George C. Bunch

Pedagogical Language Knowledge Preparing Mainstream Teachers for English Learners in the New Standards Era

S or later, as schools move to implement the new Common Core and other forthcoming standards, almost every teacher in the United States will face the challenge of how to support students from homes where English is not the dominant language in meeting subject-matter academic expectations that require increasingly demanding uses of language and literacy in English. In this chapter, I review research that provides potential insights on how “mainstream” teachers might be prepared for responding to this challenge, both in preservice teacher preparation programs and throughout their careers. I argue that efforts to prepare teachers for working with English learners (ELs)1 to engage with increasing language and literacy expectations across the curriculum requires development of pedagogical language knowledge (Galguera, 2011)—not to “teach English” in the way that most mainstream teachers may initially conceive of (and resist) the notion, but rather to purposefully enact opportunities for the development of language and literacy in and through teaching the core curricular content, understandings, and activities that teachers are responsible for (and, hopefully, excited about) teaching in the first place. I review recent literature that presents various approaches to what this knowledge might entail and how teacher preparation and development initiatives might go about fostering it. I conclude by proposing that, in an age of increasing linguistic demands associated with new academic expectations, building teachers’ understanding of language as action (van Lier & Walqui, 2012) could serve as the foundation for preparing them to engage—and support—ELs in both challenging and meaningful academic tasks. As educators begin to navigate a new era of policy reform with new common standards at its heart, there are many uncertainties. As I write, teachers, school

Latinos, Language Minority Students, and the Construction of ESL Language Testing and Placement From High School to Community College

This article explores language assessments and policies that Latino students and others from immigrant backgrounds face as they graduate from high school and attempt to enter community colleges. Focusing on California, the authors examine the assumptions that underlie these assessments and policies. They argue that the policies signal different conceptions (and misconceptions) about the nature of bilingualism and the needs of U.S.-educated language minority students pursuing academic goals. Este manuscrito explora la evaluación del lenguaje y las normas que latinos y otros estudiantes inmigrantes encaran cuando gradúan de la escuela secundaria y intentan entrar a los colegios comunitarios. Enfocados en California, los autores examinan las suposiciones que apoyan estas normas y evaluaciones. Argumentan que las normas señalan concepciones diferentes (y erróneas) sobre la naturaleza del ser bilingüe y las necesidades de los estudiantes de idiomas minoritarios educados en los Estados Unidos que siguen metas académicas.

The Language of Ideas and the Language of Display: Reconceptualizing "Academic Language" in Linguistically Diverse Classrooms.

Introducing a distinction between language of ideas and language of display as a means of reconceptualizing what counts as “academic” language, I examine one brief stretch of talk by a small group of linguistically diverse 7th grade students in a U.S. mainstream social studies classroom designed to maximize academic and language development opportunities for English learners. I argue that focusing on how students use language to engage in academic tasks makes it possible to consider (a) the accomplishments related to academic tasks that students, both individually and in concert with others, use language to make, (b) the wide range of linguistic resources that students bring to bear on an academic task, including language that may be initially regarded as “conversational” or “informal,” and (c) students’ awareness and strategic use of different registers for different purposes and audiences.

Integrating Language, Literacy, and Academic Development: Alternatives to Traditional English as a Second Language and Remedial English for Language Minority Students in Community Colleges.

This article argues for the importance of integrating a focus on language, literacy, and academic development for United States-educated language minority (US-LM) students, sometimes called Generation 1.5. It describes four initiatives at community colleges in California that aim to do so. US-LM students have completed some K–12 schooling in the United States, but their English is considered by community college faculty, staff, or assessment measures to be inadequate for college-level instruction. Although enacting effective language and literacy support for Generation 1.5 has centered on debates about whether these students belong in English as a Second Language (ESL) or remedial English courses, how they can best be identified and tested, or whether they should be taught in separate classes, we argue that more fundamental shifts are needed. Instead of conceiving of students’ language and literacy development solely in terms of progress through ESL or remedial English sequences, educators designing support for US-LM students must also consider larger contexts of students’ academic progress, promoting students’ development of language and literacy for success in academic and professional settings as well as progress toward completing credits required for associate degrees, certificates, and transfer to four-year institutions.

Integrating a Focus on Academic Language, English Learners, and Mathematics: Teacher Candidates’ Responses on the Performance Assessment for California Teachers (PACT)

Throughout the United States, teacher educators are developing new strategies to improve the preparation of mainstream teachers for linguistic diversity. In this article, we explore teacher candidates’ responses to the Performance Assessment for California Teachers (PACT), a preservice assessment required for credentialing that requires candidates to consider the English language demands of content-area instruction, to enact supports for English learners and others who may struggle with those demands, and to develop ways to promote the academic language development of these students. We report on a study examining written responses on the PACT from 8 elementary teacher candidates who chose mathematics as the focus for their teaching event. We found that the PACT induced teacher candidates to consider language issues and the needs of language learners in a content area often thought to be language-free, yet one in which language in fact plays a crucial role. Such responses provide important information that can be used not only for credentialing decisions but also by teacher educators, teacher-education programs, and teacher candidates themselves in supporting the academic-language development of ELs in content areas such as mathematics.