A linguistic approach in culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms
A focus on teacher education
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/lhs.v4i2.101Keywords:
teacher education, systemic-functional linguistics, scienceAbstract
This article describes the application of systemic functional linguistics (Halliday & Matthiesen, 2004; Martin & Rose, 2005) to the teaching of science in a 4th grade classroom in the United States. Drawing on different data sources, including classroom lessons and planning meetings between a teacher educator and a teacher, a framework for working with mainstream content-area teachers is mapped out, based on work on the teaching/learning cycle (Rothery, 1994) and the notion of scaffolding (Hammond, 2001) applied to teacher education.
References
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Brisk, M. E. and Zisselsberger, M. (2011) ‘We’ve let them in on the secret’: Using SFL theory to improve the teaching of writing to bilingual learners. In T. Lucas (ed.) Teacher Preparation for Linguistically Diverse Classrooms: A Resource for Teacher Educators, 111?126. New York: Routledge.
Christie, F. (1998) Science and apprenticeship: the pedagogic discourse. In J. R. Martin and R. Veel (eds) Reading Science: Critical and Functional Perspectives on Discourses of Science, 152?177. London: Routledge.
de Jong, E. and Harper, C. (2008) ESL is good teaching ‘plus’: Preparing standard curriculum teachers for all learners. In M. E. Brisk (ed.) Language, Culture, and Community in Teacher Education, 127?148. New York: Erlbaum.
de Oliveira, L. C. (2007) Academic language development in the content areas: Challenges for English language learners. INTESOL Journal, 4 (1): 22?33.
de Oliveira, L. C. and Athanases, S. Z. (2007) Graduates’ reports of advocating for English Language Learners. Journal of Teacher Education, 58 (3), 202?215.
de Oliveira, L. C. and Dodds, K. N. (2010) Beyond general strategies for English Language Learners: Language dissection in science. Electronic Journal of Literacy Through Science, 9 (1). Retrieved from http://ejlts.ucdavis.edu/article/2010/9/1/beyond-generalstrategies-english-language-learners-language-dissection-science
Fang, Z. (2006) The language demands of science reading in middle school. International Journal of Science Education, 28 (5): 491?520. doi:10.1080/09500690500339092
Fang, Z. and Schleppegrell, M. J. (2008) Reading in Secondary Content Areas: A Languagebased pedagogy. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
Gebhard, M., Demers, J. and Castillo-Rosenthal, Z. (2008) Teachers as critical text analysts: L2 literacies and teachers’ work in the context of high-stakes school reform. Journal of Second Language Writing, 17 (4): 274?291. doi:10.1016/j.jslw.2008.05.001
Gebhard, M., Willett, J., Jimenez, J. P. and Piedra, A. (2011) Systemic functional linguistics, teachers’ professional development, and ELLs’ academic literacy practices. In T. Lucas (ed.), Teacher Preparation for Linguistically Diverse Classrooms: A Resource for Teacher Educators, 91?110. New York: Routledge.
Gibbons, P. (2009) English Learners, Academic Literacy, and Thinking: Learning in the Challenge Zone. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Gunderson, L. (2007) English-only Instruction and Immigrant Students in Secondary Schools. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Gunderson, L. (2009) ESL (ELL) Literacy Instruction: A Guidebook to Theory and Practice. New York: Routledge.
Halliday, M. A. K. and Martin, J. R. (1993) Writing Science: Literacy and Discursive Power. London: The Falmer Press.
Halliday, M. A. K. and Matthiessen, C. (2004) An Introduction to Functional Grammar (3rd edn). London: Arnold.
Hammond, J. (2001) Scaffolding and language. In J. Hammond (ed.) Scaffolding: Teaching and Learning in Language and Literacy Education, 15?30. Sydney: Primary English Teaching Association.
Hammond, J. and Gibbons, P. (2001) What is scaffolding. In J. Hammond (ed.) Scaffolding: Teaching and Learning in Language and Literacy Education, 1?14. Sydney: Primary English Teaching Association.
Harman, R. (in review) The language in literature and upper elementary writing instruction: The intertextual response of a fifth-grade student. RELC Journal.
Hyland, K. (2007) Genre pedagogy: Language, literacy and L2 writing instruction. Journal of Second Language Writing, 16 (3): 148–164. doi:10.1016/j.jslw.2007.07.005
Lantolf, J. P. (ed.) (2000) Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lemke, J. L. (1990) Talking Science: Language, Learning and Values. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Lemke, J. L. (2002) Multimedia semiotics: Genres for science education and scientific literacy. In M. J. Schleppegrell and M. C. Colombi (eds) Developing Advanced Literacy in First and Second Languages: Meaning with Power, 21?44. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Lucas, T. and Grinberg, J. (2008) Responding to linguistic reality of mainstream classrooms: Preparing all teachers to teach English language learners. In M. Cochran-Smith, S. Feiman-Nemser, D. J. McIntyre and K. E. Demers (eds) Handbook of Research on Teacher Education: Enduring Questions in Changing Contexts, 606?636. New York: Routledge/Taylor and Francis.
Lucas, T., Villegas, A. M. and Freedson-Gonzalez, M. (2008) Linguistically responsive teacher education: Preparing classroom teachers to teach English language learners. Journal of Teacher Education, 59 (4): 361?373. doi:10.1177/0022487108322110
Macken-Horarik, M., Devereux, L., Trimingham-Jack, C. and Wilson, K. (2006) Negotiating the territory of tertiary literacies: A case study of teacher education. Linguistics and Education, 17 (3): 240–257. doi:10.1016/j.linged.2006.11.001
Martin, J. R. (1998) Discourses of science: Recontextualization, genesis, intertextuality and hegemony. In J. R. Martin and R. Veel (eds) Reading Science, 3?14. London: Routledge.
Martin, J. R. and Rose, D. (2003) Working with Discourse: Meaning Beyond the Clause. London: Continuum.
Martin, J. R. and Rose, D. (2005) Designing literacy pedagogy: scaffolding democracy in the classroom. In R. Hasan, C. M. I. M. Matthiessen and J. Webster (eds) Continuing Discourse on Language, 251?280. London: Equinox.
Martin, J. R. and Rose, D. (2007) Interacting with text: The role of dialogues in learning to read and write. Foreign Languages in China, 4 (5): 66–80.
Martin, J. R. and Rose, D. (2008) Genre Relations: Mapping Culture. London: Equinox.
Martin, J. R. and Rothery, J. (1990) Literacy for a Lifetime: Teachers’ Notes. Sydney: Film Australia.
Martin, J. R. and Veel, R. (eds) (1998) Reading Science: Critical and Functional Perspectives on Discourses of Science. London: Routledge.
Maybin, J., Mercer, N. and Stierer, B. (1992) Scaffolding learning in the classroom. In K. Norman (ed.), Thinking Voices: The Work of the National Oracy Project, 186?195. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
McCarthy, C. (1991) Multicultural approaches to racial inequality in the United States. Oxford Review of Education, 17 (3): 301?316. doi:10.1080/0305498910170305
McCarthy, C. (1994) Multicultural discourses and curriculum reform: A critical perspective. Educational Theory, 44 (1): 81?98. doi:10.1111/j.1741-5446.1994.00081.x
Merriam, S. B. (1998) Qualitative Research and Case Study Applications in Education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.
Miles, M. B., and Huberman, A. M. (1994) Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook (2nd edn). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Mohan, B., Leung, C. and Davison, C. (2001) English as a Second Language in the Mainstream: Teaching, Learning, and Identity. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Ogle, D. and Lang, L. (2007) Best practices in adolescent literacy instruction. In L. B. Gambell, L. M. Morrow and M. Pressley (eds), Best Practices in Literacy Instruction, 127–156. New York: Guilford Press.
Rose, D. (2004) Sequencing and pacing of the hidden curriculum: How indigenous children are left out of the chain. In J. Muller, A. Morais and B. Davies (eds) Reading Bernstein, Researching Bernstein, 145–170. London: Routledge.
Rose, D., Rose, M., Farrington, S. and Page, S. (2008) Scaffolding academic literacy with indigenous health sciences students: An evaluative study. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 7 (3): 165?179. doi:10.1016/j.jeap.2008.05.004
Rothery, J. (1994) Exploring Literacy in School English: Write it Right Resources for Literacy and Learning. Sydney: Metropolitan East Disadvantaged Schools Project.
Schleppegrell, M. J. (2004) The Language of Schooling: A Functional Linguistics Perspective. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Schleppegrell, M. J. and de Oliveira, L. C. (2006) An integrated language and content approach for history teachers. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 5 (4): 254?268. doi:10.1016/j.jeap.2006.08.003
Shulman, L. S. (1987) Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57 (1): 1?22.
Unsworth, L. (1999) Developing critical understanding of the specialised language of school science and history texts: A functional grammatical perspective. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 42 (7): 508?521.
Veel, R. (2000) Learning how to mean – scientifically speaking: Apprenticeship into scientific discourse in the secondary school. In F. Christie and J. R. Martin (eds) Genre and Institutions: Social Processes in the Workplace and School, 161?195. New York: Continuum.
Vygotsky, L. (1978) Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. London: Harvard University Press.
Vygotsky, L. (1986) Thought and Language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Wood, D., Bruner, J. and Ross, G. (1976) The role of tutoring in problem solving. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 17 (2): 89?100. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.1976.tb00381.x
Bransford, J., Darling-Hammond, L. and LePage, P. (2005) Introduction. In L. DarlingHammond and J. Bransford (eds) Preparing Teachers for a Changing World: What Teachers Should Learn and be Able to Do, 1?39. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Brisk, M. E. and Zisselsberger, M. (2011) ‘We’ve let them in on the secret’: Using SFL theory to improve the teaching of writing to bilingual learners. In T. Lucas (ed.) Teacher Preparation for Linguistically Diverse Classrooms: A Resource for Teacher Educators, 111?126. New York: Routledge.
Christie, F. (1998) Science and apprenticeship: the pedagogic discourse. In J. R. Martin and R. Veel (eds) Reading Science: Critical and Functional Perspectives on Discourses of Science, 152?177. London: Routledge.
de Jong, E. and Harper, C. (2008) ESL is good teaching ‘plus’: Preparing standard curriculum teachers for all learners. In M. E. Brisk (ed.) Language, Culture, and Community in Teacher Education, 127?148. New York: Erlbaum.
de Oliveira, L. C. (2007) Academic language development in the content areas: Challenges for English language learners. INTESOL Journal, 4 (1): 22?33.
de Oliveira, L. C. and Athanases, S. Z. (2007) Graduates’ reports of advocating for English Language Learners. Journal of Teacher Education, 58 (3), 202?215.
de Oliveira, L. C. and Dodds, K. N. (2010) Beyond general strategies for English Language Learners: Language dissection in science. Electronic Journal of Literacy Through Science, 9 (1). Retrieved from http://ejlts.ucdavis.edu/article/2010/9/1/beyond-generalstrategies-english-language-learners-language-dissection-science
Fang, Z. (2006) The language demands of science reading in middle school. International Journal of Science Education, 28 (5): 491?520. doi:10.1080/09500690500339092
Fang, Z. and Schleppegrell, M. J. (2008) Reading in Secondary Content Areas: A Languagebased pedagogy. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
Gebhard, M., Demers, J. and Castillo-Rosenthal, Z. (2008) Teachers as critical text analysts: L2 literacies and teachers’ work in the context of high-stakes school reform. Journal of Second Language Writing, 17 (4): 274?291. doi:10.1016/j.jslw.2008.05.001
Gebhard, M., Willett, J., Jimenez, J. P. and Piedra, A. (2011) Systemic functional linguistics, teachers’ professional development, and ELLs’ academic literacy practices. In T. Lucas (ed.), Teacher Preparation for Linguistically Diverse Classrooms: A Resource for Teacher Educators, 91?110. New York: Routledge.
Gibbons, P. (2009) English Learners, Academic Literacy, and Thinking: Learning in the Challenge Zone. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Gunderson, L. (2007) English-only Instruction and Immigrant Students in Secondary Schools. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Gunderson, L. (2009) ESL (ELL) Literacy Instruction: A Guidebook to Theory and Practice. New York: Routledge.
Halliday, M. A. K. and Martin, J. R. (1993) Writing Science: Literacy and Discursive Power. London: The Falmer Press.
Halliday, M. A. K. and Matthiessen, C. (2004) An Introduction to Functional Grammar (3rd edn). London: Arnold.
Hammond, J. (2001) Scaffolding and language. In J. Hammond (ed.) Scaffolding: Teaching and Learning in Language and Literacy Education, 15?30. Sydney: Primary English Teaching Association.
Hammond, J. and Gibbons, P. (2001) What is scaffolding. In J. Hammond (ed.) Scaffolding: Teaching and Learning in Language and Literacy Education, 1?14. Sydney: Primary English Teaching Association.
Harman, R. (in review) The language in literature and upper elementary writing instruction: The intertextual response of a fifth-grade student. RELC Journal.
Hyland, K. (2007) Genre pedagogy: Language, literacy and L2 writing instruction. Journal of Second Language Writing, 16 (3): 148–164. doi:10.1016/j.jslw.2007.07.005
Lantolf, J. P. (ed.) (2000) Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lemke, J. L. (1990) Talking Science: Language, Learning and Values. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Lemke, J. L. (2002) Multimedia semiotics: Genres for science education and scientific literacy. In M. J. Schleppegrell and M. C. Colombi (eds) Developing Advanced Literacy in First and Second Languages: Meaning with Power, 21?44. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Lucas, T. and Grinberg, J. (2008) Responding to linguistic reality of mainstream classrooms: Preparing all teachers to teach English language learners. In M. Cochran-Smith, S. Feiman-Nemser, D. J. McIntyre and K. E. Demers (eds) Handbook of Research on Teacher Education: Enduring Questions in Changing Contexts, 606?636. New York: Routledge/Taylor and Francis.
Lucas, T., Villegas, A. M. and Freedson-Gonzalez, M. (2008) Linguistically responsive teacher education: Preparing classroom teachers to teach English language learners. Journal of Teacher Education, 59 (4): 361?373. doi:10.1177/0022487108322110
Macken-Horarik, M., Devereux, L., Trimingham-Jack, C. and Wilson, K. (2006) Negotiating the territory of tertiary literacies: A case study of teacher education. Linguistics and Education, 17 (3): 240–257. doi:10.1016/j.linged.2006.11.001
Martin, J. R. (1998) Discourses of science: Recontextualization, genesis, intertextuality and hegemony. In J. R. Martin and R. Veel (eds) Reading Science, 3?14. London: Routledge.
Martin, J. R. and Rose, D. (2003) Working with Discourse: Meaning Beyond the Clause. London: Continuum.
Martin, J. R. and Rose, D. (2005) Designing literacy pedagogy: scaffolding democracy in the classroom. In R. Hasan, C. M. I. M. Matthiessen and J. Webster (eds) Continuing Discourse on Language, 251?280. London: Equinox.
Martin, J. R. and Rose, D. (2007) Interacting with text: The role of dialogues in learning to read and write. Foreign Languages in China, 4 (5): 66–80.
Martin, J. R. and Rose, D. (2008) Genre Relations: Mapping Culture. London: Equinox.
Martin, J. R. and Rothery, J. (1990) Literacy for a Lifetime: Teachers’ Notes. Sydney: Film Australia.
Martin, J. R. and Veel, R. (eds) (1998) Reading Science: Critical and Functional Perspectives on Discourses of Science. London: Routledge.
Maybin, J., Mercer, N. and Stierer, B. (1992) Scaffolding learning in the classroom. In K. Norman (ed.), Thinking Voices: The Work of the National Oracy Project, 186?195. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
McCarthy, C. (1991) Multicultural approaches to racial inequality in the United States. Oxford Review of Education, 17 (3): 301?316. doi:10.1080/0305498910170305
McCarthy, C. (1994) Multicultural discourses and curriculum reform: A critical perspective. Educational Theory, 44 (1): 81?98. doi:10.1111/j.1741-5446.1994.00081.x
Merriam, S. B. (1998) Qualitative Research and Case Study Applications in Education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.
Miles, M. B., and Huberman, A. M. (1994) Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook (2nd edn). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Mohan, B., Leung, C. and Davison, C. (2001) English as a Second Language in the Mainstream: Teaching, Learning, and Identity. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Ogle, D. and Lang, L. (2007) Best practices in adolescent literacy instruction. In L. B. Gambell, L. M. Morrow and M. Pressley (eds), Best Practices in Literacy Instruction, 127–156. New York: Guilford Press.
Rose, D. (2004) Sequencing and pacing of the hidden curriculum: How indigenous children are left out of the chain. In J. Muller, A. Morais and B. Davies (eds) Reading Bernstein, Researching Bernstein, 145–170. London: Routledge.
Rose, D., Rose, M., Farrington, S. and Page, S. (2008) Scaffolding academic literacy with indigenous health sciences students: An evaluative study. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 7 (3): 165?179. doi:10.1016/j.jeap.2008.05.004
Rothery, J. (1994) Exploring Literacy in School English: Write it Right Resources for Literacy and Learning. Sydney: Metropolitan East Disadvantaged Schools Project.
Schleppegrell, M. J. (2004) The Language of Schooling: A Functional Linguistics Perspective. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Schleppegrell, M. J. and de Oliveira, L. C. (2006) An integrated language and content approach for history teachers. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 5 (4): 254?268. doi:10.1016/j.jeap.2006.08.003
Shulman, L. S. (1987) Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57 (1): 1?22.
Unsworth, L. (1999) Developing critical understanding of the specialised language of school science and history texts: A functional grammatical perspective. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 42 (7): 508?521.
Veel, R. (2000) Learning how to mean – scientifically speaking: Apprenticeship into scientific discourse in the secondary school. In F. Christie and J. R. Martin (eds) Genre and Institutions: Social Processes in the Workplace and School, 161?195. New York: Continuum.
Vygotsky, L. (1978) Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. London: Harvard University Press.
Vygotsky, L. (1986) Thought and Language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Wood, D., Bruner, J. and Ross, G. (1976) The role of tutoring in problem solving. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 17 (2): 89?100. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.1976.tb00381.x
Published
2011-05-06
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
de Oliveira, L. C. (2011). A linguistic approach in culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms: A focus on teacher education. Linguistics and the Human Sciences, 4(2), 101-133. https://doi.org/10.1558/lhs.v4i2.101
