Abstract Summary
This study examines the affordances and limitations of the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) and systemic functional linguistics (SFL) in developing preservice teachers’ instructional competency to scaffold language demands. It compares 100 curricular adaption assignments in two English for Speakers for Other Languages courses, one implementing SIOP, the other SFL.
Abstract :
Since Pettit (2002) claimed there is a “poverty of language learning” in pre-service teacher education, there have been ongoing efforts to address this issue (e.g., Gebhard, 2019; Lucas, 2011). Nevertheless, many educators still face instructional challenges when it comes to supporting English learners (ELs). Other than the obvious lack of attention given to linguistics in pre-service teacher education, one potential reason for this obstacle is that little is known about how pre-service teachers (PSTs) understand the language demands of schooling and use that knowledge to teach content. This study addresses this gap by analyzing 100 curricular adaptation assignments designed by PSTs in introductory ESOL courses where the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) and systemic functional linguistics (SFL) were taught.
Data from two universities in the southern U.S. were compared; one implemented SIOP and the other implemented SFL. Qualitative content analysis (Krippendorff, 2004) yielded two major findings. For one, PSTs at both universities were able to set up language objectives according to English language development standards and the basic language demands of content learning; however, they did not reach designing concrete tasks to meet these objectives and scaffold ELs’ language development throughout the lesson. Instead, they resorted to quick fixes such as use of native language or visuals. For the other, PSTs being taught SFL were more likely to implement writing tasks to focus on and scaffold target language demands despite the difficulty learning SFL’s intricate metalanguage. Likewise, those being taught SIOP were not able to provide an in-depth focus on language, but due to its practicality and accessibility, they easily incorporated key SIOP strategies such as straightforward sequencing of the lesson and pre-teaching academic vocabulary. This study suggests future research on a unified approach to orient PSTs to a deeper understanding of language in general and the disciplines in particular.
