameworks using several analytic categories consistent with the notion of research as social practice: underlying assumptions, purposes, intended audience(s), researcher positioning, disciplinary perspectives, and central arguments. They then conducted a comparative analysis, unpacking assumptions, distilling common principles and themes, and identifying divergent aspects of the works.
Data Sources
Data sources were the conceptual works for teaching ELLs cited previously. While there are other accounts of the expertise for teaching ELLs, those selected for this analysis (a) make their theories of learning and the role of language in learning explicit, (b) exclusively or primarily focus on language-related issues, and (c) have been frequently cited in recent years.
Results
The authors distilled common principles, identified conflicting tendencies, and examined underlying reasons for those conflicts. Shared assumptions of the works include: language is an essential element of learning, teaching, and knowing; all students, especially ELLs, need special support to gain access to the language of schooling; teachers need special knowledge and skills to teach ELLs; the field has not yet clearly articulated those knowledge and skills entail. Important differences among the works include: their purposes (e.g., to create a comprehensive framework or to capture essential knowledge in one theoretically-grounded concept; to give practical suggestions or provide theoretical support for practice); audiences (teacher educators, researchers); author positioning (practicing teacher educator, researcher, disciplinary authority); and disciplinary perspectives (linguistics, education, particular discipline(s)).
Scholarly significance
This analysis brings greater clarity to the knowledge base for teaching ELLs, identifying areas of convergence and divergence among frequently cited conceptions of that knowledge base. It contributes to efforts by teacher education scholars and practitioners to better prepare all teachers to provide meaningful access to rigorous curriculum for ELLs in U.S. schools.

Authors

• Tamara F. Lucas, Montclair State University

• Adrian D. Martin, New Jersey City University

• Cyrene Crooms, Montclair State University