This case study of new English-language learners in an urban elementary U.S. classroom addresses the synergy between disciplinary language and science, technology, engineering, math (STEM) learning. Social semiotic theory frames the discourse demands related to engineering design and the active use of discursive resources in students’ responses to these demands. Discourse analysis of students’ interactions and writing provides a fine-grained view of “language in use” within an engineering design space where students demonstrated linguistic agency and productive engineering accomplishments. The case provides insights for educators who seek to optimize the integration of the language of STEM with culturally and linguistically responsive engineering education.
BlairA. (2016). Academic uses of language (re)defined: A case of emergent bilinguals engaging in languages and literacies outside of school. Linguistics and Education, 35, 109–119.
2.
BloomeD.CarterS.ChristianB.OttoS.Shuart-FarisN. (2005). Discourse analysis and the study of classroom language and literacy events: A microethnographic perspective. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
3.
BriskM. E. (2015). Engaging students in academic literacies: Genre-based pedagogy for K-5 classrooms. New York, NY: Routledge.
FangZ. (2012). Language correlates of disciplinary literacy. Topics in Language Disorders, 32, 19–34.
6.
GeeJ. (1990). Social linguistics and literacies: Ideology in discourses. Critical perspectives on literacy and education. London, England: Falmer Press.
7.
GeeJ. (1999). An introduction to discourse analysis. New York, NY: Routledge.
8.
HallidayM. A. K.MatthiessenC. (2004). An introduction to functional grammar (3rd ed.). London, England: Hodder Arnold.
9.
HanedaM. (2014). From academic language to academic communication: Building on English learners’ resources. Linguistics and Education, 26, 126–135.
10.
KittlesonJ. M.WilsonR. E. (2014). Perspectives on positioning, interaction, and learning in small-group discussion: Possibilities for extending the analytic lens. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 9, 469–475.
LeeO. (2017). Common core state standards for ELA/literacy and next generation science standards: Convergences and discrepancies using argument as an example. Educational Researcher, 46, 90–102.
13.
LeeO.QuinnH.ValdesG. (2013). Science and language for English language learners in relation to next generation science standards and with implications for common core state standards for English language arts and mathematics. Educational Researcher, 42, 223–233.
14.
MalsburyC. B.EspinozaS.BalesL. (2016). Liana’s learning in a democratized classroom. Pedagogies: An International Journal, 11, 249–269. doi:10.1080/1554480X.2016.1182435
15.
MerriamS. B. (1998). Qualitative research and case study applications in education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
16.
MojeE. B.CollazoT.CarrilloR.MarxR. W. (2001). “Maestro, what is quality?”: Language, literacy, and discourse in project-based science. Journal of Research in Science Education, 38, 469–498.
17.
Museum of Science Boston. (2015). Engineering is elementary curriculum units. http://www.eie.org.
18.
National Research Council. (2012). A framework for K-12 science education: Practices, crosscutting concepts, and core ideas. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
19.
NGSS Lead States. (2013). Next generation science standards. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
20.
RoseberyA. S.OgnowskiM.DiSchinoM.WarrenB. (2010). “The coat traps all your body heat”: Heterogeneity as fundamental to learning. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 19, 322–357.
21.
RoseberyA. S.WarrenB.Tucker-RaymondE. (2016). Developing interpretive power in science teaching. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 53, 1571–1600.
22.
ShanahanL.McVeeM.SlivestriK.HaqK. (2016). Disciplinary literacies in an engineering club: Exploring productive communication and the engineering design process. Literacy, Research: Theory, Method, and Practice, 65, 404–420.
23.
WendellK.WrightC.PaughP. (2017). Reflective decision-making in elementary students’ engineering design. Journal of Engineering Education, 106, 356–397.
24.
WIDA Consortium. (2012). The WIDA English Language Learner can do booklet, grades 3-5. Board of Regents of University of Wisconsin System. https://www.wida.us/standards/CAN_DOs/#eld
