Elementary Teacher Candidates' Learning to Steer Classroom Discussion With Emerging Bilinguals

• In Event: Bilingual Education Research Poster Session 2

Abstract

This paper explores the sources of knowledge that a group of pre-service student teachers at the elementary level draw on while steering discussion in a simulated teacher learning environment about students’ understanding of the text, Pet Show by Ezra Jack Keats. The study employed a practice-based approach to providing student teachers with the opportunity to practice the work of steering discussion about a text within a simulated teacher learning environment (TeachLivE™). The student teachers’ live performances were recorded and they were interviewed post task administration. Analysis of video transcripts and interview data shows that student teachers find it difficult to adjust linguistic complexity level of their questions to elicit responses from the bilingual student. Implications for teacher education are shared.

Author

• Sultan Turkan, Queen's University, Belfast