This study focuses on languaging about nationality in an LGBTQ+-themed literature classroom in a queer-friendly high school in the midwestern region of the United States. It was a blend of ethnography and teacher research in which I constructed and analyzed data that included daily field notes, audio and video recordings of class meetings, audio…

Purpose: This paper posits the need for English language arts (ELA) teachers to foster students' use of languaging about their relations with ecosystems and peers, leading to their engaging in collective action to critique and transform status-quo systems impacting the climate crisis. Design/methodology/approach: This paper reviews the current…

For years, the teaching of content-based academic language to multilingual learners has focused on formulas, vocabulary lists, and sentence patterns--often sidelining students' linguistic and cultural strengths. Gisela Ernst-Slavit and Margo Gottlieb address these challenges by embracing academic "languaging," an active, collaborative…

Using transnational literacies as the theoretical framework, this qualitative case study explores the transnational language and literacy practices of one female China-U.S. transnational adolescent, Meiyi, and her family. The data corpus includes critical ethnographic data generated over 3 years. Through data generation and analysis guided by…

We address the concern that classification of English learners (ELs) primarily based on standardized tests does not accurately reflect what students know and can do with English. While qualitative classroom discourse analyses show that ELs' language-in-use is not as limited as test scores indicate, available evidence is sparse and prone to…

This qualitative study examined four Belizean primary teachers' multilingual pedagogies in language arts instruction. The research question, what multilingual pedagogies did Belizean primary teachers use in the Language Arts classrooms guides this multiple case study. Using a thematic analysis in the data analysis process results in the…

Herein, I explore the meanings of the oft-used phrase "children's voices." The phrase is seldom defined in the literature on children's language, oral and written. And yet, studying those voices has been fronted as a key methodological tool allowing insights into concerns about equity and the erasure of "nonmainstream"…

This article presents a study on novel language forms and uses across evolving digital environments, and questions whether emerging digital communication conventions should have a place in language education. The study was motivated by the deepening gap between the content of and approaches to language instruction evident in popular…

Purpose: Little research has been done exploring the nature of multilingual students who are not categorized as English language learners (ELLs) in English language arts (ELA) classes. This study about a group of multilingual girls in an ELA class led by a monolingual white teacher aims to show how, when a teacher makes space for translanguaging…

Historically, language instruction involving Black Language (BL) assumes a goal of eradication, particularly in school-sanctioned literacy practices. Language arts education for Black students must be liberatory, that is, antiracist and artful. The opportunities for English Language Arts (ELA) teachers to create, augment, and change the course of…

To comply with the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 and related U.S. Department of Education peer review guidance, state education agencies must provide evidence demonstrating clear alignment (technically referred to as correspondence) between their K-12 English language proficiency standards and their academic content standards. This technical…

This 15-page document provides a high-level summary and key excerpts from WCER Working Paper No. 2023-3 (ED631017). Readers should consult the full working paper for more in-depth detail and evidence, particularly in the extensive appendices. This technical summary reports on analyses conducted during the standards development process to establish…

Higher-order thinking has been promoted in the American classroom for several decades. Summative assessments have the dual role of ascertaining the student's proficiency and also providing them with opportunities to employ various cognitive behaviors and to offer them with opportunities to demonstrate their ability to think in complex ways. The…

In this study, we examine educators' orientations to the teaching of "standardized English" (SE)--an idealized form often associated with academic and professional contexts. The perceived status of SE is reinforced by normative standard language ideologies and is often oriented as "correct" and necessary for success in…

This study examines teaching about grammar and language use in secondary schools through a narrative lens. The author analyses narrative episodes in interviews with three secondary English language arts teachers in the USA to identify patterns in stories of teaching about language use. Findings show teachers with vastly different life experiences…