Ethnographic Case Study
Running head: ETHNOGRAPHIC CASE STUDY
Ethnographic Case Study
Mari Toyota
Jennifer Yeh
University of Southern California
EDUC 537
Methods in Bilingual Education and
Teaching English as a Second Language
Professor Elia S. Fagan, M.ED.
November 28, 2007
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Background Description
The school we observed is Ted Alexander Science Magnet Elementary K-5. The name of
the teacher in the class is Ms. Hilary Schuler. She teaches 4th grades, and it is a bilingual
classroom. We observed the students every week for about 90 minutes. The subject of the class
we observed was Language Arts which consisted of grammar, spelling, vocabulary, reading, and
writing. The student is from Guatemala. Her first language is Spanish and her second language is
English. She speaks Spanish at home, and speaks English only at school.
The reason we chose the interviewee is because her ELD performance is quite depressing
even though she is good at math. Yet, when we met her for the first time, she did not seem to
have trouble with her English, so we started to wonder how her cultural and social factors
influenced her language learning. Although we are second language learners as well, she is from
a different culture and ethnicity, so we are also interested in how her first language learning
experience influences her second language learning.
Classroom Observations
Day 1 (10/1/07)
Students in the class practiced reading the book, Frindle, by Andrew Clements. First, the
teacher read the text and then students read together. After that, they checked the meanings of
vocabulary words. Then, the teacher asked students to predict what would happen in the next
chapter. Compared to other students, she read a little bit slower, but still participated a lot. She
tried to answer what “emphasized” mean, but she couldn’t explain it smoothly. Next, the teacher
moved onto practicing writing. The students’ task was to revise their papers they wrote before.
The topic was “All About Me.” When they edited their papers, the teacher asked them to follow
the process of: 1st self check, 2nd partner check, and 3rd teacher check. The target student was
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already done with writing and revising her paper. We found a couple of grammar and vocabulary
mistakes in her paper. For example, she forgot to put a third person S. Other mistakes were items
such as “I am *forth grade. There are many *thing you should know about me. I have *lost of
hobbies.”
Day 2 (10/9/07)
Students continued working on the reading, Frindle. They practiced learning vocabularies
in the same way as last time. The target student seemed comfortable during the class, but did not
answer on that day. After that, a group of students including her who are learning English as L2
had an examination. The examination is called the California English Language Development
Test (CELDT). This examination included listening, reading, writing, and speaking.
Day 3(10/23/07)
Students were working on Book Club in groups. They were divided into five groups.
They worked on the following assigned tasks: Scholastic News, Spelling, Writing, Fluency, and
Grammar. They worked for twenty minutes. There was a leader in each group, and students had
to work quietly. She was in the “Grammar” group. In her group, they needed to make words,
combining cards that had alphabetic letters on them. For example, the words she found were
“football” and “October.” She was working quietly. She could make words without any trouble,
and enjoyed working on the activity.
Day 4 (10/31/07)
Today was Halloween, so the target student was excited and had less concentration in her
studies. While students were working in the Book Club again, the teacher asked a couple of
students, including the target student, to come up and work on other tasks with her. Those
students practiced spelling with the teacher. First, the teacher asked students to write each letter
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of the alphabet on small cards. The teacher said words orally, and then students had to make the
word, so they needed to understand the words by sounds. For instance, the teacher asked students
what words could be made from ‘at’, and then the students showed words to the teacher such as
fat, cat, and sat. They also practiced pronunciation. The teacher said the word first, and then the
students followed. During this activity, she had trouble organizing her cards with alphabets. She
responded slower than other students, yet, she was actively involved. Towards the end of the
section, she was getting better.
Day 5 (11/06/07)
The students worked on Book Club again. In the target student’s group, they worked on
reading a scholastic article and answering the questions. She was working on her task quietly.
After the Book Club, as part of the ELD program’s activities, students recited a poem together as
a whole class with a CD. The poem was “American Stew” by Jim Marshall from Into English
ESL/ELD. The leader came in front of the class and led the class. During the second time
singing, the target student was a leader, but she was not sure of the lyrics, so she could not lead
the class. After recess, the students had math class. In the class, students worked on four
questions about time and basic calculation. For example, one of the questions was 6479 minus
5432. She was quiet, but she finished the question relatively earlier than other students. She
seemed like she did not have trouble with her math.
Day 6 (11/13/07)
In reading class, to understand the organization of a story, the teacher used a strategy
called “paragraph sandwich”. Students summarized the story in each paragraph in one sentence
and wrote it down on the picture of the sandwich. An example is shown in the pages of
additional data. For one of the paragraphs, the target student presented her summary. Although
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she did a good job, the teacher did not understand her English precisely, so she asked for
clarification a couple of times. After this activity, the target student worked with three other
students and the teacher in a small group and practiced spelling from sounds. First, the teacher
showed pictures of Snack Pack (pudding), Slim Jim (beef jerky), Shake and Bake (cooking aid),
and asked what they were. Then, she showed word cards such as “dim” and “cake” and asked
students to divide those cards into the three categories according to the pronunciation. For
example, “dim” was placed with Slim Jim and “cake” was in the category of Shake and Bake.
The teacher used authentic materials such as pictures of food to teach phonetics, so that students
can relate to the teaching materials easily.
Analysis of the observation and the responses of the interview
The classroom we observed was the SDAIE (Specially Designed Academic Instruction
in English) program (Peregoy &Boyle, 2005). Most of the classroom activities at the school we
observed were content-embedded and students learned subject matter, such as reading and math
in English. In the classroom, we also found that both BICS (basic interpersonal communicative
skills) and CALP (cognitive/academic language proficiency) were used. Since not all of the
students, including our target student, are fluent in English, the teacher focused on both “surface
fluency” and “conceptual-linguistic knowledge” (Cummins, 1992).
The way the teacher taught students was based on Krashen’s theory. Although the target
student made mistakes in her grammar when she spoke with her teacher, the teacher focused on
her communication, instead of correcting her grammar error. While students were working on
their writing, the teacher played music with a CD. We could see that the teacher tried to create a
low-anxiety environment. The teacher also provided sufficient wait time until the student we
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observed was ready to speak. That is one of the strategies for content-area teachers of English
language learners provided by Richard-Amato and Snow (as cited in Crawford, 2005, p.83).
In addition, the teacher often provided scaffolding. For instance, on the Day 6, when the
students practiced spelling and pronunciation in a small group, the teacher demonstrated first,
then the students practiced together, and then each student performed by individually. We could
see that the teacher assisted her students through the “Zone of Proximal Development” (Snow,
2005).
Throughout the observation, the target students had a positive attitude in class. She
participated a lot and still maintained her self-esteem. It seemed that she did not have problems
with conversation with her friends. However, we could see her struggle in her language learning
especially in reading, vocabulary and writing. When she read books, her reading pace was slow.
She made a lot of mistakes in grammar and vocabulary in her writings. From both her works and
her teacher’s answer during the interview, we can say that she had her first language influence
her learning in both writing and speaking. The teacher stated that her spelling was at a second
grade level. We can consider her as getting into the “fourth grade slum” which is a phenomenon
defined by Chall, Jacobs & Baldwin, that “students who demonstrate grade level reading
performance in the primary grade (1-3) begin to fall significantly behind grade norms starting at
grade 4, since the reading becomes more complex in 4th grade” (as cited in Cummins, 2005, p.9).
Although both the student and her teacher mentioned that “her parents were supportive
to improve her English” in their interviews, her social and family background influenced her
language learning. In the literacy interview, she said that “I own *book 2” as an answer of the
question, “How many books do you have?”, and “some people read because *ther not good at
read” as the first reason that people read. She seemed like she did not have enough opportunities
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to read. Also, she considered reading not as pleasure but as something mandatory. Thus, in order
to develop her literacy skills, it is necessary for her to have more opportunities to enjoy reading
both in her first language and second language.
She was struggling with her language learning, but she had healthy and positive sense of
her ethnicity. Based on Bank’s stage of ethnicity, she was between in “Stage 3: Ethnic Identity
Clarification” and in “Stage 4: Biethnicity” (1992). In terms of speaking, she spoke both English
and Spanish. When we asked about her ethnicity, she answered proudly with positive eyes. She
clarified positive attitude toward her ethnic group. She was also adapted to American culture
well. In a lot of her works, she mentioned that she really liked High School Musical, which is a
part of American culture. Thus, we can say that she “participated successfully in her own culture
as well as in another ethnic culture” (Bank, 1992).
English Education in Other Countries
In this section, we would like to compare and contrast the classes we observed and
classes we had in elementary school. Students in Japan and Taiwan start learning English in
junior high school which is 7th grade in the United States, so we did not have English classes in
elementary school. In terms of style of the classroom in language learning and students’
attitudes, we noticed some differences.
In the class we observed, the teacher emphasized cooperative learning. There were a lot
of group activities and students were helping each other. Seating arrangement was different as
well. In the classroom we observed, about six students were seated together as a group. In Japan
and Taiwan, each student is seated individually, facing the teacher, and teachers speak most of
the time in class. In addition, at the school we observed a lot of activities were aimed for students
to think critically and creatively. In our countries, everyone is expected to produce things as
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similarly as possible to the teacher’s model. Another thing we noticed was the students’ attitudes.
In the classroom here, a lot of students were asking for clarification even in the middle of the
lectures. On the contrary, classrooms in our elementary schools were more formally structured.
We respected teachers and felt it was impolite to ask questions when teachers were talking. We
were also afraid to make mistakes, so we usually asked questions individually after the class.
The time we were in elementary school was a long time ago, so if we go to see classes
now, we would see some changes. However, still, as we can see from those comparisons, there
are a lot of differences between bilingual classrooms in the United States and schools in our
countries. Thus, as Scarcella stated that “in multicultural classes, we must provide effective
feedback to language minority students of diverse cultural backgrounds” (1990), it is important
for teachers to understand each students’ cultural background and their learning styles in the
classroom.
Conclusion-A Reflective Summary of the Process and Experience of Conducting the Study
Mari
Throughout the project, I realized that observing a student’s behavior in everyday context
was interesting and different from just learning theories in class. I could apply what I learned
while I observed the student in a real classroom. I enjoyed working on this project, but I found a
couple of difficulties in conducting this research. One was time limitation. Although the teacher
mentioned the target student’s improvement in her English in the interview, I could not see the
change since the observation was limited to a short term. Another difficulty was neutrality. The
target student seemed to enjoy speaking with me, but since she knew that I came to the school to
observe her, the results of the observations might be affected by this fact. By working on this
project, I could produce a lot of findings about the student. However, as Heath mentions that one
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of the dangers in ethnography is overgeneralization of the work (1992), it is important not to
stereotype what I found by comparing the student to other students in the same social group with
her.
Jennifer
The Ethnographic Project was a new experience for me. Working on this project was an
interesting and wonderful experience to me. Also by observing bilingual classrooms and ESL
students’ learning processes, it was a practical experience that can help me to apply theories I
can only learn from a real classroom setting complete with the teacher and ESL students. In
addition, as a second language learner myself, a lot of the time I could relate and understand both
the physical and mental challenges and difficulties the students faced. Besides this personal
feeling, I noticed that it was hard to observe the student fully and from different angles. However,
the observation still went as well it could. I am truly thankful to Dr. Fagan, the school Principal;
Ms. Denen, the classroom teacher; Ms. Shuler, Mr. Cho, and Mari. Without these people I could
not complete this project.
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References
Bank, J. The States of Ethnicity. In: Richard-Amato, & Snow(1992). The Multicultural
Classroom: Reading for Content-Area Teachers. pp.93-101.
Crawford, A. (2005). Communicative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition: From Oral
Language Development into the Core Curriculum and L2 Literacy. In: Schooling and
Language Minority Students: A Theoretical Framework (3rd edition). pp. 65-117.
Cummins, J. Language Proficiency, Bilingualism, and Academic Achievement. In: RichardAmato, & Snow (1992). The Multicultural Classroom: Reading for Content-Area
Teachers. pp.16-26.
Cummins, J. (2005). Teaching the Language of Academic Success: A Framework for SchoolBased Language Policies. In: Schooling and Language Minority Students: A Theoretical
Framework (3rd edition). pp.3-32.
Heath, S. Sociocultural Contexts of Language Development: Implications for the Classroom. In:
Richard-Amato, & Snow(1992). The Multicultural Classroom: Reading for Content-Area
Teachers. pp.102-125.
Peregoy, S. F. &Boyle, O.F. (2005). Reading, Writing, & Learning in ESL: A Resource Book, for
K-12 Teachers (4th edition). New York, Allyn & Bacon Publishers.
Scarcella, R. Providing Culturally Sensitive Feedback. In: Richard-Amato, & Snow (1992). The
Multicultural Classroom: Reading for Content-Area Teachers. pp.16-26.
Snow, M. (2005). Primary Language Instruction: A Bridge to English Language Development.
In: Schooling and Language Minority Students: A Theoretical Framework (3rd edition).
pp. 119-160.
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Additional Data
Questions Asked of the Interviewees
Students
1. Where were you born? When did your family move to the U.S.?
“Guatemala. When I was three years old”
2. What language do you speak at home? What language does your mother/father speak to you?
“English and Spanish”
3. What language do you speak with your brothers and sisters?
“English”
4. Do you prefer speaking English or your first language
“English”
5. What do you do when you don’t understand
“Ask teacher and parents”
6. What language do you speak with your friends?
“Both English and Spanish”
7. Can you read and write in your home language?
“No”
8. Tell me about yourself? Can you write a short biography about yourself?
See attached paper.
9. Do your parents help you with your homework?
“Yes”
Are your parents read to you?
“Yes, both her father and mother read to me.”
10. Do you like to read? How about writing? Math?
“Not much.”
“No “
“Yes”
11. In the future, what do you want to be?
“I want to be a singer, because I like High School Musical.”
12. What do you like to do?
“I like basketball, drawing, I like to stay home and watch TV. “
Teacher
1. Which program do you use to teach ESL?
“Into English! and SDAIE strategies”
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2. What level(s) of English are your students?
“Into English consists of oral reading fluency, reading comprehension, writing strategies and
skills”
3. What resources do you use to teach ESL?
“They range from Level 1 to Leven 4”
4. What training and support does the school provide for ELLs?
“Visuals, manipulatives, realia, kinesthetic activities, music”
5. Where did you receive your training to meet the needs of your ELs?
“Full time ELD coordinator, administration of CELDT testing”
6. What are the challenges involved in teaching second language learners?
“USC undergraduate courses, professional development opportunities”
7. Do you use supplementary materials for teaching reading and language?
“Building vocabulary, making content comprehensible”
8. How do you assess your students that are ELL?
“Yes, Words their way for phonics and spelling, also Month-by-Month Phonics and Fast Track
leveled readers”
9. How do you accommodate the different levels of English proficiency in your classroom?
“Informally by observations and formally by oral, reading, writing tasks”
10. What poems, songs, chants, etc. do you use?
“The goals depend on the ELD level. Each level has its own set of goals for reading, writing,
listening and speaking”
11. Do you see any shift in teaching model/method since you have started to work as a teacher?
“Small group instruction and differentiation”
12. What poems, songs, chants etc. do you use?
“Into English! Poems and chants, Musically Aligned Science Songs”
13. Do you think she has made progress in her English skill since you met her for the first time?
If yes, how has she improved her English? How was her English when you started to teach her?
“Yes. Her spelling has started to improve as well as her fluency and reading comprehension”
14. What is her strength/weakness in her academic achievement?
“Weakness is spelling and writing. Strength is number sense in math.”
15. Besides the result of the tests, do you see her struggle in her L2 learning in your classroom?
“Sometimes, with unfamiliar words and phrases that she encounters while reading”
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16. Do you see any L1 influence on her L2 learning?
“Some, she inserts Spanish words into oral language occasionally”
17. Do you think her L2 learning is influenced by the socio-cultural factors (i.e. influence from
her family and friends)?
“Her parents are supportive and help her work to improve her English; also she speaks with her
friends in both languages.”
18. As her teacher, how do you think you can help her to improve her English skill?
“Continuous practice, small group instruction, early intervention”
Parents
1. What language do you use with your children?
“Spanish”
2. What schooling did you get in your home country?
“10th grade”
3. What are your aspirations for your children?
“For my child, to finish school and have a career after completing university”
4. How do you instill values and traditions?
“Must respect the rights of others”
5. How does the school communicate with parents?
“Very well”
6. What would you like to learn more about the school?
“How can I help my child in English?”
7. Do you want your child to be truly bilingual/biliterate?
“Yes I want her to be bilingual”
8. Are you happy with the progress your child has made at school? Why/Why not?
“Yes, but I want her to do better in English “