Drawing on the principles of critical multicultural teacher education, Teaching
English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and bilingual education, this study
examined how pre-service teachers were prepared to educate Emerging Bilinguals (EBs)
in ESOL-infused teacher education programs in Florida universities. The textual analysis
of a purposeful sample of five elementary-level English Language Arts (ELA) methods
textbooks, utilizing a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, revealed that
authors overwhelmingly referred to EBs as English learners or English language learners,
rather than bilinguals or dual language learners, and devoted less than 5% of the total
content of four textbooks to topics about teaching methods, curriculum, and assessment
for EBs. Evidence of five forms of curriculum bias was found, including invisibility,
linguistic bias, fragmentation and isolation, stereotyping, and imbalance and selectivity. The findings suggest that textbook authors value knowledge about teaching EBs
less than knowledge about teaching native English-speakers. EBs were stereotyped as a
homogenous group of struggling readers and essentialized in terms of their limited
English proficiency. One author conflated students’ language differences with physical
limitations and learning disabilities, a troubling mischaracterization in the context of the
overrepresentation of EBs in special education. Meanwhile, a preference shown for ESL
methods over bilingual methods, based upon misconceptions about how EBs learn,
suggests that textbook authors undervalue the cultures and linguistic skills that students
bring from home.
The hidden curriculum in ELA methods textbooks may influence a majority of
pre-service teachers, who are typically monolingual and raised in the English-dominant
mainstream culture, to develop a deficit view of EBs and utilize a one-size-fits-all
approach towards ELA instruction. In order to prepare pre-service teachers to educate
EBs for academic success, the teacher education curriculum must include material that
explains linguistically responsive instruction and describes effective bilingual education
models, within a critical pedagogical framework. Without this knowledge, pre-service
teachers may continue instructional practices that contribute to a persistent “achievement
gap” experienced by EBs. A transformation of the ELA methods curriculum is required
so that pre-service teachers are prepared to implement a humanizing pedagogy that
facilitates positive identity formation as it develops bilingual and biliterate students. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fau.edu/oai:fau.digital.flvc.org:fau_33938 |
| Contributors | Mann, David A. (author), Schoorman, Dilys (Thesis advisor), Florida Atlantic University (Degree grantor), College of Education, Department of Curriculum, Culture, and Educational Inquiry |
| Publisher | Florida Atlantic University |
| Source Sets | Florida Atlantic University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation, Text |
| Format | 205 p., application/pdf |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder., http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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