Meaningful Writing Opportunities: Write‐Alouds and Dialogue Journaling With Newcomer and English Learner High Schoolers

Abstract

The author explores how one teacher at a newcomer school (a school for recently arrived immigrants) used dialogue journaling and write‐alouds as instructional and community‐building tools in her work with multilingual ninth‐grade students with limited or interrupted formal education in their home countries. The analysis shows how the focal teacher used dialogue journaling to engage students in meaningful writing opportunities that identified and built background knowledge and facilitated context‐rich literacy instruction through accompanying scaffolded write‐alouds in which comprehensible input was provided. The author concludes with recommendations for how other teachers of language learners can utilize write‐alouds and dialogue journaling in their instruction of culturally and linguistically diverse students.

Creating and Navigating a Transborder Writing Space: One Multilingual Adolescent’s Take‐Up of Dialogue Journaling in an English‐Medium Classroom

“…Ms. Rosewall told students at the start of the year to think of the dialogue journal as a space “to experiment…to explore your thinking, to mix up your language into Spanish and English.” She encouraged participation in any language with guidance such as “If you know a word in your language, then write it”; “Remember, you can draw a picture…or write a description”; and “You can write in English or Spanish or Somali or draw pictures.” She emphasized that the dialogue journal was a space for students to write freely, personally, and without worry about a grade or formal evaluation, saying things such as “Remember, you can write about anything you want,” and “Remember, this is not for a grade like A, B, or C.” Ms. Rosewall viewed the journals as a way to provide instruction that could be grounded in students’ identities and experiences (Linares, 2019).…”

“…Her responses to student writing was always in English and sought to build on, to the best of her interpretations, what students had shared, with follow‐up questions and comments about their writing. On this process, she commented, “[Students] write to me in Spanish, but I know what [they are] trying to say, and I can write back, ‘I love your ideas,’ [or] ‘this is a lot of detail,’” which allowed her to recognize their willingness to participate and validate their ideas (for more, see Linares, 2019).…”

“…For this article, I drew on a small slice of classroom life taken from a larger, yearlong ethnographic, multiple‐case study that examined the literacy development and practices of five transnational, unaccompanied, and undocumented Guatemalan students during their first full year of formal schooling in the United States (see Linares, 2017, 2019). Within the larger set of multiple cases, 15‐year‐old Marlón’s use of a dialogue journal, or the written conversation he maintained with his monolingual English‐speaking teacher, stood out and called for closer analysis.…”

A community cultural wealth analysis of newcomer student writing: Identifying strengths

“…She documented how "the telling of their stories of surviving migration offers a way for the youth to respond to political, economic, cultural, and emotional struggles" and how they "become active participants in the telling of political narratives" (p. 401). Writing can provide a space for teachers to respond to newcomers and demonstrate care (Linares, 2019) and serve as an avenue for newcomers to reach authentic audiences and enact change in their communities (Honeyford, 2013).…”

Scaffolding Students’ Writing Processes Through Dialogic Assessment

“…Much like written scaffolds, verbal instruction from a teacher or peer can support aspects of students’ writing, such as evidence use in arguments (Hemberger, Kuhn, Matos, & Shi, ), and for English learners, the development of content knowledge and related vocabulary (Linares, ). For English learners specifically, teacher moves such as modeling target language forms and validating correct language use have been identified as effective scaffolding tactics (Gilliland, ).…”