ERIC Number: EJ1241518
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0040-5841
EISSN: N/A
Looking Closely and Listening Carefully: A Sociocultural Approach to Understanding the Complexity of Latina/o/x Students' Everyday Language
Martínez, Ramón Antonio; Mejía, Alexander Feliciano
Theory Into Practice, v59 n1 p53-63 2020
The definitions of "academic language" available to teachers and teacher educators often invoke generalized assumptions about the supposed gap between complex, discipline-specific forms of language and the everyday language of Latina/o/x students. In this article, we advance an alternative hypothesis -- that Latina/o/x students boast expansive linguistic repertoires and engage in complex and sophisticated forms of everyday language, including some that overlap directly with the forms of language and literacy explicitly outlined in official English language arts standards, including the Common Core State Standards. With this as our premise, we draw on a robust theoretical tradition of sociocultural scholarship on language and literacy, as well as on our own ethnographic data, to highlight the complexity of Latina/o/x students' everyday language practices, and to showcase how these complex language practices overlap with those typically framed as academic. We conclude with practical suggestions for beginning to explore Latina/o/x students' everyday linguistic complexity.
Descriptors: Sociocultural Patterns, Hispanic American Students, Academic Language, Linguistic Theory, English (Second Language), Second Language Learning, Language Usage, Literacy, Ethnography, Spanish, Native Language, Code Switching (Language), Teacher Student Relationship, Peer Relationship, Elementary School Students
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A