Newcomer English Language Learners in High School Choral
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University of Texas at El Paso DigitalCommons@UTEP Open Access Theses & Dissertations 2019-01-01 Newcomer English Language Learners in High School Choral Music Education: An Ethnographic Case Study Lisa Ann Serna University of Texas at El Paso, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.utep.edu/open_etd Part of the Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, and the Music Commons Recommended Citation Serna, Lisa Ann, "Newcomer English Language Learners in High School Choral Music Education: An Ethnographic Case Study" (2019). Open Access Theses & Dissertations. 14. https://digitalcommons.utep.edu/open_etd/14 This is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UTEP. It has been accepted for inclusion in Open Access Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UTEP. For more information, please contact [email protected]. NEWCOMER ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS IN HIGH SCHOOL CHORAL MUSIC EDUCATION: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC CASE STUDY LISA ANN SERNA Doctoral Program in Teaching, Learning and Culture APPROVED: Char Ullman, Ph.D., Chair Erika Mein, Ph.D. Song An, Ph.D. Kristin Lems, Ed.D Charles Ambler, Ph.D. Dean of the Graduate School Copyright © by Lisa Ann Serna 2019 DEDICATION To my family. With you, anything is possible. NEWCOMER ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS IN HIGH SCHOOL CHORAL MUSIC EDUCATION: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC CASE STUDY by LISA ANN SERNA, B.Mus., M.Ed. DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at El Paso in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Teacher Education THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASO May 2019 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I attest my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Dr. Char Ullman for her wisdom, knowledge, and attention to detail throughout this process. I appreciate your bountiful guidance and feedback. You have provided me more than knowledge, you have taught me process and thoughtfulness throughout my research. I also want to thank Dr. Erika Mein who taught me that it is more than just the outcome, it is about the journey. Because of you, I now use it as my motto for educating my own students. I would like to thank Dr. Song An, who was the first professor to give me an opportunity to join him and his team on a research project that allowed me to be a co-author on my first publication. I must extend my deepest gratitude to Dr. Kristin Lems, whose work inspired me throughout this journey. I learned a great deal from reading your work and I hope to continue on inspiring more people to pursue the conversation on language and music. I would like to thank my dear friend Monica Gutierrez, who without you, this study would have come to a halt. Your years of dedication to the field of music education have changed the lives of many students, including mine. I would also like to thank the participants in my study: Robert, Karen, Alicia, and Borris who allowed me to be a part of their journey in choir. I would like to thank Mrs. Puentes and the principal of DCHS for welcoming me into their school. I could not have made it through this process without the unwavering support of my dear friends, my Ph.D. sisters. I will never forget spending every Saturday morning at Laura’s dining room table tackling the challenges of quantitative statistics. Laura, you are a true friend who has shown me love and support. You have always been there for me with your prayers and kind words of encouragement. My dear Nora, you have made me laugh, and cry, but most of all, you reminded me that strength comes from within. Your constant support and positivity offered me strength to remain strong. I love you both dearly. v I wouldn’t be here without the encouragement and strength of my family, who I thank from the bottom of my heart. To my brother Greg, your continued support and words of encouragement gave me energy to persist. Michael, your constant text messages, day in and day out, asking me “how’s the writing going?” kept me on honest. Most of all, you reminded me of the “who and why” and repeating “you can do it” over and over; for that, I love you. To my first teachers in life, my mother and father. Mom, you were always there to help my surrounding life continue while I was glued to my computer. You provided love and support that wasn’t directed solely at me, but to my children and husband. I am the woman I am because of you and I love you more than words can say. To my dad, you were the first call that I made when I thought about starting this process. It is because of your support, that I have become a true scholar. Your hours of homework taught me to be concise and academic. Your love, encouragement, and confidence that you had in me, made me want to be a better person. I strive to be like you. You are my mentor, and I love you so very much. To my amazing, talented, spirited, and thoughtful children. Aiden, your hugs and reminders “you can do it mom, I believe in you” propelled me to work even harder. Evan, your hugs and reminders “I love you mommy” gave me strength and encouragement. To my daughter Vivienne, I hope that I showed you that with hard work and dedication, you can be anything you want to be – reach for the stars but soar beyond the moon. To my husband Chris. Words cannot express how much I love you. You were my rock from day one. Every time I was down, you picked me up. Every tear I shed, you wiped away. Your support and encouragement made this possible. This was possible because of you. I love you for an eternity. vi ABSTRACT This five month long ethnographic case study seeks to add to the limited literature on Newcomers enrolled in choir (Carlow, 2006), by understanding the role a focused choral music education plays in their ability to listen, speak, read, and write in the English language. The study also seeks to contribute to the literature connecting language learning and choral music education. The purpose of the study was to understand Newcomer English language learners’ (NELs) experiences of practice and performance in high school choir, as it relates to language learning and social belonging. Cultural Historical Activity Theory framed my study which allowed me to explore the activity system of NELs in a focused choral music education. Using purposive sampling, the study included four NELs enrolled in choir and was conducted at Desert City High School, located on the U.S.- Mexico border. Newcomer English learners are a fast-growing population in public schools (Short & Boyson, 2012). Newcomers face both social and academic challenges, as it has been determined that it takes three to five years to socially develop a new language (Cummins, 1984; Echevarria, Short, & Powers, 2006). This study revealed that NELs face extreme systemic challenges during the registration and scheduling process of coursework. Findings suggest that having a bilingual counselor is not sufficient to help NELs placed into the right courses, especially for elective coursework. Findings further suggest that choir provided an opportunity to develop social capital, something that assisted the NELs gain confidence in their ability to sing and speak in English. Through the actions of bonding, bridging, and linking, the NELs were able to build their self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-knowledge in order to perform tasks they had never thought they could achieve. Findings also suggest that performance preparation assisted in the language learning process for the NELs in the chorus by developing communicative competence in the forms of linguistic, discourse, and strategic. An important vii finding is how the students used their Spanish phonology to understand and make meaning of the English phonology in preparation for their performances. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................ v ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................... ix LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... xiv LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... xv CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1 Statement of the Problem ............................................................................................................ 3 Accountability Standards ............................................................................................................ 4 Bilingual education programs ................................................................................................. 5 Positionality ................................................................................................................................ 7 Texas State Law .......................................................................................................................... 7 Newcomer schools .................................................................................................................. 8 Standard practice in choral music education. ........................................................................