Table Of ContentAffirming Students’ Right to
Their Own Language
ACo-publication ofthe National Council ofTeachers ofEnglish and Routledge
“This book is as much about redefining what it means to be human as it is about
redefining language and education. [It] responds to the question of how our
current definitions oflanguage define human beings in the world....The defining
criteria are questioned with a focus on students’language rights,language policies,
and pedagogical practices. [Affirming Students’ Right to Their Own Language]
provides us with new ways and definitions ofbeing human beings in the world.”
David Bloome,Ohio State University,From the Foreword
How can teachers make sound pedagogical decisions and advocate for educational
policies that best serve the needs ofstudents in today’s diverse classrooms? What
is the pedagogical value ofproviding culturally and linguistically diverse students
greater access to their own language and cultural orientations?
This landmark volume responds to the call to attend to the unfinished pedagogi-
cal business ofthe NCTE Conference on College Composition and Communication
1974 Students’Right to Their Own Language resolution.Chronicling the interplay
between legislated/litigated education policies and language and literacy teaching in
diverse classrooms,it presents exemplary,research-based practices that maximize
students’learning by utilizing their home-based cultural,language,and literacy
practices to help them meet school expectations.
Pre-service teachers, practicing teachers, and teacher educators need both
resources and knowledge about language variation in PreK-12 classrooms and
effective strategies that enable students to use their own language in the classroom
while also addressing mandated content and performance standards.This book
meets those needs.
Jerrie Cobb Scottis Professor ofUrban Literacy and Director ofthe Reading Center
at the University ofMemphis.
Dolores Y.Straker (deceased) was Dean of the Raymond Walters College at the
University ofCincinnati.
Laurie Katz is Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education at Ohio State
University.
Visit the Routledge website at www.routledgeeducation.com
Visit the National Council ofTeachers ofEnglish website atwww.ncte.org
Affirming Students’
Right to Their Own
Language
Bridging Language Policies and
Pedagogical Practices
A Co-publication of the National Council
of Teachers of English and Routledge
Edited by
Jerrie Cobb Scott
University of Memphis
Dolores Y.Straker
University of Cincinnati
Laurie Katz
Ohio State University
First published 2009
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave,New York,NY 10016
Simultaneously published in the UK
by Routledge
2Park Square,Milton Park,Abingdon,Oxon OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint ofthe Taylor & Francis Group,an informa business
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2009.
To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.
National Council ofTeachers ofEnglish
1111 West Kenyon Road
Urbana,IL 61801-1096
NCTE Stock Number 00856
©2009 Taylor & Francis
All rights reserved.No part ofthis book may be reprinted or reproduced
orutilizedin anyformorby any electronic,mechanical,or other means,
nowknownorhereafterinvented,including photocopying and recording,
orin anyinformationstorage or retrieval system,without permission in
writing fromthe publishers.
TrademarknoticeProductorcorporate names may be trademarks or
registeredtrademarks,and are used only for identification and
explanationwithoutintent toinfringe.
LibraryofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Affirming students’ right to their own language: bridging language policies
and pedagogical practices/edited by Jerrie Cobb Scott,Dolores Y.Straker,
and Laurie Katz.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1.Native language and education–Cross-cultural studies. 2.Education,
Bilingual–Cross-cultural studies. 3.English language–Study and
teaching–Political aspects–Cross-cultural studies. I.Scott,Jerrie Cobb.
II.Straker,Dolores Y.(Dolores Yvonne),1947–2008. III.Katz,Laurie.
IV.National Council ofTeachers ofEnglish.
LC201.5.A44 2008
428.0071¢2–dc22 2008021686
ISBN 0-203-86698-3 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN10:0–8058–6348–6 (hbk)
ISBN10:0–8058–6349–4 (pbk)
ISBN10:1–4106–1813–7 (ebk)
ISBN13:978–0–8058–6348–2 (hbk)
ISBN13:978–0–8058–6349–9 (pbk)
ISBN13:978–1–4106–1813–9 (ebk)
This book is dedicated to the memory ofour dear friend,
colleague,and co-editor,Dolores Yvonne Straker (1947–2008).
Itis our hope that this book will inspire others to follow in
Dolores’s footsteps ofwalking the talk of affirming students’
right to their language and oftaking broad steps to create
policies that support effective teaching practices for the
ethnically and culturally diverse students ofour national and
global learning communities.
Contents
Foreword: 3/5 ofa Language? xi
DAVID BLOOME
Preface: Unmasking Support ofStudents’Language Rights xvii
Acknowledgments xxiii
PART I SETTING THE CONTEXT 1
1 Cross-Currents in Language Policies and Pedagogical Practices 3
JERRIE COBB SCOTT,DOLORES Y.STRAKER,AND LAURIE KATZ
2 Perspectives on Language Policies and Pedagogical Practices 18
Interview 1: Issues in Global and Local Language Policies
JOEL SPRING
Interview 2: An Insider’s View ofAfrican American Language
Policies and Pedagogies
GENEVA SMITHERMAN
Interview3: The LawofLanguage in the United States
CHRISTINAM.RODRÍGUEZ
Interview 4: What Teachers Need to Know to Educate English
Language Learners
MARY CAROL COMBS
PARTII EDUCATIONALPOLICIES,ATTITUDES,AND
UNFULFILLEDPROMISES 39
3 The HiddenLinguistic Legacies ofBrown v.Board and No
Child Left Behind 41
JOHN BAUGH AND AARON WELBORN
vii
viii • Contents
4 Portraits,Counterportraits,and the Lives ofChildren:
Language,Culture,and Possibilities 54
RICK MEYER
5 Restore My Language and Treat Me Justly:Indigenous
Students’Rights to Their Tribal Languages 68
DOROTHY AGUILERA AND MARGARET D.LECOMPTE
6 Power,Politics,and Pedagogies:Re-Imagining Students’
Right to Their Own Language Through Democratic Engagement 85
VALERIE KINLOCH
7 Exploring Attitudes Toward Language Differences:Implications
for Teacher Education Programs 99
LAURIE KATZ,JERRIE COBB SCOTT,AND XENIA HADJIOANNOU
8 Positionality:Using Self-Discovery to Enhance Pre-Service
Teachers’Understanding ofLanguage Differences 117
NANCY RANKIE SHELTON
9 Beyond the Silence:Instructional Approaches and Students’
Attitudes 132
DAVID E.KIRKLAND AND AUSTIN JACKSON
PARTIII TOWARD A PEDAGOGY OF SUCCESS IN CLASSROOMS 151
10 “We Have Our Own Language as Well as the Languages We
Bring”:Constructing Opportunities for Learning Through a
Language ofthe Classroom 153
BETH V.YEAGER AND JUDITH L.GREEN
11 “Taylor Cat is Black”:Code-Switch to Add Standard English to
Students’Linguistic Repertoires 176
REBECCA S.WHEELER
12 There’s No “1”Way to Tell a Story 192
LAURIE KATZ AND TEMPII CHAMPION
13 Culturally Responsive Read-Alouds in First Grade:Drawing
UponChildren’s Languages and Cultures to Facilitate Literary
and Social Understandings 206
JEANE COPENHAVER-JOHNSON,JOY BOWMAN,AND
ANGELAJOHNSON RIETSCHLIN
Contents • ix
14 Developing Culturally Responsive Teacher Practitioners
Through Multicultural Literature 219
TAMARA L.JETTON,EMMA SAVAGE-DAVIS,AND MARIANNE BAKER
15 Educating the Whole Child:English Language Learners in a
Middle School 232
MARI HANEDA
16 New Chinese Immigrant Students’Literacy Development:
From Heritage Language to Bilingualism 247
DANLING FU
17 High Stakes Testing and the Social Languages ofLiterature
and Literate Achievement in Urban Classrooms 262
DOROTHEA ANAGNOSTOPOULOS
PARTIV GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES ON LANGUAGE DIVERSITY
ANDLEARNING 273
18 Possibilities for Non-Standard Dialects in American
Classrooms:Lessons from a Greek Cypriot Class 275
XENIA HADJIOANNOU
19 The Writing on the Wall:Graffiti and Other Community
School Practices in Brazil 291
ANACHRISTINADASILVAIDDINGS
20 The Social Construction ofLiteracy in a Mexican Community:
Coming Soon to Your School? 303
PATRICK H.SMITH,LUZ A.MURILLO,AND ROBERT T.JIMÉNEZ
21 Multilingualism in Classrooms:The Paritetic School System
ofthe Ladin Valleys in South Tyrol (Italy) 319
GERDAVIDESOTT
22 Educational Policies and Practices in Post-Apartheid South
Africa:The Case for Indigenous African Languages 329
NKONKO M.KAMWANGAMALU
23 Meaningful Early Literacy Learning Experiences:Lessons
from South Africa 345
CAROLE BLOCH
