Scaffolding Through Questions in Upper Elementary ELL Learning.pdf

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1、ScaffoldingThroughQuestionsinUpperElementaryELLLearningYoubKimThePennsylvaniaStateUniversityAmongteachers’variousclassroomdiscoursestrategies,teacherquestionsareapowerfultoolforguidingthelinguisticandcognitivedevelopmentofEnglishasasecondlanguage(ESL)students(Gerstein,1996;Gibbons,20

2、03).BecausewedonotknowmuchabouteffectivequestioningstrategiesthatsupportthegrowthofESLstudents’thinkingandlanguageskills,thepurposeofthisarticleistoexplaintwosuccessfulESLteachers’instructionalpractice,withafocusontheirquestions,specifically(a)thetypesofquestionsteachersaskedandtheir

3、functions,and(b)changesinstudents’participationanduseofEnglishorallanguageinclassroomactivities.Resultsshowthatthetwoteachersuseddiffer-enttypesofquestionstoscaffoldtheirstudents’learningacrossaschoolyear,andteacherquestionspositivelyaffectedstudentparticipationinclassroomactivitiesa

4、ndlanguagelearning.Note:Allnamesarepseudonyms.LiteracyTeachingandLearningVolume15,Numbers1&2pages109–137LiteracyTeachingandLearningVolume15,Numbers1&2•2010INTRODUCTIONChangingstudentdemographicsintheU.S.underscoretheimportanceofpro-vidinginstructionalsupportforteachersofEnglishlangua

5、gelearners(ELLs).WhilethegrowthrateofELLpopulationinU.S.schoolsseemshigh,thenum-beroftrainedteachersinELLinstructionseemsrelativelysmall.TheNationalCenterforEducationStatistics(2002)reportedthatwhile42%ofteacherstaughtELL,lessthan13%ofteachersreceivedanytraininginELLinstruc-tion.Theg

6、rowthofELLpopulationcontinuesinU.S.schools.In2009,67%ofU.S.publicschoolsarereportedtohaveatleastoneELL(Keigher,2009).ThissuggeststhatmanyteacherswillfindthemselvesteachingELLswithoutadequatetraininginELLinstruction.Tocopewiththisimportanteducationalissue,teachereducatorsneedtofindway

7、stohelpteachersbuildontheirexist-ingknowledgeabouteffectiveinstructionapplicabletoteachingELLs.Amongvariousaspectsofeffectiveinstruction,scaffoldingisanimportantconceptthathelpsusconsiderthecontextoflanguagelearning.Manyscholarswithinthesocioculturaltraditionhaveshownthatlanguagelear

8、ningisnotani