Teachers’ use of linguistic scaffolding to support the academic language development of first-grade emergent bilingual students

Abstract

Research suggests that teachers need to scaffold emergent bilingual students as they develop the complex language associated with school success. This may especially be true in dual language settings, where children are learning two languages simultaneously. In this study, therefore, I investigate the linguistic scaffolding practices of first-grade dual language teachers as they support academic language development for their Spanishdominant students. Academic language is viewed not only as a set of linguistic components but also as a way of accomplishing certain functions and participating in context-reduced communication. Findings indicate that teachers engage in scaffolding both within and across lessons, providing insights into ways teachers can support academic language development for emergent bilingual students in general.

Communicating Care Across Culture and Language

“…Furthermore, older students made it clear links between language use and both identity and respect. As recommended by previous research (Baker 2011;Bialystok 2011), we suggest that a multilingual approach to learning would support students' relationships with teachers and schools in addition to fortifying student language and cognitive development (Cammarota and Romero 2006;García 2009;Lindholm-Leary and Borsato 2006;Lucero 2014;Thomas and Collier 2002, 2012.…”

Academic Language in Preschool: Research and Context

“…Specific types of teacher talk are more effective at supporting academic language development. Lucero (2014) identified two types of teacher talk: microscaffolding (modeling, repeating, rephrasing, or extending keywords and phrases) and macroscaffolding (creating space, prompting with questions, and scaffolding students' academic thinking, such as problem solving or hypothesis building). For example, in a unit on weather, Ms. Lena used a picture to help an English learner, Emma, extend her language: Ms. Lena modeled written academic language by forming a complete descriptive sentence (complex syntax and narrative structure) that named colors (content vocabulary).…”

Scaffolding English and Academic Skills for Iraqi English as Additional Language (EAL) Learners

“…Cooper (2016) also notes that a key element of scaffolding is 'bridging' through providing links to students' previous knowledge and experience -an element of scaffolding also highlighted in the Australian context by Majid and Stapa (2017). Lucero (2014) notes that one important aspect of that 'bridging' is to explicitly unpack students' first language skills so that they can understand and apply these to the additional language. Radford et al (2015) suggest that a 'pause and ask questions' technique is useful in tapping into students' prior experience during the scaffolding process since, as noted by Radford, et al (2015), all learners require time to process new ideas and information (Radford et.…”