Amplifying and affirming students’ voices through CALS-informed instruction

Exploring the Cross-Linguistic Contribution of Spanish and English Academic Language Skills to English Text Comprehension for Middle-Grade Dual Language Learners

“…However, the results of this study offer support for such an approach. With reference to translingual pedagogies, it may be beneficial to engage students not only in pedagogical noticing around shared Spanish and English ALs forms and structures but also around shared communicative functions (Uccelli, Phillips Galloway, Aguilar, & Allen, 2019).…”

Broadening the Lens on the Science of Reading: A Multifaceted Perspective on the Role of Academic Language in Text Understanding

“…Arguably, the most skilled readers (and communicators) among us are those who can most flexibly use multiple language repertoires to understand and evaluate a text's pragmatic effectiveness and claims. By reading a range of texts, readers move within and between communities of practice and the discourses that characterize these communities, which supports the development of critical rhetorical flexibility (Cummins, 2017;Ladson-Billings, 2014;Uccelli, Phillips Galloway, Aguilar, & Allen, 2020; see also linguistic plurality; Paris & Alim, 2014). As Ravid and Tolchinsky (2002) argued, becoming familiar with how language resources are used in different ways in speech and writing across different discourse communities is a central mechanism through which learners develop flexibility in language use.…”

“…Ideally, in this process, readers are made cognizant of the diverse language resources they leverage for text comprehension and, by extension, of the multiple identities they possess as skilled social actors in various communities of practice inside and outside of school. Following in the tradition of critical literacy approaches (e.g., Lewison, Leland, & Harste, 2015; Morrell, 2008; situated literacies: Barton et al, 2000; academic literacies: Lea & Street, 2006), we advocate for reading instruction that promotes critical rhetorical flexibility, or the skill to use language critically and flexibly for different purposes, in a variety of contexts, and with various audiences (Uccelli, Phillips Galloway, Aguilar, & Allen, 2020). This contrasts sharply with skills‐based views of academic language teaching that often fail to cultivate readers’ linguistic choice making by leaving unexamined the sociocultural facets of academic language comprehension and production.…”

“…When reading, this identity work involves aligning with or resisting those identities ascribed to the reader by particular texts. As readers comprehend the academic language of print, at play are the discourse histories of the classroom and school and the ways in which the reader’s, the text’s, and the teacher’s respective language communities have interacted, engaged, valued, or resisted one another historically and presently (Heller & Morek, 2015; Holland & Lave, 2009; Janks, 2014; Lee, 2020; Skerrett, 2020; Uccelli, Phillips Galloway, Aguilar, & Allen, 2020; Wortham, 2001).…”

Toward Biliteracy: Unpacking the Contribution of Mid‐adolescent Dual Language Learners’ Spanish and English Academic Language Skills to English Reading Comprehension

“…Optimal conditions for cross-language transfer also include motivation to learn each language and an affirmation of students' cultural backgrounds and identities (Cummins, 2000). A classroom context in which the identities and cultural and linguistic resources (Spanish and English, more colloquial and more academic) of bilingual students and their families are welcomed and validated may be essential to contributing to these students' literacy motivation and attainment (Cummins, 2000;Uccelli & Aguilar, 2018;Uccelli, Phillips Galloway, Aguilar, & Allen, 2019). Our investigation, however, can only suggest directions for future pedagogical interventions that test the promise of initiatives informed by our Spanish and English CALS results.…”