Adrienne Noyes

RDG 323 - Fall 2020

Diverse Learners Top Hat Organizer

Article One:  Article Two: 

Moje, B., Giroux, C., & Muehling, N. (2017). Menken, K. (2013). Emergent bilingual students in
Navigating cultures and identities to learn secondary school: Along the academic language and
literacies for life: Rethinking adolescent literacy literacy continuum.  Language Teaching, 46, pp 438-
teaching in a post-core world. In K. Hinchman & 476 doi:10.1017/ S0261444813000281
D. Appleman (ed) Adolescent literacies: A
handbook of practice-based research.
Change paradigm to focus on ELL abilities not
Learning for life includes social, cultural and the
shortcomings at the secondary ed level (study not
disciplines/domains of school
focused on elementary age learners)
 Learning takes place inside and outside
 MUST understand L1 skills, knowledge,
of school including language, identities,
complexity and literacies not just L2 status
opportunities to use skills,
socio/economic  Students may or may not be proficient in L1
and that must be evaluated
 3 concepts: Identity, Culture and Power
 Study focused on “low learners” those with
 Identity
low literacy skills in L1 and L2
o “Good” vs “Bad” reader labels –
o Interrupted education (refugees)
based on what? Who decides?
o Long term learners not given tools to
o Differences in Self vs teacher
learn adequately
perceptions
 Secondary L2 learners “overlooked and
o Labels impacts reading AND
underserved”
classroom participation
 High drop-out rates, grade retention and
 Culture
course failure
o Language and communication
 Low performance in language, literacy and
differ at home vs school
math
o Race, nationality and economic
 Over-represented in special ed programs
all have impacts
 5-10 years to gain proficiency of monolingual
o Positive impact of
English students
teacher/parent/community-
based learning  Home language instruction DECREASES time
to gain proficiency in L2
o Use inquiry-based curricular
tools to bridge home and school  Need to learn content/disciplines plus new

A Noyes – RDG 323 – Professor Trombley – Diverse Learners Graphic Organizer – due 09/12/20 page: 1
 o Students have skills across
multiple domains that may or
may not be present inside
school
o “Foolbirds” -- students hiding
their abilities because they do
not meet perceived academic
standards; they may be more
skilled than teachers realize
o Real-life arguments and markers
⇒ transfer to academics
o Students who read/write out of
school do not perform better in
school if teacher does not
“tend” to their practices; need
to engage what they are doing
out of school to build on that
o Must have disciplinary frame to
prepare students for life;
connect, bridge, build school
and non-school experiences
 Power
o Help students learn to
participate vs. navigate/resist
power  give them hope and
vision  call to action, not
complaining or complacence
o Engage & collaborate vs
persuade & dominate
 Funds of Knowledge
o Network and community matter
o transnational communities
 Students use L1 and L2
in different settings,
with different people
and on digital tools
A Noyes – RDG 323 – Professor Trombley – Diverse Learners Graphic Organizer – due 09/12/20 page: 2
language
 Common Core and NCLB high stakes testing
disadvantages ⇒ impacts test takers,
schools, funding, teachers, too
 Social language vs academic language ⇒
impact judgements, placements, perceptions
 basic interpersonal communication skills
(BICS) vs cognitive academic language
proficiency skills (CALP).
 academic language ⇒ not neutral
o  social practices of power dynamics
o  acquiring language ⇒ written and
spoken language across multiple
modalities
 Translanguaging & School Practices
o Dynamic Languaging ⇒
understanding bilingualism
o hybridity, plurality and differences in
home, school, social language use
vs traditional, fixed language
categories
 Transnational Students
o do not use language the way
monolinguals do
o  L1, L2+ are NOT distinct,
disconnected systemsl
 Meet translanguage students where they are
o Spectrum of skills & learning needs
o Spectrum of support inside and
outside of classrooms
 Maintain and develop L1, L2+ over time ⇒
better performance than monolinguals
 Legislative/legal concerns, state ballot
 o out of school reading groups measures against bilingual ed

 Freedom to choose  Students may need instruction/learning/skill

what to read development in L1 and L2; weak L1 skills do
not provide foundation to build L2 skills
 Topics of interest
 L1 abilities: 1) pre-literate and non-literate,
 Connected experiences,
2) semi-literate, and 3) functionally literate
relatable
 High school departmental structure inhibits
o religious groups
language learning / focused on content or
 Use knowledge and disciplinary area, not language learning 
skills how can students learn content if they do
not understand language used to teach the
 Create shared content?
experiences
 Emotional needs/trauma often overlooked
 Involve Reading, writing, or not addressed (no training) by teachers
discourse
 Generation 1.5 = immigrated to the US at
 May or may not include school age or born in the US, but speak a
critical thinking based language other than English at home
on religion ⇒ different learning needs from other
emergent bilinguals

 Code Switching & Code Building o 1) nontraditional ESL learners

(familiar with American culture)
o teach/learn to navigate different
settings, situations, contexts o  2) ear learners (learned English
primarily through hearing it not by
o Use examples/analogies  reading or writing) 
o AVT/African American Verbal o 3) limited knowledge of home
Tradition language 

o 4) growing knowledge of English

o 5) good aural/oral skills, and 

o 6) inexperienced readers and writers

 students labeled LTELL do not like this and

resist placements because it does not reflect
their knowledge and abilities but their
current state

 students may resist ELA classes taught in

their home language because L1 teachers
may try to correct and marginalize their L1

A Noyes – RDG 323 – Professor Trombley – Diverse Learners Graphic Organizer – due 09/12/20 page: 3
 practices

 Teaching ELA to ELLs is different than

teaching English to mono-language native
speakers

 Focus on oral and written abilities in this

order as students learn and become more
proficient:

o  (1) conversation

o (2) description and narrative

o (3) evaluation and explanation

o (4) argument

Similarities 

 Social settings are important venues for student learning (e.g., reading outside of school to
develop literacy skills; speaking L2 outside of school without “fear” of judgement/correction);
assistance not judgement from others, support

 Home, socio-economic and self-identification impact learners 

 Rules, tests, measurements have been made by those in power, creating an imbalance of
opportunity

 Code Switching and Code Building -- while not named that in Menke’s article, ELLs exhibit
these abilities, too

 Students may hide their working knowledge of language because they think it does not
measure up to expectations or standards (“foolbirds”)

 Identity, Power, Culture, Funds of Knowledge and Code Switching/Building -- also not named in
Menke’s article but are evident in ELLs and how they are labeled, treated and judged in school

 Opportunities to learn and practice outside of school settings are important and teachers
should find ways to bridge the outside experiences/interests/learning opportunities to inside
the classroom

 Need measurements and markers other than standardized test and rigid measurements; we
should measure student abilities appropriate to where they are on the learning spectrum and
measure progress against realistic goals including practical activities (conversations, interests,
hobbies, activities outside of school)

A Noyes – RDG 323 – Professor Trombley – Diverse Learners Graphic Organizer – due 09/12/20 page: 4
My Thoughts

Bottom line for me:  teachers should not judge a book (students) by its cover.  

 Students have abilities that may be hidden or untapped

 Teachers must find ways to bridge home, culture, language, and other influences to the
content/discipline being taught to make meaningful connections for students to learn

 Whether native language speakers or ELLs, teachers must understand what the student’s
abilities are relative to their home, L1, culture, socio-economic status, opportunities and
experiences

 Labels should not/do not define students nor their capacity to learn and succeed

 Do not underestimate students based on performance in class or on tests ⇒ go beyond

traditional measures and look for ways to help students based on their interests, abilities and
real-life practices

 Getting to know students, who they are outside of the classroom, what interests them, how
they learn, what opportunities they have to learn beyond school, what their home/social
support structures are like ⇒ all of these can help me help my students

 Students learn in many ways (and not always in school), so while traditional, tried-and-true
approaches are acceptable, they may not meet student needs; it’s on me to be creative, find
ways to connect with students and connect learning to their lives

 I have always felt that strategies that were appropriate for ELLs were also applicable to all
learners and after reading these articles, I believe so even more. All learners need to be
challenged appropriately, respected, and have opportunities to learn with different
approaches, scaffolding and a teacher willing to think outside of the box. Even if teaching is
different for different students, they deserve equity.

 Start developing my tool kit now 😊

Questions:

1-How can I effectively partner with ELL and other student support services in my school without
rocking the boat if what I want to try and how I want to teach students is not generally accepted in the
school but reflects modern research and thinking?

2-What are some tools to gather information on student interests, home life, and other factors that
could help me connect learning with them beyond the demographic survey data collected by the
school? What is appropriate and not appropriate to ask (e.g., beyond what language is primarily
spoken at home, would it be ok to ask how many other people in your home speak English fluently? Do
you have siblings who are also ELLS? Do you have other people in your life who are proficient English

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 speakers?)

3-If I am the young, female, white, educated teacher in a poor, lower socio-economic school primarily
of students of color and/or non-American nationalities, where students may not be exposed to
educated professionals outside of school, what are some approaches to encourage them to want to do
well in school and to possibly continue their education in a trade or profession without being sappy or
condescending?

4-How much is really done in cross-content teams (e.g., the middle school model) vs. departments to
have teachers work together for student assessment, sharing of lessons so that a lesson in one content
area bridges to a lesson in another content area (to help students see connections)? Are experienced
teachers mostly on board with this? Do school administrations support these efforts or just give them
lip-service?

References:

Menken, K. (2013). Emergent bilingual students in secondary school: Along the academic language and
literacy continuum.  Language Teaching, 46, pp 438-476 doi:10.1017/ S0261444813000281

Moje, B., Giroux, C., & Muehling, N. (2017). Navigating cultures and identities to learn literacies for life:
Rethinking adolescent literacy teaching in a post-core world. In K. Hinchman & D. Appleman (ed)
Adolescent literacies: A handbook of practice-based research.

A Noyes – RDG 323 – Professor Trombley – Diverse Learners Graphic Organizer – due 09/12/20 page: 6