"Engineering Make Science Beder Miss": Developing English Language Learners' Engineering Literacy With Focused Specialized Language Interactions

• In Event: Intersections of Equity, Engineering, and Literacy: Exploring Possible Presents, Building Possible Futures

Abstract

Perspective
Although small gains have been made in the achievement of elementary students on national achievement indicators the gains disappear in high school and most students do not reach proficient levels of understanding (https://nces.ed.gov). These results remind us that educational growth occurs at a very slow rate and reaching equity is a very difficult undertaking. The Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards attempt to address the slow-moving performance trends with strong emphasis on disciplinary literacy. This focus is appropriate given how disciplinary literacy frameworks focus on the specialized language and practices of the discipline instead of generalized study skills. Disciplinary literacy refers to knowledge and abilities possessed by those who create, communicate, and use knowledge within the disciplines as well as the ability to use the unique tools that the experts in a discipline use to participate in the work of that discipline (Shanahan & Shanahan, 2012). We view disciplinary literacy through the lens of the Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL: Halliday, 1975) theoretical perspective. SFL examines text and genre from a global view and supports how disciplinary actors take up appropriate word resources and use them for the given genre and context.

Method and Data
In this study, we examine the degree to which elementary English language learners (ELLs: students who are not proficient in English) take up engineering and science literacy as they engage in a literacy rich, hands-on engineering intervention. The intervention was different than others in that there was an explicit focus on developing ELLs’ use of disciplinary language to make sense of engineering tasks, science content, and the engineering design process. To achieve equity for ELLs a focus on language is necessary. This is part of a larger study involving 9 target ELLs that investigated the degree to which a combination of activities sufficiently engaged K-2 grade students in engineering behaviors over time. Data sources include the transcripts of 90 video-taped lessons before during and after intervention activities as well as one-on-one comprehension checks. Two intervention periods (fall and spring) were implemented in the academic year. SFL contextual features (field and tenor) were used to operationalize and analyze student utterances in terms of description/representation (field) and taking/negotiating positions (tenor). Although the use of engineering and science vocabulary was included, SFL was used to analyze larger chunks of text from students’ oral discussions as they underwent the engineering design process (EDP) to determine their developing understanding of the EDP and science concepts.
Results
Consistent with past research, data trends show that young students can develop complex understandings when provided with meaningful, hands-on opportunities to solve engineering problems. ELLs’ use of linguistic structures to present circumstances improved over time and approximated engineering and science genres/registers. Students of different proficiency levels relied on distinct linguistic resources.
Significance
Few studies have examined the impact of a disciplinary literacy approach to engineering education in early elementary grades. This study is indicates that a disciplinary approach can be effective in developing ELLs engineering and science learning.

Authors

• Zenaida Aguirre-Munoz, University of Houston

• Ananthi Sankaranarayanan, University of Houston

• Magdalena Pando, Southern Methodist University

• Michelle Pantoya, Texas Tech University