Improving the Functional Writing of Bilingual Secondary School Students
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 240 862 FL 014 238 AUTHOR Trueba, Henry T.; And Others TITLE Improving the Functional Writing of Bilingual Secondary School Students. Final Report. SPONS AGENCY National Inst. of Education (ED), Washington, DC. PUB DATE 12 Jan 84 CONTRACT 400-81-0023 NOTE 220p. PUB TYPE Reports - Research/Technical (143) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC09 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Bilingual Students; Communication Skills; *Cultural Context; English (Second Language); Ethnography; *Literacy Education; Relevance (Education); Secondary Education; Second Language Instruction; Spanish; Student Attitudes; Student Needs; *Writing Instruction; *Writing Skills ABSTRACT A study of language and literacy activities and attitudes in a southern California bilingual community and the resulting development of more culturally relevant writing instruction for junior and senior high school students of that community is reported. The initial task was an ethnographic survey of the community, focusing on its language activities and values. Four families were studied and compared, and the parents' perspectives examined. Based on these findings, appropriate writing activities were developed for this group and formulated into instructional modules, for which seminars were held to familiarize teachers with the materials and techniques. Modules were designed with content and activities relevant to students' everyday concerns and communication needs. The writing modules were then used in 3 junior high schools with 293 students. Evaluations of over 1,000 pre- and post-course writing samples showed a significant achievement gain during the period of the study. It is suggested that the pote3tial role of ethnography in instructional reform is great, providing a key to 'instructional, motivational, and sociocultural congruence in the classroom for both teachers and students. (MSE) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ********************************A************************************** ( 1 FINAL REPORT CV IMPROVING THE FUNCTIONAL WRITING OF BILINGUAL SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS CO C). In Partial Fulfillment of Contract No. 400-81-0023 Submitted to: Stephen R. Cahir Project Officer Eric Graboyes Contract Specialist National Institute of Education Henry T. Trueba, Ph.D. Graduate School of Education University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA. 93106 Luis C. Moll, Ph.D. Laboratory of Comparative Ihnlan Cognition University of California, San Diego La Jolla, CA. 92093 Stephen Diaz, Ph.D. Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition University of California, San Diego La Jolla, CA. 92093 Rosa Diaz Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition University of California, San Diego La Jolla, California 92093 U.S. DEPARTMENT Of EDUCATION NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION EOUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER IERICJ The document has been reproduced as mowed from the poison or ovanizabon Date: onprooloog it Mom changes tore boon made to onorove temoducton totality January 12, 1984 Ponta 01 VIM Or °yowls stOlod)n thadOCu moot do not nocessordv remnant olbcral NIE position or rioncy TABLE OF CONTENTS - ORGANIZATION OF RESEARCH ACTIVITIES 1 Research Plans and Execution 2 Review of Relevant Literature 8 Theoretical Assumptions 20 Training in Ethnographic Methods .. 23 II. FORMS, FUNCTIONS AND VALUES OF LITERACY 'IN NON-SCHOOL SETTINGS 28 The Community and Schools 29 Communities Surrounding Schools Chosen for Study 33 Forms, Functions and Values of Literacy in Non-SChool Settings 37, Analysis of Student Literacy in the Homes 44 Distribution of Forms, Functions, and Values 46 First Case Study: Family 1 49 Second Case Study:" Family 2 55 Some Contrasts Between Family 1 and Family 2 Regatding Literacy 59 Third Case Study: Family 3 663 Fourth Case Study: Family 4 . 69 Comparisdh and Contrast Between Families 3 and 4 74 Parents' Perspectives 78 III. CLASSROOM COMPONENT: IMPLEMENTATION OF WRITING ACTIVITIES: 92 Introduction 93 Recent Approaches 94 Conceptual Framework 106 Some Guiding Principles 107 Design of the Study 113 Design Components 114 -Teachers: Seminars'. 114 -the Writing Modules 115 - the Observational Journals 'lib -the Classroom Observations 117 Influential Factqrs 117 - Diversity 9 117 -Paucity of Writing 118 -Values About Education 119 - Social Issues 120 -Studentand TeacherCharacteristics 120 Writing Activities 122 The Initial Modules 124 Module I -Teachers' Seminar 124 -Module Implementation 127 - Writing Samples , A . 129 3 Module II -Teachers' Seminar 137 -Module Implementation 137 -ESL Classroom 139 -Writing Samples 142 -Summary 143. The Final Modules 144 .Module IV 146 -Teachers' Seminars 146 . -Module Implementation .. 147 -Writing Samples 147 Module V -Teachers' Seminars p 150 -Module Implementation 154 - Writing Samples , 153 ModuerVI -Teachers' Seminars 154 -Module Implementation 155 -Writing Samples ,158 .Module V: Day Two 160 Module V: Day Three 161 Module V: Day Four 163 Summary 166 Holistic Ratings 167 Results 170 IV. CONTRIBUTIONS OF ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH TO EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE Basis for Pedagogical Reform:' the Role of Ethnography . 177 Vygotsky, Ethnography and Pedagogical Reform 180 Implications of Present Research: Combining Experimental with Ethnographic Methods A 185 V. REFERENCES References for Parts I & II 189 References for Parts III & IV 195 APPENDIX A: Revised Procedures.for Implementing and Evaluating Instructional Activities 197 4. .. .. I. .. .6 . .. I. ORGANIZATION OF RESEARCH ACTIVITIES ,g. -.. .. 0 a .. T S -. 2 Research Plans and Execution After very conscientious review by NIE officers and a careful return to our,data we have substantially revised the first draft of the report and pro- vided more complete information in those areas requested by the reviewers.We have also clarified the relationship between our ethnographic work and the reorganization of the writing curriculum represented by the modules used in our writing implementation plan. Also a substantial'revision, selection and addition of relevant body of literature has resulted in a more Cohesive theoretical frame to which our reaetrCh attempts to relate. 'We are well aware that there may be profound philosophical differences among scholars Who use qualitative methods, especially in the area of literacy and text manipulation. Our particular approach and theoretical assumptions presented in the original proposal whichwas awarded the contract, have definite bearing on the method 4 for data collection, analysis and for our statements on practice and policy resulting from our study. We hope that our particular perspective, which has been helpful and valid in a variety of research contexts related to literacy, becomes, also helpful here to those who want to better understand the processes involved in the acquisition, of writing skills for ethnolinguistic minority students. The research tasks mandated in the contract were fours Task 1: To conduct an ethnographic study of language and literacy activities in the community and/or possible future work settings of junior high and/or senior high Task 2: To develop instructional, writing activities derived from infor mation gathered in the ethnographic study. Task 3: To submit for approval by the Project Officer the proposed 6 3 procedures for implementing and evaluating the instructional activities and to carry out the approved procedures. Task 4:, To deicribe the instructional activities and to discuss in detail how the ethnographic information derived from the study was used in the deielopment of those activities. Part II of this manuscript: The Ethnography of Writing in,Non-School Set- tings: Forms, Functions and Values of Literacy, is intended to fulfill our contractual responsibilities in response to Task 1. This part includes addi- tional ethnographic material presented as part of the development of writing activities`foi the classroom. to response to Task 2, we have written Part III. Our response to Task 3, which was delivered and approved by Dr. Miyamura, the NIE project officer, is attached at the end in Appendix A "Revised Procedures for Implementing and Evaluating Instructional Activities." Finally, in response to our contractual obligations for Task 4, we have writ- ten specific comments integratedinethe analysis of the Implementation of Writing Instruction, Part II and III, and we have summarized the highlights of our response in Part IV. Our research team consisted of two co-principal investigators, Dr. H. T. Trueba (SDSU) and Dr. Luis Moll (UCSD), a field coordinator, Dr. Stephen Diaz,' and a school coordinator, Ms. Rosa Diaz. Additionally, we had various research assistants, and, although not funded by the NIE; twelve teachers doing the research with us as part of their graduate training. These teachers worked in three junior high schools: four at Southwestern, two at Montgomery, and six at Castle Park. Each of these teachers wai-involved in courses and rigorous training sessions that familiarized them with ethnographic researckl. Each of the twelve teachers (all female) were to develop, implement and docu- ment the implementation process of six modules. The result was, that, with 293 I 4 students (almost 25 students per teacheL, six modules each, we have over 1000 written pieces to analyze (not all students wrote all six modules). More specifically, our design required long and persuasive meetings with 47,1) %.:to principals, parents, teachers, and youngsters. There were two parallel efforts