Action Research: Linguistics Knowledge for Secondary Teachers of English Learners

• In Event: Practices Promoting Emergent Bilingual Composing Skills

Abstract

U.S./Mexico states, such as California, Texas and New Mexico rank in the top 10% of states with the most Spanish native English learners (ELs). This paper presents how one secondary teacher educator engaged in action research to develop teacher candidates’ (TC) linguistics knowledge with through a sociolinguistic theoretical framework. The instructor specifically investigated the ways in which teacher candidates planned and implements lessons for linguistic inclusion of ELs. Findings revealed that most teacher candidates through some explicit linguistics knowledge instruction informed by Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) demonstrated application in their teaching to elevate students’ agentive and social roles in learning. TCs also narrowed the linguistic distance between interlocutor ELs and English monolinguals, changing the English majority conversational dynamics.

Author

• Magdalena Pando, New Mexico State University