ERIC Number: EJ761639
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006-Aug
Pages: 6
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0034-527X
EISSN: N/A
What's the Problem? Constructing "Different" Genres for the Study of English Learners
Orellana, Marjorie Faulstich; Gutierrez, Kris D.
Research in the Teaching of English, v41 n1 p118-123 Aug 2006
In our previous "At Last" essay, "The "Problem" of English Learners: Constructing Genres of Difference" (Gutierrez & Orellana, 2006), we identified a predictable genre that characterizes much research on English Learners. We noted how the genre may unwittingly perpetuate deficit constructions and keep us from identifying other issues for redress--such as structural and institutional inequalities that create the vulnerability of non-dominant students in schools and society. This may aggravate the disenfranchisement that these groups already experience. But we recognize that it is easier to deconstruct genres than to construct new ones, and to name problems than to propose solutions. We also recognize that resisting dominant frameworks requires concerted and deliberate efforts, as well as models for how to do so. The more difficult task is to revise and even replace our own historically enduring ways of conceptualizing and doing work in cultural communities. And so, in this essay, we pose alternative ways of conceptualizing, examining, and reporting our work with English Learners and members of other non-dominant groups. We hope our suggestions will facilitate efforts to research, write, and think against the grain. (Contains 1 note.)
Descriptors: Second Language Learning, Limited English Speaking, Literacy, Student Surveys, Grade 5, Grade 6
National Council of Teachers of English. 1111 West Kenyon Road, Urbana, IL 61801-1096. Tel: 877-369-6283; Tel: 217-328-3870; Web site: http://www.ncte.org/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Opinion Papers
Education Level: Grade 5; Grade 6
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A