Understanding Spanish Use as Scaffolding Among Young Emergent Bilinguals in Cross-Age Peer Reading Interactions

• In Event: Title: A Critical Look at Pedagogical Scaffolding During Literacy Instruction With Emergent Bilinguals

Abstract

Objectives: As this year’s conference theme calls us to (re)imagine the possibilities of public education, more research is needed to better understand the multilingual resources linguistically diverse students bring to school. Although a growing body of research has investigated the use of “first language” (L1), “second language” (L2), and language mixing (or translanguaging) in classroom practices (e.g. Garcia, 2009; García Mayo & Hidalgo, 2017; Swain & Lapkin, 2013), few studies have focused on how emergent bilinguals (EBs) use their wider linguistic repertoire to engage with peers during literacy tasks (Klinger & Vaughn, 2000). Our study contributes to the body of work that explores language use as EBs discuss text and begins to address gaps in the research by exploring the following questions:
1. How do elementary school-aged EBs use Spanish with peers to scaffold their interactions around and understanding of texts written in English (L2)?
2. How do students respond when their peers use Spanish in their cross-age peer interactions?

Theoretical framework: Grounded in sociocultural theory (SCT), we view language as a social activity and a cognitive tool that mediates learning (Cole, 1996; Vygotsky, 1978). We draw from research that has used SCT to examine how learners use L1 as a tool for L2 learning (e.g., DiCamilla & Antón, 2012; Swain & Lapkin, 2000). Informed by translanguaging perspectives (García, 2009; García & Li, 2014), we understand that L1 usage is not easily separated from L2 use, especially among young learners who are raised in bilingual communities.

Methods and data sources: We analyzed video recordings and transcripts from 12 peer-learning sessions in which cross-age peers (ages 5-6 and 9-10) read and discussed science and math informational texts together written in English. In the transcripts, we identified turns of speech in which the speakers used Spanish and coded one or more language functions as well as interlocutor’s responses. We used coding across the transcripts to determine quantitative patterns, followed by a closer qualitative analysis of discourse (informed by Mercer, 2004) during cross-age peer interactions.

Findings: We found that students used Spanish for task management, clarifying language, negotiating content, building relationships, and checking for understanding. We found that peers most often responded to Spanish use by engaging in the activity at hand or demonstrating understanding, which suggests the benefits of using L1 to support learning. However, findings also revealed the double-edged sword of using Spanish to build relationships while deviating from the task. Findings also indicated that L1 use most frequently led to a response in L1 (70%) but a significant amount of the responses were in English (L2) (30%), suggesting the important ways that students can make meaning across languages (e.g., translanguaging).

Scholarly significance: This study contributes to scholarship by shedding light on a previously under-examined context (cross-age peer reading) and by analyzing interlocutors’ responses to L1 use in terms of engagement in learning activities and subsequent language use. This study has implications for practice by calling attention to peers’ multilingual language use for scaffolding and by considering how peer language is interconnected with curriculum, materials, and teacher language.

Authors

• Angélica Montoya-Ávila, University of Maryland - College Park

• Andrés Alberto García, University of Maryland - College Park

• Melinda E. Martin-Beltran, University of Maryland - College Park