What book about dual language bilingual education (DLBE) is so astute that you want to recommend it to every DLBE teacher, regardless of grade or languages taught? Renée DePalma‘s (2012) book about an English-Spanish kindergarten is the perfect primer on teaching in this type of program. Prof. DePalma shows how implementing the “target language only”Continue reading “Dual Language Bilingual Education: What do teachers need to know?”
Category Archives: discourse analysis
Code-switching researchers comment on how translanguaging achieves its social aims
In this research-oriented post, I summarize a new book chapter (Bhatt & Bolonyai, 2022) in which code-switching researchers argue that bi/multilingual people accomplish things in the social world by recognizing codes, not rejecting them. In the authors’ view, code-switching is still a preferable term to translanguaging because the social affordances of translanguaging (such as creativeContinue reading “Code-switching researchers comment on how translanguaging achieves its social aims”
How does an expert teacher meet learning aims while also ‘fixing’ linguistic inequality through their pedagogical talk?
Recently (here and here), I wrote about how Jim Cummins defined “transformative pedagogy” as meeting learning aims and social justice aims at the same time, through collaborative relations of power. I continue that theme by asking the title question, which was what the late sociolinguist Alexandra Jaffe asked in a bilingual, Corsican-French school. Teachers ofContinue reading “How does an expert teacher meet learning aims while also ‘fixing’ linguistic inequality through their pedagogical talk?”
Chinese-English bilingual education in China: A critical analysis of research
Chinese-English bilingual education is on the rise in China, particularly at the university level, with some trials in K-12 education in the form of (i) bilingual private schools and (ii) experimental public schools in socioeconomically elite areas. In this post, I summarize an article about this educational trend by Prof. Guangwei Hu, a Hong KongContinue reading “Chinese-English bilingual education in China: A critical analysis of research”
How to analyze classroom talk: Part 4 of 4
This is the fourth and final post on methodology for analyzing classroom talk, preceded by posts on Turn-taking, Contextualization, and Narrative. In this post, we look at how to analyze Interactional Frames. First, we examine what “frame” means and look at ways to analyze how frames are used in small units of talk (e.g., 1-2 sentences) thatContinue reading “How to analyze classroom talk: Part 4 of 4”
How to analyze classroom talk: Part 3 of 4
This is the third post on methodology for analyzing classroom talk, preceded by posts on Turn-taking and Contextualization. In this post, we look at how to analyze Narratives. I begin with a discussion of what “narrative” means in everyday spoken interactions, and how that’s different from our common understanding of narratives. Then we look at how toContinue reading “How to analyze classroom talk: Part 3 of 4”
How to analyze classroom talk: Part 2 of 4
Image source: Wikimedia Commons Welcome to the second post on methodology for analyzing classroom talk, which began with a post on Turn-taking. In this post, we analyze Contextualization. While turn-taking is about who talks, when, and how much, contextualization is about how we understand people’s words, or how we attempt to manage how others understandContinue reading “How to analyze classroom talk: Part 2 of 4”
How to analyze classroom talk: Part 1 of 4
Image credit: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/burma-myanmar-asia-girl-children-5176041/ This post is the first of a series of posts on how to analyze classroom talk with regard to four aspects of that talk: Turn-taking, Contextualization, Narration, and Framing. They are summaries of the four chapters on how to analyze classroom talk in Ivy League professor Betsy Rymes’ textbook, Classroom Discourse AnalysisContinue reading “How to analyze classroom talk: Part 1 of 4”
What do pre-service teachers need to know to teach linguistically diverse classes? Is it theoretical or practical?
An insightful study by Birello, Llompart-Esbert, & Moore (2021) shows that young people training to be primary or secondary teachers generally have positive attitudes towards multilingualism, living in the 21st century and knowing multiple languages to varying degrees. But when they start thinking about TEACHING, or picturing themselves in front of a linguistically diverse class,Continue reading “What do pre-service teachers need to know to teach linguistically diverse classes? Is it theoretical or practical?”
“Majoritized” and “Minoritized” Translanguaging: What they are and why they matter
This 2021 study by Ingrid Beiler examined three secondary classes in Norway taught by the same teacher: (1) a regular gr. 11 English class, (2) an accelerated class for gr. 10 students undertaking the gr. 11 English curriculum, and (3) a sheltered class for gr. 11 English repeaters (aged gr. 12/13), many of whom spokeContinue reading ““Majoritized” and “Minoritized” Translanguaging: What they are and why they matter”
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