Learning climates for English language learners: A case of fourth-grade students in California

Bilingual Research Journal, Summer 2003 by Butler, Yuko Goto, Gutierrez, Michele Bousquet

Abstract

This study investigates "learning climates" among fourth-grade students in an English-only school district in California. A student's learning climate is defined here as (a) a learner's perceptions of his or her own abilities and behaviors, as well as (b) the learner's perceptions of others' beliefs about his or her abilities and behaviors (or "externalized perceptions," as we have termed this throughout this paper). This study aims to understand how such learning climates may relate to students' reading performance among English language learners (ELLs) as well as native English-speaking (NE) students. A structured interview was conducted. Positive perceptions toward bilingualism were observed by both students who read English well and those who struggled with reading English. However, these two groups differed in their: (a) language-mixing behavior; (b) first-language literacy skills; (c) fathers' level of English proficiency; and (d) views of the influence of their first language on their English reading. Strong ELL readers tended to have more positive externalized perceptions of NE peers' attitudes toward their first languages and their language-mixing behavior. NE students' perceptions toward bilingualism were also revealed.

Introduction

This study investigates young readers' perceptions of language use, bilingualism, and reading activities in order to better understand how these perceptions might be related to their reading comprehension. The present study is part of a larger project that examined young readers' (fourth graders') cognitive and metacognitive processes and strategies in reading comprehension. As has been suggested, this examination calls for the integration of multiple perspectives, such as psychological, linguistic, educational, and sociocultural, in order to better understand students' problems with reading comprehension (RAND Reading Study Group, 2001).

In an attempt to examine the factors that differentiate reading comprehension between struggling and strong readers and between English language learners (ELLs) and native English-speaking (NE) students, a number of assessments were administered. Some of the assessments were standardized measurements such as the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised, the Basic Phonetics Skills Test, the Johnson Primary Spelling Inventory, and the Raven's Progressive Matrices Test. Other assessments were developed for the study, including an assessment to examine students' ability to infer the meaning of unknown words in context and an assessment to measure oral academic English proficiency. Some other assessments were qualitative measurements, such as interviews with students.

The present paper presents the results of the interviews. The interview study was designed to understand the sociopsychological factors (e.g., students' perceptions of bilingualism, language use, and reading activities) that may relate to their reading comprehension. We consider this interview data to be a preliminary study for planning a more systematic and comprehensive investigation in the future on the relationship between socio psychological factors and young students' reading performance.

Purpose of the Interview Study

It has been noted that individual difference variables, such as attitude and motivation, are important in learning a second language (L2). Clement and Gardner (2001) classify such variables into three categories: (a) cognitive characteristics, (b) attitude and motivation, and (c) personality variables. Attitude and motivation can be further classified into subcategories: integrativeness, attitude toward the learning situation, and motivation. The integrativeness category includes variables such as learners' perception toward the target language and the target language groups. The attitudes toward the learning situation include learners' perceptions of teachers, curriculum, and programs.

Different models have been proposed to show the relationship between these variables and L2 acquisition. Some of the major models include the Social Psychological Model (Lambert, 1987), the Acculturational Model (Schumann, 1978), the Socio-Educational Model of Second Language Acquisition (Gardner, 1985), the Social Context Model (Clement, 1980), and the Self-Determination Model (Noels, Clement, & Pelletier, 1999). Although positive relationships between attitudes, motivation, and L2 proficiency have been reported, the causal relationships among these variables have not yet been well understood. Many of these studies used surveys to show correlation among variables, but they are limited in their ability to explain causal relationships among variables, even with their recent effort to employ Causal Modeling (Gardner, 2000). One's attitudes may affect one's formal and informal language learning, and that may affect bilingual proficiency. However, as McLaughlin (1987) suggests, one's bilingual proficiency may also affect one's attitudes. In other words, the nature of the relationship between one's attitudes and one's bilingual proficiency might be circular.