Supporting the Disciplinary Literacy Development of Multilinguals Through School/University Collaboratives: Systemic Functional Linguistics Praxis in Action

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

This symposium explores how university-school collaboration can be leveraged to support the disciplinary literacy development of multilingual learners using Halliday’s systemic functional linguistics (SFL), a social semiotic theory of language, learning, and social change (e.g., New London Group, 1996). A growing body of research has demonstrated the potential of using SFL tools to support the professional development of teachers and the disciplinary literacy practices of multilinguals in the context of U.S. school reforms. This panel reports on three such collaborations. These action-oriented studies used qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze the effectiveness of SFL approaches to designing curriculum, implementing instruction, and analyzing the implications of teachers’ pedagogical practices on the literacy development of their multilingual students.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Bilingual Education Research

Chair

• Meg Gebhard, University of Massachusetts - Amherst

Papers

• Systemic Functional Linguistics and Teachers' Professional Development: A Praxis Framework for Collaborative Action - Meg Gebhard, University of Massachusetts - Amherst

• Systemic Functional Linguistics in Secondary Teacher Education: Supporting Knowledge, Beliefs, and Practices for Teaching Multilingual Learners - Kathryn Accurso, The University of British Columbia

• Teaching to the Test or Teaching to Write? Insights From a Genre Pedagogy-Focused University-School Collaboration - Maria E. Brisk, Boston College; Mileidis Gort, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Preparing Multilingual Adolescents for Engaged Citizenship Through University-School Partnerships in High School History Classes - Laura Schall-Leckrone, Lesley University