Working with immigrant students: A matter of context Julian Jefferies Lisa Patel Stevens Boston College Julian Jefferies Lisa Patel Stevens Boston College

Case study  Age  History of immigration (when, status)  Day to day life (school, work, home, activities)  Language use  Aspirations  Age  History of immigration (when, status)  Day to day life (school, work, home, activities)  Language use  Aspirations

School  History  Size  15 teachers  175 students  Role of Spanish  Funding  History  Size  15 teachers  175 students  Role of Spanish  Funding

Length of time in the US

Languages spoken at home  60% - Spanish  11 % - English  10% - Cape Verdean or Haitian Creole  19% - Albanian, Arabic, Amharic, French, Folani, Greek, Gujarati, Madigon, Portuguese, Somali, Swahili  60% - Spanish  11 % - English  10% - Cape Verdean or Haitian Creole  19% - Albanian, Arabic, Amharic, French, Folani, Greek, Gujarati, Madigon, Portuguese, Somali, Swahili

Global context  Globalization (Suarez-Orozco, 2001)  Internationalization of goods, services, and consumption  Emergence of borderless ICTs and texts  Waves of migration across the world  Increase in immigrant populations from 1990 to 2005 in two countries:  Spain - 4 million  United States million  Globalization (Suarez-Orozco, 2001)  Internationalization of goods, services, and consumption  Emergence of borderless ICTs and texts  Waves of migration across the world  Increase in immigrant populations from 1990 to 2005 in two countries:  Spain - 4 million  United States million

Federal context  Deportation and the law: context of triage  McCain - Kennedy bill  Dream Act  Deportation and the law: context of triage  McCain - Kennedy bill  Dream Act

State context  Immigration and politics  Governor race  addifferences.html addifferences.html  Access to higher education  Admissibility / Affordability  Lack of information  High stakes assessment  MCAS - English and Math  Restrictive langauge policy  English only - question 2  Immigration and politics  Governor race  addifferences.html addifferences.html  Access to higher education  Admissibility / Affordability  Lack of information  High stakes assessment  MCAS - English and Math  Restrictive langauge policy  English only - question 2

Research approach: Action/Participatory  Professional development to teacher-initiated questions about language and literacy  Partnering with the staff  After-school tutoring and college visits  Independent reading initiative  Classroom-based research into academic English in multi-lingual contexts  Case studies of teens’ out of school lives  Professional development to teacher-initiated questions about language and literacy  Partnering with the staff  After-school tutoring and college visits  Independent reading initiative  Classroom-based research into academic English in multi-lingual contexts  Case studies of teens’ out of school lives

Necessary knowledges for secondary content teachers in multilingual contexts  Knowledge of the context (local, state, national, global)  Knowledge of the student (language, culture, content)  Knowledge of the content  Knowledge of linguistic demands found in the content  Knowledge of the context (local, state, national, global)  Knowledge of the student (language, culture, content)  Knowledge of the content  Knowledge of linguistic demands found in the content

Use of L1 in this context  Teacher/student interactions  Teacher/class interactions  Student/student conversations  Teachers’ beliefs about how and when to use L1  Teacher/student interactions  Teacher/class interactions  Student/student conversations  Teachers’ beliefs about how and when to use L1

L1 at the intersection of multilingual contexts and English-only policy  Generative  Moving content forward  Development of academic English  Shared cultural spaces of the classroom  Difference between teachers who connect with students’ cultures and those who don’t  What role does language have in connecting with students?  Complications  Students who are double linguistic minorities  Generative  Moving content forward  Development of academic English  Shared cultural spaces of the classroom  Difference between teachers who connect with students’ cultures and those who don’t  What role does language have in connecting with students?  Complications  Students who are double linguistic minorities

Education and immigrant students Pedagogy and curriculum must be considered within:  Economic, legal and cultural complications of access to higher ed  Social services (mental health, legal services, employment opportunities)  Immigrant experience (xenophobia, loss of family, lack of capital) Pedagogy and curriculum must be considered within:  Economic, legal and cultural complications of access to higher ed  Social services (mental health, legal services, employment opportunities)  Immigrant experience (xenophobia, loss of family, lack of capital)