What About Sam - The Kid in the Corner Whose Voice Doesn’t Come Out? - Tensions Between Open Discussions and Inclusive Educational Opportunities for English Learners

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by SANS

This article examines a mismatch between a teacher’s democratic intentions and an English learner’s interpretation of participation in a US high school English language arts class. It argues that popular democratic practices, such as allowing students to choose to speak or remain silent, can reduce language acquisition, subject-area learning, and social positioning for English learners. The work also contends that structured inclusive discussion supports learners’ cognitive, academic, linguistic, and social development, while unstructured open discussion limits opportunities for many students.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages21

Reading Time53 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Democratic Practices and Participation Tensions

Teacher Preparation and Support Gaps

Inclusive vs. Unstructured Discussion

Inclusion as a Democratic Classroom Practice

What About Sam—The Kid in the Corner Whose Voice Doesn’t Come Out?—Tensions Between Open Discussionsand Inclusive Educational Opportunities for English Learners This article identifies a tension between a teacher’s intention and an English learner’s interpretation of his experiences in a US high school English class for native users of English and English learners. The tension highlights two issues. First, democratic classroom practices, frequently advocated by second language acquisition theorists, maybe misunderstood or misused in general education classrooms. For example, respecting students by giving them the choice to speak or be silent can negatively affect English learners’ opportunities to acquire language, subjectarea content knowledge, and social status as knowers. Second, many general education teachers believe they are unprepared to help English learners develop English or subject-area content skills and knowledge. Their lack of preparation can present obstacles for English learners. The author contends that structured, inclusive discussion can benefit English learners’ cognitive, academic, linguistic, and social development, while unstructured, open discussion compromises learning opportunities for all students. Anne: In classes I’ve had before, it is like a class run by a certain group of kids and everybody else just kind of sits back and watches. But—(does not finish her thought). Interviewer: Does that describe this class? Anne: No, everybody in the class has spoken up about their feelings and their thoughts at one point. The CATESOL Journal 28.1 • 2016 • 139 Interviewer: (looking at Sam) Do you agree with that? Sam: No.…It’s like people who talk like Tom and Elwood and OJ and John and some girls, but … [the teacher] doesn’t talk to everybody, it’s just like the kid in the corner, you don’t hear him with his voice out.…I’m thinking about it [topics of discussion]; I just don’t raise my hand and say what’s going on. (Gourd, 1998, p. 270) Anne and Sam (quoted in the epigraph) were classmates in an urban ninth-grade English language arts class in the US. The dialogue between Anne and Sam (pseudonyms) was extracted from a study investigating a teacher’s use of democratic practices in an untracked English language arts class in which one third of the students used a language other than English at home and two thirds of the class were native users of English. This type of class makeup isnot uncommon in the US and is due, in part, to increased numbers of English learners (ELs) throughout the US and increased awareness that language is best acquired in language-rich settings structured to use English for real communication purposes (Gibbons, 2002; Himmele & Himmele, 2009). However, general education teachers receive little preparation to ensure the needs of ELs are met (National Center for Educational Statistics, 1997) . Indeed, general education teachers often are unclear about their roles as teachers of ELs when these students are assigned to their classes, and the ELs may or may not receive necessary support beyond the general education classes. Armed with a master’s degree in TESOL and doctoral coursework in bilingual education, I spent a semester in Sam and Anne’s ninth-grade English language arts classroom in a US Northwest, urban school district. In addition to daily observations and informal interactions with students and the teacher, I formally interviewed the teacher a total of 22 times, with the interviews running 45 to 60 minutes each, and I formally interviewed all students either individually or in groups of two or three, resulting in more than 45 hours of student interviews. In 1998, my research focus was not on ELs. However, my use of a phenomenological approach to understanding critical pedagogy in a specific classroom opened the door for further investigation into the experiences of ELs in general education classes. The joint interview with Anne and Sam invited a critical inves

FAQs

What approach does the author argue helps English learners most?

The author argues that structured, inclusive discussion supports English learners’ cognitive, academic, linguistic, and social development, whereas unstructured open discussion compromises learning opportunities for students.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by SANS