Spring Break
Professor looks at English as Second Language policies
Integration, not segregation, key to welcoming students in educational environment
Candice Ruud
Issue date: 5/21/08 Section: News
Kathryn Ciechanowski imagines a world where Spanish speaking students aren't segregated from classrooms to learn English at a young age.
Ciechanowski, an assistant professor of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and bilingual and literacy education, understands the needs of her students for whom English is a second language.
Being half-Peruvian and growing up in a household where she was fluent in both Spanish and in English, Ciechanowski appreciated her multicultural heritage. She valued the opportunity to communicate with many more people with two languages than she could have if she were limited to one.
"I believe that knowing multiple languages and cultures is an asset, not a problem or hindrance," Ciechanowski said. "My mom is from Peru, and I love knowing Spanish and English and experiencing Peruvian culture."
In 2006 Ciechanowski completed a study called "The Everyday Meets the Academic: How Bilingual
Latino/a Third-graders Use Sociocultural Resources to Learn in Science and Social Studies." As a part of this study, Ciechanowski spent time with third- and fourth-graders from a bilingual school in the Midwest, studying social studies texts and relating the patterns in the books to their own lives.
For instance, students who grew up in either Mexico or Central America or visit family there found that the idea of glaciers was difficult to conceive because of their region's warm, often tropical climate. Other naturally occurring phenomena such as earthquakes were understood by those students who had experienced them.
"They had a hard time making sense of the abstract idea of a glacier and how it erodes the land," Ciechanowski said. "They often drew knowledge from the popular movie 'Ice Age' and used the images from the movie to make sense of glaciers. This was a resource for them, although it introduced inaccuracies, too."
Ciechanowski is currently beginning new research. She will work with third- and fourth-grade teachers and an ESOL specialist to teach English language development to native Spanish speakers in other academic areas such as science, history and art.
Ciechanowski, an assistant professor of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and bilingual and literacy education, understands the needs of her students for whom English is a second language.
Being half-Peruvian and growing up in a household where she was fluent in both Spanish and in English, Ciechanowski appreciated her multicultural heritage. She valued the opportunity to communicate with many more people with two languages than she could have if she were limited to one.
"I believe that knowing multiple languages and cultures is an asset, not a problem or hindrance," Ciechanowski said. "My mom is from Peru, and I love knowing Spanish and English and experiencing Peruvian culture."
In 2006 Ciechanowski completed a study called "The Everyday Meets the Academic: How Bilingual
Latino/a Third-graders Use Sociocultural Resources to Learn in Science and Social Studies." As a part of this study, Ciechanowski spent time with third- and fourth-graders from a bilingual school in the Midwest, studying social studies texts and relating the patterns in the books to their own lives.
For instance, students who grew up in either Mexico or Central America or visit family there found that the idea of glaciers was difficult to conceive because of their region's warm, often tropical climate. Other naturally occurring phenomena such as earthquakes were understood by those students who had experienced them.
"They had a hard time making sense of the abstract idea of a glacier and how it erodes the land," Ciechanowski said. "They often drew knowledge from the popular movie 'Ice Age' and used the images from the movie to make sense of glaciers. This was a resource for them, although it introduced inaccuracies, too."
Ciechanowski is currently beginning new research. She will work with third- and fourth-grade teachers and an ESOL specialist to teach English language development to native Spanish speakers in other academic areas such as science, history and art.
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