Learning English at School: Identity, Social Relations and Classroom Practice. Bilingual Education and Billingualism 20

This book considers the application of sociocultural theory to understanding how minority language background children learn English in the context of their classrooms. Based on a longitudinal ethnography, it is suggested that understanding the pivotal role of social interaction in learning implies new perspectives both for SLA research and for effective instructional practice. This Book Focuses On A Common Set Of Circumstances In Canada, The United States, Britain, Australia And New Zealand In Which Increasing Numbers Of Young Children From Minority Language Backgrounds Are Taught In Mainstream English-medium Classrooms. It Provides A Longitudinal Ethnography Of A Group Of Children Learning English In A Canadian School, From The Beginning Of Kindergarten To The End Of Grade 2. Throughout, Sociocultural, Poststructural And Critical Theories Inform Examinations Of The Children's Classrooms As Communities That Have Specific Practices. Data Collected In Each Of The Three Grades Are Used To Explore How Practices With Respect To Identity Construction, Resource Distribution, And Discursive Organization Affect The Children's Possibilities For Learning English.--jacket. 1. Framing Story: Theory, Setting And Methodology. Learners And Learning In Second Language Acquisition Research. Learners As Socially/historically/politically Constructed. Learning As Socially/historically/politically Constructed. The Sociality Of Development. The Dialogic Perspective. Communities Of Practice. Research Questions. The Research Site. Methodology -- 2. Kindergarten Stories. Life In Kindergarten. The Children's Stories. Coda -- 3. Constructing School Identities: Kindergarten Meta-stories. Being A Child/becoming A Student. Aspects Of School Identity -- 4. 'break Them Up, Take Them Away': Practices In The Grade 1 Classroom. Sitting In Your Own Desk. Using Your Own Things. Using Your Own Words And Ideas. Kelleen Toohey. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 137-147) And Index. This book focuses on a common set of circumstances in Canada, the United States, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand in which increasing numbers of young children from minority language backgrounds are taught in mainstream English-medium classrooms. It provides a longitudinal ethnography of a group of children learning English in a Canadian school, from the beginning of kindergarten to the end of Grade 2. Data collected in each of the three grades are used to explore how practices with respect to identity construction, resource distribution, and discursive organization affect the children's capabilities for learning English. Chapter one describes the works of several sociocultural, poststructural, and critical theorists and explores how they might be applied to child second language learning. Chapters two and three describe the kindergarten classroom. Chapter four examines children's social relations in Grade 1. Chapter five follows the children to Grade 2 and examines the discourse practices regulating their appropriation of the classroom language. Chapter six discusses theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical ideas and problems emerging through the course of the research. The book concludes with suggestions for how schools and teachers might better support language minority children in their struggle to learn English. (KFT) This book considers the application of sociocultural theory to understanding how minority language background children learn English in the context of their classrooms. It suggests that understanding the pivotal role of social interaction in learning implies new perspectives both for SLA research and for effective instructional practice.