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

Internalized Perception (perception about oneself): "How do you feel about yourself being able to speak two languages?"

Externalized perception (perception about others' beliefs): "How do you think other people who speak only English feel about you being able to speak two languages?"

In previous studies, much effort has been made to understand the attitudes and perceptions of language learners in general (and adult language learners in particular) toward their target language, their target culture, target groups, and language learning in general However, such learners' perceptions must be examined in relation to the targeted group, as Accommodation Theory predicts that such learners' perceptional social distance is important for the learners' language learning (Giles & Byrne, 1982). One can thus hypothesize that learners' perceptions are uniquely related to the way they perceive the target language groups' views toward their own language, culture, and language group, and that such learners' perceptions may also uniquely relate to their language learning.

Secondly, as mentioned previously, we consider that learners' perceptions, or learning climates, are situated in multiple groups' perceptions toward the learners' abilities and behaviors. Such groups include their parents, siblings, teachers, peers, communities, and societies. In this study, we focus on the perceptions of the English learners' peers who belong to the language-majority group in their school contexts. We conducted interviews to understand the perceptions regarding bilingualism and reading among majority-group members (i.e., NE children) as well as minority-group members (ELL children). In a Canadian context, Anisfeld and Lambert (1964) found that 10-year-old bilingual children showed less stereotyped attitudes toward French and English speakers than did monolingual English-speaking children. Similar results were obtained in the case of bilingual Welsh-English speakers and monolingual English speakers in Wales (Bourhis, Giles, & Tajfel, 1973). In our case, we were interested in discovering what perceptions ELLs (the language-minority group) and NE students (the target group) have regarding the issues of bilingualism and reading when both groups existed in the same English-only environment in California. We were also interested in finding out how such perceptions might differ depending on the students' reading performance in English.

Therefore, the research questions of the interview study were as follows:

1. What perceptions do ELL readers and NE readers have toward bilingualism, biliteracy, and language mixing?

2. What are ELL readers' perceptions about NE readers' views toward bilingualism, biliteracy, and language mixing?

3. What are ELL readers' and NE readers' perceptions about reading activities?

4. Is there any difference between strong and struggling ELL readers' perceptions and externalized perceptions?

Method

Participants

The participants in this study were 61 fourth graders who had been in an English-only school district in the San Francisco Bay Area of California since kindergarten. Of the district's English learners, 40% are Spanish speakers and 32% are Vietnamese speakers. ELLs comprise 29% of the district's student body, and students who were formerly in English as a second Language (ESL) programs but who have been redesignated as Fluent English Proficient (FEP) comprise an additional 11%. Another 12% of the district's students have a primary language that is not English but were classified as FEP upon initial district identification. As this is an English-only district, students with limited English proficiency are pulled out from regular classrooms and receive ESL instruction. The district has not offered students any systematic native-language instruction.