Teacher's Commendation

Teacher's Commendation

Q: How would a teacher's commendation influence the process of learning of new comers into the fourth grade bilingual classroom?

Ans: English learners are positioned at the outer periphery of their classroom community on two levels: first, they are newcomers to the academic knowledge community (as are all students), and second, they bring with them a language and cultural foundation that is likely not to be drawn upon for learning. To be academically successful, English learners of fourth grade need to acquire the new knowledge that is situated in academic learning communities, and do so while they are acquiring a new language (Thompson, 2006).

One of the ways that fourth grade English learners gain access to English and become members of academic communities is by engaging in scaffolded activities organized around Vygotsky's concept of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). When English learners, who are new in fourth grade are invited into collaborative activities that are within their ZPD, the assistance they receive from the teacher or peers enables them to extend their academic knowledge in specific areas, while they are trying and using English to accomplish the particular goals of the activities (Olszewski, 2008). Scholars such as Pauline Gibbons and Christian Faltis and Cathy Coulter, examining peripheral participation in mixed-language classrooms, have shown how teachers can create opportunities where scaffolded activities enhance English learners' participation in academic activities. Experienced teachers who are well grounded in social learning practices can also organize learning environments in which English learners use their developing language with English speakers so that they acquire language while they are engaged in academic community practices essential to school achievement (Mora, 2007).

An important ingredient for effective legitimate peripheral participation in academic classroom setting is the existence of multiple social uses of language. This view of language implies that learners ...