Language Policies and Practices / Education 388 (Hakuta & Walqui)

Course Description: This course has two main goals: (1) to examine issues related to the development of educational policies for immigrant populations in the United States; (2) to become familiar with and critically explore and adapt pedagogical arrangements that help English learners develop academic and conversational proficiency in English as well as to have access to grade appropriate subject matter content via specially designed academic instruction in English (SDAIE or Sheltered Instruction).

Crawford, James (1995). Bilingual Education: History, Politics, Theory and Practice. Third Edition. Los Angeles: Bilingual Education Services. [BE]

Note: All other readings are available on the Web, by clicking on the Stanford tree.

Schedule of Classes

Tuesday 3:15 - 6:05 PM

CERAS 304

Apr. 3	Topics Introduction to Language Policy and History in the United States. Scaffolding instruction for linguistic, cognitive, and academic development. Conversational and academic language demands. Types of pedagogical scaffolding. California Standards for the Teaching Profession: Novice teachers and English language learners, important questions to reflect on.
Apr. 10	Topics What Federal laws trigger attention to the needs of ELLs? Lau v. Nichols and other federal court decisions. Who are English learners? What are some of the ways in which they are similar and different? What are the implications for their academic development? The role of the L1 in the development of the L2: Our languages, ourselves (video).
	Readings Topic 1: Some key concepts (from the Office for Civil Rights website). BE, Chapters 1-2. Lau v. Nichols Castaneda v. Pickard (this is dense reading. This case is succinctly covered in Crawford, but is supplied here as reference because of the importance and elegance of the decision.) OCR Website on LEP Resources. Topics 2, 3 & 4 (Jigsaw reading): Gibson, M. Additive acculturation as a strategy for school improvement Tuan, M. Korean and Russian students in a Los Angeles high school. Exploring the alternative strategies of two high-achieving groups. Suárez-Orozco, M. & Suárez Orozco, C.E. The cultural patterning of achievement motivation: A comparison of Mexican, Mexican American, and Non-Latino White American students. Ima, K. Testing the American dream: Case studies of at-risk Southeast Asian refugee students in secondary schools. from: R.G. Rumbaut, & W.A. Cornelius (Eds.) (1995). California's immigrant children: Theory, research, and implications for educational policy. San Diego, CA: Center for US-Mexican Studies. (in course reader) Valdés, G. and Figueroa, R. (1996). The nature of bilingualism. In: Bilingualism and testing. A special case of bias. pp. 5-28. Norwood, New Jersey: Ablex Publishing Corporation.
	Come prepared to class with... Points that you would make about the legal obligations of schools to meet the needs of EL students, based on the OCR website and other information. In class, you will be asked to do the following exercise: *In-class exercise.* Your local school district has had a recent infusion of immigrants from Bosnia, and many students whose native language is Serbo-Croatian and have limited proficiency in English are in several schools. Write a letter to your school superintendent outlining the district's responsibilities under Federal law to educate these students. Jigsaw readings: make sure that you have read your assigned reading. In class, you will first be asked to discuss your reading in "expert" groups who have read the same article, and then in jigsaw groups where you will compare your observations across the readings. Click here for questions for the jigsaw discussion.
Apr. 17	Topics How long does it take ELL students to learn English? Accelerating the development of rigorous subject matter content and English skills. Video: High School of American Dreams. Questions for discussion.
	Readings Topic 1: Hakuta, K., Goto Butler, Y. & Witt, D. How Long Does It Take English Language Learners to Attain Proficiency? Paper written for the University of California Linguistic Minority Research Insititute (LMRI). Topic 2: Walqui, A. International High School, Long Island City, New York -A Focus on instructional practices and curriculum integration. In: (2000). Access and Engagement: Program design and instructional approaches for immigrant students in secondary school. Washington DC: Center for Applied Linguistics and Delta Systems. August, D. and Hakuta, K. (1997). Cognitive aspects of school learning: literacy development and content learning. In: Improving schooling for language-minority children. A research agenda. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. (in reader)
	Come prepared to class with... Finish description of focal student from last quarter, and come prepared to discuss your observations with your peers.
Apr. 24	Topics Standards-based reform and ELLs. Standards and authentic assessment for English learners. Planning backward. Analyzing standards and rubrics. Subject matter standards and ELD standards. How can we combine both? An example from social studies.
	Readings Topic 1: Some fun questions to guide your reading: What are the main tenets of standards-based reform? What are the implications for ELLs from the perspective of (1) standards, (2) testing, and (3) accountability? Is California or Texas more inclusive of ELLs in the overall educational system? If you were the parent of an ELL student and you had the option of moving to California or Texas, which would you choose? Massell, D., Kirst, M. & Hoppe, M. (1997). Persistence and Change: Standards-Based Reform in Nine States. Univ. of Pennsylvania: Consortium for Policy Research in Education. Texas and California comparison on standards-based reform. Web page created by STEP '00 students. Expanding the Scope of the Texas Public School Accountability System. Texas Education Agency, Policy Research Report #9. Academic Achievement of Elementary Students With Limited English Proficiency in Texas Public Schools Texas Education Agency, Policy Research Report #10. Topics 2-5: Truscott, J. (1999). What's wrong with oral grammar correction. Canadian Modern Language Review, 55 (4). 437-456. (in course reader) Hudson, R. (1999). Grammar teaching is dead- NOT!. IN Wheeler, R.S. (ED.). Language alive in the classroom. Westport, CT: Praeger.
	Come prepared to class with... An example of a classroom activity that you observed to be unsatisfactory from the viewpoint of authentic activity. What would you do differently to make it more authentic?
May 1	Topics Theories of second language acquisition. Developing oral skills in English: Speaking and Listening. Conversational and academic listening, enhancers and constraints.
	Readings Topic 1: BE, Chapter 6. TBA Topic 2: A Map for Teaching and Assessing California's English Language Development (ELD) and English-Language Arts (ELA) Standards for English Learners. WestEd. Grading tasks and Sequencing and integrating tasks. From: Nunan, D. (1999). Designing tasks for the communicative classroom. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. (in course reader). Poulisse, N. Compensatory strategies and the principles of clarity and economy. In: Kasper, G. and Kellerman, E. (1997). Communication strategies: Psycholinguistic perspectives. London: Longman. (in course reader).
	Come prepared to class with... Assignment 2: First draft of project
May 8	Topics Reading in English as a second language. Academic reading across disciplinary areas. Video: Metacognitive strategies in the ELD reading class.
	Readings The theory of reading, in Urquahrt, A. and Weir, C. (1998). Reading in a second language: Process, product and practice. pp. 37-109. London: Longman. (in course reader). Strategy training for learners and the role of the teacher. In: Cohen, A. (1998), Strategies in learning and using a second language. pp. 65-106. London: Longman. (in course reader) How experienced readers of literature read a novel. (2000). Strategic Literacy Initiative, WestEd How experienced readers of science read science articles. (2000). Strategic Literacy Initiative, West Ed. (in course reader)
	Come prepared to class with... Some specific theoretically based ideas from the readings that can be used in your project. Be prepared to discuss these with your peers in class.
May 15	Topics The English learner and writing. Genres and levels of difficulty. Paying attention to the right features.
	Readings Reyes, M. (1995). A process approach to literacy using dialogue journals and literature logs with second language learners. In: Garcia, O. and C. Baker. (Eds.). Policy and practice in bilingual education: extending the foundations. Bristol, PA: Multilingual Matters.
	Come prepared to class with... Assignment 3: Second draft of project
May 22	Topics Politics of bilingual education. Writer's Workshop. Guest presenter: Lydia Stack
	Readings Topic 1: BE, Chapter 3-4, 13. Greene, J. P. A Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Bilingual Education. University of Texas: The Tomas Rivera Policy Institute. Browse Prop 227 materials in James Crawford’s website Browse Ron Unz’s website Hakuta, K. What legitimate inferences can be made from the 1999 release of SAT-9 scores with respect to the impact of Proposition 227 on the performance of LEP students?
	Come prepared to class with... Notes and preparations to engage in a community debate about the merits of Proposition 227. You will be assigned to one of the following list of characters. Click here for the list.
May 29	Topics Integrating the four skills in coherent sequences. Thematic clusters, thematic units, cross-curricular continuum for English learners. Authentic assessment with English learners.
	Readings O' Malley, M. and Valdez Pierce, L. (1996). Content area assessment. in: Authentic assessment for English language learners. NY: Addison Wesley. pp. 163-199. Ancess, J. and Darling-Hammond, L. Collaborative learning and assessment at International High School. (1998). Authentic assessment in action. New York: Teachers College Press. pp. 115-167.
	Come prepared to class with... Projects are due.
Jun. 5	Project presentations in groups of four

Project You have a choice for the final project in this course.
Choice 1: Title VII Project
Choice 2: Thematic Unit Project
Projects may be developed by individuals or in dyads. Two students may work together if they contact us beforehand, and have complied with course guidelines for dual authorship. In the case of Choice 2 (Thematic Unit), the dyads must have the same subject matter specialization. During the development of the projects, it is absolutely necessary that you meet with Kenji (Choice 1) or Aida (Choice 2) to discuss your progress and concerns.
Important dates May 1 Project draft of project is due. Click here for guidelines. May 8 First draft is returned with comments. May 15 Second draft of project is due. June 7Final project is due.

California Department of Education. Resources for English Learners: California Department of Education (Department) Web page that focuses on the education of English learners

California Department of Education. English Language Development Standards page.

U. S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights

National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education

National Center for Education Statistics

James Crawford's Language Policy Website

Center for Applied Linguistics

Center for Equal Opportunity