The Fourth Estate: Summer 2016, Volume 32, Issue 2

By Alex Monceaux, Cameron Allen, James Whiting and 3 more

The Fourth Estate supports TexTESOL IV mission by promote scholarship; sharing information through publication and research, and promote high standards in the field of English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). VISION: The Fourth Estate seeks to facilitate this purpose in each publication by providing timely and relevant articles, information, and communication for each of following Interest Areas. These contributions serve as a means of communication between leaders and members, provide a forum for the exchange of ideas, experiences, questions, and insights, feature dialogue around issues of importance to the specific interest area, and nurture the professional growth of those working within those interest areas.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Alex Monceaux
• Release date: Jul 15, 2016
• ISBN: 9781536531817

Alex Monceaux

TexTESOL IV, one of five Texas TESOL International Association affiliates promotes scholarship the sharing of information and research through discussion and publication to promote high standards in the field of English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). TexTESOL IV Newsletter Editor, Alex Monceaux, is completing doctoral work in Global Educational Leadership at Lamar University. He relies heavily on the TexTESOL IV editorial staff – Rita McClelland, Assistant Editor - Website Publications, Carol Williams, Assistant Editor – Epublications, and Lindsey Pollock – Assistant Editor Marketing. In additionally, the work of the TexTESOL IV Editorial Review Board members Alan Larson, Baburhan Uzum, Jahnette Wilson, Jennifer Guertin, Miriam King, Rachel Kraut, Yuliya Summers, is paramount  to this effort in publishing quality materials from global ESOL scholars.

Book preview

Advocating for English Language Learners

TexTESOL IV

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Editor: Alex Monceaux

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Assistant Editor,  E-Publications – Dustin Baltis

Assistant Editor, Website Publications – Rita McClelland

Assistant Editor, Marketing – Stacia Kingsbury

Assistant to the Editor - Trudy Freer

Copyright © 2016 TexTESOL IV

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 2379-5379

ISBN-13: 978-1534754171

DEDICATION

This issue of the Fourth Estate is dedicated to the leaders of the Texas TESOL IV affiliate and the local communities who have persevered in connecting to, speaking out for, and serving the English Language Learning community.

Thank you for your time, energy, and commitment to a people who struggle to speak for themselves, labor to build a home in a new world, and ultimately are empowered to succeed through your daily giving.

Thank you TEAM TexTESOL for your work and commitment to Advocacy at the TESOL Advocacy Summit, 2016:

Advocacy NOW!

In the future

when it’s fashionable to listen

Everyone will have a voice –

the disadvantaged, disillusioned

All will have a voice

Not just to say what’s wrong

or could be better,

but to celebrate what’s good right now

In the future

people won’t be threatened by dissent.

We’ll welcome opposition to the status quo

In the future

when all voices speak as one,

we’ll challenge the hegemony.

We’ll seek the truth that speaks its name

regardless of authority or strength in numbers

In the future

we’ll drown out the volume,

separate the essence from the noise

In the present

we’ll keep fighting for a future

in which ALL shall have a voice

by  Jo McFarlane , Absent  Without Leave, Invisible When Here

FORWARD

Sedef Smith, Ph. D., TexTESOL IV Advocacy Representative

English As A Second Language Students In Higher Education

According to the Open Doors report produced by the Institute of International Education (IIE), the number of non-immigrant, international students attending U.S. postsecondary institutions was 974,926 in 2014-2015 academic year. In addition to international students, resident minority/immigrant students, who grow up in homes where languages other than English are spoken, constitute a large portion of the undergraduate population in the U.S. (U.S. Department of Education, 2012). What these two groups of students share is that English is not their first language.

The state of Texas currently ranks number three in the nation in terms of the number of international students (N=75,588) attending Texas-based higher education institutions (Open Doors Fact Sheet: Texas, 2015). Additionally, U.S. Department of Education statistics revealed that in 2007-2008 academic year, foreign-born immigrant students constituted more than 10% of the undergraduate population in Texas, third highest in the country. With current demographic changes, these numbers are very likely to increase at a fast rate. We are, therefore, facing a growing diversity of students from both populations, international and resident ESL students in higher education institutions in Texas and across the country. What this means is that as university faculty we need to change our paradigms about who our students are and how we teach them (Roberge, 2009, p. 8). However, as I listen to faculty across different fields in my campus, I worry that many have made the choice of treating these students identically with their English-speaking peers, rather than making pedagogical reforms that will engage these students deeply in their studies and promote their retention and success. 

Most faculty agree that all students are equal and therefore they should be treated identically in the classroom. I, on the other hand, believe in Williams’ (2005) conception of equality, which is that all people are moral equals but that differential treatment is what equality demands (Thompson, 2013, p. 1251). When this concept is applied to teaching and learning in today’s diverse classrooms, it means that all students should be treated as moral equals while at the same time they should be provided with specialized instruction and/or assessment targeted to their particular needs.

Against this background, it is necessary that we work toward pedagogical and policy reforms that seek to engage difference deeply (Benesch, 2009, p. 309) and develop university-wide interventions that will help us provide specialized instruction and assessment for English as a second language students while providing equitable education for all students.

References:

Benesh, S. (2009). Generation 1.5 and its discourses of partiality: A critical analysis. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 7, 294-311.

Open Doors Fact Sheet: Texas. (2015). Retrieved from: http://www.iie.org/Research-and-Publications/Open-Doors/Data/Fact-Sheets-by-US-State#.Vz9YCVI7rdk

Roberge, M. (2009). A teacher’s perspective on Generation 1.5. In M. Roberge, M. Siegal, & L. Harklau (Eds.), Generation 1.5. in college composition (pp. 3-24). New York, NY: Routledge

Thompson, K. (2013). Is separate always unequal? A philosophical examination of ideas