Example (1): AULA DE ENLACE 1

Enacting social exclusion through literacy practices at a multicultural school in Madrid. Laura Mijares & Ana M.
Relaño
Enacting social exclusion through literacy practices at a multicultural school in
Madrid
Foro Madrileño de Etnografía y Educación.
Ana M. Relaño. E-mail: anamaria.relano@uclm.es
Laura Mijares. E-mail: laura.mijares@filol.ucm.es
Description of the Data
Data for this paper was collected as part of a year-long critical sociolinguistic
ethnography during the academic year 2008-2009 at Villababel High School
(pseudonym).
The Spanish Language Immersion Program for Newcomers, known as the Liaison
Classrooms for Newcomers (Aulas de Enlace), is part of the so-called “Escuelas de
Bienvenida” (Welcome Schools) program. This program started in 2003 as an
experimental measure to improve the school integration of foreign students in the Madrid
Region. These classes are aimed at students who do not speak Spanish or arrive at school
with instructional delays. Students are to remain in these classes 5 to 6 hours a day until
they achieve the adequate level of Spanish proficiency to transition to mainstream
classrooms. From the very beginning, they are also allowed to attend some content
classes, usually Sports and Arts and Crafts. Theoretically, the number of subjects they
can attend during the school year is supposed to depend on the level of language
proficiency, but in reality, they are subjected to teachers‟ decision, sometimes arbitrary
and unsupported. Villababel is one of 47 Secondary Schools in the Madrid region with
this kind of program. The number of students attending this language program in
Villababel changed during the 2008-2009 academic year, when we conducted our
fieldwork. Starting with 13 pupils divided into two „Aulas‟ - Aula de Enlace 1 and Aula
de Enlace 2 -, the number of students decreased to 6-7 students placed in only one „Aula‟
at the end of the academic year. The reason for this drop in the student population was
due to the fact that the majority of students had either been gradually incorporated into
the regular classrooms, or had abandoned the school
Research questions:
1. What kinds of literacy practices are legitimate in this classroom?
2. How do agents (both teacher and students) negotiate / contest these literacy practices?
3. What are the social consequences of such practices for immigrant background
students?
FOCUS: AULA DE ENLACE 2
Participants: Lucía, the teacher (female, in her late forties, Spanish background, over 20
years of experience teaching Spanish language in mainstream education, without any
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Enacting social exclusion through literacy practices at a multicultural school in Madrid. Laura Mijares & Ana M.
Relaño
previous experience or training in teaching Spanish as a second/foreign language); 4
female students from Morocco (Nadia; Fátima; Amina and Muna).
Classroom Activity: Nadia, Fátima, Amina and Muna are working on a reading activity
that has been previously explained to them but they do not understand what they have to
do. Lucía, the teacher, has given them instructions to read about the following animals
(dragonfly, chameleon, starfish, koala, and butterfly) from texts taken from Wikipedia
and other Web encyclopaedias in order to classify them into different types of animals.
They are given the following categories: Reptiles, Amphibians, Mammals, Insects, and
Fish. They are given confusing instructions about what to do and how to carry out the
activity. The following examples are taken from the beginning, middle and end of the
activity that day. (-Ethnographic fieldnotes by Laura Mijares-)
Example (1)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Lucía: ¿vale? / entonces / os lo vais a leer
Muna: sí
Lucía: vais a enteraros
Nadia: sí
Lucía
Nadia: tengo un mes para->
Lucía: y después se lo vais a tener que contar
bajo} a los otros compañeros de tal manera que // yo / os voy a dar a cada uno una
8. *Nadia: {habla en árabe y una compañera se ríe}: ‫أويلي استغفلر هللا‬Awili es eġfer
all h (Es esto correcto en arabe?) (Dios mío, a ti me encomiendo)
9. Lucía: ¿vale? / pero hoy no
10. Fátima: ¡ah! ¿hoy no?
11. Lucía: vale hoy sólo pasamos [a la&]
12. Nadia:
[(vale)º]
13. Lucía:
&fase de lectura y entender
Example 2.
1. Lucía {ahora dirigiéndose a las estudiantes}: vale / de aquí para
¿vale? porque estos son todos nombres científicos->
2. Nadia: ¿esto no voy a leerlo?
3. Lucía: no=
4. *Nadia: ‫( واخا‬waja) ((vale))
5. Lucía: [=porque estoo noo=]
6. Nadia:
[(no hace falta)º]
7. Lucía =de momento no vas a ser bióloga
8. {se ríe alguna estudiante en bajito}
9. Nadia: aah
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Enacting social exclusion through literacy practices at a multicultural school in Madrid. Laura Mijares & Ana M.
Relaño
10. Lucía: no porque son todos nombre científicos / que estáan prácticamente en latín
Example 3.
1. Lucía {a Nabila}: a ver tú / encima / lo que tienes que hacer-> como tienes- / sí /
decir=
2. Nadia {leyendo}: {parece deletrear alguna palabra o leer muy lentamente}
3. Lucía:
=que el camaleón si es un reptil-> o un ave-> o un insecto->
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Amina:
[¿yo como puedo] a veLucía: pues leyendo
Amina:
[¿eso todo?]
Lucía: [que es como] se entera una de las cosas claro
Fátima: ¿ese dónde [viene?]
Lucía: [pues bus]cas / el camaleón dónde está / si está aquí en los reptiles pues
les dices a los compañeros / cuando te toque es un reptil y luego ya te lees todo
esto
10. Amina: ¿esto todo?
11. Lucía: sí claro
12. Amina: {!!‫( }أويلي على شوهة‬awili ‫ع‬el šuha) ((¡Dios mío, qué vergüenza!))
13. (2")
14. Lucía: no es tanto&
Example 4.
1. Lucía:
=a ver qué tipo de animal es el camaleón↓ / si es un
mamífero-> un pez-> un insecto->
2. Amina: aah
[¿buscar?]
3. Lucía: ¿vale? / o sea [buscar]lo aquí // a ver en qué grupo está
4. Muna: ¡busca! / ¡está aquí tonta!
5. Lucía: SHH SHH / ¡NO SE LO DIGAS / QUE LO LEA!
6. Amina: a ver ¿dónde está?
7. Lucía: ¡no se lo digas!
8. { Amina se ríe}
9. Lucía: que lo lea ella
10. Fátima: profe / ¿desde dónde empiezo?
11. Lucía: desde el principio
12. Fátima:
[peroo]
13. Lucía: [que es] donde se empieza en todos los sitios
14. Fátima {señalando a sus hojas}: esta o esta o esta
15. Lucía {con tono de mofa}: pues donde ponga uno // ¡que yo te lo he dado muy
ordenadito!
{mientras se escuchan unos murmullos
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Enacting social exclusion through literacy practices at a multicultural school in Madrid. Laura Mijares & Ana M.
Relaño
Appendix (Transcription conventions according to Gallardo,1998):
:
&:
=
[
]


(5‟)



BUENO
(( ))
pa´l
( )
aa
ss
¿?
¡!
bueno
indicates a new turn
immediate latching without pause
holds turn in overlaps
begins overlap
ends overlap
self interruption without pause
short pause less than half a second
pause between half and one second
silence, lapsus of 5 seconds
rising intonation
lower intonation
intonation on hold
emphasis
non decipherable fragment
syntactic phonetics phenomena among words
whispering
elongated vowels
elongated consonants
question marks
exclamation marks
direct voice
Refererences
Martín Rojo, Luisa (2010). Constructing Inequality in Multilingual Classrooms. Berlin:
Mouton.
Martín Rojo, L., & L. Mijares. 2007. Sólo en español: Una reflexión sobre la norma
monolingüe y la realidad multilingüe en los centros escolares. Revista de
Educación 343: 93-112.
Mijares, L. 2006. Aprendiendo a ser marroquíes. Inmigración, diversidad lingüística y
escuela. Madrid: Ediciones del Oriente y del Mediterráneo.
Mijares Molina, Laura & Ana María Relaño Pastor (2011). Language programs at
Villababel High:
Rethinking ideologies of social inclusion. International Journal of Bilingual
Education and Bilingualism. Vol. 14, No. 4, July 2011, 427-442.
Poveda, David & Ana María Relaño Pastor. Special Issue: Linguistic Educational
Research in/on Spain. Linguistics and Education, Vol. 21(3), pp. 137-244.
Poveda, David y Ana María Relaño Pastor. Introduction. Special Issue: Linguistic
Educational Research in/on Spain. Linguistics and Education, Vol. 21(3), pp. 137143.
Relaño Pastor, Ana M. y Mijares Molina, Laura (2011). Through U.S. eyes: Examining
Spanish multilingual education policies. Papers, 2011, 96/3 1-25
Relaño Pastor, Ana M. Ethnic Categorization and Moral Agency in „Fitting in‟ Narratives
among Madrid Immigrant Students. Narrative Inquiry, 20(1), 82-105.
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Enacting social exclusion through literacy practices at a multicultural school in Madrid. Laura Mijares & Ana M.
Relaño
Relaño Pastor Ana M. Policy and Practice in Madrid Multilingual Schools. Theory into
Practice. Routledge. Volume 48 Issue 4, 258-268.
Relaño Pastor, A.M. (2008). Competing Language Ideologies in a Bilingual/Bicultural
After-School Program
in Southern California. Journal of Latinos and Education, 7(1), 4-24.
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