Our Educational Responsibility: Meeting the Linguistic Needs of Bilingual Teacher Candidates

• In Event: Insights From Research on Equity Issues in Second-Language Teaching and Teacher Education

Abstract

This investigation is a multiple case study of Spanish-English bilingual teacher (BT) education programs. The purpose was to analyze how two university programs addressed the needs of BT candidates in developing their Spanish teaching competencies. The findings indicated that candidates generally felt ill prepared to meet the Spanish language demands of teaching in dual-language classrooms. Although both programs had taken steps toward meeting this need by implementing courses that specifically addressed the development of academic Spanish, more needs to be done. The study represents a larger phenomenon concerning U.S. BT preparation, where, English is often the focus of language development and content-area instruction. The study concludes by discussing implications for pedagogical Spanish in BT education.

Authors

• Mariana A. Ricklefs, Northern Illinois University

• Sandra Lucia Osorio, Erikson Institute