In this dissertation, the participation of 5-year-old Spanish speaking children in a kindergarten classroom community was explored. The school was located in a working and middle-class community in Southern Arizona, where pursuant to state law; the language of instruction was English. Student participants spent four hours every day in an English Language Development classroom, segregated from their native-English speaking peers.The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore factors that affected the participation of kindergarten English Language Learners (ELLs) in knowledge construction in their classroom community. Research questions were addressed by examining ways teacher questioning strategies and evaluation responses enabled or constrained the participation of ELLs in mathematics, as well as the role ofpeers in the classroom. Data were analyzed through participant frameworks, whichilluminated the process of identity negotiation through positioning strategies. Questions were investigated through the theoretical framework of communities of practice, in which learning as apprenticeship in knowledge distribution among experts and novices is emphasized.Results indicated that teachers apprenticed ELLs into academic language in three ways: (a) using predictable, consistent language; (b) using choice and process elicitations in questioning strategies; and (c) repairing communication by revoicing student responses. In math table groups, ELLs participated by talking about resources,procedures, and initiating and extending topics. Results also showed how English-proficient peers apprenticed ELLs into negotiating inclusion and exclusion requirements, which were necessary to build an argument.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/195766 |
| Date | January 2010 |
| Creators | Farnsworth, Megan |
| Contributors | Fletcher, Todd V., Fletcher, Todd V., Fletcher, Todd V., Troike, Rudolph C., DaSilva Iddings, Ana Christina, Maker, C. J. |
| Publisher | The University of Arizona. |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, Electronic Dissertation |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. |
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