Student Teachers Using Discourse Analysis to Inform Instructional Practices With English Learners

• In Event: Analyzing Language, Examining Power: Discourse Analysis as a Pedagogical Tool

Abstract

As schools become more culturally and linguistically diverse, teacher education programs are incorporating ESL/bilingual endorsement coursework into licensure programs to ensure all teachers have backgrounds and experiences in teaching ELs (Shannon, 2014). This presentation looks at coursework in one such program to reveal how teacher candidates used discourse analysis to study their efforts to implement bilingual and/or ESL instructional practices during student teaching. The semester prior to student teaching, they had written research proposals that included research questions, interpretative frameworks, and discourse analytic methods (Gee, 2014). During student teaching and as part of the capstone, they collected and analyzed data.

The teacher candidates and I used Gee’s discourse analytic methods (2014). Gee’s methods are designed to reveal how language is used to the speaker and others as specific types of people. They reveal participants’ understanding of sociocultural contexts, such as classrooms, and people’s roles within those contexts. Thus, the teacher candidates examined classroom talk for what was said, how it was said, for what it meant, and for the ideologies/values it revealed (Razfar, 2012). They then presented their findings at the college’s Research Showcase.

Fourteen teacher candidates at a small midwestern college participated in the year-long qualitative study of their use of discourse analysis. I collected data from the course in which they wrote their research proposal (AR I) and the capstone course they took during student teaching (AR II). To answer the research question, How do teacher candidates use discourse analysis to reflect on and revise or transform their teaching of English learners?, I analyzed the data in Table 1 (Parenthetical numbers are the number of artifacts).

Using Gee’s discourse analytic methods, I identified emerging themes through multiple readings of the data to understand the role integrating ESL/bilingual methods and discourse analysis had on teacher development. Through the iterative coding of class recordings, student work, field notes, and other data, I looked for instances of teacher candidates indicating through their action research what they were learning from the application of ESL/bilingual methods. After generating common themes (reported below), I looked at specific examples across the dataset to understand how candidates critically analyzed their bilingual and ESL instructional practices.

First, I found that candidates through the use of discourse analysis became aware of how classroom discourse affected student learning, and, in turn, how they changed their teaching to provide more opportunities for student talk. Second, I found that both monolingual and bilingual candidates used discourse analysis to study ways of promoting students’ use of multiple languages. And third, I found that candidates’ use of discourse analysis helped them to identify missed opportunities for student learning, including opportunities related to educational policies such as EdTPA and mandated district curriculum.

This presentation demonstrates how teacher candidates used discourse analysis to reflect on and revise or transform their teaching of English learners. It presents a model, including strengths and challenges, of integrating action research into teacher preparation programs over a one-year period and collecting and analyzing data from classroom practice.

Author

• Beverly L. Troiano, Elmhurst College