Mariana Achugar

The Grammar of History: Enhancing Content-Based Instruction Through a Functional Focus on Language

In K-12 contexts, the teaching of English language learners (ELLs) has been greatly influenced by the theory and practice of content-based instruction (CBI). A focus on content can help students achieve grade-level standards in school subjects while they develop English proficiency, but CBI practices have focused primarily on vocabulary and the use of graphic organizers along with cooperative learning activities. This article reports the results of a project intended to enhance CBI through activities that focus on the role of language in constructing knowledge. The strategies we present are based on identification and analysis of the challenges presented by grade-level textbooks in middle school history classrooms. By engaging in functional linguistic analysis, ELLs and their teachers can deconstruct the language of their textbooks, enabling students to develop academic language by focusing on the meaning-making potential of the historians language choices.

What we remember : the construction of memory in military discourse

This interdisciplinary monograph explores the discursive manifestations of the conflict over how to remember and interpret the actions of the military during the last dictatorship in Uruguay (1973-1985). Through the exploration of the discursive ways in which this powerful group represents past events and participants, we can trace the ideological struggle over how to reconstruct a traumatic past. By looking at memory as a social and discursive practice, the analysis identifies particular semiotic practices and linguistic patterns deployed in the construction of memory. The discursive description of what is remembered, how it is remembered, and who remembers serves to explain how the institution’s construction of the past is transformed and maintained to respond to outside criticism and create an institutional identity as a lawful state apparatus. This book should interest discourse analysts, historians, sociologists and researchers in the field of transitional justice.

The Events and Actors of 11 September 2001 As Seen from Uruguay: Analysis of Daily Newspaper Editorials

The aim of this article is to identify some of the discursive properties of the Uruguayan media coverage of the events of 11 September 2001 and their aftermath. The specific focus is on the construction of inand out-group identity through representation of the events and its participants. In addition, the article explores how local political agendas are advanced by arguments that connect these events to local struggles/issues. The analysis is from a critical perspective that conceives language as a social practice construed by, and at the same time construing, the social. This conceptualization of the relationship between language and the social allows us to explore the political sphere through its realizations in language. The aim is to problematize the ‘naturalized’ or hegemonic aspects of the discursive practices identified.

Between remembering and forgetting: Uruguayan military discourse about human rights (1976—2004)

This article investigates the Uruguayan militarys argumentative narrative about the last dictatorship (1973—85) in order to understand how violations of human rights are explained and justified. Through a historical perspective the investigation traces the changes and permanence of certain representational and discursive practices that construct the memory of the period. The analysis shows how the militarys argumentative narrative about the dictatorship is transformed in response to challenges from other social actors, in particular historical moments. This analysis demonstrates the dynamic, historical and discursive nature of collective memory. The article also highlights how the military as an institution deals with the effects of decisions and actions that challenge its presentation of self as a positive and moral institution of society.

DESIGNING ENVIRONMENTS FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING HISTORY IN MULTILINGUAL CONTEXTS

Educational interventions designed to serve the needs of English language learners (ELLs) in U.S. public schools are developed within a fractured social context. Recent language and immigration policy debates in the U.S. have focused on the importance of English in attaining socio-economic success. On the other hand, research in applied linguistics has shown that immigrants who become English monolingual do not fare better than their counterparts who develop bilingual skills and maintain a connection to their heritage. All of these discussions place the emphasis on what individuals have and do not have. The paper presents an alternative view of how to address issues of multilingualism in education by framing them in terms of opportunities the environment affords. This perspective is illustrated with a professional development program focused on designing environments with opportunities to develop critical language awareness. The case study reports work done with history teachers working with ELLs in the mainstream classroom.

Constructing the past and constructing themselves: the Uruguayan military's memory of the dictatorship

Institutional identity and social memory are used to construct legitimate images of self and justify past actions. The Uruguayan military as an institution was interested in constructing its own memory of the controversial period of the dictatorship to establish their new identity as political actors and to respond to outside critiques. As a result, the institution produced a wealth of documents to explain and justify its actions before holding power. This paper investigates how the Armed Forces represented their actions during this period, how they positioned themselves and other social actors, and how they evaluated themselves, others and their practices during that traumatic period. The critical discourse analysis focuses on the configuration of lexico-grammatical and discursive choices that construct the institutions shifting identity and its memory of the dictatorship. The analysis demonstrates how the military used discursive practices to legitimate its deviant actions through the construction of a narrative of the past that presented the situation as chaotic and requiring extreme measures.

Re/constructing the past: How young people remember the Uruguayan dictatorship

Investigating how contested periods are remembered by younger generations allows us to better understand the contents that are passed on as well as the discursive processes through which intergenerational transmission occurs. This article explores the intersections of collective and personal memory. We investigate what Uruguayan teenagers know about the dictatorship (1973–1985) and what discourses come into play in shaping these views. The analysis of a group interview, part of an ethnographic project, identifies arguments, representations and evaluations of the period, while exploring intertextual links. The findings show that there are four main arguments used by the youth to explain the dictatorship: reaction to guerrillas, authoritarianism, regional ideological war, and intolerance. The social actors are evaluated in terms of social sanctions with negative evaluations of the guerrilla. Intertextual connections foreground the reception of hegemonic discourses that explain the period in terms of ‘two demons’. What youth know about the past is a situated and socially distributed web of meanings that help them make sense of the past and construct their socio-political identities.

Learning History and Learning Language: Focusing on Language in Historical Explanations to Support English Language Learners

History is a language-based discipline. In this discipline, language plays a central role in understanding, reasoning, and explanation. Doing history entails engaging in close reading and evaluation of particular texts, reading across texts to establish intertextual links, constructing meaning by juxtaposing a series of texts, and writing arguments to support a particular interpretation of events, structures, themes, or metasystems (Leinhardt, Stainton, Virji, & Odoroff, 1994, Cognitive and instructional processes in the social sciences. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates). Learning history requires teachers and students to engage with multiple kinds of texts deeply, fluently, and analytically

Critical SFL Praxis Principles in English Language Arts Education: Engaging Pre-service Teachers in Reflective Practice

This chapter describes a critical SFL praxis approach for English Language Arts pre-service teacher education that focuses on the development of conceptual tools to foster productive disciplinary engagement. Teachers need to develop an adaptive expertise to guide their decisions in the classroom. The appropriation of conceptual tools contributes to the development of adaptive expertise required by responsive teachers in multilingual classrooms. We present examples of the educational experience of pre-service teachers to illustrate how in these activities learners “use grammar to think” (Halliday MAK, On grammar and grammatics. In: Webster J (ed) On grammar: volume 1: the collected works of M.A.K Halliday. London, Continuum, pp 384–417, 2002 ). These activities incorporate the analysis, reflection, abstract conceptualization and application of authentic language use, grammar in the wild. Pre-service teachers see critical SFL conceptual tools in action and engage in analysis through supportive activities with expert facilitation. The conclusion provides an outline of the research project exploring the continuation of this teacher education during the practicum experience.

Families’ Conversations about the Dictatorship: Appropriating Anecdotes and Taking an Affective Stance

Why do family conversations matter in processes of intergenerational transmission? Family narratives provide a context for creating and re-creating individual and group identity. In addition to this consideration, families have different styles of reminiscing that may influence how individuals remember the past (Fivush, 2008). Family conversations have previously been examined to better understand how youth are socialized into political discourse in the private sphere (e.g., George, 2013; Gordon, 2004; Ochs and Taylor, 1992) and to explore how the historical self develops (Fivush and Nelson, 2006; Wineburg, Mosborg, Porat and Duncan, 2007).