1. education
2. english as a second language

SECOND LANGUAGE RESEARCH SIG
SPRING 2015
Second Language Research
SECOND LANGUAGE RESEARCH SIG
A Special Interest
A
Group of AERA
Spring 2015
Save The Date!
o AERA 2015
April 16-20, 2015
Come join us in Chicago for the
annual meeting!
o ACTFL 2015
November 20-22, 2015
ACTFL conference will be held in
San Diego, California.
o TESOL 2016
April 5-8, 2016
TESOL convention will be held in
Baltimore, Maryland.
o AAAL 2016
April 9-12, 2016
AAAL conference will be held in
Orlando, Florida.
Inside This Issue
Message from the SIG Chair: p. 2
Message from the Membership Chair: p. 3
Message from the Newsletter Editor: p. 4
Message from the Program Chair: p. 4
SIG Presentation Schedule: p. 5-9
Featured article: “Preparing Pre-service Teachers to Teach
English Language Learners: Issues and Perspective” by Guofang Li:
p. 11-13
News from our Members: p. 14-16
SECOND LANGUAGE RESEARCH SIG
SPRING 2015
Message From The SIG Chair
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
Spring is in the air here in Japan. The plum blossoms are opening and before long the cherry blossoms will
brighten roadways, parks and riverbanks. Signs of spring hold significance to the Japanese and those of us
expats who have live here. It is also a sign that the AERA annual meeting is fast approaching, and I am excited
to meet up with friends and colleagues that I only get to see this time of the year, as well as make new friends,
discuss new research projects and learn what others are doing!
As you will see later in this newsletter, we have several fantastic sessions sponsored by our SIG, thanks to our
Program Chair’s hard work. There are many exciting presentations to look forward to this year.
This is our current board’s final month to serve in their currents positions. In April, Amanda Kibler will take
over as Chair of the SIG, and the newly elected members will move into their roles (Peter Ignatius De Costa is
program chair and Luis Ernesto Poza is secretary/treasurer). We are in need of volunteers to help in a number of
non-elected positions of the executive committee: a newsletter editor, an awards committee chair, and a
membership chair. Please consider volunteering your time to help our SIG continue to grow. Please come to the
business meeting and make yourself known to us if you’re interested in getting involved in the SIG.
At the annual meeting, the L2 Research SIG Business Meeting will be held on Sunday, April 19, 6:15 to 7:45
pm, in the Marriott Hotel, 4th Floor, Clark. We are excited to honor our Distinguished Dissertation Award
winner, a well as the recipients of our Second Language Leadership through Research and Mid-Career awards.
We have also begun a new award to offer travel grants to graduate students and first-time presenters of AERA
for our SIG who are presenting in a session sponsored by the SIG. We also plan to engage members in
discussions of ways to improve our awards system to increase nominations, and explore ways of using our
resources in more meaningful ways.
In continuing the tradition of the past few annual meetings, we will co-host the annual “Pachanga,” a social
gathering, celebrating with our co-hosts and colleagues in the Bilingual Education Research SIG and Hispanic
Research Issues SIG. The Pachanga will begin at 8:30 pm on Friday, April 17th at Moe's Cantina, 155 W.
Kinzie St., Chicago, IL 60654, Telephone: 773-348-8899. The Pachanga will be held in the Private Event room
upstairs. Please come and enjoy an evening of fun with our colleagues!
Finally, I would like to personally thank all of the dedicated SIG members who have worked tirelessly,
volunteering their time to review proposals, helping make this year’s annual meeting the success I know it will
be. As usual, we continually have higher numbers of submissions to review, so thank you to each of you who
have served as reviewers, and those of you who are presenting, chairing sessions, or serving as a discussant.
I hope to see many of you at our sessions, business meeting, and at the pachanga. I wish you all safe travels to
the windy city!
Warm wishes,
Paul Chamness Miller, Ph.D.,
Chair
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SECOND LANGUAGE RESEARCH SIG
SPRING 2015
From the Membership Chair
Dear SLR Members,
Thank you all for your membership and support for our AERA SIG. We currently have 209 members including
many of the leaders in our field. We are pleased to welcome 58 new members who have joined since January,
2015.
If you know of other scholars and educators in AERA who are interested in Second Language Research (which
includes research on multilingual education, dual language education, second language acquisition,
bilingualism, TESOL, world languages, applied linguistics, the intersection of culture and language, and the
professional learning of teachers in these areas) please encourage them to join our SIG and attend our sessions
at AERA. Please encourage graduate students to join as a mentoring opportunity. AERA Members can add a
new SIG to your AERA membership by following these steps: Log in at www.aera.net with your new Username
and Password.
1.On “My AERA” page scroll down to “Membership”
2.Click on “Purchase additional SIG Memberships”
3.Check the box next to “Second Language Research” ($10/year student, $15 regular)
4.Click “finish”
5.Check out
Don’t forget to renew your existing membership! If you are a SIG member this year, from the “My AERA” page
you can simply click on the blue button “Express Renewal.” This will automatically renew your AERA
membership with your currents SIGs.
If you know someone who would like to find out more about our SIG before joining, encourage them to attend
the business meeting at AERA for a great opportunity to connect with others in our community.
See you in Chicago!!
Hidehiro Endo, Ph.D.
AERA SLR Membership Co-Chairs (2013-2015)
Akita International University
Ho Ryong Park, Ph.D.
AERA SLR Membership Co-Chairs (2013-2015)
Department of English and Philosophy
Murray State University
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SECOND LANGUAGE RESEARCH SIG
SPRING 2015
From the Newsletter Editor
Thank you to all of you who submitted news about your recent professional activities to share in this Spring
newsletter! Please send your news for the Fall to the newsletter editor by October 31, 2015. These items can be
recent publications, promotions or new positions, awards, projects underway, and other information you wish to
share with the SIG.
Best wishes,
Hoe Kyeung Kim, Ph.D.
Newsletter Editor
Binghamton University
From the Program Chair
Dear Members, Colleagues and Friends,
The Second Language Research SIG has an exciting 2015 program for the upcoming annual meeting in
Chicago. As the result of an intensive competition among 90 papers, submitted either individually or as part of
symposia, we will have 12 sessions, including 6 symposia or paper sessions, 5 roundtables, and a poster
session, in addition to our business meeting. These sessions also feature several of our SIG's committed
volunteers who are participating as Chairs and Discussants.
Thank you to everyone who is involved in the 2015 AERA L2 Research SIG program as presenters, reviewers,
chairs and discussants. It is a pleasure to report that the majority of the membership is participating in various
capacities during this conference! We would especially like to acknowledge the valuable contributions of our
dedicated SIG members who served as proposal reviewers. (Please see the list of reviewers below.)
The L2 Research SIG Business Meeting will be held on Sunday, April 19th from 6:15 to 7:45pm at the Marriott,
Fourth Level, Clark Room. At the meeting we will be honoring the following SIG award winners:
 Dr. Ryuko Kubota: Leadership Through Research Award
 Dr. Lucie Viakinnou-Brinson: Mid-Career Award
 Dr. Susana Franco-Fuenmayor: Distinguished Dissertation Award
Awardees will all give brief remarks, and our dissertation award winner, Dr. Franco-Fuenmayor, will also be
presenting highlights from her dissertation study. Please plan on joining us for what promises to be an
informative and enjoyable meeting and social gathering!
Looking forward to seeing you in Chicago!
Best wishes,
Amanda Kibler, Ph.D.
SIG Program Chair and Chair-Elect
University of Virginia
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SPRING 2015
AERA 2015 SLR SIG SESSIONS
Exploring Classroom Discourse, Vocabulary, and Academic Language Use in Second Language Learning
Thu, April 16, 12:00 to 1:30pm, Hyatt, East Tower - Purple Level, Riverside East
Session Type: Roundtable Session
Chair: Susan Hopewell, University of Colorado - Boulder
Papers:
 Addressing Science Vocabulary Needs of High School Newcomers - Yuliya Ardasheva, Washington
State University - Tri-Cities; Thomas R. Tretter, University of Louisville
 Let's Give Them Something to Talk About: English Learners' Participation and Academic Language Use
in Science and Social Studies - Amy Eppolito, University of Colorado - Boulder; Alison Gould
Boardman, University of Colorado - Boulder; Cristin Jensen Lasser, University of Colorado - Boulder;
Chao Wang, University of Colorado
 Self-Regulated Vocabulary Learning: The Role of Motivation and Learning Strategy - Yunjeong Choi,
Michigan State University; Dongbo Zhang, Michigan State University; Chin-Hsi Lin, Michigan State
University; Yining Zhang, Michigan State University
 Transforming Preservice L2 Teachers' Discursive Practice: Sites of Contention - Kristin Johnson Davin,
Loyola University Chicago; Richard Donato, University of Pittsburgh
Ecologies and Identities in Second-Language/Multilingual Research
Thu, April 16, 2:15 to 3:45pm, Hyatt, East Tower - Purple Level, Riverside East
Session Type: Roundtable Session
Chair: Theresa Y. Austin, University of Massachusetts - Amherst
Papers:
 English Language Learners' Critical Literacy Practice and Identity Negotiation - Bogum Yoon,
Binghamton University
 Rhetoric and Reality: Heritage Language Ecologies in a Multilingual Swedish School - Liv
Thorstensson Davila, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
 Second-Language Literacies in the City: New Practices in Urban Spaces of Medellín, Colombia - Raul
A. Mora, Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana; Melissa Castaño, Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana;
Nathalie Gomez, Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana; Natalia Ramirez, Universidad Pontificia
Bolivariana; Maria Camila Mejia-Velez, Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana; Carla Pulgarin,
Universidad Pontificia Bolivarian
Building Capacity: What Is Needed to Support Districts With Emerging English Learner Student
Enrollments?
Fri, April 17, 8:15 to 9:45am, Marriott, Sixth Level, Michigan/Michigan State
Session Type: Symposium
Chair: Jerry Johnson, University of West Florida
Papers:
 What Are Capacity-Building Needs in the New Demographics of English Learner Populations? Annette M. Zehler, Westat; Victoria Schaefer, Westat
 Challenges for Districts in Identifying English Learners With Disabilities - Tamara Nimkoff; Elaine
Carlson, Westat
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Distributed Leadership in the New Latino Diaspora: Building Capacity to Support Newcomers Rebecca Jane Lowenhaupt, Boston College
 Domains of Knowledge for Principal Leadership in Serving English Learners - Laura M. O'Dwyer,
Boston College
Discussant: Theresa Deussen, Education Northwest
Talk That Talk: Making the Most of Text, Speech, and Silence for Emergent Bilinguals in the Classroom
Fri, April 17, 10:35am to 12:05pm, Marriott, Fifth Level, Kansas City
Session Type: Symposium
Chair: Maneka Deanna Brooks, Texas State University
Papers:
 A Comparison of Implicit and Explicit Discourse Relations in Middle School Science and Social Studies
Textbooks - Diego Roman, Stanford University; Stephanie Hironaka, Stanford University
 The Language of Ciencia: Translanguaging and Learning in a Bilingual Science Classroom - Luis
Ernesto Poza, University of Colorado - Denver
 From Test Scores to Language Use: What English Learners Do in Real-Time Academic Communication
in English - Claudia Rodriguez-Mojica, Education Northwest
 Show Me Your Listening Position: Embodied Silence and Speech in a Second-Grade Class of Bilingual
and Bi-Dialectal Students - Sara Ann Rutherford-Quach, Stanford University
Discussant: Guadalupe Valdés, Stanford University
Writing Practices and Digital Literacies in Multilingual Settings
Fri, April 17, 4:05 to 6:05pm, Marriott, Third Level, Kane/McHenry
Session Type: Paper Session
Chair: Amanda Kibler, University of Virginia
Papers:
 Digital Storytelling Research in ESL and EFL Contexts: A Thematic Synthesis of Published Research Joohoon Kang, The Ohio State University; Chin-Chiang Kao, The Ohio State University; Youngjoo Yi,
The Ohio State University
 How ESL Contexts Shape the Argumentative Writing of Students in High School "Sheltered
Instruction" Classrooms - George E. Newell, The Ohio State University; Hyun Jung Joo, The Ohio State
University; Alan Hirvela, The Ohio State University
 Integration of Multimodal Writing: Remediating Argumentative Essays Into Digital Videos - Dong-shin
Shin, Northern Illinois University
 Learning Across the Content Areas With Mobile Devices: The Case of Middle School English Learners
and Digital Pen Technology - Rae Mancilla, Duquesne University
 Negotiating Peer Feedback as a Reciprocal Learning Tool for Adolescent Multilingual Learners - Pei-Jie
Jenny Chen, University of Maryland - College Park; Melinda E. Martin-Beltran, University of Maryland
- College Park; Natalia Guzman, University of Maryland - College Park; Kayra Alvarado Merrills,
University of Maryland
Discussant: Theresa Y. Austin, University of Massachusetts – Amherst
Oral Language Use and Development in Second-Language/Multilingual Settings
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SECOND LANGUAGE RESEARCH SIG
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Sat, April 18, 8:15 to 9:45am, Hyatt, East Tower - Purple Level, Riverside East
Session Type: Roundtable Session 15
Chair: Christopher J Jochum, University of Nebraska - Kearney
Papers:
 Elicited Imitation as a Measure of Second-Language Proficiency: A Systematic Review - Xun Yan,
Purdue University; Yukiko Maeda, Purdue University; Jing Lv, Purdue University
 English Teachers' Perceptions About Types of Oral Corrective Feedback in Chinese and U.S. Contexts Laura J. Mahalingappa, Duquesne University; Nihat Polat, Duquesne University
 Strategy Use in Second-Language Speaking Assessment: The Case of the General English Proficiency
Test in Taiwan - Heng-Tsung Danny Huang, National Taiwan University; Shaoting Alan Hung,
National Taiwan University of Technology & Science
Building Expertise for Teachers of English Language Learners in the 21st Century
Sat, April 18, 10:35am to 12:05pm, Marriott, Third Level, Kane/McHenry
Session Type: Symposium
Chair: George C. Bunch, University of California - Santa Cruz
Papers:
 A Vision for Building Expertise for Teachers of English Language Learners in the 21st Century - Aida
Walqui, WestEd
 Building Teacher Expertise Through Metacognition - Robert Thompson, The International Newcomer
Academy; Leland Hartman, The International Newcomer Academy; Tanya Warren, The International
Newcomer Academy
 Learning From Lessons: Collaborative Inquiry in Practice - Andrew Haiwen Chu, WestEd
 Formatively Assessing Students and Teachers to Drive Development - Kathryn Jill Strom, WestEd;
Leslie Hamburger, WestEd
Discussant: Kenji Hakuta, Stanford University
Preparing Preservice Teachers to Teach English Language Learners: Issues and Perspectives
Sun, April 19, 10:35am to 12:05pm, Hyatt, East Tower - Purple Level, Riverside West
Session Type: Roundtable Session
Chair: Guofang Li, Michigan State University
Papers:
 Research Synthesis of What Preservice Teachers Need to Know to Teach English Language Learners Guofang Li, Michigan State University; Jose Manuel Martinez-Hinestroza, Michigan State University
 What Do Preservice Teachers Learn About English Language Learners From Their Teacher Education
Courses? A Syllabi Analysis - Jose Manuel Martinez-Hinestroza, Michigan State University; Guofang
Li, Michigan State University; Yue Bian, Michigan State University
 Preparing Preservice Teachers for English Language Learners: Instructors' Practices and Perspectives Yue Bian, Michigan State University; Jose Manuel Martinez-Hinestroza, Michigan State University;
Guofang Li, Michigan State University
Language Policy for Social Justice: Challenging Educational Inequality for Emergent Bilinguals
Sun, April 19, 12:25 to 1:55pm, Marriott, Sixth Level, Minnesota
Session Type: Symposium
Chair: David Cassels Johnson, University of Iowa
Papers:
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SECOND LANGUAGE RESEARCH SIG
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SPRING 2015
Language Policy and School Change: Examining the Role of Distributed Leadership in the Change
Process - Kate Menken, Queens College and Graduate Center, CUNY; Laura Ascenzi Moreno,
Brooklyn College - CUNY; Sarah Hesson, CUNY - Graduate Center
Language Policy and Social Justice: How Bilingual Teachers Use Policy Mandates to Their Own Ends Deborah K. Palmer, The University of Texas - Austin; Kathryn I. Henderson, The University of Texas Austin; Christian Ellen Zuniga, The University of Texas - Austin
Expanding What Counts as Language for Latina/o Middle School Youth in Urban Schooling Contexts Danny C. Martinez, University of California - Davis
The Role of Language Policy Discourses in the Educational Experiences of Mexican Immigrant
Families - Sera Jean Hernandez, California State University - San Bernardino
Research as Practice: Examining Applications of Research in Dual Language Policy Contexts - Eric J
Johnson, Washington State University - Tri-Cities
Exploring Technology-Mediated Transnational Language and Literacy Engagements
Sun, April 19, 2:15 to 3:45pm, Marriott, Sixth Level, Great America
Session Type: Symposium
Chair: Margaret R. Hawkins, University of Wisconsin - Madison
Papers:
 Multilingual Practices in Transnational Digital Contexts - Wan Shun Eva Lam, Northwestern
University; P. Zitlali Morales, University of Illinois at Chicago
 The Emergence of Transnational Literacy and Language Practices in Immigrant Families - Catherine F.
Compton-Lilly, University of Wisconsin - Madison
 Transnational Flows of Digital Media as a Resource for Language Maintenance - Silvia C NogueronLiu, University of Georgia
 Languaging Across Borders: Semiotic Affordances and Meaning-Making in Transnational Digital
Communications Among Youth - Margaret R. Hawkins, University of Wisconsin - Madison
Discussant: Doris S. Warriner, Arizona State University
SECOND LANGUAGE RESEARCH SIG BUSINESS MEETING
Sun, April 19, 6:15 to 7:45pm, Marriott, Fourth Level, Clark
Chair: Paul Chamness Miller, Akita International University
Speaker: Susana E Franco-Fuenmayor, Texas A&M University
Trends in Second-Language/Multilingual Reading Research
Mon, April 20, 8:15 to 9:45am, Hyatt, East Tower - Gold Level, Crystal BC
Session Type: Roundtable Session
Chair: Diana J. Arya, University of California, Santa Barbara
Papers:
 Derivational Morphology in the Reading Comprehension of Chinese-Speaking Learners of English: A
Structural Equation Modeling Study - Dongbo Zhang, Michigan State University
 Emergent Literacy Experiences of Young Latino English Learners - Stephanie Wessels, University of
Nebraska - Lincoln; Guy Trainin, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
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Minding the Seductive Details: Text Features in Second-Language Content-Area Reading
Comprehension - Sunni L Sonnenburg, Texas A&M University; Katherine Landau Wright, Texas A&M
University; Zohreh R. Eslami, Texas A&M University
Working Memory: Reading Time Allocation Strategies in Spanish Readers and Learners of Spanish as
L2 - Alejandro A. Lazarte, Auburn University; Sue Barry, Auburn University
Issues in Second Language Research
Mon, April 20, 2:15 to 3:45pm, Sheraton, Fourth Level, Chicago VI&VII
Session Type: Poster Session
SIG-Second Language Research
Papers:
 Investigating an Early-Career Teacher's Development in Synthesis Writing Instruction - Ruilan Zhao,
The Ohio State University; Alan Hirvela, The Ohio State University
 Meta-Analysis: Building Theory Through the Relationship Between Content-Based Instruction and
Grammar Accuracy - Clara Lee Brown, The University of Tennessee - Knoxville; Kyoungwon Lee
Bishop, Data Recognition Corporation
 Promoting Critical Thinking for All Ability Levels in an Online English as a Second Language Course Linor Lea Hadar, University of Haifa; Lynne Genser, Efrata College of Eduction
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SECOND LANGUAGE RESEARCH SIG
SPRING 2015
Thank you to our Proposal Reviewers!
Lee Abraham
Carla Amaro-Jimenez
Yuliya Ardasheva
Theresa Austin
Gloria C. Berdugo Oviedo
Rebecca Bergey
Gabrielle Berube
Shampa Biswas
Cindy Brantmeier
Yan Chen
Jayoung Choi
Jennifer Collins
Katie Romporti Cook
Peter Ignatius De Costa
Marcela de Souza
L. Quentin Dixon
Erica K. Dotson
Emily Evans
Betsy Gilliland
Margaret Gleeson
Carol I Goldfus
Jason Goulah
Sera Jean Hernandez
Pamela J. Hickey
Beverly J. Irby
Ying Jiang
Jin Kyeong Jung
Afsaneh A. Kamangar
Hoe Kyeung Kim
Laura J. Mahalingappa
Paul Chamness Miller
Liliana Minaya-Rowe
Audrey Figueroa Murphy
Natalia Palacios
Eun Jeong Park
Ho Ryong Park
Jackie Eunjung Relyea
Anastasia Riazantseva
Angelica Ribeiro
Dong-shin Shin
Liv Thorstensson Davila
Qiong Xia
Youngjoo Yi
Lu Yu
Annette M. Zehler
Ruilan Zhao
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SECOND LANGUAGE RESEARCH SIG
SPRING 2015
In our “Advancing the Conversation” section of the newsletter, we invite a scholar to address a pressing and
timely issue or concept in the teaching and learning of second and world languages. In the article below,
Professor Guofang Li discusses issues and perspectives for pre-service teachers in second and foreign language
education.
Preparing Pre-service Teachers to Teach English Language Learners: Issues and Perspectives
Guofang Li
Michigan State University
Both English as a second language (ESL) teachers and mainstream subject-area teachers (who are not trained in
ESL teaching and are mostly white and monolingual) share the responsibility for the achievement of English
language learners (ELLs). According to NECS (2014), the number of ELLs in public schools had reached over
4.7 million, constituting close to 10% of the overall school population. Many of these students are new to the
country and/or speak a language other than English at home, and experience more learning difficulties
compared to their American peers whose native language is English. As well, they are more likely than any
other group of students to be taught by a teacher who lacks appropriate teaching credentials (Feistritzer, 2011).
These factors have contributed to persistent achievement gaps between ELLs and their non-ELL peers. In 2011
and in all previous assessment years since 2002, the National Assessment of Educational Progress reading
scores for ELL 4th- and 8th-graders were lower than their non-ELL peers’ scores. The persistent achievement
gaps indicate that there is a critical need to better prepare both groups of teachers with expertise in the complex
set of knowledge, skills and beliefs necessary to teach culturally and linguistically diverse students, especially
in the era of standards, testing and accountability.
Despite the critical need to better prepare teachers for the increasingly diverse student populations in recent
years, several reports have indicated that 1) most states do not have specific coursework or certification
requirements for all teachers concerning ELLs (Ballantyne, Sanderman, & Levy, 2008); 2) limited opportunities
exist for rigorous training in teacher preparation programs for teachers of ELLs (Samson & Collins, 2012); and
more than 75 percent of elementary teacher-preparation programs are failing when it comes to readying future
teachers to work effectively with ELLs (Greenberg, Walsh & McKee, 2014); and 3) pre-service teachers are
reported to feel not well-prepared to address the needs of ELL students upon graduation or entering internship
(Durgunoğlu & Hughes, 2010; Wong, Fehr, Agnello, & Crooks, 2012). As a result, lack of attention to ELL
issues in the teacher preparation programs has led to “mispreparation” of teachers, who fail to develop diverse
and flexible repertoires of strategies and dispositions to address the complex educational needs of ELLs
(Balderrama, 2001).
Two important factors have contributed to this failure. One is the lack of expertise among teacher educators
who often do not receive any professional development on educating ELLs (Meskill, 2005; Roy-Campbell,
2013). Although there have been some efforts to improve teacher preparation for work with ELLs, the changes
reported have been limited to a few faculty and tensions and challenges have arisen in systematically integrating
ELL issues in the already packed courses and programs (e.g., Costa, McPhail, Smith, & Brisk, 2005; Levine,
Howard & Moss, 2014). The other factor is related to the widespread misconception that teaching ELLs is “not
all that different” from L1 learning and from Special Ed and that exposure and interaction will automatically
result in ELLs’ English language learning (Harper & De Jong, 2004). Therefore, many educators believe that as
long as pre-service teachers are prepared in “just good teaching,” it is sufficient (Harper & De Jong, 2004).
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Contrary to these popular beliefs, research has shown that teachers of ELLs need specific knowledge and
different skills to ensure ELLs’ academic achievement (Master, Loeb, Whitney & Wyckoff, 2012). Specifically,
research has shown that pre-service teachers need to possess knowledge and competence in four interrelated
dimensions: the cultural dimension (self as a cultural being; ELLs’ background knowledge and experiences, and
cultural identities), the language dimension (bilingual and bicultural perspectives and the instructional role
language and culture play in school), the instructional dimension (i.e., knowledge of second language teaching
methods and strategies and assessments), and the sociopolitical dimension (knowledge of language policies and
the ability to navigate and negotiate educational policies and reform initiatives that may ignore or even impede
ELLs’ learning) (Freeman & Johnson, 1998; Lucas & Villegas, 2013; Sleeter, 2001; Walker & Stone, 2011).
During the past two years, my research team and I set out to understand how to better prepare pre-service
teachers for working with ELLs from two different perspectives: perspectives of teacher education faculty and
their practices of integrating ELL education issues in their courses and programs; and 2) pre-service teachers’
perspectives on their needs and preparation for teaching ELLs. Data collected from surveys and interviews with
course instructors revealed that since the expertise, experiences, and resources in ELLs these instructors had
varied, there existed variability in their course practices to facilitate discussions related to ELLs and to provide
experiences of interacting with ELL students. Further, the instructors perceived that methods and techniques
useful for English speaking students were also useful for ELL students and were not aware of the significance
of equipping pre-service teachers with ELL-specific knowledge and skills. These findings suggest that course
instructors need institutional support to better prepare pre-service teachers for ELLs.
In order to understand teacher education faculty’s practices in integrating ELL issues, we also analyzed ELL
content covered in the 42 syllabi of the 25 courses in the teacher preparation program. Our analysis revealed
that though the course work as a whole addressed different dimensions of teaching ELLs, those efforts were not
systematically connected, therefore allowing for either unnecessary repetition or lack of sufficient coverage in
some aspects in some courses. Of particular concern is the variation in both scope and depth of attention to ELL
topics among different sections of specific content area courses.
Also using mixed methods of surveys and interviews, we are currently carrying out the second part of the study
to understand pre-service teachers’ perspectives on their needs and preparation for working with ELLs. Our
preliminary analyses of the interview data echoed the major findings revealed in the course instructors’
perspectives and findings.
Our research suggests that efforts to close the ELL achievement gap may benefit from greater attention to
helping teacher preparation programs support their faculty to better prepare their teacher candidates in meeting
the academic, cultural, and linguistic needs of ELLs. Institutional efforts must address the knowledge base that
pre-service teachers need to have and how they can be effectively covered in the program to ensure they are
prepared to teach ELLs. As well, our study indicates an urgent need to provide teacher education faculty and
course instructors with organizational support (e.g., professional development and useful courses materials in
ELLs) to better prepare pre-service teachers for ELLs. Future research must be devoted to developing a clear
framework for teacher preparation programs to systematically integrate all dimensions of the teacher knowledge
-base for teaching ELLs and designing holistic programs under such a framework. As well, more research on
effective professional development programs for teacher education faculty is needed to integrate ELL content in
their courses across the program. Finally, attention must be paid to how to evaluate the outcomes of such
teaching and integration.
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References
Balderrama, M. (2001). The (mis)preparation of teachers in the Proposition 227 era: Humanizing teacher roles
and their practice. The Urban Review, 33(3), 255-267.
Ballantyne, K.G., Sanderman, A.R., & Levy, J. (2008). Educating English language learners: Building teacher
capacity roundtable report. Washington, D.C.: National Clearinghouse for English Language
Acquisition.
Costa, J., McPhail, G., Smith, J., & Brisk., M. E. (2005). Faculty first: The challenge of infusing the teacher
education curriculum with scholarship on English language learners. Journal of Teacher Education, 56,
104-118.
Durgunoğlu, A.Y., & Hughes, T. (2010). How prepared are the U.S. preservice teachers to teach English
language learners? International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 22, 32-41.
Feistritzer, C. E. (2011). Profile of teachers in the U.S. 2011. National Center for Education Information.
Retrieved February 3, 2014, from http://www.edweek.org/media/pot2011final-blog.pdf
Freeman, D., & Johnson, K. E. (1998). Reconceptualizing the knowledge-base of language teacher education.
TESOL Quarterly, 32(3), 397–417.
Greenberg, J., Walsh, K., & McKee, A. (2014). 2014 teacher prep review- A review of the nation’s teacher
preparation programs. Retrieved from www.nctq.org.
Harper, C., & de Jong, E. (2004). Misconceptions about teaching English language learners. Journal of
Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 48(2), 152-162.
Levine, T., Howard, E., & Moss, D. (2014). Preparing classroom teachers to succeed with second language
learners: Lessons from a faculty learning community. New York: Routledge.
Master, B., Loeb, S., Whitney, C., and Wyckoff, J. (2012). Different skills? Identifying differentially effective
teachers of English language learners. Teacher Policy Research Working Paper. Retrieved on march 9,
2015 from http://cepa.stanford.edu/tpr/publications-and-reports
Meskill, C. (2005). Infusing English language leaner issues throughout professional educator curricula: The
training all teachers project. Teachers College Record, 107(4), 739-756.
NCES. (2014). English language learners: fast fact. Retrieved February 24, 2014, from
https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=96
Roy-Campbell, Z. M. (2013). Who educates teacher educators about English language learners? Reading
Horizons, 52(3), 255-280.
Samson, J. F., & Collins, B. A. (2012). Preparing all teachers to meet the needs of English language learners
applying research to policy and practice for teacher effectiveness. Washington, DC: Center for
American Progress.
Sleeter, C. E. (2001). Preparing teachers for culturally diverse schools. Journal of Teacher Education, 52(2),
94–106.
Walker, C. L., & Stone, K. (2011). Preparing teachers to reach English Language Learners: Pre-service and inservice initiatives. In T. Lucas (Ed.), Teacher preparation for linguistically diverse classrooms: A
resource for teacher educators. New York: Routledge.
Wong, C. Y., Fehr, M. C., Agnello, M. F. & Crooks, S. M. (2012). ESL teacher candidates’ perceptions of
readiness to teach English language learners. Journal of Multiculturalism in Education, 8(1), 1-22.
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SECOND LANGUAGE RESEARCH SIG
SPRING 2015
Member Updates
Award
Dr. Diane J. Tedick received the University of Minnesota’s award for “Outstanding Contribution to
Postbaccalaurreate, Graduate, and Professional Education.” This is the most prestigious graduate-level teaching
award given at the University. It recognizes excellence in instruction; involvement of students in research,
scholarship, and professional development; instructional program development, and advising and mentoring of
students.
News
Dr. Megan Madigan Peercy been invited by the Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium to conduct a webinar and
workshop on ESOL-mainstream teacher collaboration this spring.
Dr. Onowa Mclvor has a research project funded by the Social Science & Humanities Research Council of
Canada, in partnership with several First Nations partners. The co-investigators are Drs. Peter Jacobs and
Onowa Mclvor together with WSANEC Tribal Council and the First Peoples’ Cultural Council.
New Positions and Promotions
Dr. Jason Goulah, Associate Professor of Bilingual-Bicultural Education in DePaul University, was named
director of DePaul University's Institute for Daisaku Ikeda Studies in Education. He received the
2014 ENGAGE Faculty Recognition Award and was elected chair of the American Educational Studies
Association 2015 Critics Choice Book Award committee.
Dr. Megan Madigan Peercy received tenure and was promoted to Associate Professor at the University of
Maryland.
Publications
Ardasheva, Y., Bowden, J. O., Morrison, J. A., & Tretter, T. R. (2015). Comic relief: Using comic and
illustrated trade books to support science learning in first year English language learners. Science Scope,
38(6), 3-11.
Ardasheva, Y., Norton-Meier, L., Tretter, T. R., & Brown, S. (2015). Integrating science and literacy for young
English language learners: A pilot study. NYS TESOL Journal, 2(1), 3-16.
Avalos, M. A., Bengochea, A., & Secada, W. G. (2015). Reading mathematics: More than words and clauses;
more than numbers and symbols on a page. In K. Santi & D. Reed (Eds.), Improving comprehension for
middle and high school students (pp. 49-74). Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
Avalos, M. A., Medina, E., & Secada, W. G. (2015). Planning for instruction: Increasing multilingual learners’
access to Algebraic word problems and visual graphics. In L. C. de Oliveira, A. Bright, & H. HansenThomas (Eds.), The Common Core state standards in mathematics for English language learners: High
school (pp. 5-28). Alexandria, VA: TESOL.
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SECOND LANGUAGE RESEARCH SIG
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Avalos, M. A., Zisselsberger, M., Langer-Osuna, J., & Secada, W. G. (2015). Building teacher knowledge of
academic literacy and language acquisition: A framework for cross-disciplinary professional development.
In D. Molle, T. Boals, E. Sato, & C. A. Hedgspeth (Eds.), Sociocultural context of academic literacy
development for adolescent English language learners (pp. 255-276). New York: Taylor Francis/Routledge
Publishers.
Bunch, G., & Kibler, A. (2015). Integrating linguistic and academic development: Promising practices for USeducated language minority students. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 39(1), 20-33.
Daniel, M., & Shin, D. (2015). Exploring new paths to academic development for English language learners.
Tapestry, 6(1), 1-10.
Daniel, S. (2014). Learning to educate English Language Learners in pre-service elementary practicums.
Teacher Education Quarterly, 41(2), 5-28.
Daniel, S. (2015). Empathetic, critical integrations of multiple perspective: A core practice for language teacher
education? TESOL Journal, 6(1), 149-176.
Daniel, S., & Conlin, L. (2015). Shifting attention back to students within the sheltered instruction observation
protocol (SIOP). TESOL Quarterly, 49(1), 169-187.
De Costa, P. I. (2014). Bridging the socio-cognitive divide: Rethinking the willingness to communicate concept
from a conversation-based ELF perspective. Novitas Royal: Research on youth and language, 8, 11-29.
De Costa, P.I. (2015). Tracing reflexivity through a narrative and identity lens. In Y. L. Cheung, S.B. Said, &
K. Park (Eds.), Advances and current trends in language teacher identity research (pp. 135-147). New
York: Routledge.
Estrada, P. (2014). English learner Curricular Streams in four middle schools: Triage in the trenches. The
Urban Review. 46, 535-573. doi: 10.1007/s11256-014-0276-7.
Gilliland, B. (2015). High school teacher perspectives and practices: Second language writing and language
development. Language and Education,1-15. doi:10.1080/09500782.2014.1001398
Goulah, J., & Soltero, S. W. (2015). Reshaping the mainstream education climate through bilingual-bicultural
education. In Y. Freeman & D. Freeman (Eds.), Research on preparing inservice teachers to work
effectively with emergent bilinguals (Advances in research on teaching series) (pp. 177-203). United
Kingdom: EmeraldBooks.
Heng Hartse, J., & Kubota, R. (2014). Pluralizing English? Variation in high-stakes academic writing. Journal
of Second Language Writing, 24, 71-82.
Kang, H. (2014). Teacher candidates’ perceptions of non-native English-speaking teacher educators in a
TESOL Program: “Is there a language barrier compensation?” TESOL Journal. doi: 10.1002/tesj.145
Kibler, A., Walqui, A., & Bunch, G. (2015). Transformational opportunities: Language and literacy instruction
for English language learners in the Common Core Era. TESOL Journal, 6(1), 9-35.
Kim, D. & Jang, S. (2014). Dialogic practices in using podcasting and blogging tools for teachers seeking
ESOL certificate. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 51(2), 205-232.
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SECOND LANGUAGE RESEARCH SIG
SPRING 2015
Kim, D. & Celedon-Pattichis, S. (2014). Empowering presesrvice teachers to advocate for English language
learners. In B. Cruz, A. Vasquez, C. Ellerbrock, & E. Howes (Eds.), Talking diversity with teachers and
teacher educators: Exercises and critical conversations across the curriculum (pp. 147-155), Teachers
College Press.
Kubota, R. (2014). “We must look at both sides”— but a denial of genocide too?: Difficult moments on
controversial issues in the classroom. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 11, 225-251.
Kubota, R. (2015). Race and language learning in multicultural Canada: Toward critical antiracism. Journal of
Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 36, 3-12.
Lyster, R. & Tedick, D. J. (2014). Research perspectives on immersion pedagogy: Looking back and looking
forward. Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education, 2(2), 210-224.
Martin-Beltrán, M. (2014). “What do you want to say?” How adolescents use translanguaging to expand
learning opportunities. International Multilingual Research Journal. 8(3), 208-230.
Salerno, A., & Kibler, A. (2014). Understanding how pre-service English teachers adopt stance toward
academic teaching inquiry tasks. Linguistics and Education, 28, 92-106.
Shin, D. (2014). Web 2.0 tools and academic literacy development in a US urban school: A case study of a
second grade English language learner. Language and Education, 28 (1), 68-85.
Peercy, M. M., Martin-Beltran, M., Silverman, R., & Daniel, S. (2015). Curricular design and
implementation as a site of teacher expertise and learning. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and practice, 22
(2). doi: 10.1080/13540602.2014.995486
Tedick, D. J. (2015). The United States of America: The paradoxes and possibilities of bilingual education. In P.
Mehisto (Ed.), Building bilingual education systems: Forces, mechanisms and counterweights (pp. 1-22).
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Tedick, D. J. & Wesely, P. I. (2015). A review of research on content-based foreign/second language education
in US K-12 contexts. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 28 (1), 25-40.
Tedick, D. J. & Young, A. I. (2014). Fifth grade two-way immersion students’ responses to form-focused
instruction. Applied Linguistics, 1-25. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1093/applin/amu066
Tretter, T., Ardasheva, Y., & Bookstrom, E. (2014). Scaffolding use of specific science language structures for
first year English language learners. The Science Teacher, 81(4), 39–44.
Vanek, J. (2015.) De facto language policy in legislation defining adult basic education in the United States.
Language Policy. doi: 10.1007/s10993-015-9356-0
Wang, S. & Kim, D. (2014). Incorporating facebook in an intermediate-level Chinese language course: A case
study. IALLT, 44, 38-78.
Williams, L., Abraham, L. B., & Bostelmann, E. D. (2014). A discourse-based approach to CALL training and
professional development. Foreign Language Annals, 47, 614–629.
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SECOND LANGUAGE RESEARCH SIG
SPRING 2015
Second Language Research SIG Officers
Paul Chamness Miller, Ph.D.
SIG Chair (2013 – 2015)
Akita International University
Amanda Kibler, Ph.D.
Program Chair (2013-2015)
University of Virginia
Hidehiro Endo, Ph.D.
Membership co-Chair (2013-2015)
Akita International University
Ho Ryong Park, Ph.D.
Membership co-Chair (2013-2015)
Murray State University
Hoe Kyeung Kim, Ph.D.
Newsletter Editor (2013-2015)
Binghamton University
Deoksoon Kim, Ph.D.
Secretary/Treasurer (2013-2015)
University of South Florida
Erica K. Dotson, Ph.D.
Awards Committee Chair (2013-2015)
Clayton State University
Ho Ryong Park, Ph.D.
Webmaster (2013-2015)
Murray State University
The Second Language Research SIG is now on facebook!
Search “Second Language Research” or
visit the url: https://www.facebook.com/groups/223153721182396/
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