Dynamic Bilingual Literacy Instruction as Social Justice Practice: Educational Equity for Emergent Bilinguals

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

In this session we explore the intersection between biliteracy practices and equitable educational opportunities for emergent bilinguals (EB) by highlighting how teachers include dynamic bilingual practices into literacy instruction. The call for teachers to base their literacy instruction on a robust and dynamic view of bilingualism and the ways in which these linguistically informed decisions impact equity for EB students is clear. Yet, the programs in which many teachers of EBs work are often defined by practices and policies that are rooted in the preservation and promotion of standardized language practices and monolingual norms rather than on students’ diverse languaging practices. This symposium features examples of literacy instruction that challenge rigid language divisions in favor of dynamic bilingual practices.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Bilingual Education Research

Chair

• Susan Hopewell, University of Colorado - Boulder

Papers

• Enhancing the Quality of Biliteracy Instruction and Writing Outcomes in Spanish/English Bilingual Programs - Kathy Escamilla, University of Colorado - Boulder; Caitlin Fine, University of Colorado - Boulder; Susan Hopewell, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Dynamic Bilingual Literacy Instruction in a Middle School Writing Workshop - Carla Espana, Hunter College

• Children's Literature as Mirrors and Windows: Primary Teachers and Emergent Bilinguals - Cecilia M. Espinosa, Lehman College/CUNY; Alison Lehner-Quam, Lehman College

• Syntactical Challenges: Biliterate Reading Practices of Second Graders in a Dual-Language Program - Allison Briceno, San José State University

• Emergent Bilingual Readers Through the Lens of Possibility: A Translanguaging Perspective on Formative Reading Assessment - Laura Ascenzi Moreno, Brooklyn College - CUNY

Discussant

• Susan Hopewell, University of Colorado - Boulder