Language Diversity Journal Article Critique
Cynthia Vander
“Reading dual language books: Improving early literary skills in linguistically diverse classrooms” Journal of Early Childhood Research Feb. 2013 Vol. 11 no. 1 3-15 Rahat Naqvi, Keoma J. Thorne, Christina M. Pfitscher, David W. Nordstokke, Anne McKeough
Summary
As a result of the many nationalities of people that inhabit the continent, North America is highly linguistically diverse. An indicator of this fact is the number of ELL or English language learners, a student who speaks little to no English, in public schools. From 1990 to 2012, the amount of ELLs in the K-12 classroom increased from one in 20 to one in 9.This rapid change has created unique challenges for today's teachers.
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For one, I agree because the article presented a study to accompany the information it provided. Futhermore, this study elaborated on the idea of metalinguistic knowledge. The textbook defines this concept as the ability to consciously reflect on language as an object of thought; paying special attention to specific features of language and its structure. The article stated that research shows that learning two languages help develop metalinguistic awareness. The use of dual language books is both helpful and effective in the classroom because students can use their metalinguistic awareness to compare and contrast two languages in order to discover similarities and differences between them. The article also touched on ELL’s, which is discussed in the textbook. It is important to encourage the use of English as a new language as well as support the language used at home. With the use of dual storybooks, the teacher can do both in one class activity. We know that this technique can be effective because programs like Dora the Explorer have become popular, while teaching an additional language. All in all, the article was a good one because it provided background information as well as new information brought about from the