16.2682, Review: Applied Ling/Lang Education: Adamson (2005)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-16-2682. Fri Sep 16 2005. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 16.2682, Review: Applied Ling/Lang Education: Adamson (2005)

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1)
Date: 15-Sep-2005
From: Louisa Willoughby < Louisa.Willoughby at arts.monash.edu.au >
Subject: Language Minority Students in American Schools 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 15:59:32
From: Louisa Willoughby < Louisa.Willoughby at arts.monash.edu.au >
Subject: Language Minority Students in American Schools 
 

AUTHOR: Adamson, H. Douglas
TITLE: Language Minority Students in American Schools
SUBTITLE: An Education in English
SERIES: A Volume in the ESL & Applied Linguistics Professional Series
PUBLISHER: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
YEAR: 2005
Announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/16/16-2270.html 

Louisa Willoughby, Language and Society Centre, Monash University

INTRODUCTION

This innovative introductory text provides trainee ESL teachers and 
teachers of other disciplines with a highly readable and topical 
introduction to the major issues in language minority student education. 
While firmly grounded in second language acquisition (SLA) theory, 
Adamson's book goes beyond ESL teaching per se to consider strategies for 
teaching language minority students across the school curriculum, 
including bilingual education programs, sheltered classes and the 
development of study skills in the first language. As such it presents 
teachers of all disciplines with strategies for integrating language 
minority students into their classrooms, while at the same time giving 
them a clear understanding of the linguistic theories guiding these 
suggestions. Through reviewing dozens of relevant linguistic studies and 
pointing out strengths and weaknesses in their methodology and 
conclusions, Adamson also helps those new to the field understand why (for 
example) we have so many contradictory findings in bilingual education 
studies and suggests common elements that successful language minority 
student programs contain regardless of whether they involve bilingual 
education, ESL, sheltered classes or a mixture of the above.

SUMMARY

Chapter one, aptly entitled "A Personal Introduction" uses several short 
anecdotes from the author's extensive teaching experience to introduce the 
reader to a number of important issues in minority/ESL education - such as 
the relevance and comprehensibility of  mainstream curricula for language 
minority students and the role of the first language in supporting 
acquisition of the second. The chapter closes by stressing the need for 
schools to value and support the languages and background knowledge 
minority students bring to the classroom, and gives brief suggestions as 
to how this might come about with are expanded throughout the rest of the 
book.

Chapter two "First and Second Language Acquisition" provides an overview 
of major approaches to studying language acquisition, focusing 
particularly on theories arising from generative grammar, and those 
concerned with the sociocultural side of language learning. The first half 
of the chapter provides a clear introduction to the basic tenants of 
generative grammar and goes on to introduces the readers to the notion of 
Universal Grammar, the critical period hypothesis and research in creole 
studies supporting the existence of Universal Grammar. The second half of 
the chapter introduces the idea of communicative competence, and considers 
the ways discourse norms vary across speech communities through close 
examination of Heath's (1983) data on storytelling conventions in two 
(linguistically) very different towns in North Carolina. Having raised 
reader awareness of differing norms of language use, the section explores 
the ideas of illocutionary competence and sociolinguistic norms and 
miscommunication that can arise when learners fails to master these 
aspects of the language fully. The section ends with a brief discussion of 
Schumann's acculturation model (1978). The chapter concludes with a 
comparison of the research questions asked by generativists and 
sociolinguists working in SLA and suggests Vygotskian psychology as a 
model for overcoming some of the differences between the two fields.

Chapter three "Language Teaching" again has to distinct halves - the first 
focusing on approaches to second language teaching and the second 
reviewing influential theories guiding the teaching of reading and 
mathematics. What binds the two halves however is a shared concern for 
unpacking the strengths and weaknesses of different ways of teaching and 
ultimately for developing the best possible methods with which to teach a 
diverse group of learners. Adamson's summary of the major directions in 
second language teaching will be familiar to those with a background in 
SLA (covering as it does well-known approaches such as Grammar-
Translation, the Audio-Lingual Method, and Content Based Instruction) but 
provides an important overview of the history of the field for those who 
do not share this background, including a comprehensive introduction to 
Krashen's monitor model and debate on the usefulness of error correction. 
The chapter then turns to reviewing the current fiery debate in the US 
(and indeed other parts of the world such as Australia) on the merits of 
whole language vs. phonics methods for teaching literacy and current 
trends in the teaching of mathematics. Throughout the chapter the reader's 
attention is called to the differences between instructional teaching 
methods which treat learners as 'blank slates' ready to absorb 'facts' 
from the teacher, and progressive approaches which focus on developing the 
knowledge students bring to the classroom through engagement with real 
world tasks. While Adamson stresses the strengths and weaknesses of both 
models, overall the chapter gives strong endorsement to progressive 
methods. 

Chapter four "Standard and Vernacular English" begins by introducing the 
concept of variation in English dialects through the study of one Speech 
Community: the town of Anniston, Alabama. Drawing on data collected by 
Feagin (1979) he explains how Anniston English (Adamson's term) differs 
from Standard English (principally in its use of double modals, 'done' 
for 'already' and negative concord) and how the use of these features is 
socially stratified within Anniston. After a very brief excursus on the 
origins of Standard English in England and the US, the chapter explores 
the structure of Black English (again Adamson's term) and recent 
controversy surrounding Ebonics education in US schools. Adamson's summary 
of the Oakland School Board Resolution and its aftermath provide an 
accessible overview for those not already familiar with the decision, 
while the section on classroom aspects of the Ebonics controversy provide 
teachers with balanced insight into the positives and potential drawbacks 
of introducing Ebonics programs into 'real life' classrooms.

Chapter five "Learning in a Second Language" covers ground of particular 
interest to those who are not trained teachers, exploring as it does the 
difference between objectivist and social constructionist world views, and 
their impact on how we understand learning. Adamson then introduces the 
work of Vygotsky and suggests that Vygotsky's theories of learning - 
particularly the idea of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) - provide 
a useful model for understanding the learning patterns of language 
minority students and particularly how gaps in background knowledge can 
impede further learner. The relevance of background knowledge of 
appropriate conventions is examined in detail for an area of particular 
relevance to the academic success of language minority students: academic 
discourse. In particular, Adamson explores the syntactic and rhetorical 
conventions of academic English, and variations in conventions between 
disciplines, and the need for English learners to be explicitly taught 
such conventions. The chapter closes by stressing the need for programs 
for English learners to develop academic, cognitive and study skills 
through working through challenging material, rather than focusing solely 
on teaching the mechanics of the English language.

Chapter six "School and Family" presents ethnographic data from Adamson's 
study (in conjunction with Ellen Courtney) of English language learners at 
an Arizona Middle School with a large Hispanic population. Through 
interviews with the teachers involved and detailed observation of one of 
their lessons, Adamson and Courtney explore the strategies five different 
teachers employ in educating their language minority students and evaluate 
the strengths and weaknesses of each approach. The chapter also considers 
the many real-world constraints operating on the way teachers teach 
(including but not limited to their teaching style, need to maintain 
discipline, ability to conduct lessons bilingually and general budgetary 
constraints), attempting to formulate suggestions for improvement that are 
practical for this particular context.  Having explored the classroom 
environment at Cholla Middle School, the chapter then turns to 
ethnographic accounts of tutoring sessions the authors conducted with two 
Hispanic brothers, illustrating the issues they faced in learning their 
coursework. Working within the framework of Vygotsky's ZPD, Adamson and 
Courtney explore how one brother was able to grasp the contents of a 
chemistry lesson on the periodic table with assistance, and how the 
other's lack of background knowledge made a text on the settlement of the 
American west impenetrable even after extensive tutoring. 

The final Chapter "Bilingual Education" provides an overview of the heated 
debate being conducted in the US on this topic at the moment, including an 
overview of relevant legislation and court cases mandating or banning 
bilingual education in some areas. The chapter first places the US 
situation in context by exploring the bilingual education offerings of The 
Netherlands, Sweden and Quebec and some of the criticism these programs 
have come under. Adamson then presents a summary of the types of bilingual 
education programs on offer in the US, and a short history of the 
legislative and legal history guiding their development. Finally the 
chapter considers arguments for and against bilingual education, drawing 
on numerous studies of student achievement to demonstrate the sorts of 
benefits bilingual programs can bring about, the timeframe necessary for 
these benefits to be realized, and the strength of these benefits relative 
to other forms of specialist language minority education (ESL, sheltered 
classes etc). While the book ends with a strong endorsement of 
bilingual/bicultural education, Adamson's ultimate message seems to be 
that all well thought out special programs which set out to address 
language minority students' needs across the curriculum are bound to meet 
with success.

CRITICAL EVALUATION

"Language Minority Students in American Schools" is a particularly 
important text as it brings linguistic theory to those working on the 
ground in minority education. Since a common complaint among linguists 
(and indeed ESL teachers) working in the field is that mainstream teachers 
fail to appreciate the language issues faced by minority students and the 
step they could take to address them, Adamson deserves praise for 
producing an accessible text on these issues targeted squarely at 
mainstream teachers. Importantly too, "Language Minority Students in 
American Schools" provides teachers with many real-world examples of how 
the ideas Adamson introduces might be put into practice in their own 
classes, and some of the intended and unintended consequences these 
methods might have. Since Adamson does not preach one particular method, 
but attempts to provide an overview of the strengths and weaknesses of 
various approaches, he encourages teachers to think about programs that 
would best suit the situation they find themselves in and what steps they 
as individuals might be able to take to improve the lot of language 
minority students.

Although primarily an introductory text, sections of "Language Minority 
Students in American Schools" are also of interest to researchers working 
on minority student education. In particular chapter six provides a 
detailed exploration and analysis of one school's attempts to cater for 
the needs of Hispanic students which could be used for comparison with 
programs at other schools, and also provides an example as to how 
Vygotskian theories can be productively used to interpret data on the 
educational experiences of language minority students. The book is also a 
handy ready-reference, not only for the many important studies it reviews, 
but also for its details of recent legal development on bilingual 
education. Finally, for those like myself working outside the US the text 
provides a valuable insight into the workings of minority education in 
that country and is a handy stepping stone for thinking about similarities 
and differences in the conditions faced and solutions proposed in 
different countries. 

In Summary, "Language Minority Students in American Schools" provides an 
well-written, often humorous introduction to its field. Written primarily 
for a lay audience, those more familiar with the educational and 
linguistic theories it introduces may wish to skim over some sections, but 
will no doubt find something of interest in the later chapters. Novices 
looking for further guidance are also well-served by the suggestions for 
further reading at the end of each chapter. As one might expect of a text 
aiming to draw so many threads together, the structure of Adamson's book 
at times seems a little loose, with the more introductory chapters 
(particularly chapter four) jumping between themes with less than optimal 
linkage. That said however, the book more than makes up for this fault 
with its innovative take on minority education issues and excellent 
balance between theory and real-life examples. 

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Louisa Willoughby is a doctoral student with the Language and Society 
Centre at Monash University, Clayton. Her research considers the role of 
the school environment, and by extension the process of schooling, in 
shaping the language and cultural maintenance practices of senior 
secondary students of migrant background.





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