Predictive Accuracy of Nonsense Word Fluency for English Language Learners. School Psychology Review

Is the English phonics assessment for nonsense word fl uency NWF a predictive measure of later reading success of English language learners ELLs?. MEGAN GERKE New York University Who

RESEARCH DIGEST: TESOL TOPICS

IN OTHER JOURNALS

This section presents brief synopses of empirical research and theoretical discussions

in peer-reviewed journals The aim is to disseminate findings and perspectives in fields related to TESOL and to provide access to the diverse conversations among scholars in the field.

Edited by SARA MICHAEL-LUNA

New York University

Predictive Accuracy of Nonsense Word Fluency for

English Language Learners School Psychology Review,

37, 5–17 Mike L Vanderwood, Danielle Linklater,

and Krista Healy, 2008

Is the English phonics assessment for nonsense word fl uency (NWF) a predictive measure of later reading success of English language learners (ELLs)? The researchers examine the ability of NWF to identify ELLs who need literacy support They measured the literacy achievement of

134 ELLs in an urban California school district Of these students, 90% were Spanish-speaking and nearly 80% were at beginning or early inter-mediate ELL levels The instruction received by these students was English only Results of the NWF and the state-mandated standardized test given in Grade 1 were compared with three Grade 3 literacy mea-sures: oral reading fl uency, reading comprehension, and state-mandated reading tests Overall, the results indicate a clear correlation between NWF scores and Grade 3 literacy outcomes

Further analysis was conducted to assess the capability of NWF to pro-vide early identifi cation of students at risk as poor readers However, because of a high number of false negatives, the NWF was better able

to predict students who were not at risk for later diffi culties than stu-dents at risk Limitations of this study include the narrow population of ELLs and the representation of only one type of ELL literacy instruction The authors note that languages less similar to English and different ELL instruction might provide different results Future research might include the addition of a phonological awareness measure to improve the ability to predict future performance and inclusion of ELLs who speak languages other than Spanish This article is helpful for K–5 ESOL teach-ers, literacy specialists, and researchers interested in the effectiveness

374 TESOL QUARTERLY

of current monolingual-normed literacy assessment measures and their

application to ELL populations

MEGAN GERKE

New York University

Who Mentors Hispanic English Language Learners? Journal of

Hispanic Higher Education, 7, 31–42 Yolanda De La Cruz, 2008

What role does mentoring play in supporting successful Hispanic

English language learners? The author studies 10 academically successful

Latino undergraduate English language learners (ELLs) who received

multiple types of mentoring De La Cruz used questionnaires and personal

interviews to identify the types of mentoring each of the fi rst generation

Latino undergraduates received All of the participants learned English as

a second language and most attended Latino majority, English-only K–12

programs The interviews highlight four mentoring roles that contributed

to the students’ success: family mentor, advisor mentor, self-mentor, and

peer mentor The family mentors contributed the students’ ability to “cope

with their daily realities” (p 40), which often included harsh economic

limitations and personal sacrifi ce made by parents Additionally, all the

participants described a mentor who could assist with navigating the

uni-versity policies, paperwork and programs These advisor mentors, who often

shared a cultural background with the student, included teachers,

coun-selors, and family members who had some university experience All the

undergraduates interviewed described self-governed strategies to help

them stay “on track” (p 38) The participants also relied on peer mentors

who offered advice or ways to circumvent obstacles De La Cruz’s study

highlights strategies and social networks that assisted academically

success-ful ELLs in navigating the often daunting higher education system This

article would be useful to those working in higher education who are

inter-ested in fi nding ways to support enrolled ELLs The information provided

by De La Cruz would also serve secondary teachers and councilors in

help-ing ELLs interested in undertakhelp-ing an undergraduate education

The Development of ESL Provision in Australia, Canada, the

USA and England, With Conclusions for Second Language

Models in International Schools Journal of Research in

International Education , 7, 2, 205–231 Maurice Carder, 2008

What are the best education models for international schools? Maurice

Carder thoroughly reviews the educational initiatives and programs in

RESEARCH DIGEST 375

Australia, Canada, the United States, and England in order to draw out lessons for international schools and their role in creating English language and literacy development in increasingly nonnative-English-speaking populations Carder highlights a “three-programme model” (p 223), which comprises (a) an ESL program, (b) mainstream teacher education that emphasizes multilingual language and literacy development, and (c) a mother-tongue program Carder’s brief, but clear, argument for teacher education around multilingual language development, multicul-tural awareness, academic language in both English and the mother tongue, and close cooperation between ESL faculty and mainstream teachers is a lesson that can be taken for international schools, but also for national schools systems Carder reports that teacher quality in inter-national schools, specifi cally ESL teacher quality, has been recently taken

up by the International Baccalaureate programs Carder also describes how the Council of International Schools (CIS) has a disconcertingly confl ated ESL with special education needs in their recent edition of

their Guide to Accreditation (p 225) Carder’s article addresses an

interest-ing gap between international schools’ teacher knowledge, curriculum, and pedagogy, and second language learners needs As we prepare English language teachers to work in educational settings outside of English dominant contexts, Carder’s overview and application of national school systems knowledge provides an informative window into the world

of the International Baccalaureate Additionally, those researchers and educators interested in comparative education and second language learning would garner interesting insights from Carder’s review and application

Uninvited Guests: The Infl uence of Teachers’ Roles and

Pedagogies on the Positioning of English Language Learners

in the Regular Classroom American Educational Research

Journal, 45, 2, 495–522 Bogum Yoon, 2008

How are teachers’ pedagogical approaches and interactions with ELLs infl uenced by their understanding of their teacher identity? Yoon unpacks complex classroom dynamics to illustrate how content-area teachers in mainstream classrooms interact with ELLs in ways that construct them as powerful or powerless Yoon uses a “collective case study (Stake, 1995) which examines three language arts teachers in a suburban primarily white middle school in the Northeast to uncover (a) the teacher’s stated beliefs, (b) observed teaching practices and (c) the “ELLs’ participatory behaviors” (p 505) Each case study suggests the synergy of each teacher’s perceptions and actions with the ELLs’ interactions in the classroom resulted in very different outcomes for the students Yoon suggests that

376 TESOL QUARTERLY

English profi ciency alone does not determine a student’s participation

levels in the classroom; rather, the teacher’s use of culturally relevant

teaching also works to promote the ELLs’ as “complex, cultural, social

beings” (p 516) Additionally, Yoon advocates a view that content

teach-ers should be “teachteach-ers for all children” (p 516) and should work to

make all students “feel at home” (p 517) Finally, Yoon’s study uncovered

that mainstream students tended to follow their teacher’s active or

pas-sive involvement with ELLs Yoon’s article would make an excellent

addi-tion to any mainstream or ESL teacher educaaddi-tion course It might also

serve as an interesting tool for in-service K–12 professional development

and could serve to open up discussions around teacher knowledge and

classroom interactions of ELLs in content areas