Analyzing the Bilingual Writing Development of English Language Learners
Over the past decade there has been an increase in the number of English Language Learners in American classrooms. Currently, there are 47 million Americans who speak a language other than English at home (Census 2000 Gateway). The major focus of this research was to assess the bilingual writing development of three Latino/a English Language Learners across two years of schooling in the U.S.. One of the goals was to develop a rubric, based on what we know about second language writing, which we can use to assess and discuss the bilingual writing development of these and other second language learners by taking into account the students bilingualism/ biculturalism. The students' data, which were previously collected, was analyzed qualitatively. In the analysis, the grammar and spelling of each student was looked at, as well as, how they organized their thoughts, and whether they transferred writing, knowledge or features from one language to another. Relevant research was gathered from varied sources to help provide the background for this research study. To help in the construction of the rubric Peregoy's and Boyles' writing trait matrix (2001), Valdes' levels of developing writing abilities (1999) and Edelsky's different categories of analysis of writing (1985) were used, in addition to, the research team's own categories. The findings reflected that Roberto and Elena had better developed English writing then Spanish writing and Manuel showed more developed Spanish writing. Furthermore, Roberto and Elena's Spanish writing continued developing after they stopped receiving Spanish instruction during the second year of the study, but Manuel's Spanish writing showed little improvement. All three children reflected improvement in English, as well as, bilingual/ bicultural features.
School:
Tufts University
Department:
Child Development
Research Advisor:
Georgia Garcia
Department of Research Advisor:
Curriculum and Instruction
Year of Publication:
2003