(In)Equitable Participation in Linguistically Diverse Book Clubs: A Case of Overscaffolding

• In Event: 25.060 - Scaffolds and English Learners' Participation in Academic Discussions: Too Much or Just Right?

Abstract

Research in the area of equitable and effective education for English learners (ELs) in mainstream classrooms suggests that teachers serving this population utilize a variety of sheltered instruction techniques (Walqui, 2006). These include providing opportunities for ELs to engage in explicit code and comprehension instruction, language-rich learning opportunities, socioculturally informed pedagogy, and additive literacy instruction (Manyak, 2007). However, many teachers still raise questions about how best to achieve effective sheltered instruction (Gándara, Maxwell-Jolly & Driscoll, 2005). Moreover, many teachers receive professional development that is aimed at general strategies (de Jong & Harper, 2005) rather than on contingent, learner-specific practices that allow for co-constructing of knowledge between teacher and student (Daniel, Martin-Beltran, Peercy & Silverman, 2015). This presentation explores how teacher-student interactions might support and hinder equitable participation of ELs during book club discussions.
We build upon Vygotsky’s (1978) sociocultural perspective on language and literacy learning that highlight how knowledge is co-constructed between expert and novice within the Zone of Proximal Development in order to demonstrate how these structures can also hinder learning for ELs. We also draw on scholarship that identifies the benefits and drawbacks of book club discussions for linguistically diverse students (Gámez & Lesaux, 2015; Ernst-Slavit & Mason, 2011). Rather than solely focus on the benefits/drawbacks, we aim to illustrate how raciolinguistic ideologies (Flores & Rosa, 2015) serve to position linguistically diverse students in book club discussions (Yoon, 2008).
This presentation stems from a larger study conducted at a Mountain West middle school serving a linguistically diverse community. The school followed a full inclusion model for their linguistically diverse population, which resulted in linguistically diverse classes that included both ELs and native English speakers (NESs) at all proficiency levels. Within a co-taught sixth-grade language arts classroom, seven book club discussions (of two groups) were video-recorded and transcribed following a microethnographic approach to discourse analysis (Bloome et al., 2004). Four of the discussions were of a group of all ELs, and the other three discussions were with a group of all NES students. Initial coding identified surface and underlying conversational functions used by the participants, location of knowledge, and floor maneuvers. Secondary coding identified recurring patterns and themes within the content of the participants’ talk (Saldaña, 2012).
The analysis revealed three primary findings. First, teachers provided fewer talk turns for ELs than NESs. Second, teachers’ spent more time establishing norms and evaluating student contributions in book clubs with ELs, and spent more time clarifying and elaborating in book clubs with NESs. Third, in the discussions with ELs, the content focused on plot comprehension, while in the discussions with NESs, the content extended comprehension through higher-order literary analysis. Through this examination, we call attention to teachers’ over-scaffolding practices and the ways these practices inequitably positioned both ELs and NESs. We argue that researchers and teachers need to carefully examine underlying stances informing discursive practices within book club discussions with linguistically diverse learners—as well as within other classroom discussion structures—as part of any advocacy for this population.

Authors

• Margarita Zisselsberger, Loyola University Maryland

• Mark A. Lewis, Loyola University Maryland