English Learners' Positioning During Interactions With Monolingual English-Speaking Students

• In Event: 66.058 - Roundtable Session 28
  In Roundtable Session: 66.058-2 - From Participatory Praxis to Policy: English Learning and Bilingual Education in Local Contexts

Abstract

Increasingly, English learners are being educated in classrooms alongside monolingual English-speaking students. Interactions with these students have the potential to shape the linguistic and academic development of English learners. Using a positioning theory framework, this multiple case study explored how English learners reflexively positioned themselves, as well as how English dominant peers interactionally positioned English learners. Drawing upon multiple data sources, (i.e., observations, interviews, and artifacts), and using cross case analysis techniques, two findings were identified: (1) English learners’ reflexive positioning was influenced by their language history and schooling context, and (2) peers’ interactional positioning moves limited English learners’ access to academic interactions. These findings pose important considerations regarding the academic and linguistic access of English learners in English-dominant classrooms.

Authors

• Amanda T. Sugimoto, Portland State University

• Kathy Carter, The University of Arizona