Teaching and Researching ELLs' Disciplinary Literacies

Written from a critical perspective, this volume provides teachers, teacher educators, and classroom researchers with a conceptual framework and practical methods for teaching and researching the disciplinary literacy development of English language learners (ELLs). Grounded in a nuanced critique of current social, economic, and political changes shaping public education, Gebhard offers a comprehensive framework for designing curriculum, instruction, and assessments that build on students' linguistic and cultural resources and that are aligned with high-stakes state and national standards using the tools of systemic functional linguistics (SFL). By providing concrete examples of how teachers have used SFL in their work with students in urban schools, this book provides pre-service and in-service teachers, as well as literacy researchers and policy makers, with new insights into how they can support the disciplinary literacy development of ELLs and the professional practices of their teachers in the context of current school reforms. Key features of this book include the voices of teachers, examples of curriculum, sample analyses of student writing, and guiding questions to support readers in conducting action-oriented research in the schools where they work.

Meg Gebhard is Professor of Applied Linguistics and co-director of the Secondary English Education Program at University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA.

Figures Tables Acknowledgements 1 Teaching and researching ELLs' disciplinary literacy development in hard times: A critical perspective Rationale: The making of a "perfect storm" My literacy biography: Learning (and not learning) to become a critical reader, writer, and thinker A critical approach to understanding language, learning, and social change in U.S. public schools Overview of chapters Praxis 2 Celine's questions: Race, immigration, and literacy development in schools Celine's literacy practices: A case study Crossing linguistic, cultural, and institutional boundaries in schools Text/context dynamics Celine's educational background Mr. Banks' feedback Rethinking the word "grammar" from an SFL perspective Summary Praxis 3 Skinner, Chomsky, and Halliday: Shifting conceptions of grammar and language learning Skinner: A behavioral perspective Chomsky: A psycholinguistic perspective Halliday: A social semiotic perspective Summary and critique of different perspectives of grammar and approaches to language teaching and learning in schools Praxis 4 Genres, registers, and the teaching and learning cycle Text/context dynamics: Analyzing email requests sent to a professor SFL, genres, and registers SFL in action: The teaching and learning cycle in K-12 schools The teaching and learning cycle and Martin's genre theory SFL, genre theory, and the TLC in the context of U.S. school reforms ACCELA's approach to the TLC Summary Praxis 5 Registers: Critically analyzing field, tenor, and mode choices Field: Constructing content, ideas, and experiences Tenor: Constructing voice, social roles, and power dynamics Mode: Managing the flow of information Summary Praxis 6 Policies and practices to support ELLs' disciplinary literacy development: A civil rights perspective Twenty-first century demographic changes in U.S. public schools Students' civil rights and approaches to language education K-12 ESL program types The WIDA Consortium Summary Praxis 7 Shifting conceptions of equity: Standardization, accountability, and privatization in school reform No Child Left Behind (NCLB) English-only policies and anti-bilingual education ideologies Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the disciplinary literacy development of all students Standardization and accountability in teacher evaluation Summary Praxis 8 Placing the education of ELLs in a historic, economic, and political context The growth of the modern school system: Two faces of the Progressive Era The schooling of immigrants in the 20th century The schooling of immigrants in the 21st century Summary Praxis 9 Putting it all together: SFL in Action Text/context dynamics in U.S. public schools: A review of key concepts Teaching and researching ELLs' disciplinary literacy development at Milltown High Implications for classroom practice and research Summary Praxis