Instructional Models for the Acquisition of English as Bridges Into School Science: Effects on the Science Achievement of U.S. Hispanic English Language Learners

Authors

Elizabeth McEneaney, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Francesca López, University of Arizona
Martina Nieswandt, Chapman UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-3-2014

Abstract

Science educators have suggested that, for minority and low-income students, gaps between home and school science cultures necessitate ‘border crossing’ for successful learning in science. Our analysis used National Assessment of Educational Progress 2000 and 2005 data to assess the impact of U.S. state-level policy regarding instructional models for language acquisition for the learning of science. Specifically, we assessed whether policy favouring structured English immersion led to better student outcomes than bilingual education among Hispanic English language learners in 4th and 8th grades in the U.S. We found significantly higher science achievement among 4th grade Hispanic ELLs in states with stronger bilingual emphasis in their policy, suggesting that policy support for bilingual education could provide a better bridge to span the cultural gap between home and school science, at least for younger students.

Comments

This article was originally published in Learning Environments Research , volume 17, issue 3, in 2014. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984-014-9160-3

The Link to Full Text button above directs users to a free read-only version of the article.

Recommended Citation

McEneaney, E.H., López, F. & Nieswandt, M. Instructional models for the acquisition of English as bridges into school science: effects on the science achievement of U.S. Hispanic English language learners. Learning Environ Res 17, 305–318 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984-014-9160-3

Peer Reviewed

1

Copyright

Springer