ERIC Number: EJ1391887
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023-Apr
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0161-1461
EISSN: EISSN-1558-9129
Available Date: N/A
Teacher Questioning to Promote Extended Language Use for Preschool Emergent Bilinguals
Buckley, Laura; Mancilla-Martinez, Jeannette; Ozdemir, Merve
Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, v54 n2 p436-455 Apr 2023
Purpose: Emergent bilinguals (EBs) from Spanish-speaking households are a sizable and quickly growing segment of the preschool population in the United States. However, there is limited research on the provision of opportunities for EBs to engage in language-rich classroom discussion, particularly in English-dominant contexts where most EBs attend preschool. This study focused on teacher and Spanish-English EBs' language interactions in an English-dominant preschool program to better understand whether and, if so, how teachers' use of questioning strategies provided extended oral language use opportunities for Spanish-speaking EBs in their classrooms. Method: We adopted a sequential-explanatory mixed-methods design to examine audio recordings from whole-group instruction across seven preschool classrooms and investigate how EBs responded to teachers' conversationally responsive questioning strategies, with a specific focus on how they used Spanish as they composed extended responses. Researchers coded 31 audio recordings from 12 EB students to identify teachers' (n = 7) use of questioning strategies (closed-response, open-response, and single-word-response), as well as students' responses to questions (one-word-response or extended response) and Spanish use. Results: Teachers' use of closed-response and single-word-response questions emerged as most important in supporting Spanish-English EBs' extended language use during whole-group instruction. Furthermore, the majority of student responses that included Spanish utterances were extended responses, underscoring the value of Spanish use for students to develop extended responses. Conclusion: Findings suggest that equitable opportunities to enter into classroom dialogue for EBs might require more explicitly scaffolded questioning strategies and might necessitate the purposeful and intentional use of Spanish.
Descriptors: Classroom Techniques, Questioning Techniques, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Second Language Instruction, Spanish, Teaching Methods, Classroom Communication, Audio Equipment, Bilingualism, Teacher Student Relationship, Speech Communication, Preschool Education, Preschool Teachers, Preschool Children, Discourse Analysis, Scaffolding (Teaching Technique), Language Usage, Native Language, Bilingual Education, Student Characteristics, Parent Child Relationship
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. 2200 Research Blvd #250, Rockville, MD 20850. Tel: 301-296-5700; Fax: 301-296-8580; e-mail: lshss@asha.org; Web site: http://lshss.pubs.asha.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Preschool Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: California
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A