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- All Subjects: English as a Second Language
- Creators: Artiles, Alfredo J.
Description
The focal educational problem of practice in this dissertation is how one special education teacher mediated reading comprehension with a diverse group of students, including English learners (EL) with learning disabilities (LD). I selected this problem of practice because of the documented difficulty and complexity of effective teaching to provide integrated EL and LD support. There is a lack of reading comprehension research that centers on the interactive processes between teachers and students who are EL with LD (ELsWLD) and students with LD in small group contexts and intermediate grades. To answer the research questions, I used observational research methods. I examined one teacher’s practices with 5th-grade ELsWLD and LD students in reading small-group instruction in an elementary school in a major city in the southwestern region of the United States. Data analysis procedures included systematic analysis of video-based recordings and instructional transcripts to map student and teacher participation. The analysis centered on teacher mediation of student learning and how the teacher’s talk varied with students. Findings: (1) The teacher mediated reading comprehension through instructional routines for comprehension strategy and vocabulary instruction using independent reading and guided reading of text. (2) Student practice opportunities included integrative, elaborative, and metacognitive processes when reading for connections to text, questioning the text, prediction, and imaging. (3) Throughout, the teacher maintained an authoritative stance and a position as an expert through the overuse of questions for all students, and the question density (number, frequency) which limited student practice opportunities. (4) The teacher’s talk with students varied concerning with whom she used Accountable and Assertive Talk and produced uneven engagement as the teacher primarily used Dialogic Questions for students she viewed as stronger readers.
This research has potential implications for scholars and practitioners as it raises questions requiring teachers and researchers to consider the questions used in small-group comprehension discussions, how teachers ask questions, and the density of questions. Other implications include methods to map teacher talk and the use of a critical dis/ability literacy teaching stance.
ContributorsSalinas, Sarah M (Author) / Artiles, Alfredo J. (Thesis advisor) / Dorn, Sherman J. (Thesis advisor) / O’Connor, Brendan (Committee member) / Ferrell, Amy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
Special education identification processes related to English language learners (ELs) in the United States have puzzled the field for decades. The phenomenon of referrals, the first step toward identification, is complex since it requires deciphering the root cause of students’ learning struggles—e.g., second language (L2) factors, the possibility of a learning disability (LD), or the combination of multiple other influences. To investigate the various influences contributing to learning difficulties, I centered this study on three potential sources, individual, institutional, and interpersonal. I aimed to answer, how did sociocultural influences mediate a teacher’s understanding of ELs’ competence? How did sociocultural influences mediate whether a teacher referred ELs to special education services? Using a cultural-historical theoretical approach, I sought deeper theoretical and empirical understandings into how institutional factors (e.g., tiered intervention contexts, policies), combined with other influences, mediated ELs’ referral decisions. I used a multiple parallel case study design following two fifth-grade ELs who faced the possibility of a referral. Interested in the interpersonal domain (e.g., interactions and communication among people), I zoomed in to a local process, student-teacher conferences to examine how classroom processes shaped teachers’ thoughts of students’ competence, and ultimately, referral decisions. I video-recorded teacher-student conference sessions over 14 weeks, and audio-recorded viewing sessions of the recorded conferences to understand teacher and student interpretations of learning competence. To understand how other dimensions (individual and institutional) contributed to teachers’ overall views about the student competence, I interviewed parents and school personnel, wrote observational field notes, and examined archival documents related to student learning over the entire fifth-grade year. I used inductive and iterative qualitative analytical approaches to craft the findings. My findings reaffirmed the complexity involved in finalizing ELs’ referral decisions. I found cultural factors intertwined with structural forces, driving students’ special education candidacies in divergent directions: one evaluated (LD); the other, retained. I also found the referral decisions were based on narrow understandings of learning and behaviors, lack of attention to students’ L2 needs, and faulty and overpowering structural forces which undermined teacher’s professional opinions about the referrals. These findings have implications for research, practice, and policy.
ContributorsAlvarado, Sarah Lopez (Author) / Artiles, Alfredo J. (Thesis advisor) / Graham, Steve (Committee member) / Martinez, Danny C. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020