From Deficiency to Biliteracy:Meeting the Needs of Long Term English

Language LearnersPresenter:

Nelson FloresCUNY Graduate Center

nflores@gc.cuny.edu

Principal Investigator: Kate Menken

CUNY Graduate Center & Queens Collegekmenken@gc.cuny.edu

with Tatyana Kleyn—City University of New YorkLaura Ascenzi-Moreno, Nabin Chae,

Alexander Funk – CUNY Graduate Center

AERA Conference 2010Denver, CO

LTELLs by Grade in New York City, 2007-2008

Source: NYCDOE, 2008

Grade Number % of ELLs7 2,839 32.58 2,365 28.69 4,120 29.8

10 3,411 25.611 1,825 24.412 2,270 35.4

Overview of Phase I

• Pilot study to identify defining characteristics of LTELLs

• Data collected over the 2007-2008 school year.

• Interviews were conducted with 29 students designated as LTELLs and 9 educators across 3 schools.

Findings of Phase I

• The students feel into 2 overlapping categories:1) Transnational Students: Those who move back

and forth between the U.S. and their family’s country of origin (though primarily U.S.-educated)

2) Inconsistent U.S. Schooling: Students who – while attending U.S. schools – have moved in and out of bilingual education, ESL, and mainstream classrooms with no language support programming.

• LTELLs have Strong oral bilingualism for social purposes, limited academic literacy skills• Different needs from new arrivals

• Few, if any, educational programs exist for them

Programming Sequence

Content-Area Courses

Programming for Long-Term

English Language Learners

Spanish Language & Literacy Development

Advanced Placement Spanish Language

Course

Spanish as a Native Language

(4 semesters)

Advanced Placement Spanish Literature

Course

ESL Course Sequence

ESL for LTELLs (4 semesters)

Exit ELL Status

Content Courses infused with explicit literacy strategies

Phase II Overview

• Quantitative Data Collection• Pre and post test on the Academic Language and

Literacy Diagnostic at 2 treatment schools and 1 control school.

• Test scores on the New York State English as a Second Language Achievement Test (NYSESLAT) at 2 treatment schools and 1 control school.

• Writing assessments at the treatment schools.

• Demographic data at the treatment schools.

• Qualitative Data Collection• Classroom observations• Student interviews and focus groups• Teacher and administrator interviews

Overview of Phase II Student

Participants • 18 Latino students designated as

LTELLs were interviewed across the two treatment schools.

• All 18 students were primarily educated in the US.

• 12 of the students were exclusively educated in the US (11 were US born).

Hybrid Language Use

Researcher: Do you text, email, visit internet sites, or IM in English or Spanish?

Celia: Both…

Researcher: Are there times when you mix English and Spanish?

Celia: On Myspace and AIM…

Researcher: Why is that?

Celia: Because sometimes it just comes out.

(Celia, LTELL Student, School 2, Interview Transcript)

Preference for English in Academic

Setting

Researcher: Do you feel more comfortable reading and writing in English or Spanish, or both equally?

Yulia: English. ‘Cause like I am used to reading in English, like there are some words in Spanish like even though I know Spanish and I have my family speaks Spanish in my house but it’s not like proper Spanish. I speak our language in Spanish…like ghetto ‘cuz in proper Spanish they talk in big words.

(LTELL Interview, School 2, Interview Transcript)

Resistance toward Academic

SpanishArmando: I really don’t like it because the work that we do it’s like easy. And sometimes I don’t understand it, so I feel like I am here for nothing so I just don’t do the work. I don’t feel like doing little kids’ work.

Researcher: So how are you doing in this class?

Armando: I am failing because I don’t come.

Researcher: You said it’s easy, but you also said there’s some things you don’t understand, what don’t you understand?

Armando: Sometimes she gives us things to do but there’s like words that I don’t understand and then sometimes she gives it to us for homework so I can’t do it sometimes.

(LTELL Interview, School 1, Interview Transcript)

A Third Category of LTELLs

• Most of the students in this phase of the study did not fit into the two categories identified in the first phase.• Consistent subtractive schooling—

students enrolled in subtractive models of bilingual education and/or ESL throughout their schooling career oftentimes within the traditional elementary, middle, and high school progression that all students go through.

Effects of Subtractive

Schooling

Researcher: Is Spanish important?

Nuria: I don’t know if it is. I don’t really know if it’s important because, like, nobody has told me. Like, I live in the United States and for me it’s just that the important language over here is English. So I don’t really know if it’s important. I don’t know if Spanish is important.

(Nuria, LTELL Student, School 1, Interview Transcript)

Academic Performance

School GPA

School 1 64%

School 2 71%

Average GPA 67.5%

R: How are you doing in school?Mina: Okay.R: You’re doing okay. What kind of grades do you get?M: Umm, I get 75 to 58.

Program Outcomes in English

Program Outcomes in Spanish

Implications for Educating

LTELLs • Implications for accountability in elementary school:

• We can likely decrease the numbers of high school students who become LTELLs by offering at the earlier grades:

• Greater coherency in school language policies

• Programs that develop native language literacy skills (e.g., through ‘strong’ bilingual education programs such as dual language programs)

• Implication for accountability in high school: We recommend that high schools create programs for LTELLs, which:

1) teach literacy explicitly across the content areas, 2) have focused ESL classes that develop their academic literacy skills, and 3) offer classes to improve students’ native language literacy skills.

A Final Reminder

Researcher: Do you feel like you are English Language Learners? Why or why not?

Yulia: I don’t feel that way….Because we live in the USA and because we have to know.

Celia: For most of us, it’s like our first language, I mean our main language.

Researcher: Is there a better label to describe who you are? What label would you describe yourself as?

Gullermo: Guillermo.

(students all laugh)

(LTELL Student Focus Group, School 2, Focus Group Transcript)

For further information…

The CUNY Graduate Center RISLUS LTELL website:

http://web.gc.cuny.edu/dept/lingu/rislus/projects/LTELL/index.html