Volume 20 in the Bilingual Education and Bilingualism series.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction

1.Framing Story: Theory, Setting and Methodology
Learners and Learning in Second Language Acquisition Research -- Learners as Socially/Historically/Politically Constructed -- The Sociality of Development -- The Dialogic Perspective -- Communities of Practice -- Research Questions -- The Research Site -- Methodology

2. Kindergarten Stories
Life in Kindergarten -- The Children's Stories -- Randy -- Surjeet -- Martin -- Julie -- Harvey -- Amy -- Coda

3. Constructing School Identities: Kindergarten Meta-stories
Being a Child/Becoming a Student -- Aspects of School Identity -- Academic competence -- Physical presentation/competence -- Behavioural competence -- Social competence -- Language proficiency -- Discussion -- Conclusion

4. 'Break them up, take them away': Practices in the Grade 1 Classroom
Sitting in Your Own Desk -- Using Your Own Things -- Using Your Own Words and Ideas -- Discussion

5. Discursive Practices in Grade 2 Language Arts Lessons
Language Arts Lessons -- Recitation sequences -- Background -- Recitation sequences and the focal children -- Teacher-Mandated Partner and Small Group Conversations -- Background -- Teacher-mandated peer conversations and the focal children -- Student-Managed Conversations -- Background -- Student-managed conversations and the focal children -- Discussion -- Recitation sequences -- Teacher-mandated peer conversations -- Peer-managed conversations -- Conclusion

6. Appropriating Voices and Telling Stories
Identity, Resource Distribution and Discourse Practices in Classrooms -- Access to Voice -- Facilitating Access -- Instructional Conversations -- The Politics of Representation -- Conversations, Not Collaborations

Future SLA Research

Afterword

"This book considers the application of sociocultural theory to understanding how minority language background children learn English in the context of their classrooms. Based on a longitudinal ethnography, it is suggested that understanding the pivotal role of social interaction in learning implies new perspectives both for SLA research and for effective instructional practice." (Publisher's website)