Read more
List of contents
Introduction
Chapter I: Linguistic Diversity and the Achievement Gap in the U.S.
Chapter II: Language Inequality. Theoretical Perspectives and Implications for Academic Literacy
Chapter III: Using Spanish as a Resource at Bronx Community College
Chapter IV: Impact on Learning Outcomes
Chapter V: Conclusion
About the author
Andrea Parmegiani is a Distinguished Fellow at the CUNY Advanced Research Collaborative and Associate Professor of English at Bronx Community College (CUNY).
Summary
Emerging from a critical analysis of the glocal power of English and how it relates to academic literacy and culturally responsive pedagogy, this book presents strategies for using ESL students' mother tongue as a resource for academic literacy acquisition and college success.
Additional text
"Andrea Parmegiani describes a new and intriguing approach to developing academic literacy in multilingual students. In this innovative model, the students’ mother tongue is employed as a resource rather than being regarded as an impediment to learning. Drawing on his own multilingualism and supported by a thorough theoretical rationale, Parmegiani has developed a program suitable for adoption in many different contexts. Through a series of case studies, readers see how students gain confidence in themselves as college students when their teacher becomes a language learner alongside them. This book suggests a powerful approach for helping language minority students succeed in the academy."
-- Rebecca Mlynarczyk, Professor Emerita of English, Composition & Rhetoric, The Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY)
"I learned so much by reading this book. The carefulness with which it establishes the background and contexts for the learning community, the way in which it situates the specificity of the population, yet fanned back out again to encompass many possible teaching scenarios and contexts--are all remarkable. I feel I learned so much about my field as well as about the author, his experience, and his students. This is a book!
This book greatly impresses me, no less, for how it blends genres practically seamlessly. I believe the skilled use of personal voice and narrative make that blending work. Parmegiani’s explanation of how he culled from the data of student input in light of coding theory, including limits and cautions, is truly a model for others in composition-rhetoric looking to do the same.
I loved how this book tells the story getting the Spanish-English learning community program together. Sharing the first steps of a new or intricate process is crucial for establishing credibility and trust--while also adding great narrative interest."
--
"Though the social justice–oriented academic in me might favor a stronger explicit embracing of bilingual education and its values, the classroom teacher in me is much more practical and oriented toward being effective in supporting students and their goals of acquiring dominant linguistic codes. Thus, framing students’ Discourses as a resource that can be surreptitiously marshalled to support their acquisition of dominant Discourses feels ultimately like an approach grounded in the day-to-day experiences of students and teachers."-- Ignacio L. Montoya, Latino Studies Journal
