Ofelia B. Miramontes

Addressing Linguistic Diversity from the Outset

Schools of education typically prepare their prospective teachers to work with amorphous “average students”—who are by implication middle class, native, English speaking, and White. They are then given some limited opportunities to adapt these understandings to students with diverging profiles—children of poverty, second language learners, and students of color. The authors argue that given the changing demographics of public schools, initial teacher education should be based on the understandings that teachers typically do not receive until the end of their programs or in add-on endorsements. They should be prepared from the outset to work with the wide diversity of language, culture, and class that they are likely to meet in public schools. Ten recommendations are presented for “What Every Teacher Should Do” to work effectively in the linguistically and culturally diverse settings they are likely to encounter.

Perceived and actual linguistic competence: A descriptive study of four low–achieving Hispanic bilingual students

This ethnographic study investigated the linguistic performance of four Hispanic bilingual students perceived to have limited language abilities in Spanish and English. The study provided data on the students’ language use and abilities, in both languages, in a variety of school and nonschool settings. Data were analyzed qualitatively for evidence of students’ linguistic, discourse, and narrative competencies. Performance was compared across settings and across languages for each student, as well as across students. All students displayed different strengths across settings in both languages. The data indicated that the organization of instruction limited the students’ abilities to demonstrate their full range of competence in the two languages, and that their lack of English structural proficiency and lack of vocabulary in Spanish was interpreted by teachers as a lack of conceptual ability. Observed over a variety of contexts, however, students showed the ability to use language as a vehicle for effective self-expression both socially and cognitively.

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ENGLISH ORAL READING SKILLS IN DIFFERENTLY SCHOOLED GROUPS OF HISPANIC STUDENTS

Bilingual Hispanic students whose English or Spanish dominance cannot be clearly determined, and who are not achieving at grade level, are particularly at risk for academic failure. This study examined the patterns of oral reading miscues, retelling, and fluency of such mixed dominant students in order to develop a better understanding of their reading strategy use. The scores and text of fourth- to sixth-grade Hispanic mixed dominant (MD) students were compared to those of two other distinct fourth- to sixth-grade Hispanic student groups: good English readers (GE) and good Spanish readers reading in English, their second language (GS-ESL). The data indicated MD students did not differ significantly from good English readers on several important categories including story retelling, where they got the highest mean scores. The ability to retain in-text grammatical function was low for both the GE and MD groups. The GE group was more fluent that either of the two groups, making significantly less miscues per words read. A factor analysis indicated that the MD group was distinctly different in strategy use from the GS-ESL group. Overall, these data suggested that MD students were not easily categorized into a homogeneous group, and that some of their strategies and skills may have been underutilized.

The Reclassification of Limited English Proficient Students: Assessing the Inter-relationship of Selected Variables

Abstract The extent and length of primary language instruction in bilingual education programs has been one of the major controversies surrounding their implementation. Generally, processes for moving students into and out of bilingual programs have been based primarily on English proficiency measures. This has occurred even though instruction in the primarily (non-English) language is a major part of these students’ instruction, and is intended to provide the foundation for English instruction. This study analyzed the inter-relationships among several variables: primary language achievement, oral English/reading achievement, instructional level, time in program, and teacher judgement, and their usefulness as indicators of success in all-English instruction. Subjects were 2100 students in a four-stage bilingual program in a large California urban school district. The data suggest that primary language achievement, instructional level, and oral English performance may be important indicators of achievement...