| The purpose of this ethnographic study is to explore language socialization practices of the multicultural and multilingual students in the ESL classroom through routinized literature-based activities. Based on the notions of sociocultural approach to mind (Vygotsky, 1978, 1986), community of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991), and language socialization (Schieffelin & Ochs, 1986), the study examines social interactions during literacy practices with focus on how literature-based activities scaffold ESL students' academic socialization into American school discourse.; Data were collected in a public elementary school second grade ESL classroom, where I acted as a participant observer. Classroom literacy practices were audiorecorded two times a week for two months. Fieldnotes recorded classroom learning practices such as learning materials and student participations. In total, sixteen class sessions were the source for observations and records. A one-on-one interview with the teacher provided clear understanding of the teacher's socio-historical background, teaching beliefs and the role of the ESL class and its curriculum within the school. The data also include informal talks with the teacher and students. On-going review of the teacher interview, classroom data and fieldnotes provided a cumulative basis for data analysis.; According to the data analysis, literature-based activities had multiple socialization functions which created affordances (Van Lier, 2000) that ultimately facilitate ESL students' potential development in American school academic discourse. Based on teacher controlled and power balanced interaction patterns, literature-based activities function as the language, academic content, and cultural learning site in which exposure to the American school teaching and learning culture occurred through classroom scripts. ESL students' primary discourses were respected and valued, and were connected to the secondary discourse, i.e., school learning. The ESL teacher's various caregiving approaches also contributed to ESL students' academic socialization.; Given the increase of immigrant populations in the U.S. as well as in an international context, the current study has various implications for the enhancement of academic language socialization for the multicultural and multilingual students, ESL education, ESL teacher education, educational policymakers, and English only policy proponents in the US. |
