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Abstract:
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This dissertation focused on the study of the Spanish academic language proficiency of novice bilingual teachers during the act of teaching mathematics in elementary grades . Four first year teachers in a large urban school district in central Texas participated in the study . At the time of the study two participants were fully certified and had attended four -year teacher preparation programs . The additional participants had completed all certification requirements including content examinations and the Texas Oral Proficiency Test (TOPT ) ; they were completing their certification requirements through alternative certification programs . The study sought to identify the moments in their teaching of mathematics in Spanish when their instruction broke down , i .e . when they appeared unable to communicate ideas to students , and the reasons for these breakdowns . Findings revealed that the teachers in the study demonstrated linguistic and /or pedagogical breakdowns and that certain factors influenced their knowledge and language competencies . Linguistic breakdowns were manifested when teachers switched to English , used repetitive language when teaching , or provided limited academic language . Pedagogical breakdowns were identified as a lack of : student talk or discussion , effective teacher questioning , or diverse presentation of content . Overall , the teachers struggled with limited language in Spanish and limited pedagogical reasoning skills while teaching mathematical concepts to their students . These limitations were exacerbated by the pressures of high stakes testing and countered by the fact that all four teachers shared linguistic and cultural affiliation with their students . This collective case study was conducted from within a constructivist theoretical framework focusing on theories of academic language , communicative competence , and Vygotsky’s sociocultural perspective of learning . Recommendations for future training and practice of bilingual teachers are provided specifically on the importance of Spanish language proficiency of this group of educators . |