Understanding Elementary School Teachers’ Perspectives and Practices for Supporting Students’ Academic Language Development

pi_name

Xizi Zhang

pi_email

xizisuezhang@g.ucla.edu

pi_phone

3106966094

pi_department

Graduate School of Education and Information Studies

pi_title

First-year doctoral student in Human Development and Psychology

ucla_faculty_sponsor

Dr. Alison Bailey

other_key_personnel

222B Course Instructor: Dr. Ananda M. Marin

abstract

Academic language has been widely studied in the field of research; however, it seems that little is known about in-service teachers’ interpretations of academic language. To fill this gap, my project intends to investigate in-service elementary school teachers’ understanding of academic language, their motivation to teach academic language, and their pedagogical practices of academic language across school content areas. Three data collection methods will be used: interview, document collection, and classroom observation.

project_summary

Through qualitative research methods, I intend to learn about in-service elementary school teachers’ understanding of academic language, their motivation to teach academic language, and their pedagogical practices of academic language across school content areas. Teachers' participation will take a total of about two hours of meeting time over two meetings: one interview and one classroom observation. These meetings will occur between January 2023 and March 2023.

goals

This research project intends to investigate:
1. How do in-service elementary school teachers across different grades within the L.A. area understand the term “academic language”?
2. What are these in-service elementary school teachers’ motivations to teach academic language across school content areas?
3. How do these in-service elementary school teachers support students’ academic language development across school content areas?

benefits_of_research

Through this project, I hope to inform researchers and schools what assumptions elementary school teachers might hold about the term “academic language” and what support they need to develop their understanding as well as their pedagogical practice of academic language.

dissemination/publications

This research project is for EDUC 222 Qualitative Research Method class and I'm not planning on publishing anything at the time.

numer_of_subjects

selection_criteria

In-service elementary teachers in LA area
Rich teaching experience
Ideally, teachers in different grade levels

methods

Qualitative research methods.
Each participant will need to participate in a virtual or in-person interview, share a lesson plan, and implement the lesson plan he/she shared during my classroom observation.

instruments

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instruments_other

Collect lesson plans

instrument_explanations

Interview:
The individual interview will last approximately 60 minutes to 75 minutes.
Questions in the interview will be about your practices and perspectives for developing academic language in classrooms.
With participants' permission, the conversation will be videotaped or audiotaped.

Lesson plan collection:
The lesson plan should demonstrate how participants intend to develop their students’ academic language in one subject matter (i.e., literacy, math, science, or social studies).
It can involve various classroom activities (e.g., discussions, modeling, and guided practice) that in total might take at least at least 50 minutes to 60 minutes.

Classroom observation:
The observation will last at least 50 minutes to 60 minutes, and the researcher intends to observe participants' academic language practices.

justification_of_methods

separate_informed_consent

I'll share consent form with my participants and ask them to sign it.

risk_minimization

deception_debriefing

confidentiality_data_storage

Any information that is obtained in connection with this project and that can identify participants will remain confidential. It will be disclosed only with their permission or as required by law. Confidentiality will be maintained by means of saving data collected physically or electronically in deidentified documents, meaning that all data will be saved under pseudonyms. Only the researcher will know who has been given which pseudonym. The researcher and the course instructor will have access to this data. Parts of the data may be shared in class, but participants will not be identified.

other_notes

relationship_prior_contact

I have contacted three demonstration teachers at UCLA Lab School.

teachers_staff_consent

Two teachers are willing to participate in my course research project for EDUC 222.