Teacher Perceptions of Sociocultural Competence (SCC) in Dual-Language Education

• In Event: Defining and Operationalizing Sociocultural Competence in Dual-Language Education

Abstract

Objectives:
The objectives of this paper are a) to explore how K-8th dual language (DL) teachers perceive and define sociocultural competence (SCC), and b) to introduce a unifying definition and model for SCC in DL education.

Theoretical Framework:
Vygotsky’s (1993) sociocultural theory serves as the theoretical framework for this paper, and for understanding how culture contributes to learning and human behavior (Howard, 2010). Sociocultural theory reinforces the inextricable connection of language and culture and supports the idea that one cannot be taught without the other (Cruz, Bonissone & Baff, 1995; Heileman & Kaplan, 1985).

Methods and Data Sources:
This paper presents findings from a qualitative study that investigated the perceptions of SCC held by twenty-one K-8th grade DL teachers from California. There was considerable variability with regard to both the programs and the teacher backgrounds. The participants selected for this study represented four DL program languages, including: a) Spanish (14), b) Mandarin Chinese (4), c) Italian (2), and d) Japanese (1), and all taught in self-contained classrooms where they provided instruction through both English and the partner language. Three of the participants represented one-way DL programs, and eighteen represented two-way DL programs. Six of the teachers represented 50/50 DL programs, and fifteen represented 90/10 DL programs. Two teachers taught in school districts in Northern California, and nineteen in Southern California. Eight of the participants reported having 1-5 years of teaching experience in DL education, six had 6-10 years, five had 11-15 years, and one had over 15 years. The teachers also varied in the grade levels they taught, which spanned K-1 (7), 2-3 (3), 4-5 (7), and 6-8 (3).
Participants were recruited on social media, specifically on two bilingual education groups on Facebook. Each of the DL teachers participated in one sixty-minute interview, each of which was recorded, transcribed, and coded for themes that emerged with respect to how the teachers defined SCC in their own words (Saldaña, 2015). The definition and model for SCC presented in this paper were developed utilizing the interview data from the study, as well as research on the topic of SCC in DL education.

Findings:
When asked how they defined SCC, the participating teachers emphasized six ways of perceiving SCC (Figure 1.1), which were coded into categories and explained as follows: a) critical consciousness, b) Culturally Responsive Pedagogy, c) student identity development, d) teacher identity development, e) empathy development and cultural awareness, and f) target culture/s development. Thus, the participants perceived SCC as a multidimensional phenomenon. The term “dimensions” is used to describe the six categories because the term reinforces the understanding that SCC is abstract and complex (Safina, 2014).

Scholarly Significance:
This study offers a unifying, multidimensional definition and model for SCC in the context of DL education, which has long been absent in the field (Authors, 2014). This model can be utilized as a foundational launching pad by DL practitioners and researchers for operationalizing and promoting the third goal of SCC in DL programs.

Author

• Angela Palmieri, EdD, Saint Mary's College of California