The Enactment of Literacy Learning Practices: A Close Reading of Julius Caesar by High School English Language Learners

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative case study is to describe how students' talk unfolded during literacy learning experiences in an English Language Development (ELD) classroom of students in grades 9-12. NAEP data indicates that "less than 10 percent of 17 year olds, regardless of race/ethnicity or SES, are able to comprehend complex texts" (Lee & Spratley, 2010, p. 2 ). And if we look at the literacy practices of secondary school students in general, despite increasing attention on adolescents' literacy practices, there continues to be compelling evidence that there is little to no growth in literacy proficiencies in high school (Lee, 1995).This ten-week study was conducted using ethnographic methods of data collection to develop deeper understandings of students' literacy practices and participation as students of literature. Data for this study included classroom observations, which were analyzed using constant comparative analysis (Strauss & Corbin, 1990) and discourse analysis (Gee, 2005). The students in this study were all students for whom English was an additional language and who attended high school in a mid-size urban high school in the southwest. Data included 20 class periods of video clips. Findings indicated that students engaged in specific literacy practices during these small group interactions. Students' talk indicated that their practices included: metacognitive awareness and conversation, cognitive strategy use, and persistence with difficult text. This study extends the research by providing an illustration of what students do when they are offered the opportunity to make meaning of challenging text.