Critical awareness toward Content-Language Integrated Education for Multilingual Learners (CA-CIEML): a survey study about teachers’ ideological beliefs and attitudes

ABSTRACT (In English)

Framed by the concept of critical language awareness, this study validated a survey to assess teachers’ ideological beliefs and attitudes toward English learners (ELs)/multilingual learners (MLs) in content classrooms. Employing exploratory factor analysis (EFA), the study identified three major constructs of teachers’ beliefs and attitudes from a relatively large sample across the U.S. (N = 307). The study further examined whether differences in the constructs can be explained by the teacher’s primary role (ESOL vs Content), teaching grade (elementary vs secondary), and subject of teaching (STEM, non-STEM, or both), while controlling for years of teaching as a covariate. Results suggested that ESOL teachers were more inclined toward language-integrated content teaching with a greater level of sensitivity to ELs/MLs than content teachers. For elementary education, content teachers were more inclined toward English-only monolingual pedagogy than ESOL teachers. Teachers of STEM subjects were less inclined toward language-­integrated pedagogy than other teachers. Given the critical role of underlying ideologies in teachers’ practices, we argue that a more in-depth self-examination is necessary for teachers to obtain critical awareness of their pedagogical practice. This study adds new insights to the research on critical language awareness by addressing the needs of ELs/MLs in content classrooms.

ABSTRACT (In Korean)

이 연구는 비판적 언어의식 이론을 기반으로 하여 영어 학습자 혹은 다중 언어를 사용하는 학생들에 대한 교사들의 이념적 신념과 태도를 평가하기 위해 고안된 설문을 분석했습니다. 탐구적 요인 분석법을 사용하여 미국 전역에서 307명의 교사들의 표본을 모집하여 분석한 결과 교사들의 신념과 태도의 세 가지 주요 구성요소를 도출했습니다. 또한 교사의 신념 및 태도의 구성요소의 차이가 (교사의 교육 경력을 통제했을 때) 교사의 전담 역할 (영어전담 ESOL 교사 대비 교과 교육 교사), 담당 학년 (초등 대비 중고등), 그리고 담당 교과과목 (STEM, 비-STEM, 또는 둘다)의 차이에 따라 설명될 수 있는지를 연구했습니다. 분석에 따르면 영어전담 ESOL 교사들이 교과교육 교사들에 비하여 (다)언어교육과 교과 내용교육을 통합하는 방식에 더 호의적인 경향이 있었으며, 다언어를 사용하는 학생들에 대한 민감도도 교과 교육 교사들보다 더 높았습니다. 담당 학년에 관해서는 초등학교 교과교육 교사들이 영어전담 ESOL 교사들에 비하여 영어만 사용해서 교육해야 한다는 단일언어 중심의 이념적 신념에 있어서 더 강한 경향을 보였습니다. 또한 전담 교과과목에 있어서는 STEM 과목 교사들이 다른 과목 교사들에 비하여 (다)언어와 교과 내용을 통합하여 가르치는 방식을 덜 선호하는 경향이 있었습니다. 교사의 이념이 교수법에 미치는 영향이 크다는 점을 감안할 때 교사들이 자신의 교수법에 대해 좀더 비판적인 인식을 견지할 수 있도록 교사의 심층적 자기성찰이 필요합니다. 이 연구는 교과 교육 중심 교실에서 영어학습자/다중 언어학습자의 요구를 잘 충족시킬 수 있도록 교사의 비판적 언어의식에 대한 연구에 기여합니다.

PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY

In this study, we explored teachers’ beliefs and attitudes towards English learners (ELs)/multilingual learners (MLs) in content classrooms, using a survey grounded in the concept of critical language awareness. By analyzing responses from a diverse group of 307 teachers across the U.S., we identified three major themes in teachers’ beliefs and attitudes when working with ELs/MLs. We also examined differences among teachers with different roles (ESOL vs Content), grade levels of teaching (elementary vs secondary), and subjects taught (STEM, non-STEM, or both) in relation to these themes. The findings showed that ESOL teachers preferred teaching content by integrating language and were more aware of the needs of ELs/MLs compared to content teachers. In elementary education, content teachers tended to favor teaching in English only more than ESOL teachers. Additionally, teachers in STEM subjects were less likely to integrate students’ first language into their teaching compared to teachers in other subjects. This study emphasizes the importance of teachers gaining a deeper understanding of their practices. It adds new insights to research on critical language ­awareness, focusing on addressing the needs of ELs/MLs in content classrooms.

Keywords:

• Critical language awareness
• teacher ideologies
• content classrooms
• validation
• exploratory factor analysis
• ANCOVA

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

Research reported in this manuscript was supported by the Office of English Language Acquisition of the U.S. Department of Education under award number T365Z210097.

Notes on contributors

Sujin Kim

Sujin Kim is an Assistant Professor in the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse and Exceptional Learners program at George Mason University. Her research and teaching areas include culturally and linguistically diverse students’ academic achievement, translanguaging and transmodalising pedagogy, content and lan­guage integrated instruction, and critical discourse analysis.

Jung Yeon Park

Jung Yeon Park is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Educational Psychology and Research Methods at George Mason University. Her research interests include psychometric modeling, survey development, Bayesian analysis, and learning analytics.