A sociocultural perspective: language arts framework, vocabulary activities and English language learners in a second grade mixed classroom.

A sociocultural perspective: language arts framework, vocabulary activities and English language learners in a second grade mixed classroom. Vocabulary acquisition is a critical component of academiclanguage. This aspect of the school curriculum seems to be moredifficult for language learners to acquire. This study thereforeexamines the language arts language artspl.n.The subjects, including reading, spelling, and composition, aimed at developing reading and writing skills, usually taught in elementary and secondary school. conceptual framework For the concept in aesthetics and art criticism, see .A conceptual framework is used in research to outline possible courses of action or to present a preferred approach to a system analysis project. and the instructionalactivities for vocabulary development Vocabulary development is the process whereby speakers of language enhance their working vocabularies with new words.The average persons' vocabulary consists of 10,000 words, regardless of native tongue. Usually, this represents a mere fraction of the lexis of that language. in a second grade mixed classroomwith a view to evaluate how language learning conceptualization con��cep��tu��al��ize?v. con��cep��tu��al��ized, con��cep��tu��al��iz��ing, con��cep��tu��al��iz��esv.tr.To form a concept or concepts of, and especially to interpret in a conceptual way: andinstructional practices accommodate specific well-establishedtheoretical, practical and pedagogical ped��a��gog��ic? also ped��a��gog��i��caladj.1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of pedagogy.2. Characterized by pedantic formality: a haughty, pedagogic manner. issues underpinning un��der��pin��ning?n.1. Material or masonry used to support a structure, such as a wall.2. A support or foundation. Often used in the plural.3. Informal The human legs. Often used in the plural. Englishlanguage English language,member of the West Germanic group of the Germanic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Germanic languages). Spoken by about 470 million people throughout the world, English is the official language of about 45 nations. teaching/learning. Drawing on insights from the theories of thesociocultural so��ci��o��cul��tur��al?adj.Of or involving both social and cultural factors.soci��o��cul approach and critical language pedagogy, I reviewed theReading/Language Arts Framework for its provisions for languagelearners. In addition, I observed a vocabulary lesson in a second gradeclass. The study reveals that the conceptual framework sets the stagefor vocabulary instruction to foster monolingual mon��o��lin��gual?adj.Using or knowing only one language.mono��lin and monoculturalAmerican society despite the fact that second grade classrooms in LosAngeles Los Angeles(lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. metropolitan city contain learners of dynamic and sometimesconflicting identities, needs, preferences, interests and aspiration aspiration/as��pi��ra��tion/ (as?pi-ra��shun)1. the drawing of a foreign substance, such as the gastric contents, into the respiratory tract during inhalation.2. .Furthermore, the study shows that the tight control of the teacher oninstructional activities and the structured nature of the lesson did notcreate a conducive atmosphere for language learners to appropriate otherpupils" voices and identities.**********California State is the most populous pop��u��lous?adj.Containing many people or inhabitants; having a large population.[Middle English, from Latin popul and most diverse in thenation. In 2003/2004 school year 6,298,769 enrolled in public schoolsand out of this number, 1,598,535 were identified as "limitedEnglish proficient pro��fi��cient?adj.Having or marked by an advanced degree of competence, as in an art, vocation, profession, or branch of learning.n.An expert; an adept. " (California Dept. of Educ. EducationalDemographics The attributes of people in a particular geographic area. Used for marketing purposes, population, ethnic origins, religion, spoken language, income and age range are examples of demographic data. Units) learners, that is, students who use another languageother than English as their primary language. In 1997, the StateDepartment of Education reports: "more than 100 languages (otherthan English) were found to be represented (in schools across thestate)" (Reading Language Arts Framework for California PublicSchools, p. 232). The framework further identifies the top fourlanguages and the percentages of the LEP (Light Emitting Polymer) An organic polymer that glows (emits photons) when excited by electricity. LEP screens are used to make organic LED (OLED) displays and are expected to compete with LCD screens in the future. See OLED. students as Spanish (81%),Vietnamese (3%), Hmong (2%) and Cantonese (2%). The document also notesthat students come from "many ethnic groups, speak a variety oflanguages and dialects, varies in English proficiency, and come toschool with a variety of experiences, academic and non-academic"(p. 232).In responding to the diversity in school population and theperennial abysmal a��bys��mal?adj.1. Resembling an abyss in depth; unfathomable.2. Very profound; limitless: abysmal misery.3. Very bad: an abysmal performance. performance of students in public examinations,particularly the minority ethnic students, California State institutedreforms. First, the state legislature A state legislature may refer to a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system.The following legislatures exist in the following political subdivisions: passed into law the "TeacherPreparation Is Changing" bill, popularly called the Senate Bill2042. The bill overhauled The Teacher Preparation and Licensing Act of1970 (Ryan Act) by setting a new standard for teacher preparation inCalifornia through the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CCTC) is an independent agency created in 1970 by the Ryan Act and is the oldest of the autonomous state standards boards in the nation. The mission of the CCTC is to facilitate the credentialing of California's teachers. (CCTC CCTC California Commission on Teacher CredentialingCCTC Canadian Council for Tobacco ControlCCTC Central Carolina Technical CollegeCCTC Consortium of College Testing CentersCCTC Certified Clinical Transplant CoordinatorCCTC Comanche County Telephone Co., Inc. ). The purpose of the reform is that: "prospective teachersdevelop a strong understanding of the conceptual foundations of thesubject as well as understanding of how knowledge is created andorganized in the subject" (CCTC, P. 3). Specifically on languagelearning, the content of Language Development and Acquisition requiresteachers-in-training to: apply knowledge of both the development of a first language and the acquisition of subsequent ones. They can describe the principal observable milestones in each domain, and identify the major theories that attempt to explain the processes of development and acquisition. Candidates demonstrate they understand the range of issues related to the interaction of first languages and other languages. They are able to recognize special features that may identify a pupil's language development as exceptional, distinguishing such features from interlanguage effect (p. A-3).It is significant to note here that the document for preparingteachers to teach English learners is, at best, ambivalent am��biv��a��lent?adj.Exhibiting or feeling ambivalence.am��biva��lent��ly adv.Adj. 1. about theissue at the heart of second language learning: the conceptualization oflanguage learning as identity formation (Peirce 1995, MaKay and Wong1996, Toohey 2003 and Pennycook 2004). The critical question thedocument does not address is: What is the connection between thelanguages (English and first language) and the different aspects of lifesuch as nationhood, identity, power, social status, language attitudeand policy (Lee and Ajayi, in progress)?The failure to address this question continues to result in theinability of the state to meet the needs, desires, and aspirations aspirationsnpl → aspiraciones fpl(= ambition); ambici��n faspirationsnpl (= hopes, ambition) → aspirations fplofthe language learners. For example, the 2000 California State report onthe ranking of public schools based on the Academic Performance Index(API (Application Programming Interface) A language and message format used by an application program to communicate with the operating system or some other control program such as a database management system (DBMS) or communications protocol. ) scores: California's Lowest-Performing Schools: Who they are.the challenges they face, and how they're improving states: ... elementary schools as a whole, they faced slightly greater challenges. On average, they had either similar or even more challenging proportions of English learners and students living in poverty. School sizes are modestly large. The proportion of fully credentialed teachers is somewhat lower. And they do not differ, on average, when it comes to teacher experience levels (EdSource p. 33 emphasis added).The report recommends reforms that provide for ... school-wide adoptions of a unified, well-integrated curriculum and instructional approach. This school-wide focus means that all teachers are using the same books, have had the same training on how to use the curriculum effectively, share a common set of expectations for students performance, and use the same methods to assess student progress and help students who are having trouble (EdScource p. 34).Equally consequential con��se��quen��tial?adj.1. Following as an effect, result, or conclusion; consequent.2. Having important consequences; significant: in the field of language teaching andlearning is the state law--proposition 227 of 1996 which mandatedEnglish-only as a medium of instruction in schools. The propositionstipulates that: All children in California public schools shall be taught English by being taught in English. In particular, this shall require that all children be placed in English language classrooms. Children who are English learners shall be educated through shelter English immersion during a temporary transition period not normally intended to exceed one year ... Once English learners have acquired a good working knowledge of English, they shall be transferred to English language mainstream classrooms (California State Code of Regulation, 1998 Article 2, p. 305).The document does not define what constitutes "a good workingknowledge of English" in the school contexts. Does this meanproficiency in academic language or social (face-to-face) communicative com��mu��ni��ca��tive?adj.1. Inclined to communicate readily; talkative.2. Of or relating to communication.com��mu skills or both? These two aspects of English learning are notnecessarily the same.Furthermore, the assumption of the proposition that languagelearners can achieve "a good working knowledge of English"within a year seemed to have been based on political expediency ex��pe��di��en��cy?n. pl. ex��pe��di��en��cies1. Appropriateness to the purpose at hand; fitness.2. Adherence to self-serving means: ratherthan a sound pedagogical reasoning or theoretical framework. Cummins(1981) contends that "immigrant students arriving after age sixtake between six and seven years to approach grade norms in Englishacademic skills" (p. 7). The researcher observes that pupils thatare prematurely moved to the mainstream English-only class progressivelyfall behind in mastering grade norms in English academic skills. Hisconclusion is inevitable: misconceptions Misconceptions is an American sitcom television series for The WB Network for the 2005-2006 season that never aired. It features Jane Leeves, formerly of Frasier, and French Stewart, formerly of 3rd Rock From the Sun. about what constitutes'English proficiency' and how long it takes to acquire itoperate to "impede im��pede?tr.v. im��ped��ed, im��ped��ing, im��pedesTo retard or obstruct the progress of. See Synonyms at hinder1.[Latin imped the academic progress of language minoritystudents" (p. 4). Table 1 below summarizes English languagelearners (ELL) overall proficiency level in K-5 in 2003/04 in CaliforniaState.For second grade, the focus of this study, the overall proficiencylevels are 7.0%, 21.0%, 40.0%, 22.0% and 9.0% respectively for the fivecategories. LAUSD LAUSD Los Angeles Unified School District (Los Angeles, CA)responded to learners' poor performance inEnglish learning by adopting the Open-Court Language Arts Program(OCLAP) and by assigning ELL to the mainstream English class in secondgrade, among other steps.The Open-Court Language Arts ProgramThe 2000 California State report ranked more than half of the 565schools in LAUSD as "lowest performing." The report identifiesthe characteristics of the failing schools: "many but not all ofthem have high percentages of students who were English learners and/orHispanic, a statistic that is highly correlated with studentpoverty" (EdSource p. 33). Thus OCLAP was designed to provideK--third grade a unified, well-integrated, and tightly structuredcurriculum approach for English teaching/learning as a necessary step toimproving pupils' scores in school subjects. With the previousSuccess for All program, teachers had to choose from a variety ofmethods, including look-and-say, phonetic pho��net��icadj.1. Of or relating to phonetics.2. Representing the sounds of speech with a set of distinct symbols, each designating a single sound. , alphabetic, phonics phonicsMethod of reading instruction that breaks language down into its simplest components. Children learn the sounds of individual letters first, then the sounds of letters in combination and in simple words. , andothers (Samuels et al 1992, p. 125) for teaching beginning readers. WithOCLAP, the phonic/fluency method gained prominence as the theory andassumptions of the new program were significantly shaped by this method.Phonic phon��icadj.Of, relating to, or having the nature of sound, especially speech sounds.phonicpertaining to the voice. instruction essentially teaches learners how to understandthe relationship between the letters (graphemes) and the individualsound of a language (phonemes) and then use the relationship to read andwrite (National Institute for Literacy 2001, p. 4). The basic principleof the fluency reading approach is that reading "... consists ofoptical, perceptual per��cep��tu��aladj.Of, based on, or involving perception. , syntactic Dealing with language rules (syntax). See syntax. , and semantic cycles, each melting intothe next as readers try to get meaning as effectively as possible usingminimal time and energy" (Samuels et al, p. 126). The researchersexplain the concept of fluency in the following way: During the initial reading, or decoding stage ... in grades 1 and 2--the students learn letter-sound correspondences, how to blend sound to form words, and how to use context as an aid in word recognition ... during decoding stage, the student learns the rudiments of how to convert the printed symbols on the page into their appropriate sound equivalences. During the next stage ... "fluency stage", the student continues to work on decoding skills to the point where he or she becomes "unglued" from the print (p. 127).Joyce et al (1995) and Clark (1995) suggest Direct Instruction asthe most effective method of teaching phonic-based instructional programin English. The researchers define direct instruction as a teaching withan "academic focus, a high degree of teacher direction and control,high expectations for pupils progress, a system for managing time, andatmosphere of relatively neutral effect" (p. 338). Joyce et alidentify five stages of direct instructions as Orientation,Presentation, Structured Practice, Guided Practice and IndependentPractice. For details of the stages, read Joyce et al (p. 339-342).Innovation and PerformanceAs indicated earlier, LAUSD implemented such innovative measures asOCLAP with emphasis on phonics textbooks and class-size of twenty pupilsin kindergarten kindergarten[Ger.,=garden of children], system of preschool education. Friedrich Froebel designed (1837) the kindergarten to provide an educational situation less formal than that of the elementary school but one in which children's creative play instincts would be through third grade. In addition, teachers were mandatedto attend specific courses and workshops in reading instructions andattend school-organized professional development workshops, commonplanning meetings, district-sponsored workshops and seminars.LAUSD reports that the school reforms have achieved some success asevident from the improvement in pupils' Stanford 9 Language MeanPercentiles for five consecutive years-1997-2002. I used the Stanford 9test result because the California Achievement Tests (CAT/6) thatreplaced it is relatively new and therefore does not have enough datafor this study. Graph 1 below shows students' performance inreading.[GRAPHIC OMITTED]Literature on Mixed ClassroomsAs earlier noted, the school district assigned its languagelearners to the mainstream English class as a means of helping them tolearn the target language. However, learners are given new identitiesand classifications such as 'advanced learners','intermediate learners', 'beginning learners' and soon, which all signal to the school communities that they are studentswho lack linguistic competence and therefore susceptible tosubordination and "taking a less active and less powerful role inoral practices" (Toohey, 2003 p. 75).Thus such students are denied full participation in social andlearning activities because of the system of ranking and categorization,For example, a report by Hayasaki (2004) in Los Angeles Times Los Angeles TimesMorning daily newspaper. Established in 1881, it was purchased and incorporated in 1884 by Harrison Gray Otis (1837–1917) under The Times-Mirror Co. (the hyphen was later dropped from the name). , December3, clearly illustrates how Hispanic-Americans in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, high school construct power hierarchy and privilege by using competencein English and their better economic and social status to positionthemselves as campus elites and position the other Hispanic immigrantsEnglish learners, classified as limited English proficient, as outsidersand thus disenfranchised them from participating in school activities.For instance, the immigrant English learners are teased tease?v. teased, teas��ing, teas��esv.tr.1. To annoy or pester; vex.2. To make fun of; mock playfully.3. for speakingEnglish with an accent and pejoratively pe��jor��a��tive?adj.1. Tending to make or become worse.2. Disparaging; belittling.n.A disparaging or belittling word or expression. referred to as"paisas" (from paisano pai��sa��no? also pai��sann. pl. pai��sa��nos also pai��sans1. A countryman; a compatriot.2. Slang A friend; a pal. )--the term for countrymen.Merriam-Webster's Thesaurus lists the synonyms for'countrymen' as including rural, rustic, peasant, pastoral,and meanings including lack of sophistication so��phis��ti��cate?v. so��phis��ti��cat��ed, so��phis��ti��cat��ing, so��phis��ti��catesv.tr.1. To cause to become less natural, especially to make less naive and more worldly.2. and cultivation. Inaddition, poor Economic conditions make it impossible for them toparticipate in their school's cheerleading The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject.Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. teams as uniforms andother expenses cost as much as $1,200 per year. The school'sfreshman counselor reflects on the issue: "What is sad isimmigrants come with really good skills, but they don't have themoney; they can't afford it" (p. 36). It should not be asurprise then when the school bilingual facilitator acknowledges to thereporter: "Fitting into mainstream English class is sometimes hardfor English learners" (p. 36).In reaction, the language learners isolate themselves from theHispanic-American students and in addition, many of them resent re��sent?tr.v. re��sent��ed, re��sent��ing, re��sentsTo feel indignantly aggrieved at.[French ressentir, to be angry, from Old French resentir, speakingEnglish altogether. The experience of the students here isrepresentative of the practices that collectively make language learners"become systematically excluded from just those conversations inwhich they might legitimately peripherally participate with childexperts, English old-timers" (Toohey 2003, p. 93). The case of theELL is therefore analogous to that of the special-need learners whothrough the practice of classification in the school system are usuallysubjected to isolation from social activities, mockery MockeryAbaschanged into lizard for mocking Demeter. [Rom. Myth: Metamorphoses, Zimmerman, 1]Beckmesserpompous object of practical jokes. [Ger. , ridicule andname-calling such as 'retarded' and 'specialeducation'--making such learners to feel they do not belong in theschool system. McDermott (1993) wonders about the cumulative effect ofthe school practices which assign different identities for pupils: How much and on what grounds a person is liable to degradation in the different settings? What is at stake here is appreciation of how much each setting organizes the search for and location of differential performances and how much that search further organizes the degradation of those found at the bottom of the pile (p. 286).Classroom-based research (Peirce 1995, 1997, Toohey 2003, Chaudron1988, Cummins 1981 and Laosa 1979) in mixed classrooms indicates thatlanguage learners have problems in learning the target language. Forexample, Chaudron finds that teachers show "apparent disparity intreatment" (p. 119) between ELL and English-only students. Hefurther notes that a "mismatch mismatch1. in blood transfusions and transplantation immunology, an incompatibility between potential donor and recipient.2. one or more nucleotides in one of the double strands in a nucleic acid molecule without complementary nucleotides in the same position on the other between teachers and students'cultural norms results in a differential in teacher interactions withstudents in classroom" (p. 119). Laosa, in her study, concludesthat teachers tend to be more negative of, less interactive with andmore critical of ELL students in mixed classrooms.Toohey (2003), in a study of the discursive dis��cur��sive?adj.1. Covering a wide field of subjects; rambling.2. Proceeding to a conclusion through reason rather than intuition. practices in languagelearning classrooms, concludes that inadequate understanding of pupilsleads to misleading categorization and social construction ofpupils' identities in mixed classrooms, particularly in K throughsecond grade. Toohey identifies five areas of competences as (1)Academic Competence, (2) Physical/presentation Competence, (3)Behavioral Competence, (4) Social Competence and (5) LanguageCompetence. (For details, see Toohey 2003: 63-72). Examining theinterrelated in��ter��re��late?tr. & intr.v. in��ter��re��lat��ed, in��ter��re��lat��ing, in��ter��re��latesTo place in or come into mutual relationship.in nature of, and the contribution of each aspect of thecompetency COMPETENCY, evidence. The legal fitness or ability of a witness to be heard on the trial of a cause. This term is also applied to written or other evidence which may be legally given on such trial, as, depositions, letters, account-books, and the like. 2. to the overall development of, and language learning capacityof learners, Toohey concludes that school practices produce differentidentities for pupils. He identifies the consequences:"Learners' identities have definite observable ob��serv��a��ble?adj.1. Possible to observe: observable phenomena; an observable change in demeanor.See Synonyms at noticeable.2. effects on whatthey can do in classroom, what kinds of positions as legitimateperipheral participants in classrooms they can occupy, and, therefore,how much they can 'learn'" (p. 74). Eisenhart (1995) putsthe issue of identity formation in perspective: "It seems that wemust find some way of understanding how individuals actively constructtheir own personal goals, beliefs about themselves, and images of selfout of the cultural models and socialization socialization/so��cial��iza��tion/ (so?shal-i-za��shun) the process by which society integrates the individual and the individual learns to behave in socially acceptable ways. so��cial��i��za��tionn. processes to which they areexposed" (p. 5).Norton and Toohey (2001), therefore call practitioners of SIA Sia(sī`ə)or Siaha(sī`əhə), in the Bible, family returned from the Exile. SIA - Serial Interface Adaptor toconfront the critical issue facing language learning in classrooms: thestudy of "how L2 learners are situated in specific social,historical, and cultural contexts and how learners resist or accept thepositions those contexts offer them" (p. 310). Toohey (2003)suggests that teachers interview their pupils in order to"ascertain their understanding of their own (identities) andothers' views on these matters ... (p. 77). In his contribution,Peirce (1995) calls for the need to "engage the social identitiesof students in ways that will improve their language learning" as abasic step towards helping them "understand how opportunities tospeak are socially structured and how they might create possibilitiesfor social interaction with the target language speaker" (p. 26).Meaning-making in Language Learning ContextStarfield (2004) observes that ELL have limited repertoire of theGreco-Latin vocabulary, that is, academic language that facilitateseffective participation in classroom learning activities. Thus inclassroom discourses, they have serious problems in using English toexpress complex meanings relating to relating torelate prep → concernantrelating torelate prep → bez��glich +gen, mit Bezug auf +accacademic topics. The question forresearchers therefore is: how does the vocabulary development practiceenable learners to "expand their linguistic and discourse resourcesto make more complex meanings, build their arguments, and appearauthoritative--to begin to develop identities as academic writers?"(Stein 2004 p. 150).Toohey (2003), Norton (2003) and Stein (2004) contend thatvocabulary lesson should be conceptualized as a social activity--wheremeaning-making is shaped by the complex sociocultural dynamics of theclassroom: the personalities, histories, cultures, collective memories,desires, politics, and power relations (Morgan 2004). Implicit in Adj. 1. implicit in - in the nature of something though not readily apparent; "shortcomings inherent in our approach"; "an underlying meaning"underlying, inherent thisargument is the theoretical and practical implication that rather thanemphasis on how ELL internalize internalizeTo send a customer order from a brokerage firm to the firm's own specialist or market maker. Internalizing an order allows a broker to share in the profit (spread between the bid and ask) of executing the order. and apply the rules of thelanguage--phonological, grammatical and semantic rules--teachers shouldfocus on how learners are "doing the complicated linguistic, socialand psychological work of constructing 'voices' within aspecific community and at the same time, constructing a point of view..." (Toohey 2003, p. 14).Therefore, a lesson in vocabulary should not be about meanings andappropriateness as prescribed by the dominant culture, rather it shouldbe about helping learners to use their multicultural perspectives tomake meaning. Stein (2004) posits that vocabulary lessons should helplearners make choices from the various possibilities the classroomcontext offers and the choices signifying the interests of the makers(Stein 2004). Viewed from this perspective, vocabulary activities,therefore, become an opportunity for learners to negotiateindividuals' identities, and the collective identities as membersof the class reflect on their present conditions and futurepossibilities.Justification for the studyThere are three basic reasons for the study of vocabularyinstruction aspect of the curriculum for teaching language learners inmixed classrooms. First, available literature in classroom researchtends to focus on classroom practices without relating such to theframework teachers are handed to teacher. This gives a false impressionthat teachers can change classroom practices without first changing theframework they are asked to adhere to adhere toverb 1. follow, keep, maintain, respect, observe, be true, fulfil, obey, heed, keep to, abide by, be loyal, mind, be constant, be faithful2. . Second, the fundamentals of theacademic language are introduced at the second grade and failure tograsp them at this level may signal a poor performance in higher grades.Third, the vocabulary aspect of the curriculum constitutes a criticalcomponent of academic language which is much more difficult for languagelearners to acquire. For English learners, "a decline inword-meaning scores" (Reading/Language Arts, p.19) has always beena major factor in their poor performance in language learning. This isbecause pupils in second grade begin to use challenging texts that"use more difficult, abstract, specialized, and technicalwords" (Chall, Jacobs and Baldwin 1990, cited in Reading/LanguageArts p. 19). Hence the choice of second grade is appropriate for thisstudy.Data collectionA mixed classroom of 20 students in second grade was observed forthis study in the city of Los Angeles For the city, see Los Angeles, California. The City of Los Angeles was a streamlined passenger train jointly operated by the Chicago and North Western Railway and the Union Pacific Railroad. . There were fourteen English-onlyand six language learners. Two of the students were in the country forabout six months while the remaining four had been in the country forabout two years at the time of this observation. The classroom teacherwas a young Mexican-American lady. She had been teaching for about fiveyears and was in the masters program (elementary education elementary educationor primary educationTraditionally, the first stage of formal education, beginning at age 5–7 and ending at age 11–13. ) in one ofthe universities around Los Angeles. The teaching and observation lastedabout an hour and fifteen minutes.The topic of presentation was vocabulary development. Theteacher's objective was that each student would be able to tell themeanings of certain words; use them in sentences and draw pictures toillustrate their meanings. The presentation was organized aroundteacher-fronted teaching, whole-class and small group activities withthe teacher playing a dominant role in directing the activities.I developed a class participation checklist to help me calculatethe number of pupils who bid for teacher-initiated questions,student-initiated questions, pupils who volunteered to answer/askquestions and teacher selected pupils for sharing work with class. Iwrote down the step-by-step presentation of the lesson, discussed thelesson and the teacher's one-page reflection on the lessonpresentation the following day.Statement of the Problem:(1) to investigate whether the Reading/ Language Arts Frameworkconceptualizes language learning as a function of identity formation forlearners, (2) to study whether vocabulary instructional activities willhelp learners to use language to explore their interest, values andexpectations and (3) to investigate whether instructional practicesallow for a multiplicity mul��ti��plic��i��ty?n. pl. mul��ti��plic��i��ties1. The state of being various or manifold: the multiplicity of architectural styles on that street.2. of activities so that learners can engage indifferent activities simultaneously.Language Learning: An Activity TheoryAt the core of Vygotskian sociocultural theory is the centrality ofthe human activities in language acquisition. This is a directcontradiction of Piaget's constructivist con��struc��tiv��ism?n.A movement in modern art originating in Moscow in 1920 and characterized by the use of industrial materials such as glass, sheet metal, and plastic to create nonrepresentational, often geometric objects. theory where cognitivedevelopment precedes language acquisition. Engestron (1986) with anextensive background in developmental psychology developmental psychologyBranch of psychology concerned with changes in cognitive, motivational, psychophysiological, and social functioning that occur throughout the human life span. , in his contribution tothe conception of the zone of proximal development Lev Vygotsky's notion of zone of proximal development (зона ближайшего развития), often abbreviated ZPD defines child'sdevelopment as a "series of transitions from one ontogeneticallyleading or dominant activity to another: from play to formal learning,from formal learning to peer activity, from peer activity to work"(p. 37).Broadly defined then, an activity is doing something that is eithermotivated by a sociological need or a culturally constructed need(Lantolf, 2000). For example, language learners are motivated to learnthe target language to acquire cultural capital (Peirce 1995) or whatBourdieu (1991) calls a symbolic capital, that is, learners'linguistic competence will serve as a linguistic capital that is capableof generating symbolic profit (e.g. the acquisition of academic languagewhich enables learners to participate actively in classroom activities).In an effective language development classroom, goal-directedactivities (Auerbach 1996) become an important tool for mediatinglearning instructions and creative language use. The implication of thisis that classroom must allow for multiple activities so that eachstudent can decide on what activities to engage in the completion of thetask at hand. Lantolf (2000) notes that "any given classroomsetting (or any setting for that matter), not only can activities changefrom one moment to the next, but different activities might be underwayat any given time, despite the fact that all of the participants displaythe same or similar overt behavior in a task" (p. 12). For example,a lesson based on the activity using charts to systematically collectand structure students' information about their lives andexperiences may inevitably reshape into other activities such as groupdiscussion, pair interviews, sharing, summary writing, jotting downimportant points, writing drafts, edit, proofreading Proofreading traditionally means reading a proof copy of a text in order to detect and correct any errors. Modern proofreading often requires reading copy at earlier stages as well. , writing cleancopies and so on. Corollary corollary:see theorem. to the concept of goal-directed activitiesis learners' active collaboration in the design of learningactivities they consider socially and culturally suitable for theirlearning preferences and how they engage in the activities.Principle for Design and Practice of ActivitiesFollowing the works of Pennycook (2004, 1999) Kumaravadivelu(1999), Bourdieu (1991), Norton/Peirce (2000, 1995), Toohey (2003) andKubota (2004) the following fundamental principles are developed toguide the design and practice of language learning activities:1. Recognition of classroom discourse as a complex socioculturalactivity in which meaning-making is a function of the social identity oflearners.2. Recognition of learners' critical role in the design andimplementation of activities that are culturally and sociallyappropriate for language learning.3. Language learning activities are representative of the diversesocial and cultural background knowledge and experience of learners.4. Teaching activities provoke learners to use language to exploreand exploit their interest, values and expectations.5. Language learning activities provide learners the opportunitiesto assess and negotiate knowledge, concepts and ideas in the light oftheir own sociocultural backgrounds.6. Learning activities allow for a multiplicity of activities atany given time so that learners can decide which activities to engage inand how to engage in them.These principles provide the basis for a critical examination ofthe provisions of the language arts framework and the classroominstructional activities for teaching vocabulary development in thisstudy.Summary of the provisions of the Language Arts Framework for SecondGradeReading/Language Arts Framework states the goal of second gradelevel curriculum as: "help(ing) students learn phonemic awareness Phonemic Awareness is a subset of phonological awareness in which listeners are able to distinguish phonemes, the smallest units of sound that can differentiate meaning. For example, a listener with phonemic awareness can break the word "Cat" into three separate phonemes: /k/, /a/, of words and knowledge of letter-sounds to build lexicons of familiarwords; use knowledge of spelling patterns, prefixes, and suffixes; andincrease sight vocabulary through extensive practice" (p. 64). Theblueprint recommends that second grade curriculum and instruction extendthe understanding of vocabulary in four primary ways: (1) knowledge anduse of antonyms and synonyms, (2) use of individual words in compoundsto predict meaning, (3) use of prefixes and suffixes to assist in wordmeaning and (4) learning multiple-meaning words The framework, inaddition, stipulates the use of such vocabulary development strategiesas (1) direct instruction of specific concepts and vocabulary essentialto understand text; and (2) exposure to a broad and diverse vocabularythrough listening to and reading stories and informational texts.Specifically for English learners, the document notes that the"foremost problem (pupils face) can be the vocabulary used instories" (p. 75) and thus directs teachers to help learners to"develop vocabulary through preteaching, providing vocabularyinstruction; modeling the pronunciation pronunciation:see phonetics; phonology. Pronunciation - In this dictionary slashes (/../) bracket phonetic pronunciations of words not found in a standard English dictionary. of words; scaffolding (e.g.through summary sheets visuals, realia realiaobjects, as real money, utensils, etc., used by a teacher in the classroom to illustrate aspects of daily life.See also: Learning , and compare and contrastsheets); and encouraging students to use the vocabulary from the storiesin class discussion and writing assignments" (p. 75). The documentfurther requires teachers to select "texts that children of diversecultures can relate to easily. Whenever possible the texts should beauthentic" (p. 75).The Content Standards for vocabulary development are: 1.7understand and explain common antonyms and synonyms, 1.8 use knowledgeof initial words in unknown compound words to predict their meaning, 1.9know the meaning of simple prefixes and suffixes and 1.10 identifysimple multiple-meaning words (p. 77).The following preselected vocabulary activities are recommended forindividual and/or group practices: scholastic spelling activities,vocabulary games, open court vocabulary worksheets, class dictionary,computer activities and teacher/student tool card. Others includecreating vocabulary games for other students, add to word wall/livinglist, vocabulary worksheet--synonyms, antonyms, multiple meaning,affixes, root words, students generate and/or use anthology to add tolists of words. Others include matching words with meanings, manipulateselection vocabulary to retell re��tell?tr.v. re��told , re��tell��ing, re��tells1. To relate or tell again or in a different form.2. To count again.Verb 1. story, word building game, and usingspelling cards as flashcards.Reading/Language Arts Framework "provides a blueprint fororganizing (language) instruction" as it promises to "guidethe implementation of the standards by specifying the design ofinstructional materials, curriculum, instruction and professional level... and approaches for implementing instruction ... (p. 1). Theblueprint spells out what to teach, how to teach and the expectedoutcomes. Similarly, time is allocated for instructional activities. Forsecond grade, the document recommends: "a minimum of two andone-half hours of instructional time is allocated to language artsinstruction daily. This time is given priority, and is protected frominterruption" (p. 13, emphasis added)).Critique.While the Language Arts Framework appropriately recognizes the factthat learners come from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds andspeak different languages and dialects, the blueprint, however, does notmake provisions for integrating language learning and cognitivedevelopment with the contextual factors--the social, cultural andpolitical contexts of learning. The goal of the document, as it appears,is to integrate language learners to the American mainstream languageand culture, or what Wiley and Lukes (1996) and Banks (2004) call theideology of English monolingualism Monoglottism (Greek monos, "alone, solitary", + glotta, "tongue, language") or, more commonly, monolingualism or unilingualism is the condition of being able to speak only a single language. and monoculturalism. The documentadvocates that instructional programs for English learners should ensurethat "English-language proficiency progresses from thestudents' initial contact with formal instruction in English to thepoint at which their use of English compares with that of their nativeEnglish-speaking peers" (p. 233, emphasis added). Implicit in thisideology is the assumption and expectation that "language minoritystudents will acquire English and lose their native languages"(Wiley & Luke p. 514) and thus lose their social and culturalidentities.Furthermore, despite years of well documented role of firstlanguage in helping language learners achieve competency in the targetlanguage, the document prohibits the use of first language in theclassroom as it prescribes that "... instructions for most languagelearners must be presented 'overwhelmingly in English'"(p. 233). Specifically for K--grade two, the document projects that"typically, primary students who are learning English canparticipate fully in classroom language arts instruction if providedappropriate reading and writing supports and instruction in orallanguage" (p. 233). The supports that learners are entitled en��ti��tle?tr.v. en��ti��tled, en��ti��tling, en��ti��tles1. To give a name or title to.2. To furnish with a right or claim to something: to arebasically "the preteaching of essential elements of lessonvocabulary and language structure, and additional assistance after thelesson during the school day and after school" (p. 233).There are two assumptions here. First, it is assumed that sincesecond grade learners are eight years old, they will naturally acquireEnglish. Such an assumption is based on the critical period hypothesis The Critical Period Hypothesis refers to a long-standing debate in linguistics and language acquisition over the extent to which the ability to acquire language is biologically linked to age. ,which states that children have natural ability to acquire new languagebefore cerebral lateralization lat��er��al��i��za��tionn.Localization of function attributed to either the right or left side of the brain. at about puberty puberty(py`bərtē), period during which the onset of sexual maturity occurs. or age twelve. Second,it is believed that if language learners are submerged in English-onlyclasses without reference to their first language, such students arelikely to master the target language faster in other to survive in thenew culture. Popularly derided as "sink. or swim" approach,LAUSD has modified its submersion submersionthe act of placing, or the condition of being under, the surface of a liquid. programs to incorporate remedialEnglish components in English Language Development (ELD) classes for 45to 60 minutes for teachers to "provide additional modeling andpractice for those English learners who need further assistance"(p. 232) in the "essential elements of lesson vocabulary andlanguage structure" (p. 233).However, studies in multilingualism multilingualism:see bilingualism. and multiculturalism in thelast two decades have consistently proven that learners' level ofcompetence in the first language is a mediating factor in theireducational development and target language learning (Krashen 2001 andCummins, 1981). That is, when language learners are thrust into thetarget language without sufficient mastery of the first language, suchstudents "develop relatively low levels of academic proficiency inboth languages" (Cummins p. 16).In addition, there seems to be no empirical data to back the claimthat "'typically students who are learning English canparticipate fully in classroom language arts instruction ..." Onthe contrary, studies in academic discourse at elementary school elementary school:see school. levelhave consistently reported "frequently inequitable social structurewhich are reproduced in day-to-day social interactions" (Peirce1995, p. 13) in mixed classrooms and that the social practices createthe atmosphere for marginalization mar��gin��al��ize?tr.v. mar��gin��al��ized, mar��gin��al��iz��ing, mar��gin��al��iz��esTo relegate or confine to a lower or outer limit or edge, as of social standing. of language learners because of theirconstruction as language deficit learners--ones who do not have thesymbolic capital (Bourdieu 1991) to participate in classroom discursivepractices. McKay and Wong (1996) report: "unevenly distributedright to speak" (p. 578) between EP and ELL; and the pressure onELL to "master and adjust him/herself to the rules ofappropriateness in the target language" (p. 579). Bourdieu capturesthe dilemma of language learners: "Here again, social acceptabilityis not reducible to mere grammaticality. Speakers lacking the competenceare de facto [Latin, In fact.] In fact, in deed, actually.This phrase is used to characterize an officer, a government, a past action, or a state of affairs that must be accepted for all practical purposes, but is illegal or illegitimate. excluded from the social domains in which this competenceis required, or are condemned to silence" (p. 55).The issue of marginalization is further exacerbated by classroomteaching practices, as this document prescribes teachers as the arbiterof knowledge. Teachers' efforts are thus geared towards enforcingthe acquisition of interested knowledge (Pennycook 1989), the knowledgeof the American dominant culture. Cummins (1994) observes that"classroom interactions are not oriented o��ri��ent?n.1. Orient The countries of Asia, especially of eastern Asia.2. a. The luster characteristic of a pearl of high quality.b. A pearl having exceptional luster.3. to the expression, sharingand critical examination of students' experience nor to analysis ofissues that pertain to pertain toverb relate to, concern, refer to, regard, be part of, belong to, apply to, bear on, befit, be relevant to, be appropriate to, appertain to the division of wealth and status within thespecific society and the global context" (p. 34).Finally, it is interesting to note that the 292-page document doesnot provide any guide on the role of identity formation, a criticalconcept in second language learning classroom, despite the fact thatsecond grade classes contain pupils of multiple identities, needs,desires and interests. This is why Cummins (1981) argues that "thesociocultural determinants of minority students' school failure ...are more fundamental than linguistic factors" (p. 2). Theframework, unfortunately, is a psycholinguistic psy��cho��lin��guis��tics?n. (used with a sing. verb)The study of the influence of psychological factors on the development, use, and interpretation of language. document that treatslanguage learning as an internal mental process (Long 1997) withemphasis on learners' cognition cognitionAct or process of knowing. Cognition includes every mental process that may be described as an experience of knowing (including perceiving, recognizing, conceiving, and reasoning), as distinguished from an experience of feeling or of willing. and personality factors likemotivation, affectivity, aptitude, and so on, as it is obvious from theexclusive focus on the acquisition of vocabulary items and mastery oflanguage structure. I note with dismay that the document does notdiscuss such concepts as heritage culture, power relations in and outthe classroom, politics, language ideology In sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology, a language or linguistic ideology is a systematic construct about how languages carry or are invested with certain moral, social, and political values, giving rise to implicit assumptions that people have about a , race relations race relationsNoun, plthe relations between members of two or more races within a single communityrace relationsnpl → relaciones fpl raciales , language andgender as facilitators or hindrances to language learning.Classroom Teaching PracticesThe salient features of the lesson are summarized below:1. Introduction of Lesson: the teacher called the pupils to sit onthe rug in front of the class. She introduced the lesson by giving anoverview of the topic; explained the lesson agenda, objective and rubric RUBRIC, civil law. The title or inscription of any law or statute, because the copyists formerly drew and painted the title of laws and statutes rubro colore, in red letters. Ayl. Pand. B. 1, t. 8; Diet. do Juris. h.t. for assessing students' work at the end of the lesson. In addition,she activated pupil's background knowledge by asking questionsabout the passage the students read the previous lesson.2. Lesson Development: teacher explained the"keep-the-card" game activity. She demonstrated how to do theactivity with the help of a student. The teacher selected two studentsto demonstrate the activity for the class. She wrote ten words,including "handsome", "family" and"excited" on the whiteboard The electronic equivalent of chalk and blackboard, but between remote users. Whiteboard systems allow network participants to simultaneously view one or more users drawing on an on-screen blackboard or running an application. (all words from the passage readthe day before) for pupils to pronounce pro��nounce?v. pro��nounced, pro��nounc��ing, pro��nounc��esv.tr.1. a. To use the organs of speech to make heard (a word or speech sound); utter.b. . She modeled the activity forpupils. Teacher and students jointly used the dictionary and glossary ofterms to look up the meanings of "gutsy guts��y?adj. guts��i��er, guts��i��est Slang1. Marked by courage or daring; plucky.2. Robust and uninhibited; lusty: "the gutsy . . . " and"homesick home��sick?adj.Acutely longing for one's family or home.homesick " "wimp", "swatted" and"creepy creep��y?adj. creep��i��er, creep��i��est Informal1. Of or producing a sensation of uneasiness or fear, as of things crawling on one's skin: a creepy feeling; a creepy story.2. ". Whoever first found the meaning of a word read it tothe class and kept the card.3. Application/Guided Practice: teacher broke up students intosmall groups. Teacher provided vocabulary sheet for pupils to writewords, meanings and definitions and drawings representing the meanings.Pupils played the game. Teacher went around the groups to monitor theactivity and provided corrective feedback.4. Individual Practice: teacher explained the class assignment.Teacher went around the class to ensure that students stayed focus. Inaddition, she provided assistance for student who asked for help byhelping them to check meanings in dictionaries. She called for studentto volunteer to share their work with the class at the completion of theactivity.5. Evaluation: teacher wrote five new words on the whiteboard andexplained the assignment. She instructed students to do the assignmentindependently--without assistance from other students. Teacher explainedthe rubric again and also monitored the activity. At the completion,teacher called on three students to stand in the front of the class andshare their works with the class.Extension: teacher explained the assignment; students were tochoose five words from the passage read the previous day and completenew vocabulary sheets.CommentsWhile the teacher seemed to have effectively mastered and followedthe instructional plan for teaching vocabulary development in Open-Courtprogram, the activities did not encourage learners to construct meaningsbased on their life experiences. Rather, fixed meanings from thedictionary, which itself is a compilation of the dominant belief systemof the dominant culture, became the source of meanings. The teacher inthis lesson did not conceptualize con��cep��tu��al��ize?v. con��cep��tu��al��ized, con��cep��tu��al��iz��ing, con��cep��tu��al��iz��esv.tr.To form a concept or concepts of, and especially to interpret in a conceptual way: vocabulary instruction in the widersociocutural context in which "meanings are also shaped by thedynamics of a classroom--its personalities, gestures, spaces, collectivememories, and power relations (as the) ... interacting phenomena thatcollectively structured the range of meanings deemed permissible in thecourse of an activity" (Morgan 2004, p. 162).The teacher's tight control of the activities and thestructured nature of the lesson did not create the necessary relax, funthough engaging atmosphere for language learning. For example, theteacher instructed pupils that they could only talk to her, answer/askquestions from her, present their work to the class--under her watchful watch��ful?adj.1. Closely observant or alert; vigilant: kept a watchful eye on the clock.See Synonyms at aware, careful.2. Archaic Not sleeping; awake. eyes. This suggested that pupils did not have the opportunity to transitfrom playing to learning, from formal learning to play, from academicdiscourse to informal conversation (Engestron, 1986). Thus, thispractice of tight structured classroom instruction negates thefundamental rationale of the zone of proximal development which impliesthat learning settings should constitute "social situations orenvironments where instructional support is given to children, thusenabling children to acquire new skills in a new way, through jointproblem solving problem solvingProcess involved in finding a solution to a problem. Many animals routinely solve problems of locomotion, food finding, and shelter through trial and error. and interaction" (Engestron 1986 p. 37).The pedagogical structure, therefore, limits the opportunity forlanguage learners to explore and exploit English language, includingusing it as a tool of social interaction. This is why Tomlinson (1998)concludes that textbooks, school cultures, teachers and publishers seemonly anxious to provide for and reward learners who are primarilyanalytic. Tomlinson writes: "The learners who succeed in thesecultures are those who can focus on discrete chunks of information, whocan analyze and categorize cat��e��go��rize?tr.v. cat��e��go��rized, cat��e��go��riz��ing, cat��e��go��riz��esTo put into a category or categories; classify.cat , who can memorize mem��o��rize?tr.v. mem��o��rized, mem��o��riz��ing, mem��o��riz��es1. To commit to memory; learn by heart.2. Computer Science To store in memory: and retrieve consciously,who are systematic and sequential in the ways they learn" (p. 337).The tight structure of the lesson thus dictated who participate andwho did not. In this highly competitive classroom, those who bid forquestions from the teacher were predominantly pupils who had thesymbolic capital, English language proficiency. For example, Jonathan(not his real name) was the only ELL who bid for two of the forty-seventeacher-initiated questions. Santa (not her real name), another ELLinitiated one of the twenty three pupil-initiated questions. Of theeleven pupils the teacher called to share their work with the class, atdifferent stages of the lesson, Jonathan was the only ELL called uponone time to share his work. Ana who had been in the class for only sixmonths did not bid for questions, initiate questions or volunteer toanswer questions. However, the teacher explained that Ana and sevenother students were assigned to a daily forty five minutes additionallesson in English Language Development (ELD) program outside the regularOpen-Court language arts program.Summary of Observation.1. Reading/Language Arts Framework, the blueprint for languagelearning in California State does not conceptualize language learning asa function of social and cultural identities of learners even though anyclassroom in Los Angeles metropolitan city contains pupils of diverseethnic, linguistic, cultural, social and learning backgrounds and theconsequent multiple identities, preferences, interests, needs andexpectations.2. The vocabulary instructional practices resulting from the blueprint, as should be expected, does not teach learners to constructvocabulary meanings to reflect their life experiences, prior linguisticand educational backgrounds.3. The instruction in vocabulary development in this study did notprovide learners with multiple learning activities that could havesignificantly and positively influenced interaction among learners andprovide more opportunities for language learning.4. The tight structure of the lesson and teacher's strictcontrol of the instructional activities did not create an enablinglearning atmosphere where language learners can practice English andappropriate other pupils' voices.5. The teaching/learning structure did not reflect the criticallyimportant, dynamic and social nature of language learning--that pupilslearn together and create knowledge together (Toohey 2003).Suggestions for Improving the LessonThe lesson could have included additional activities such as askingpupils in small groups to use the new vocabulary items to create shortstories about their lives. Also, the teacher could include non-textmaterials (e.g. the newspaper) and ask learners to engage in word-searchactivity (by finding the words in the material) and then contrast themeanings in the two different materials. In addition, such activities asstudents generating their own meanings, spelling exercises and matchingwords with meanings could have been added. Furthermore, student couldhave used the words in sentences to reflect their own way ofunderstanding them. Next, such sentences could be put on the whiteboardto form new paragraphs or a new story. Students and teacher could thenjointly examine the new meanings in the new context. For instance"homesick" would have probably yielded different meanings fordifferent pupils. This would have brought to the surface thecontradictions in learners' meanings and consequently force them to"negotiate their interests and change their social reality"(Stein 2004, p. 104).The teacher could have enhanced the quality of the instruction bybring in visual materials from the internet or photographs showingimages of pupils who are 'homesick', 'handsome','creepy', 'wimp' and so on. Of course, pupils wouldhave disagreed about the interpretations of the visual images, but theensuring discursions could have animated the class. In particular, thedifferent mode of representation would have offered them incredible"opportunities to extend their abilities and opportunities tocommunicate" (Stein 2004, p. 106).Furthermore, rather than asking all pupils to go through the sameactivities at the same time, the teacher could have encouraged pupils toengage in different activities concurrently and thus give them a choicein the activities they preferred or that closely aligned with the socialand cultural learning behaviors they consider appropriate. In addition,working together in fun like and playful play��ful?adj.1. Full of fun and high spirits; frolicsome or sportive: a playful kitten.2. atmosphere like this createsgreater opportunities for language learners and language proficientpupils to collectively learn together and create knowledge together.This is particularly important as Vygotsky (1978) and Engestron (1986)have demonstrated that learning is not a solitary activity, rather it isan integral part of the social practices of any community. In addition,this creates an ideal setting for language learners to "appropriatethe voices of others and to 'bend' those voices to their ownpurposes ... (and also) appropriate the identity positions expressed bythose voices, and to 'bend' those identities to their ownpurposes" (Toohey 2003, p. 94) without the fear of being accused of'cheating.'ConclusionThose responsible for language learning policy and implementationof it have to come into term with the reality that learners aremotivated to learn the target language in order to "acquire a widerrange of symbolic and material resources" (Peirce, 1995, 9) toenhance their social identities. This means theorists, curriculumdevelopers, teachers and policy makers have to design instructionalcurriculum that reflect learners' complex and dynamic socialrealities such as linguistic backgrounds, life experiences, concerns,needs, interests, learning goals and aspiration. Furthermore, vocabularyinstruction should allow for a multiplicity of activities that canpotentially offer learners more possibilities in activity choice and themanner to engage in them.ReferenceAjayi, L. & Lee, S. K. (2005). 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On the Web, it refers to asking for something one way and receiving the answer another; for example requesting Pedagogies in the Language and Literacy Classroom. In Norton, B. andToohey, K. (ed): Critical Pedagogies and Language Learning.Tomlinson, B. (1998). Introduction. In Tomlinson B. (ed): MaterialsDevelopment in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Toohey, K. (2003): Learning English at School: Identity, SocialRelations and Classroom Practice. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd.Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of HigherPsychological Processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Wiley, T. G. & Lukes, M. (1996). English-only and StandardEnglish Stan��dard English?n.The variety of English that is generally acknowledged as the model for the speech and writing of educated speakers.Usage Note: People who invoke the term Standard English Ideologies in the U.S. TESOL Quarterly, 30, 511-37.Lasisi J. Ajayi, Ph. D., Department of Teacher Education,California State University, Dominguez Hills California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) is a campus of the California State University system. It is located in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California. Carson.Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Dr.Lasissi J. Ajayi, 19209 Wiersma Avenue, Cerritos, CA 90703; Email:lasisiajayi@aol.com.Table 1ELL Overall Proficiency Level (K-5) in 2003/04Grade K 1 2 3 4 5Overall proficiency Number & % of students at each overall proficiency levelAdvance 315 11,750 12,328 7,094 18,110 27,416 5.0% 7.0% 7.0% 4.0% 12.0% 20.0%Early Advanced 1,235 47,292 36,574 27,100 46,467 50,767 19.0% 28.0% 21.0% 17.0% 30.0% 37.0%Intermediate 2,301 71,418 68,968 61.183 55,968 40,068 35.0% 43.0% 40.0% 38.0% 36.0% 29.0%Early Intermediate 1,440 25,304 36,778 42,343 22,592 11,976 22.0% 15.0% 22.0%n 27.0% 15.0% 9.0%Beginning 1,373 10,940 16,134 21,719 10,465 6,940 21.0% 7.0%n 9.0% 14.0% 7.0% 5.0%Source: California Department of Education; Educational DemographicsUnit //A:/CELDT%20'04.htm