This study examined the ways in which Mexican-American students construct meaning when reading school materials. It focused on the strategies they use when reading English and Spanish, the knowledge sources they call upon, and the ways in which these relate to understanding.Twelve fifth-grade students, all who come from bilingual homes, were asked to read both Spanish and English stories and informational pieces. Interspersed questions, post reading probes, and oral and written recalls were designed to tap their text understanding over time, as well as what they recalled after reading each piece. Interviews and school records provided background information about the students’ personal and school histories both in the United States and in Mexico.Transcripts, fieldnotes, and student writing samples were analyzed for patterns in the students’ approaches to the construction of meaning and in their differential uses of language and genre.Findings indicate that: (a) beyond a necessary basic, but limited knowle...

Communicative competence and language proficiency testing

Meaning Construction in School Literacy Tasks: A Study of Bilingual Students

In February 1994, the Coalition of Australian Governments (COAG) endorsed a report it commissioned in December 1992 on a policy prescription for the study of Asian Languages and Cultures in Australian schools. The acceptance of this report, Asian Languages and Australia's Economic Future (1994), referred to as the Rudd Report after the Chair of the Working Group, was significant. It offered a 15-year plan that aimed to produce an Asia-literate generation fluent and familiar with "export" Asian languages and cultures. In particular, students would have the opportunity to commence the study of one of four priority "export" Asian languages, namely, Korean, Japanese, Indonesian, and Chinese, in primary school. However, the Rudd Report’s emphasis on prioritising Asian languages for utilitarian reasons was opposed by those who advocated the study of European languages. This paper examines some of the assumptions about second language acquisition that the Rudd Report made and argues that greater emphasis should have been placed on addressing those theoretical and pedagogical issues significant to LOTE teaching in Australia.

Communicative competence and language proficiency testing

Citations

Meaning Construction in School Literacy Tasks: A Study of Bilingual Students

Pursuing an "export culture" through the teaching of Asian languages in Australian schools : The gap between theory, practice and policy prescription

References

Meaning Construction in School Literacy Tasks: A Study of Bilingual Students

Pursuing an "export culture" through the teaching of Asian languages in Australian schools : The gap between theory, practice and policy prescription

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