Shanan Fitts

Effective Strategies for Developing Academic English: Professional Development and Teacher Practices

The development of academic English and advanced literacy is crucial for student success, especially for English language learners. In this study, researchers used a survey to investigate which instructional strategies 108 fourth- and fifth-grade teachers learned in professional development and found to be effective for providing English learners with access to the curriculum. In addition, Likert-scaled items asked teachers to report the frequency with which they used strategies that were found to be effective based on a review of the literature. Findings indicated that teachers were frequently using research-based instructional strategies that related to cognitive and metacognitive comprehension strategy instruction and the direct instruction of academic language. However, strategies related to comprehensible input and opportunities for practice were cited as effective by only 27% and 26% of all teachers respectively. This indicates that teachers may need more practice with these strategies, or more time for implementation, as some are time intensive.

Countering Anti-Immigrant Discourses in the New Latino South: “Nos mascan pero no nos tragan”

The increased visibility of immigrant communities in the southeastern United States coupled with the economic recession has led to a proliferation of anti-immigrant policies and contributed to a climate which positions Latin@ immigrants and the Spanish language as foreign or threatening. In this article, we examine language ideologies related to Latin@ immigrants that are prevalent in rural communities in North Carolina. We explore which language ideologies circulate and how these are incorporated into coherent Discourses. Data for this qualitative study include 42 in-depth interviews with immigrant and nonimmigrant residents. Findings indicate tensions between the ideologies of English monolingualism as inherently American and individual self-determination, including language choice, as integral to Appalachian culture. Although current social policies seek to marginalize immigrant communities, many participants worked to dispel negative perceptions of immigrants, challenge dominant Discourses that circumscribe Latin@ identity, and develop understanding between local residents and the immigrant community.

Mi Historia Familiar Es Sencilla ("My Family History Is Simple"): Testimonio in the New Latino Diaspora.

ABSTRACT In this paper, we share the testimonio of Santana, an immigrant from rural México, who explained the ways that she navigates her life and raises her children as a Latina immigrant woman here in the southeastern United States. Our inquiry is guided by analysis of ethnographic interviews conducted with Santana over a period of three years. We argue that Santana saw these interviews as an opportunity to share testimonios—embodied life stories that bear witness to a history of social injustice. Testimonio centralizes marginalized knowledge and documents a collective experience of injustice via an individual narrative. Santana’s testimonio underscores the complex ways that Latina migrants draw from embodied experiences to resist oppression and sobrevivir, a verb that implies not only enduring, but moving forward with knowledge, power, self-confidence, and creativity. We argue that her testimonio disrupts the power relations embedded in the traditional hierarchy between the researcher and the research participant.