Teaching English as an additional language in the global classroom: a transnational study in the United States and United Kingdom

Global research has shown the persistence of inequality with regard to accessing curriculum with a view to obtaining suitable work and making useful contributions to society. The intersection of race, gender, language and low socio-economic levels creates situations which often marginalize ethnic minorities in school settings (Freire, 1968; Nieto & Turner, 2012). The graduation rates in the United States for Native American, African American and Hispanic students are lower than the graduation rates of Whites and Asian Americans. In addition, Bangladeshis and African Caribbeans currently living in the UK are under-represented in higher education, particularly young men in those communities. The research questions that guide this inquiry are: (1) According to databases, how does the academic performance of language minority groups compare to the academic performance of non-linguistic minority groups at the elementary and secondary levels of education? (2) According to language support teachers and university students, what are the strengths and weaknesses of the instructional practices for language minorities who are learning English in the United Kingdom (UK) (Bristol) and the United States (US) (Henrico)? Participants were: five UK teachers, four UK university students, five US teachers, four US university students. Data collection supervised by lead researchers included interviews, focus groups, classroom observation, and performance documents. Data analysis utilized a mixed-methods approach. Overall, linguistic minority groups performed lower than their English proficient peers. Culturally, UK teachers provided a greater emphasis on religious instruction, whereas US teachers addressed patriotic topics more frequently. Teachers in the United States and the United Kingdom were culturally supportive with slight variation in the encouraged use of the students’ heritage languages

Language support for immigrant children: a study of state schools in the UK and US

In recent decades, immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers have sought a new way of life in large numbers, often leaving their countries of origin behind in search of places that offer a better way of life. The purpose of this study was to investigate how elementary and middle school students in state schools in Reading, England (primarily speakers of Asian languages), and Richmond, Virginia (primarily speakers of Spanish), were supported academically, when most children’s first language was not English. The authors were interested in exploring whether or not there were cultural or structural differences in the way each country helped or hindered these students as they progressed through the school systems. Three UK schools in a district of approximately 100,000 and three US schools in a district of approximately 250,000 were the focus of this exploration from 2000 to 2003. Findings indicated that there were cultural and legislative differences and similarities. Teachers and administrators in both countries attempted to provide services with limited and sometimes diminishing resources. Community support varied based on resources, attitudes toward various ethnic groups, and the coping strategies adopted by these groups in their new environments. Marked differences appeared with regard to the manner in which assessments took place and how the results were made available to the public

'If I could not make a difference why would I be a teacher?' Teaching English as an Additional Language and the quest for social justice

English speaking countries such as UK and US have a growing number of children and young people for whom English is a second or an additional language. Educational under-achievement can be traced to insufficient command of the English language. Unequal access to the curriculum can lead to social injustice and educational inequality. Schools are tasked with preparing children and young people for further/higher education and future employment opportunities. Adequate and timely support for English as an Additional Language (EAL) is critical. Research in UK and US has shown the differences in policies in both countries. This chapter reviews recent research and looks at how teachers cope with EAL. It reveals the extent of teachers’ commitment to their students, as well as a three way interpretation of classroom experiences from the perspectives of student researchers, teachers and principal researchers. It is suggested that well-resourced EAL provision can help to counter marginalization by building students’ capacity to learn and perform well at school

Connecting the dots: Transmission of stony coral tissue loss disease from the Marquesas to the Dry Tortugas

For the last seven years, Florida’s Coral Reef (FCR) has suffered from widespread and severe coral loss caused by stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD). First observed off the coast of Miami-Dade county in 2014, the outbreak has since spread throughout the entirety of FCR and some areas of the Caribbean. However, the propagation of the disease through FCR seemed to slow down when it reached the western end of the Marquesas in August 2020. Despite being present about 30 km (~20 miles) from the Dry Tortugas (DRTO), SCTLD was not reported in this area before May 2021. As SCTLD transmission is likely to be waterborne, here we suggest that this apparently delayed propagation is related to eddy activity near the DRTO under the influence of the Loop Current/Florida Current system. To quantify the impact of the local ocean circulation on the spread of SCTLD from the Marquesas and the DRTO, we evaluated the hydrodynamic-predicted connectivity between these two regions using a high-resolution hydro-epidemiological model between May 2018 and May 2021. Our results suggest that the Marquesas and the DRTO were not connected during February-October 2020 and January-May 2021. These periods coincided with either the occurrence of Tortugas gyres and mean circulation with an eastward component between the Marquesas and the DRTO or the presence of southward currents. Our results suggest that disease agents probably reached the DRTO in November 2020 and that they most likely originated from southern or northwestern reefs of the Marquesas. This study provides novel insight into the role played by the hydrodynamics in the spread of SCTLD within the western-most edge of FCR, and in propagating the disease to uninfected locations

Somatic histone H3 alterations in pediatric diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas and non-brainstem glioblastomas

To identify somatic mutations in pediatric diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), we performed whole-genome sequencing of DNA from seven DIPGs and matched germline tissue and targeted sequencing of an additional 43 DIPGs and 36 non-brainstem pediatric glioblastomas (non-BS-PGs). We found that 78% of DIPGs and 22% of non-BS-PGs contained a mutation in H3F3A, encoding histone H3.3, or in the related HIST1H3B, encoding histone H3.1, that caused a p.Lys27Met amino acid substitution in each protein. An additional 14% of non-BS-PGs had somatic mutations in H3F3A causing a p.Gly34Arg alteration.Gang Wu, Alberto Broniscer, Troy A McEachron, Charles Lu, Barbara S Paugh, Jared Becksfort, Chunxu Qu, Li Ding, Robert Huether, Matthew Parker, Junyuan Zhang, Amar Gajjar, Michael A Dyer, Charles G Mullighan, Richard J Gilbertson, Elaine R Mardis, Richard K Wilson, James R Downing, David W Ellison, Jinghui Zhang and Suzanne J Bake