An Analysis of
Cultural
Dissonance:
Emergent
Readers in High
School
Martha Bigelow, Univ. of MN
Nicole Pettitt, GA State Univ.
Kendall King, Univ. of MN
SLRF
2012
Pittsburgh, PA
2
Adolescents with LFS/SLIFE
 An


uncommon population in our journals
SLA - Tarone, Bigelow & Hansen (2009)
School Experiences - Valenzuela (1999)
 Few
studies in classrooms
 Elementary
- Platt & Troudi (1997)
 Post-secondary - Vásquez (2007)
3
Two Different Learning Paradigms
(Table 2.5, DeCapua & Marshall, 2010, p. 40)
SLIFE
Conditions for Learning
Immediate relevance
Future relevance
Interconnectedness
Independence
US Schools
Processes for Learning
Shared responsibility
Individual accountability
Oral transmission
Written word
Activities for Learning
Pragmatic tasks
Academic tasks
4
Study questions
 How
are cultural dissonance and
educational hegemony manifested
and resolved in a high school ESL
reading class?
5
Cultural Dissonance
“The mismatch between home and school
when SLIFE, who come from different cultural
values and different learning paradigms,
encounter the mainstream culture and learning
paradigm of U.S. schools”
(DeCapua & Marshall, 2011, p. 25)
6
Research approach & context
 Four
months of classroom-focused
ethnographic research
 Two newcomer reading classes
 Teacher: Ms. Mavis


Valued students’ languages and cultures
Focused on developmental reading skills
7
\
8
Data

Audio and video
 59
hours of classroom observations
 5 hours of interviews
 44 hours of tutoring sessions

10 focal students
 written
work
 elicited assessments in English and dominant language
9
Micro-ethnographic analysis
 Two


students
Ayan
Nadifa
 Intertwined


instances
Dissonance
Resolution
10
Micro-ethnographic analysis
Cultural
dissonance
Ayan
Work alone
Decontextualized
language analysis
Resolution
Completes tasks
with peer support
Shows work to
teacher
11
“Ayan”
12
Ayan
13
Ayan
14
Excerpt 1: ‘No copying’ (Ayan)
15
 INSERT
VIDEO HERE
16
Ayan’s interpersonal moves











Engages with Ms. M. over ‘saw/see’ (prior to start)
Gains support from her seatmate (turn 1)
Manages relationship with student behind her, including
sharing his worksheet (3, 5, 8)
Returns paper (11)
Laughs and establishes physical contact with peers (12)
Grabs Ms. M. and shows her paper (13, 14)
Consults with seatmate (1, 2, 6, 19)
Establishes contact again with student behind her (1718)
Takes paper back again with his consent (20)
Tries to engage researcher by reaching for her (24)
Requests assistance from teacher (27)
17
MALP construct
Ayan’s actions
Immediate
relevance
turn in paper, get teacher’s stamp
Interconnectedness
bodily/verbal contact with peers
and teachers
Shared responsibility
recruits “help” from classmates,
compares her and seatmate’s work
to s’s behind them (3-way
accomplishment)
Oral transmission
makes print-based activity oralbased/multi-modal
Pragmatic tasks
attempts to find the pragmatic in
decontextualized academic task
(turn in to teacher,
18
MALP construct
Ayan’s actions
Immediate
relevance
turn in paper, get teacher’s stamp
Interconnectedness
bodily/verbal contact with peers
and teachers
Shared responsibility
recruits “help” from classmates,
compares her and seatmate’s work
to s’s behind them (3-way
accomplishment)
Oral transmission
makes print-based activity oralbased/multi-modal
Pragmatic tasks
attempts to find the pragmatic in
decontextualized academic task
(turn in to teacher,
19
MALP construct
Ayan’s actions
Immediate
relevance
turn in paper, get teacher’s stamp
Interconnectedness
bodily/verbal contact with peers
and teachers
Shared responsibility
recruits “help” from classmates,
compares her and seatmate’s work
to s’s behind them (3-way
accomplishment)
Oral transmission
makes print-based activity oralbased/multi-modal
Pragmatic tasks
attempts to find the pragmatic in
decontextualized academic task
(turn in to teacher,
20
MALP construct
Ayan’s actions
Immediate
relevance
turn in paper, get teacher’s stamp
Interconnectedness
bodily/verbal contact with peers
and teachers
Shared responsibility
recruits “help” from classmates,
compares her and seatmate’s work
to s’s behind them (3-way
accomplishment)
Oral transmission
makes print-based activity oralbased/multi-modal
Pragmatic tasks
attempts to find the pragmatic in
decontextualized academic task
(turn in to teacher,
21
MALP construct
Ayan’s actions & resolution
Immediate
relevance
turn in paper, get teacher’s stamp
Interconnectedness
bodily/verbal contact with peers
and teachers
Shared responsibility
recruits “help” from classmates,
compares her and seatmate’s work
to s’s behind them (3-way
accomplishment)
Oral transmission
makes print-based activity oralbased/multi-modal
Pragmatic tasks
attempts to find the pragmatic in
decontextualized academic task
(e.g., turn in to teacher)
22
Ayan & power
 Preferred
ways of learning (e.g., shared responsibility)
might not align with sanctioned academic
practices
 Doing
school involves treating language and
language learning as abstractions (e.g., verb chart)
23
Micro-ethnographic analysis
Cultural
dissonance
Nadifa
Reading strategies
Plot analysis
Resolution
Engages in plot
analysis
24
Nadifa
25
Nadifa
26
Nadifa
Excerpt 2: Authentic listening (Nadifa)
 INSERT
VIDEO HERE
Excerpt 3: Nadifa protests predicting
 INSERT
VIDEO HERE
29
MALP construct
Nadifa’s actions & resolution
Immediate
relevance
Text enjoyment
Interconnectedness
Shared responsibility
Oral transmission
Pragmatic tasks
30
MALP construct
Nadifa’s actions & resolution
Immediate
relevance
Text enjoyment
Interconnectedness
Sharing a joke
Shared responsibility
Oral transmission
Pragmatic tasks
31
MALP construct
Nadifa’s actions & resolution
Immediate
relevance
Text enjoyment
Interconnectedness
Sharing a joke
Shared responsibility
Participating in the storytelling
Oral transmission
Pragmatic tasks
32
MALP construct
Nadifa’s actions & resolution
Immediate
relevance
Text enjoyment
Interconnectedness
Sharing a joke
Shared responsibility
Participating in the storytelling
Oral transmission
Video is oral/written
Pragmatic tasks
33
MALP construct
Nadifa’s actions & resolution
Immediate
relevance
Text enjoyment
Interconnectedness
Sharing a joke
Shared responsibility
Participating in the storytelling
Oral transmission
Video is oral/written
Pragmatic tasks
Social value of storytelling to teach a
lesson, to enjoy, to be entertained
34
35
Nadifa & power
 Preferred
literacy practices might not align with
school practices.
 Doing school involves giving up her authentic
ways of interacting with text.
 Doing school involves treating text as abstract
object
36
Two Different Learning Paradigms
(Table 2.5, DeCapua & Marshall, 2010, p. 40)
SLIFE
Conditions for Learning
Immediate relevance
Future relevance
Interconnectedness
Independence
US Schools
Processes for Learning
Shared responsibility
Individual accountability
Oral transmission
Written word
Activities for Learning
Pragmatic tasks
Academic tasks
37
Discussion
 Examination
of assumptions of classroom roles,
scripts, pedagogical hegemony
 How would you theorize these data?
 How can adaptation/accommodation
happen?
38
Thank you!!
 Martha
 Nicole
 Kendall
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
We gratefully acknowledge:


Ms. M and her students, who welcomed us into
her classroom to gather data and learn from
them.
The Univ. of Minnesota Dept. of Curriculum and
Instruction for providing funds to hire research
assistants.