Papers by Patrick Proctor
The Changing Landscape of Text and Comprehension in the Age of New Literacies
This study examined the relative contribution of reading comprehension strategies and interactive... more This study examined the relative contribution of reading comprehension strategies and interactive vocabulary in Improving Comprehension Online (ICON), a universally designed web-based scaffolded text environment designed to improve fifthgrade monolingual English and bilingual students' reading achievement. Seventy-five monolingual English and 31 bilingual students from six classrooms were assigned to one of three ICON conditions: reading comprehension strategies, vocabulary, or a combined version of comprehension strategies and vocabulary. Students read eight multimedia folktales and informational texts within their respective ICON condition and completed embedded activities, researcher measures of comprehension and vocabulary, and pre-and postintervention standardized reading achievement tests. ANCOVA results indicated that after controlling for initial reading achievement, there was a main effect for condition on the researcher measure of vocabulary, with
TESOL Quarterly, Jan 7, 2021
Translanguaging pedagogy is gaining widespread recognition as an approach that recognizes and bui... more Translanguaging pedagogy is gaining widespread recognition as an approach that recognizes and builds on multilingual students' linguistic resources. Research on translanguaging pedagogy has predominantly focused on classroom language practices, while studies on the design and enactment of translanguaged instruction are limited. This pilot study contributes to the knowledge base on translanguaged instruction through the design, implementation, and examination of students' engagement with the content taught in a set of translanguaged lessons. These lessons were based on a language-based English reading curriculum for Spanish-English bilingual upper elementary students. Our approach to translanguaging pedagogy was characterized by: a) use of bilingual texts; b) flexible language use; and c) bilingual language instruction. This article focuses on the lessons that addressed morphology and syntax instruction. Within an ethnomethodological approach, the discourse and interactions during the morphology and syntax instruction components of the lesson-cycles were examined to understand how students engaged with the language structures taught, and how translanguaging manifested in their talk about language. Our analyses revealed translanguaging as enabling students to perform linguistic analyses in which they: (a) established connections between English and Spanish morphemes; b) compared English and Spanish morphology and syntax; and c) explored alternative syntactic structures. As such, translanguaged instruction supported students' metalinguistic awareness and cognitive engagement, and enabled them to position themselves as expert linguists. This study provides evidence about the affordances of translanguaged literacy instruction, which is needed to continue stimulating the ideological shift from monolingual to multilingual perspectives in the education of bilingual students.
English Teaching: Practice & Critique, 2019
PurposeThis paper aims to report on the decisions two teachers made about how to engage with a fi... more PurposeThis paper aims to report on the decisions two teachers made about how to engage with a five-year school–university collaboration that used professional development (PD) to foster changes in language instruction for teachers of multilingual learners.Design/methodology/approachA longitudinal case study was used to examine the experiences of two teachers to provide insights into classroom-level decisions and changes in instructional practices.FindingsChanges in instructional practices occurred when teachers made active, engaged choices about their own learning and teaching in the classroom. Teacher learning did not follow a consistent trajectory of improvement and contained contradictions, and early decisions about how to engage with PD affected the pace and nature of teacher learning. Through personal decisions about how to engage with PD, teachers adopted new instructional practices to support multilingual learners. Positive changes required extended time for teachers to impl...
TESOL Quarterly, 2016
BRIEF REPORTS AND SUMMARIES TESOL Quarterly invites readers to submit short reports and updates o... more BRIEF REPORTS AND SUMMARIES TESOL Quarterly invites readers to submit short reports and updates on their work. These summaries may address any areas of interest to Quarterly readers.
Fifth-Grade Students’ Digital Retellings and the Common Core
The Elementary School Journal, 2015
ABSTRACT
Research (e.g., case studies, interviews, observations) and scholarship on professional developme... more Research (e.g., case studies, interviews, observations) and scholarship on professional development practices suggest that in some cases, PLCs can foster teacher learning
Topics in Language Disorders, 2006
This article describes a series of studies that examine the development of literacy in elementary... more This article describes a series of studies that examine the development of literacy in elementary school Spanish-speaking second-language learners. Findings from the research that addresses our first question-regarding cross-language relationships-indicate that first-language reading skills are related to second-language reading skills, but that children must have first-language literacy in the skill for this relationship to exist; oral proficiency in the first language is not sufficient. In our studies that address the second research questions-bilinguals' early literacy development in kindergarten and first grade-Spanish-instructed bilinguals were more likely than English-instructed bilinguals or English monolinguals to treat diphthongs as 2 units, reflecting the influence of Spanish language instruction on English phonological analysis. Moreover, both English vocabulary and literacy instruction made unique, positive contributions to English spelling, whereas Spanish literacy instruction played a more important role than Spanish vocabulary in the production of Spanish-influenced spelling in English. Only bilingual students in Spanish literacy instruction exhibited Spanish-influenced spelling, indicating a powerful effect of language of literacy instruction. Our findings related to the third question-the role of home literacy and language environment on bilinguals' English and Spanish vocabulary development-suggest that becoming or staying proficient in English does not require parental use of English in the home. Spanish, not English, is the at-risk language for children of Hispanic heritage living in the United States. Students need early instruction in Spanish and home support in that language to become and remain proficient in Spanish.
Improving comprehension online: effects of deep vocabulary instruction with bilingual and monolingual fifth graders
Reading and Writing, 2009
Native Spanish-Speaking Children Reading in English: Toward a Model of Comprehension
Journal of Educational Psychology, 2005
... Developing phonological awareness: Is there a bilingual advantage? Applied Psycholinguistics,... more ... Developing phonological awareness: Is there a bilingual advantage? Applied Psycholinguistics, 24, 27-44. ... Prediction of first-grade reading in Spanish-speaking English-language learners. ... Depth and breadth of vocabulary in two languages: Which vocabulary skills transfer? ...
Is the Whole Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts? Modeling the Contributions of Language Comprehension Skills to Reading Comprehension in the Upper Elementary Grades
Scientific Studies of Reading, Aug 26, 2016
ABSTRACT Language comprehension is crucial to reading. However, theoretical models and recent res... more ABSTRACT Language comprehension is crucial to reading. However, theoretical models and recent research raise questions about what constitutes this multifaceted domain. We present two related studies examining the dimensionality of language comprehension and relations to reading comprehension in the upper elementary grades. Studies 1 (Grade 6; N = 148) and 2 (Grade 3–5; N = 311) contrasted factor models of language comprehension using item level indicators of morphological awareness and vocabulary (Studies 1 and 2) and syntactic awareness (Study 2). In both studies, a bifactor model—including general language comprehension and specific factors for each language component—best fit the data, and general language comprehension was the strongest predictor of reading comprehension. In Study 2, the morphology-specific factor also uniquely predicted reading comprehension above and beyond general language comprehension. Results suggest the value of modeling the common proficiency underlying performance on tasks designed to tap theoretically distinct language comprehension skills.
Centering Language and Student Voice in Multilingual Literacy Instruction
The Reading Teacher, Aug 12, 2021
The authors describe a 3‐year project to design and test a multilingual literacy curriculum that ... more The authors describe a 3‐year project to design and test a multilingual literacy curriculum that centers language and student voice in the service of literacy development for multilingual learners. In the first 2 years, researchers, teachers, and students worked together to develop the curriculum using design‐based, case study methods. In the third year, teachers participated in a quasi‐experimental implementation of the curriculum that showed positive effects on students’ language, reading, and writing outcomes. This longitudinal work reflects four broad principles for multilingual literacy instruction: (1) focus on language and metalinguistic awareness; (2) enact dialogic approaches to engage students; (3) use multimodal texts and scaffolds to support comprehension and expression; and (4) take a multilingual perspective. The authors provide an overview of the curriculum design process and the quasi‐experimental field trial. Then, each principle is theoretically and empirically unpacked, and instructionally described using qualitative data collected over the full 3 years.
Reading and Writing, Nov 27, 2017
Increasingly, reading research has begun to address how students' linguistic environments may exp... more Increasingly, reading research has begun to address how students' linguistic environments may explain their reading achievement. In this exploratory analysis, we investigated how the rates of specific instructional talk moves predicted student reading comprehension achievement. Transcripts from third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade classrooms (teacher n = 31; student n = 236), were coded for nine talk moves established in the literature as involved in literacy and learning outcomes. Two-level hierarchical linear modeling was used to identify sources of linguistic comprehension, a necessary component of student reading comprehension. Controlling for students' decoding and fluency, semantic-syntactic knowledge, and initial reading comprehension, we found two talk moves significantly predicted reading comprehension. Teacher explanations [c 07 (20.89); p B 0.05] and simple follow-up moves [c 06 (10.44); p B 0.05] provided students with explicit instruction and exposure to academic language and the positive reinforcement to encourage student attention to the learning tasks and thus potentially more language exposure. In this sample, these moves provide further support for the simple view of reading
New Technologies and Universal Design for Learning in the Foreign Language Classroom
Yale University Press eBooks, Jan 28, 2008
CHAPTER 9. New Technologies and Universal Design for Learning in the Foreign Language Classroom
Worlds Apart?, 2017
Comprehension and Vocabulary Instruction in Linguistically Diverse Grade 3-5 Classrooms
31. Development of vocabulary knowledge and its relationship with reading comprehension among emergent bilingual children: An overview
Handbook of Communication Disorders, 2018
The Effect of a Language and Literacy Intervention on Upper Elementary Bilingual Students’ Argument Writing
The Elementary School Journal, 2021
Writing is a critical dimension of literacy that is grounded in language and intimately connected... more Writing is a critical dimension of literacy that is grounded in language and intimately connected to reading. However, instruction to support writing remains understudied, particularly among bilingual students. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the CLAVES intervention specifically on argument writing. The CLAVES intervention is a multicomponent, small-group intervention focused on language and literacy that was designed with bilingual learners in mind. CLAVES is an acronym for comprehension, linguistic awareness, and vocabulary in English and Spanish and means keys or clues in Spanish. It includes text-based discussions, explicit language instruction, and support for argument writing. The study was conducted with 239 Spanish-English or Portuguese-English students in grades 4 and 5. There were 120 students in the intervention and 119 students in the business as usual control group. Findings showed positive effects of the intervention on two identified aspects of argument writing: argument and counterargument.
Shared Knowledge between Reading and Writing among Middle School Adolescent Readers
The Elementary School Journal, 2020
Orthographic and linguistic knowledge are known predictors of reading and writing, yet little res... more Orthographic and linguistic knowledge are known predictors of reading and writing, yet little research with adolescent readers explores how such knowledge predicts reading and writing in a single model. We worked with 583 adolescent readers in remedial reading classes in grades 6–8 to collect indicators of orthographic and linguistic knowledge as well as reading comprehension and written expression. Using structural equation modeling, we examined how orthography and language predicted reading and writing and whether reading predicted writing and vice versa. We found that morphology, syntax, and orthography all independently predicted reading and writing, but linguistic knowledge was more strongly associated with reading than writing. Writing and reading did not differ in their effects on one another. Results extend theory on the relationship between language, reading, and writing and add to the research base on adolescent readers with implications for curriculum and instruction.
International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 2018
This two-year longitudinal study examined the role of linguistic interdependence between Spanish ... more This two-year longitudinal study examined the role of linguistic interdependence between Spanish and English among a group of first, second, and third generation immigrant Spanish-English bilingual children. Starting from a theoretical perspective on linguistic interdependence that takes into account linguistic constructs and their measurement, the study reports on the English developmental trajectories of 112 Latinx bilinguals in second, third, and fourth grade. Multilevel growth modeling was used to develop trajectories for English vocabulary, morphology, syntax, and semantics and assess the degree to which they were predicted by initial levels of Spanish vocabulary and Spanish syntax. Findings showed that Spanish syntax was a significant predictor for English intercepts for both syntax and morphology. These cross-linguistic effects were moderated by generation status such that the effect of Spanish syntax on English morphology and syntax was, in fact, negative for first-generation students, while positive for second and third generation students. The finding that more metalinguistically focused constructs (syntax and morphology) are robust to crosslinguistic association is consistent with current theories on linguistic interdependence. Because the groups were comparable on Spanish syntax performance, the effect of generation status has some implications for levels of English proficiency necessary in order for linguistic interdependence to manifest.
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Papers by Patrick Proctor