NYU Applied Psychology OPUS Fall 2010

online publication of undergraduate studies

DEPARTMENT OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY

FALL 2010

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Vanessa Victoria Volpe

EDITORS Jackson J. Taylor Sibyl Hayley Holland

STAFF WRITERS Alyssa Deitchman Javanna N. Obregon

STAFF Caila Gordon-Koster Brandon Lam Bofan Luo Coralie C. Nehme Josephine M. Palmeri

DESIGN & LAYOUT Jackson J. Taylor Jacob Graham-Felsen

FACULTY MENTORS Dr. Diane Hughes Dr. Catherine Tamis-LeMonda

CONTRIBUTORS Kirk DeSoto Melissa Fulgieri Thiago C.S. Marques Annabelle C. Moore Silvia Niño

SPECIAL THANKS Sasha Arutyunova (Cover Photo) Davel Hamue Dean Lindsey Wright Dr. Gigliana Melzi E. James Ford Justine M. Kelly-Fierro Laura Cunningham Mary Beth Fenlaw

Applied Psychology OPUS was initiated in 2010 by a group of undergraduate students in NYU Steinhardt’s Department of Applied Psychology. The ideas and opinions contained in this publication solely reflect those of the authors and not New York University. All work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial No Derivative Works License.

To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/

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Letter from the Editor

Welcome to the second issue of NYU Applied Psychology OPUS! With a staff of eleven dedicated students, passionate contributors, and the guidance of our faculty mentors Drs. Hughes and Tamis-Lemonda, the current issue continues to promote exemplary reflection and research in psychology at the undergraduate level.

We are proud to showcase a diverse body of work this fall, spanning issues of civic engagement, bilingual education, culture-bound health practices, and the use of technology in mental health professions. Our contributors explore the context, application, and interdisciplinary nature of psychology in their work. In fact, they highlight this very strength of the Applied Psychology Department and the NYU Steinhardt community in general.

While undergraduate students are certainly still learning, we are actively engaging in critical conversations about the world of psychology.

Through presentation of these conversations, OPUS continues to provide students with a platform for dialogue.

We hope you will be compelled to continue the discussion.

Vanessa Victoria Volpe Editor-in-Chief

Contents |

Contents PREFACE Drs. Diane Hughes and Catherine Tamis-LeMonda

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STAFF ARTICLES Wait, what? On Social Network Use and Attention | Alyssa Deitchman |

48 r u ok? Mobile Therapy and Modern Mental Health | Javanna N. Obregon | 51

SUBMISSIONS Washington Square Rorschach | Annabelle C. Moore | 55

| Kirk DeSoto | 56 Perceptions of Womanhood: A Discourse on Female Genital Mutilation | Melissa Fulgieri | 63 The Political Bystander Effect: Evidence for Further Investigation

The Elephant in the Classroom: A Policy Proposal for Bilingual Education in California Public Schools

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| 68 Literacy Practices and Book Reading Styles in Bilingual Head Start Classrooms | Silvia Ni単o | 77 Thiago C.S. Marques

STAFF & CONTRIBUTOR BIOS Staff Bios | 88 Contributor Bios | 89

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Preface |47

Preface

Welcome to the second issue of NYU Applied Psychology OPUS! OPUS is a student-initiated and student-led online publication, based in the undergraduate program in Applied Psychology at NYU. Its mission is to present undergraduate students’ exemplary psychological research and reflections to a larger community. This issue reflects such mission very well. It includes empirical work, policy and position papers, and several creative and opinion-editorial reflections. The contributing authors each take a unique approach to the integration of hands-on experiences, scholarly research, and personal positions.

The result is a thoughtful set of interdisciplinary, multi-faceted, and culturallyaware discussions that contribute in important ways to the ever-changing field of psychology. Moreover, the papers in this issue echo the broader focus on culture, education, and human development that is the hallmark of the Applied Psychology Department and Steinhardt School. By allowing undergraduate students a channel through which to begin a dialogue previously restricted to graduate students and professors, students are provided with an opportunity to be passionately immersed in psychological work and the larger scholarly community of NYU. As members of the undergraduate Applied Psychology department, students are encouraged to think critically about issues that are core to the field of psychology and society at large, and this issue reflects their dedication to both. As in the past, this second issue demonstrates the enormous dedication and hard work of the undergraduates who constitute the editorial staff of OPUS, as well as that of the contributing authors. It has been inspiring to watch the process of the initially submitted student pieces being transformed into a set of high quality, thought provoking scholarly papers through students’ diligence and commitment to excellence. We hope that the discussions presented in this issue will incite continued conversations beyond its borders. The continued exchange of ideas represents the engine of scientific progress and is necessary for students and researchers at all levels of their education. As the two faculty mentors to OPUS, we are honored to have had the opportunity to work with students on the papers contained in this issue, and we are sure you will agree that they inspire respect for the talents and critical eye of undergraduates in Applied Psychology at Steinhardt.

Diane Hughes, Ph.D. Professor of Applied Psychology New York University

Catherine Tamis-LeMonda, Ph.D. Professor of Applied Psychology New York University

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wait, what? on social networks & attention ALYSSA DEITCHMAN

Before you log on to one of the numerous social networking sites you use to update the world about everything you’re probably doing right this moment, try to harness your attention toward reading this article. It seems simple enough, but in practice, such focus may be actually harder to achieve than you might think.

While fleeting attention could be attributed to a variety of explanations, social networking frequently takes the blame. The increase in social networking sites has certainly infiltrated our culture, impacting the way today’s generation communicates and works — all at 250kb per minute.

Researchers are beginning to speculate that social networking usage negatively impacts the attention span of youth and adolescents (Greenfield 2009; Ophir, Nass, & Wagner, 2009; Wintour 2009). In fact, many scholars relate social networking sites to the tendency to multitask, or engage in multiple activities simultaneously (Greenfield 2009; Ophir, Nass, & Wagner, 2009; Wintour 2009). The impact of social networking sites on attention has been a heated source of debate. In order to assess the issue fully, the neurological mechanisms of multitasking, as well as how social networking allows for such activities need to be evaluated. This article will discuss how exactly social networking sites relate to multitasking and if you should be concerned.

How does social networking usage correlate with a tendency to multitask? The way in which past research has conceptualized social networking websites has led to investigation of the negative impact of their impact on youth’s attention.

Such conceptualization is partially due to the design of social networking sites themselves, not just how and why they are used. The Facebook platform, for example, is designed in such a way where many things are occurring simultaneously including a live chat, a live, real-time updated home screen, and added elements of personal status and picture updates.

Users of these sites learn how to manage all of this stimulation and compartmentalize all the different situations that are being played out within the same visual

Deitchman

field (Wallis, 2007). The idea of simultaneous simulations may provide some explanation to how adolescents handle other forms of media stimulus. The phenomenon is referred to as “media multitasking” by researchers. This is “a person’s consumption of more than one item or stream of content at the same time” (Ophir, Nass, & Wagner 2009, p. 3).

Computers have made media multitasking easy, if not encouraging multitasking entirely (Foehr, 2006). In a study, the participants classified as “heavy media multitaskers” were found to be more susceptible to inference from environmental stimuli and from irrelevant representations in memory. However, this same group performed worse on a test of task-switching ability (Ophil, Nass, & Wagner, 2009). Researchers speculate this is due to media multitasker’s ability to filter out interference from the irrelevant task set. This suggests that media multitasking is directly associated with a detrimental approach to fundamental information processing. Multitasking is inefficient in this regard, because heavy media multitaskers were unable to effectively switch tasks.

This is surprising because multitasking is the continuous involvement of task switching. If the participants in this study were less inclined to efficiently task-switch or filter out irrelevant interferences, multitasking is harmful on many levels.

Heavy media multitaskers would be surprised by these findings.

In the same study, 97% of the participants claimed their ability to multitask led to increased efficiency in their day-to-day lives (Wallis, 2007). Christine Rosen (2010) elaborates on multitasking, calling it “a mythical activity in which people believe they can perform two or more tasks simultaneously” (p.2). In fact, researchers are suggesting that “decades of research indicate the quality of one’s output and depth of thought deteriorate as one attends to ever more tasks” (Wallis, 2007, p. 34). John Grafman, chief of Cognitive Neuroscience at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, explains the frequent lack of depth of any tasks being performed while

| On Social Networks and Attention | 49

multitasking will make surface-level output satisfactory. This implies that youth will no longer strive for in-depth focus on a task and will instead conduct activities in a surface level manner (Wallis, 2007). If youth are conducting activities in a surface manner, the assumption is that attention will suffer as a result of the multi-tasking required of social networking sites.

While research has illustrated the negative impact social networks have on attention, it is imperative to address the means through which this phenomenon occurs. British Neurologist Lady Greenfield connects social media and attention at idea that social networking allows for “instant gratification” due to the instantaneous nature that operates at “unrealistic timescales”. The short-attention-span issue is linked to the idea that social networking encourages the reward center of the bran to signal as it does with drug use, due to the instantly gratifying nature of these simulated interactions.

Greenfield proclaims that the rapidly occurring interchanges present in these websites will accustom the brain to operate on these unrealistic timescales. As a result, when one finds that responses are not immediately forthcoming, Greenfield suggests that behaviors of Attention Deficit Disorder will become prevalent in adolescents, a diagnosis on the rise for years (Wintour, 2009). While Greenfield raises an interesting argument, many aspects of perception such as perceiving, listening and touching can indeed be performed simultaneously with action planning and movement. The brain is adept to this “toggling” action, as it naturally occurs in the anterior prefrontal cortex.

More specifically, Brodmanns Area 10, the segment of the brain associated with creating and maintaining both short-term and long-term goals, is responsible for this adeptness (Wallis, 2007). The brain can handle multitasking, but the extent is limited. Most theories attest there is a limit to what our brains can actually process simultaneously (Meyer & Kieras, 1997; Pashler, 2000). Though the brain can manage or perceive two stimuli in parallel timeframes, our ability to respond to

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and/or process them is limited. This phenomenon is referred to as the psychological refractory period (PRP). The PRP represents the extra time required to respond to a stimulus when conjoined with an additional stimulus. One can visualize this as a “bottleneck” in processing. The bottleneck occurs at the retrieval, or action planning segment, but how the simultaneous tasks are managed in the brain needs further research (Foehr, 2006).

As this phenomenon relates to media multitasking, young people are not exactly trying to process “non-complementary messages” simultaneously, but are instead switching back and forth between activities. Current research is lacking on the effects of constant task switching between media in a modern media environment to properly address this issue (Foehr, 2006).

By analyzing both the connection between social networking and attention in the two frames of the physical appearance of the websites to the underlying neurological responses to these appearances, one can gain a clearer understanding of the connection here.

While social networking encourages multitasking, which can potentially be detrimental to the depth of focus youth is able to allot to a specific task at a time, there is a blatant lack of research on the possible positive outcomes. For instance, “Media users are learning at a young age how to juggle multiple activities…and use existing technologies in creative ways, albeit sometimes not originally intended” (Foehr, 2006, p. 5). Additionally, living in the modern world demands that youth be able to synchronize tasks (Foehr, 2006).

Most importantly, constructs such as race, age income and education all predict media use, but do not indicate the likelihood to media multitask, making a significant bracket of today’s youth susceptible to this ever-increasing trend (Foehr, 2006). Some experts argue that if young people media multitask and do so from an early age, our genetics will adapt and we will be able to eventually, through natural selection, be able to do so more efficiently (Foehr, 2006). Regardless, the issue of social network’s impact on

attention raises many questions for our generation. If young people’s media attention is so divided, how can they be reached? Can multitaskers be reached at all? If so, what’s the best medium through which to accomplish this? Are the longterm effects seriously detrimental to our ability as a generation to focus? While more research is needed to assess these questions with confidence, we can conclude that a certain relationship does exist between social networking usage and attention.

References Foehr, U.G. (2006). Media multitasking among American youth: Prevalence, predictors and pairings. The Kaiser Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.kff.org/ent media/7593.cfm Koch, R. (1995). Hick’s law and the psychological refractory period. Paper presented at the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences, Amsterdam.

Levine, L., Waite, B., & Bowman, L. (2007). Electronic media use, reading, and academic distractibility in college youth. Cyber Psychology and Behavior, 10(4) 560-566.

Meyer, D. E., & Kieras, D. E. (1997a). A computational theory of Human multiple-task performance:The EPIC information-processing architecture and strategic response deferment model. Psychological Review, 104, 165-211.

Meyer, D. E., & Kieras, D. E. (1997b). A computational theory of human multiple-task performance: Part 2, Accounts of psychological refractory phenomena.

Psychological Review, 107, 749-791.

Ophir, E. Nass, C., & Wagner, A. (2009). Cognitive control in media multitaskers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(37) Rosen, C. (2008). The myth of multitasking. The New Atlantis, 20,105-110.

Wallis, C. (2007, March 27). The multitasking generation. Time. Retrieved from http://www.time. com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1174.

Wintour, P. (2009). Facebook and Bebo risk of 'infantilising' the human mind. Guardina. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/feb/24/ social-networking-site-changing-childrens-brain

Obregon | Mobile Therapy and Modern Mental Health |

Javanna N. Obregon

Illustration Š Davel Hamue 2010

As of recent, researchers are investigating the applicability of mobile technology, such as cell phones, for various therapeutic treatments. Known as mobile therapy, this treatment method implements text message correspondence between patients and their therapist either in tandem with face-to-face therapy, or as a mean to maintain advances made in therapy post-treatment. The goals of mobile therapy are to keep patients actively engaged with their treatment, alleviate their symptoms, and to increase the effectiveness of traditional face-to-face therapy (Boschen & Casey, 2008). More specifically, mobile therapy is currently being applied to Cognitive Behavioral therapy (CBT) (Boschen & Casey, 2008), a treatment method that focuses on changing one’s thoughts concerning a specific event or object to alter his or her behavioral response (Corey, 2009).

While researchers agree that CBT is an effective treatment for a range of disorders (Bulter, Champman, Forman, & Beck, 2006; Westbrook & Kirk, 2005), they also identify quite a few areas for improvement. These include difficulties with adherence to selfmonitoring methods such as using a journal to record feelings toward treatment and issues with homework assignment completion, both of which are common techniques used in CBT (Boschen & Casey, 2008).

Furthermore, many patients experience difficulties in applying strategies learned in the clinical setting in the real world, which can increase frustration with treatment and lead to relapse. Researchers believe that in combination with CBT, mobile therapy will address these issues, thereby increasing the effectiveness of therapeutic treatments for many patients (Boschen & Casey, 2008).

Thus far, technological devices, such as

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mobile phones and computers, have been successfully implemented in the medical setting, as evident from cancer research (Forbat, Maguire, McCann, Illingworth, & Kearney, 2009) and studies of diabetes (Bellazzi et al., 2004), laying the groundwork for its potential use in the field of mental health. More specifically, researchers believe that mobile therapy will provide patients with immediate feedback and better self-monitoring outside the clinical setting (Boschen & Casey, 2008).

This is important for those receiving CBT because it could improve the quality of treatment in the real world. Also, the brief exchanges will provide clinicians with accurate and regularly updated data to inform treatment plans. With the great proliferation of cell phone usage within modern society, many researchers suggest that the accessibility and prevalence of mobile phone use will increase patient engagement and help with maintenance of treatment over time. Furthermore, mobile therapy could possibly decrease the cost of traditional face-to-face therapy while still maintaining effectiveness (Crow, Mitchell, Crosby, Swanson, Wonderlich, & Lancaster, 2009). The combination of low cost, ease of use, and accessibility in a society that values the use of instant communication could make mobile-based therapy plausible for a wide range of disorders as well as a broad range of patients.

Based on these possible benefits of mobile-based therapy, the treatment has recently been examined for a variety of mental illnesses, including bipolar disorder (Bauer, Grof, Gyulai, Rasgon, Glenn, & Whybrow, 2004), substance abuse disorders (Riley, Obermayer, & Jean-Mary, 2008; Koski-Jannes, Cunningham, & Tolonen, 2009; Obermayer, Riley, Asif, & Jean-Mary, 2004), and eating disorders (Shapiro et al., 2010; Robinson et al., 2006).

Findings from this body of research suggest that people suffering from eating disorders may especially benefit from mobile therapy because these disorders involve specific behaviors (e.g., binging and purging) that must be regularly monitored in terms of both frequency and intensity (Shapiro et al., 2010; Robinson et al., 2006).

Also, eating disorders are typically treated with CBT, leaving those suffering from eating disorders vulnerable to the limitations associated with the use of CBT, the same issues that mobile therapy hopes to rectify. Stated simply, the addition of mobile therapy to CBT could better treat patients with eating disorders by encouraging greater involvement in the therapeutic process through the use of practical and engaging mediums.

According to the developing body of research, text messaging as a treatment for eating disorders appears to be a viable treatment method, however more research needs to be conducted (Shapiro et al., 2010; Robinson et al., 2006). Varying results in replications of mobile therapy studies (Robinson et al., 2006) indicate that researchers must learn and adjust the mechanisms involved in treatment to more effectively treat eating disorders. In a study conducted by Robinson et al. (2006), the researchers used texting messaging to treat patients after they completed conventional inpatient treatment for an eating disorder. Over the course of six months, the participants sent weekly text messages to the researchers that answered questions about their symptomology and general mood. Despite the fact that the researchers were replicating a successful German study conducted by Bauer, Percevic, Okon, Merrmann, & Kordy (2003), Robinson et al. (2006) found that the patients were not fully engaged with the use of mobile therapy. Those patients who were not as engaged as expected cited lack of face-to-face interaction as a reason.

Shapiro et al. (2010) conducted a study that included CBT group therapy and tailored text messages with feedback for the patients. Compared to the Robinson et al. (2006), the patients responded significantly better to the mobile therapy treatment method as evident from the high treatment acceptability. Moreover, the patients showed improvement in the realm of depression, eating disorder, and night eating compared to the baseline (Shapiro et al., 2010). The success of this study suggests that when combined with face-toface therapy and tailored to the individual

Obregon | Mobile Therapy and Modern Mental Health |

patient, mobile therapy can be beneficial for the treatment of eating disorders.

Despite promising results, many limitations exist with these early empirical efforts, such as attrition and the absence of a comparison group (Shapiro et al., 2010).

Leach & Christensen (2006) reviewed the literature of studies on mobile therapy and found that though results support the effectiveness of cell phone-based interventions, these studies were poorly designed: the studies reviewed had small sample sizes, lacked randomized control methods, and rarely conducted intentionto-treat analyses, making the previous conclusions questionable. Therefore, the authors recommend continued investigations that include larger samples with better control in order to truly understand the applicability of technology in the therapeutic setting.

Though previous research may lack rigor, the results of the preceding studies still suggest that mobile therapy is a viable treatment, which should be studied in further detail. Based on the previous research, the benefits of mobile therapy lie in its ability to help patients receive more individual attention from his or her therapists (Shapiro et al., 2010) and the prevalence of cell phone usage among society (Parr, 2010). Moreover, these two benefits combine effortlessly considering society’s increasing tendency to communicate via text messaging as opposed to voice conversations (Parr, 2010).

The combination of instant communication, availability, and user friendliness indicate that mobile-based interventions could be the future of psychotherapy, k?

References Bauer, M., Grof, P., Gyulai, L., Rasgon, N., Glenn, T., & Whybrow, P.C. (2004) Using technology to prove longitudinal studies: Self-reporting with Bipolar Disorder. Bipolar Disorders, 6, 67-74.

Bauer, S., Percevic, R., Okon, E., Meermann, R., & Kordy, H. (2003) Use of text messaging in the aftercare of patients with bulimia nervosa. European Eating Disorders Review, 11(3), 279-290.

Bellazzi, R., Arcelloni, M., Ferrari, P., Decata, P., Hernando, M. E., Garcia, A., Gazzaruso, C., Gomez, E. J., Larizza, C., Fratino, P., & Stefanelli, M. (2004). Management of patients with diabetes through information technology: Tools for monitoring and control of patients' metabolic behavior. Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics, 6(5), 567-578.

Boschen, M. J., & Casey, L. M. (2008). The use of mobile telephones as adjuncts to cognitive behavioral psychotherapy. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 39(5), 546-552.

Corey, G. (2009). Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy. Belmont, CA: Brooks.

Crow, S. J., Mitchell, J. E., Crosby, R. D., Swanson, S. A., Wonderlich, S., & Lancanster, K.(2009). The cost effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy for Bu limia Nervosa delivered via telemedicine versus faceto-face. Behavior Research and Therapy, 47, 451-453.

Forbat, L., Maguire, R., McCann, L., Illingworth, N., & Kearney, N. (2009). The use of technology in cancer care: Applying Foucault's ideas to the changing dynamics of power in health care. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 65(2), 306-315.

Koski-Jannes, A., Cunninham, J., & Tolonen, K. (2009).

Self-assessment of drinking on the internet: 3-, 6-, and 12- month follow-ups. Alcohol & Alcoholism, 44(3), 301-305.

Leach, L.S., & Christensen, H. (2006). A systematic review of telephone-based interventions for mental disorders.

Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, 12(3), 122-129.

Obermayer, J.L., Riley, W.T., Asif, O., & Jean-Mary, J. (2004). College smoking-cessation using cell phone text messaging. Journal of American College Health, 53(3), 71-78.

Parr, B. (2010, October 16). The average teenager sends 3,339 texts per month. [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://mashable.com Riley, W., Obermayer, J., & Jean-Mary, J. (2008). Internet and mobile phone text messaging interventions for college smokers. Journal of American College Health, 57(2), 245-248.

Robinson, S., Perkins, S., Bauer, S., Hammond, N., Treasure, J., & Schmidt, U. (2006). Aftercare intervention through text messaging in the treatment of Bulimia Nervosa: Feasibility pilot. International Journal of Eat ing Disorders, 39(8), 633-638.

Shapiro, J. R., Bauer, S., Andrews, E., Pisetsky, E., BulikSullivan, B., Hamer, R. M., & Bulik, C. M.. (2009). Mobile therapy: Use of text- messaging in the treatment of Bulimia Nervosa. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 43(6), 513-519.

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Washington Square Rorschach a creative submission by Annabelle C. Moore

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The Political Bystander Effect: Evidence for Further Investigation Kirk DeSoto Statement of Personal Position This paper will present my stance on political/civic engagement, the bystander effect, and a possible relationship between these constructs. I have studied political and economic systems for several years and consider myself to be what trends forecaster Gerald Celente (1997) calls a ‚political atheist,‛ removed from partisanship. I subscribe to the ideologies of the founding fathers of America, wherein all men are created equal and are thereby free men and women on the land.

Economically I lean more towards the Austrian School of Economics doctrine, which believes in sound money and the ability to let a free commercial market regulate itself. In terms of the bystander effect, I am well read in Darley and Latane’s (1968) work on the subject and principally similar studies, such as the Stanley Milgram obedience and Philip Zimbardo’s Stanford prison experiments which established social systems that challenged and tested participants’ responses to these experimental situations. I do believe that socially established systems can make individuals act and react different than if faced with the same dilemma in nonsocial situations. This phenomenon was also well documented by the father of public relations, Edward Bernays.

With that said, I am aware of my own cultural biases in the conceptualization of my argument and how they may guide my conclusions. I present this position paper as the beginning of a dialogue on the interdisciplinary connection between politics and psychology.

A nation’s political atmosphere, that is, a nation’s form of government (e.g., democracy, republic, socialist state) and its overall political, educational, and economic structure may at times induce a political crisis. Such times of crisis may be evidenced in threats of war from other nations or the risk of an oppressive governmental system from within the nation itself, endangering citizens’ liberties and civil rights (Owens, 2009). For example, the rise of the Third Reich during Nazi Germany (1919-1945) and the atrocities perpetrated under the rule of Mao Zedong (1958-1962) are two well-known historical examples of nations experiencing political crises. The political systems present in these examples transferred power to the State and away from the people, thus ensuring the rights of government over the rights of the people. In China alone, approximately 45 million people were worked, starved, or beaten to death over a four-year period (Akbar, 2010). Similarly, a reported 6 million Jews were killed during World War II (Marrs, 2008). Both tragedies were preceded by a large-scale loss of individual rights and liberties implemented by a governing body (Akbar, 2010; Marrs, 2008).

These contentious political atmospheres prevented citizens from having a political voice and limited their civic engagement (Akbar, 2010; Marrs, 2008).

Similarly, when Western political atmospheres - such as the United States and the United Kingdom - have been in crisis, a collective avoidance of political responsibility and engagement has been common (McHugh, 2006). For example, the formation of the European Union (EU) has been a site of political crisis for British

DeSoto | The Political Bystander Effect

citizens. Under the EU, citizens are unable to vote out treaties and bureaucracies, leading to political indifference and disengagement (Ocana, 2003). Such formation of governmental systems that do not recognize the rights of their citizens is one example of a political crisis which may render citizens to feel hopeless and limit their participation in political activities (i.e. voting or even simply knowing their civil rights). This inaction may be due to a variety of factors, such as individual apathy, political frustration, or perceiving other citizens’ indifference to the political atmosphere (Altbach, 1997; McHugh, 2006).

There is a paucity of research examining the relation between political disengagement and the perceived indifference of others in a crisis situation.

However, the idea that many individuals fail to act in changing their political atmosphere due to their perception of indifference in others is particularly important to consider. Due to the influence that personal political decisions can have on nations and entire societies, it is important to determine what factors lead to personal disengagement from civic responsibility and how these factors may be reduced in order to ensure that individual and national rights and freedoms are upheld.

The idea that personal disengagement may result from observing political indifference in others is grounded in research on the bystander effect (Darley and Latane, 1968), which posits that a significant number of individuals will display a diffusion of responsibility in emergency situations when there are other individuals present. Darley and Latane (1968) suggested that diffusion of responsibility derives not simply from apathetic or alienating dispositions, but from the bystander’s response to other observers’ indifference to an emergency situation. Similarly, political disengagement, that is, lack of participation in political or civic responsibilities, when due to perceived indifference in others may also be seen as diffusion of responsibility. In fact, the emergency situation experienced at the individual level is similar to the experience of a political atmosphere in

crisis at the national level. Therefore, a diffusion of political responsibility will generally include abstention from activities such as voting, becoming politically active in one’s community, and becoming educated on civil rights, political systems, and government functionality (Putnam, 2001).

An individual or group’s diffusion of responsibility may manifest itself differently based on the nature of the situation.

Individuals may diffuse responsibility in a more intimate or emergency situation that requires direct action and typically yields immediate, tangible results or repercussions. An example of responding to an intimate situation may be the protest of a corrupt politician outside his office (Zomeren & Spears, 2009), or meeting with a politician in person to discuss community issues and determine their political agenda (Putnam, 2001). Individuals may also diffuse responsibility in a less tangible emergency, or non-intimate, situation which may result in yielding less tangible future results or repercussions. In a political context, a non-intimate situation could include sending a donation to a charity (Garcia, Weaver, Darley, & Spence, 2009) or strongly supporting or opposing potentially intrusive legislation (Sang, 2004).

Individuals may diffuse responsibility in a given situation because they may base their response on others’ indifference (Darley & Latane, 1968) or they may feel as though even if they chose to act it wouldn’t change anything anyway (Bannon, 2005).

This article encourages further study by (1.) examining the literature of factors that contribute to an individual’s choice to be politically or civically disengaged, (2.) exploring the relationship between a diffusion of responsibility as a reaction to others’ indifference and political disengagement, and (3.) suggesting a framework for further research on the presence of a ‚political bystander effect.‛ Political Disengagement The United States has undergone a decline in political engagement over the last 60 years (Putnam, 2001). Much of the research conducted to determine the attitudes associated with a decline in

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political engagement has been done with emerging adults (Putnam, 2001). Although the political attitudes of emerging adults do not always reflect the same attitudes as other age groups, emerging adults do comprise nearly 50 percent of active U.S. voters (U.S. Census Bureau, 2009). Research shows that much of the decline in political engagement in the United States is due to factors stated earlier, such as apathy or a collective indifference (Altbach, 1997; McHugh, 2006). Determining the factors associated with these collective patterns of political disengagement is important in understanding how these factors can relate to a collective indifference.

Political Identity and Political Disengagement in the United States Despite America’s seemingly civic proactive history, some scholars have shown that Americans are rapidly becoming a loose aggregation of disengaged observers, rather than a strong collectively active group of participants (Putnam, 2001). In fact, this was evident in the U.S. as early as the 1960 presidential election. Despite the overall number of voters increasing from 1960 to 2008, the voting age population turnout percentage declined by 6.3% over that time frame (Putnam, 2001). A study conducted in the United States by Smith and Denton (2005) found that a majority (59%) of emerging adults said that they did not consider themselves to be political. Many of these participants were categorized as essentially apathetic; sub-categories within this group were categorized as uninformed, distrustful, or disempowered (Snell, 2010).

Although this study focuses on emerging adults, similar studies have shown similar results in terms of a decline in civic activities among adults (Putnam, 2001).

In Smith and Denton’s (2005) study, participants described as ‚uninformed‛ (13%) tended to provide short responses to questions regarding politics, identified as not interested in anything political because they simply didn’t know enough about politics to be engaged (Snell, 2010). Based on these responses, researchers concluded that civic engagement for uniformed

participants may merely depend upon someone providing them with necessary information, suggesting that these participants’ civic engagement is contingent upon someone else taking initiative for them. Additionally, many uninformed participants described their friends as uninformed, meaning that their disengagement may have been encouraged by their peers’ indifference towards political engagement (Snell, 2010). Such findings build grounds for considering individual political disengagement as a product of the collective perception of the political system as a whole, indicating that indifference may stem from a collective diffusion of civic responsibility.

Participants described as ‚distrustful‛ (19%) gave elaborate, informed responses to questions about politics (Snell, 2010).

They acknowledged being politically disengaged due to a lack of trust in the political system or politicians (Snell, 2010).

Despite their self-reported extensive knowledge about politics, they still chose to be disengaged. This choice to diffuse civic responsibility, despite their knowledge of politics, may be evidence of a response to a larger societal perception that politicians have not honored their responsibility to meet the needs of their citizens.

Participants described as ‚disempowered‛ (10%), appeared to be politically knowledgeable, but specifically felt that their political activity wouldn’t make a difference (Snell, 2010). Unlike the distrustful group, they didn’t specifically express distrust towards politicians but they felt as though the political system itself could not be influenced by any action they could provide (Snell, 2010). This group reported feeling as though engaging in the collective society would be ‚fruitless‛ and yield no tangible changes (Snell, 2010).

Because this group saw themselves as disempowered collectively, this hopelessness has the potential to be reinforced by peers who share this belief or feel political engagement is futile for whatever reason. If reinforcement occurs, an individual may diffuse civic responsibility, suggesting that the collective perception justifies their

DeSoto | The Political Bystander Effect

position of indifference, thus justifying a cyclical ‚observation of perceived indifference’ and a subsequent ‘diffusion of civic action.‛ Factors Contributing to Political Disengagement Many factors contribute to political disengagement, both individual and collective. Discussed previously, individual factors may include personal apathy, political frustration, or a parroting of a collective political indifference (Altbach, 1997). Additionally, some societal factors that may enhance a nation’s level of political engagement include: a nation’s overall political structure (Snell, 2010), the historical models of education within the nation (King, 2007), and the general economic state of the nation (Shen, 2009).

The type of political structure can often dictate to its members the prescribed levels of political engagement (Snell, 2010).

For instance, if a nation’s political structure is similar to a dictatorship, the people of that nation may be forced into political disengagement, whereas in a democracy political engagement is highly encouraged and essentially required (Snell, 2010). For this purpose it is relevant to focus on nations that are primarily democratic in nature, as many nondemocratic nations do not possess the same criteria to accurately measure levels of its citizen’s political engagement.

War has been found to have a significant influence on the political engagement of a nation’s citizens. While disengagement is usually the norm, citizens’ political engagement can be sparked by a government’s determination to go to war, such as the U.S.’s invasion of Iraq (Hibbs, 2008). War is very costly and can often create more foreign enemies than friends, especially for the aggressor nation (Congressional Budget Office, 2010).

Such factors may encourage the citizens to become more politically involved in support or protest of such war, creating a larger voter turnout in the following election. Two such supporting examples are the U.S. interventions in Vietnam and the invasion of Iraq; in these cases, the

American citizen aggregate collectively sought to express their displeasure for the decisions made by the political party in power, resulting in a change of political parties (Hibbs, 2008). However, in some cases these factors may also dissuade the masses from becoming involved in political affairs. In these situations, at an individual level, political disengagement is often a product of a lack of family relations and social ties (Snell, 2010). For individuals who do not affiliate with a particular political group, disengagement may be easier due to a lack of social and affiliating support, which affiliation with such a political group can offer. However, political party group affiliation alone still does not guarantee political engagement from its members (Snell, 2010).

A nation’s educational system can also play a role in an individual or group’s inclination toward political engagement. A nation’s educational system is often structurally similar to that nation’s political structure (Dee, 2004). If a nation’s sociopolitical norms are set to encourage politically engaging activities like voting, political debate, or citizen involvement, typically its citizens will base their perceived ability to be politically engaged according to the manner in which they were educated (Dee, 2004). Even some liberalism models posit that education is a producer of civic virtue (Edwards, 2009).

In other words, if an individual is more educated, they may be more inclined to be civically active. However, this is not always the case. For instance, in Western nations where higher education is more prevalent and the notion of democracy is present and often promoted, only approximately half of the voting-age population turns out to vote (Information Please, 2008). This may suggest that either the education of civic engagement is not being taught or that it is not being well received. Due to the changes in the educational system since the 1960’s, virtually all of the public schools in the United States removed political education from their curriculum (Iserbyt, 1999). Thus, if emerging adults’ only catalyst for political engagement comes from television or their parents, they may be less likely to

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become involved due to indifference generated from these often conflicting sources (Hoffman & Thomson, 2009).

The economic state of a nation can also determine its citizens’ levels of political engagement. It is often the case that political protests heighten during times of high unemployment and economic instability (Kollewe, 2010).

Negative perception of the strength of the economy can motivate individuals to take a sudden interest in presidential campaigns, search out alternative news outlets, and learn more about politics in general (Shen, 2009). In fact, a nation’s economy has been found to have a strong relationship with factors such as the presidential approval rating, presidential voting results, public opinion, and even government behavior (Shen, 2009). Changes in the economic market, monetary policy, and foreign or domestic threats to economic stability are all factors that affect how an individual may approach political engagement (Shen, 2009). In addition, the economy is also acknowledged as a major contributor of political engagement by politicians. This was evident in the 2008 U.S. election, wherein all the candidates listed the economy as a top issue on their campaign websites (Shen, 2009). However, despite the potential impact that a nation’s economy can have on a citizen’s political engagement, many of the individuals directly affected by the 2008 U.S. banking crisis have done little to become politically engaged (Bransford, 2009).

Despite unemployment rates souring, many individuals, rather than getting politically active, are attempting to wait out the impending second American depression in their tent cities (Bransford, 2009). These thousands of homeless Americans could collectively politically engage to attempt to create a political change, but instead they seem to display collective indifference towards political activity.

Because all of these factors (e.g., political structure, war, educational systems, and economic systems) effect virtually all individuals within a nation, and the source of the political crises tend to stem from a collective diffusion of

responsibility towards political and civic engagement, a consideration of the bystander effect may shed further light on the phenomenon of political disengagement.

The Bystander Effect Darley and Latane’s (1968) research on the bystander effect focused on collective indifference to individual emergency situations and how that indifference may translate into a diffusion of responsibility, resulting in a lack of intervention or action on the part of the individual. While Darley and Latane (1968) discuss the weighing of risks associated with a diffusion of responsibility in an individual emergency situation, their conclusions in a larger sense focus on an individual’s response to others’ indifference. In finding that the more bystanders present in an emergency situation, the slower and less frequent the participants would report the perceived emergency or provide aid, Darley & Latane, 1968 found that an individual’s decision to act depended on the amount of available actors.

Furthermore, a supporting study found that individuals merely prompted to imagine others in a given scenario would respond with a diffusion of responsibility under certain conditions (Garcia, Weaver, Darley, & Moskowitz, 2002). Being primed to even imagine a larger amount of people in a given scenario resulted in a participant subsequently indicating a greater tendency to diffuse the responsibility to help (Garcia et al., 2002). Such evidence could suggest a collectively greater tendency towards apathy, however, participants in all studies showed a greater tendency to help when they imagined fewer actors in the given scenario. Therefore, individual apathy may not be the ultimate cause of the diffusion of responsibility. In other words, when participants feel as though they are the only source of potential help in a given scenario, they may be more driven to help (DeScioli & Kurzban, 2009).

Another important consideration in motivation to help is the potential difference in the responses of men and women. Bystander replications have been conducted to assess the role of gender,

DeSoto | The Political Bystander Effect

finding that women and men’s willingness to help depended on the specific, individual scenario (Latane & Nida, 1981). In other words, there were no differences as a result of gender group, though individual differences were present. This is consistent with Darley and Latane’s (1968) findings that male and female participants reported the perceived emergency in the same fashion; one sex did not report the emergency any faster than the other. In addition, other studies have shown that in the majority of cases the effect of the group’s size holds for both sexes whether or not there is a main effect for sex (Latane & Nida, 1981). In other words, while there are differences in sex and the frequency of types of helping, the group size phenomenon affects both males and females nearly equally (Latane & Nida, 1981). Such investigation suggests that there is something unique about the group size and its generation of greater amounts of responsibility diffusion for most participants, regardless of gender.

The Political Bystander Effect Though researchers have yet to pair the concept of political disengagement with the bystander effect framework, it makes sense that a lack of civic participation may be a function of the perception that there are so many potential actors (in this case, citizens) that one need not be politically engaged. Although there are several different reasons why an individual or group would diffuse any form of responsibility, based on the results of studies conducted concerning the bystander effect, it is reasonable to understand tendencies to diffuse responsibility in emergency situations in response to others’ indifference. While political disengagement and the bystander effect are clearly two different constructs; however, since they may share a similar diffusion of responsibility, further and specific research should be conducted to determine if individuals who exhibit the bystander effect are also politically disengaged. If research can show that these underlying factors are related, then perhaps a theoretical framework can be

established to examine the notion of a political bystander effect.

Conclusion Since political factors affect virtually every individual within any given society, this infers a general collective responsibility in maintaining a safe and protective social climate. When a majority begins to diffuse the responsibility of being civically active, it may eventually place the majority in a subsequent political crisis situation such as the 2008 U.S. banking crisis, which was politically generated (Snow, 2008). The preceding event that lead to the 2008 U.S. banking crisis was the dismantling of the Glass-Steagall Act, passed in 1933 and repealed in 1990 (Rees-Mogg, 2008). The Glass-Steagall Act prevented banks from creating and using speculative derivatives, or ledger reserves; the use of these same forms of derivatives are what caused the stock market crash of 1929 (Caldararo, 2008). In both the 1929 stock market crash and the 2008 U.S. banking crisis, many individuals felt as though someone else would fix the problem (Caldararo, 2008; Rees-Mogg, 2008;). This and other similar examples of citizen civic disengagement tend to show similar characteristics. Thus, if there is found strong correlation between factors that contribute to the bystander effect and political disengagement due to the underlying factor that leads to a diffusion of responsibility (i.e. a response to others indifference), perhaps this correlative could justify further research as to the nature of individual and collective political disengagement. In fact, further research should determine if a diffusion of civic responsibility is due more specifically to collective indifference. If the correlative factor for the lack of engagement toward civic responsibilities is generated from a diffusion of responsibility due to a collective indifference, this correlative data may very well justify further research toward determining a ‚political bystander effect.‛ Therefore, in order to test this notion research should first determine if there is a significant relationship between individuals who self-report as being politically disengaged and individuals who tend to

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exhibit a diffusion of responsibility in emergency situations. Perhaps a replication of the bystander effect study, followed by survey methods about political and civic knowledge and involvement, would be a worthwhile method of investigation. If participants who reported low political and civic engagement also diffused their responsibility to help another individual in the controlled experiment, this may very well justify a codification of a ‚political bystander effect.‛ References Akbar, A. (2010, September 17). Mao’s great leap forward ‘killed 45 million in four years.’ The Independent.

Retrieved from http://www.independent.co.uk/artsentertainment/books/news/maos-great-leapforward-killed-45-million-in-four-years-2081630.html Altbach, P. G. (1997). Student politics in America: A historical analysis. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.

Bannon, D. P. (2005). Relationship marketing and the political process. Journal of Political Marketing, 4(2/3), 73-90.

Bransford, S. (2009). Tarp nation: Squatter villages and tent cities in the economic crisis. Utne Reader.

Retrieved from http://www.utne.com/Politics/ Squatter-Villages-Tent-Cities-Informal-UrbanismEconomic-Crisis.aspx Caldararo, N. (2008, March 10). Origins of subprime crisis: Derivatives. Economic Populist. Retrieved from http://www.economicpopulist.org/content/originssubprime-crisis-derivatives.

Celente, G. (1997). Trends 2000: How to prepare for and profit from the changes of the 21st century. New York: Grand Central.

Congressional Budget Office (2010). Monthly budget review. Washington DC: Congressional Budget Office. Retrieved from http://usgovinfo.about.com/ gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.cbo.gov/ Darley, J. M., & Latane, B. (1968). Bystander intervention in emergencies: Diffusion of responsibility. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 8(4), 377-383.

Dee, T. S. (2004). Are there civic returns to education?

Public Journal of Economics, 88, 1697-1720.

DeScioli, P., & Kurzban, R. (2009). Mysteries of morality.

Cognition, 112, 281-299.

Edwards, K. (2009). Disenfranchised not ‘deficient’: How the (neoliberal) state disenfranchises young people.

Australian Journal of Social Issues, 44(1).

Garcia, S. M., Weaver, K., Darley, J. M., & Moskowitz, G. B. (2002). Crowed minds: the implicit bystander effect.

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(4), 843-853.

Garcia, S. M., Weaver, K., Darley, J. M., & Spence, B. T. (2009). Dual effects of implicit bystanders: Inhibiting versus facilitating helping behavior. Journal of Consumer Pyschology, 19(2), 215-224.

Hibbs, D. A. (2008). Implications of the ‘bread and peace’ model for the 2008 US presidential election. Public Choice, 137, 1-10.

Hoffman, L. H., & Thomson, T. L. (2009). The effect of television viewing on adolescents’ civic participation: political efficacy as a mediating mechanism. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 53(1), 3-21.

Iserbyt, C. T. (1999). The deliberate dumbing down of America. Avenna, Ohio: Conscience Press.

King, K. (2007). Multilateral agencies in the construction of the global agenda on education. Comparative Education, 43(3), 377-391.

Kollewe, J. (2010). Global unemployment to trigger further social unrest, UN agency forecasts. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.guardian. co.uk/ business/2010/oct/01/job-market-recessionsocial-unrest-ilo Latane, B., & Nida, S. (1981). Ten years of research on group size and helping. Psychological Bulletin, 89(2), 308-324.

Marrs, J. (2008). The rise of the fourth reich. New York: Harper Collins.

McHugh, D. (2006). Wanting to be heard but not wanting to act? Addressing political disengagement.

Parliamentary Affairs, 59(3), 546-552.

Ocana, J. C. (2003). The treaties of Rome. The History of the European Union: The European Citizenship. http://www.historiasiglo20.org/europe/traroma.htm Owens, J. E. (2009). Congressional acquiescence to presidentialism in the US ‘war on terror’. Journal of Legislative Studies, 15, 147-190.

Putnam, R.D. (2001). Civic disengagement in contemporary America. Government and Opposition, 36(2), 135-156.

Rees-Mogg, W. (2008, September 25). The Glass-Steagall act kept banks in order until 1990. Daily Reckoning.

Retrieved from http://www.dailyreckoning.com.au/ glass-steagall-act-banks/2008/09/25/ Sang, B. (2004). Choice, participation and accountability: assessing the potential impact of legislation promoting patient and public involvement in health in the UK. Health Expectations, 7(3), 187-190.

Shen, F. (2009). An economic theory of political communication effects: how the economy conditions political learning. Communication Theory, 19, 374-396.

Smith, C., & Denton, M. L. (2005). Soul searching: The religious and spiritual lives of American teenagers.

New York: Oxford University Press.

Snell, P. (2010). Emerging adult civic and political disengagement: a longitudinal analysis of lack of involvement with politics. Journal of Adolescent Research, 25(2), 258-287.

Snow, M. (2008). Where’s the bank bailout money? U.S. News CNN.com. Retrieved from http://www.cnn. com/2008/US/12/22/bailout.accountability/index.

U.S. Census Bureau. (2009). Voter turnout increases by 5 million in 2008 presidential election, U. S. Census Bureau reports. Retrieved from http://www.census. gov/newsroom/releases/archives/voting/cb09-110 Zomeren, M. V., & Spears, R. (2009). Metaphors of protest: A classification of motivations for collective action.

The Journal of Social Issues, 65(4), 661-679.

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Perceptions of Womanhood:

Discourse on Female Genital Mutilation

Melissa Fulgieri Photos © Laura Cunningham 2010

Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female circumcision, as defined by the World Health Organization (2010), comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. Four types of procedures comprise FGM, including: circumcision, or the cutting the prepuce or hood of the clitoris; excision, or the removal of all or part of the clitoris and labia minora; and infibulation, the cutting of the clitoris, labia minora, and at least part of the labia major. In particular, infibulation involves joining the two sides of the vulva together, narrowing the vaginal opening to only allow for either the flow or urine or menstruation. The fourth type of FGM is labeled “other,” including all other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes. FGM is most widely performed in more than twenty countries in Africa, specifically in the western, northern, and eastern regions of the continent. Additionally, FGM is routine in

certain parts of the Middle East and Asia, specifically among the Muslim populations of Indonesia and Malaysia, and among the Bohran Muslims in India, Pakistan, and East Africa (Dorkenoo, 1994). Despite such prevalence, the exact origins of FGM remain unknown. Evidence dates FGM back to ancient Egypt, the custom potentially growing from the ancient Egyptian belief in the bisexuality of Pharaonic gods (Assaad, 1980). In this ancient belief, individuals were said to have two “souls,” one masculine and one feminine. These souls were believed to reside in the individual’s opposite sexual organ and it was understood that in order to descend into womanhood, an adolescent girl needed to remove the part of her that contained her “male” soul, or the clitoris (Assaad, 1980).

At first glance, there seems to be an overwhelming surge of advocacy against the tradition of FGM in Ghana, and in a larger sense, West Africa. It has been found that an estimated 100 million to 140 million girls and women in the world today

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have undergone some form of FGM and two million are expected to partake in the practice each year. The continent of Africa, where FGM exists in at least twenty-six countries, remains the region of the globe where women are most susceptible to undergoing the procedure (Kouba, 1985).

Consequently, many organizations worldwide are focusing their efforts on completely eradicating the practice in Africa and other parts of the world. In fact, in 1997, the World Health Organization issued a joint statement with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) condemning the practice of FGM (World Health Organization, 2010).

Despite efforts to eradicate FGM, the practice persists due its support as a rite of passage by those who live where FGM is widely prevalent. While the World Health Organization estimates that between 100 to 140 million girls and women worldwide have undergone the procedure, many women who advocate for its continuation have been circumcised themselves. Therefore, it is difficult to separate an understanding of the potential physical effects of FGM (including chronic urinary tract and pelvic infections, uncontrolled bleeding, complications during childbirth, infertility, severe pain during intercourse, and formation of deltoid cysts) from culturally constructed motives for support of FGM despite such effects.

Furthermore, beyond these physical effects are possible psychological results of the procedure, which may include terror and chronic anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and other demonstrations of trauma and humiliation (Dorkenoo, 1994). Although such effects have been reported, there is need for further research, as many women demonstrate only subtle psychological symptoms possibly indicating repression, denial, and acceptance of social norms (Toubia, 1994).

The opposing viewpoints on FGM create a divide between activist groups who are adamantly against the procedure and yet have never experienced it firsthand, and those who grew up in a society, such as rural Ghana, which recognizes the

normalcy of female circumcision and therefore fervently believe in continuing the procedure for young girls. Because of this divide, it is important to consider the cultural systems entangled in our understanding of FGM. In my reflection, I hope to discuss the rural Ghanaian perspective on FGM and how it relates to the opinions of Western culture. I also intend to explore the potentiality of FGM enhancing or diminishing one’s own sense of womanhood depending on ideologies that pertain to this difference in geographical locations.

Many Ghanaian organizations are working to eradicate the procedure of FGM through the implementation of laws, education and outreach programs. Although Ghana was the first country to criminalize FGM in 1994, Ghanaian advocacy groups continue to focus their efforts on generating stricter laws that more effectively prevent the procedure. The existing law demands that those who are prosecuted face a prison sentence of at least three years. However, the Ghanaian Association for Women’s Welfare (GAWW) has proposed that family members who allow their daughters to undergo a circumcision procedure should also be liable for punishment, not solely the practitioners who perform the procedure. Additionally, the Ghanaian chapter of the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) has called for stricter laws that penalize those performing the procedure (Medical News Today, 2004). An additional law supporting the criminalization of FGM in Ghana includes the Domestic Violence Act of 2003, which protects the rights of women and children. Although the act is not specifically geared towards criminalizing FGM cases, it protects the victims of all cases of violence against women (Ako, 2009). The implication of including FGM in this law suggests that the procedure is in fact seen as an act of violence against women.

There have been many Western, outsider efforts to see that the prevalence of FGM procedures ceases. In 1997, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nation Children’s Fund (UNICEF) issued a joint statement against the practice of FGM. A February 2008 statement from WHO and UNICEF was

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met with support from the United Nations because it provided new evidence regarding the practice of FGM and increased recognitions of human and legal rights violations. The statement put forth new information on the damaging effects of FGM on women, girls, and newborn babies as mentioned above (Toubia, 1994).

Efforts from Western culture to stop FGM have since included: reconstruction of legal frameworks within countries that widely practice the procedure; and the development of international involvement groups that raise awareness and advocacy against FGM. Such groups believe that if practicing communities decide to abandon FGM as a medical procedure, the cultural practice will be eliminated quickly, and therefore these groups spread awareness about FGM as a harmful medical procedure. In 2008, the World Health Organization focused on three categories of assistance in eliminating FGM: participation in international, regional, and local efforts; generating knowledge about the causes and consequences of the practice by conducting various research projects; and guidance for health professionals on how to treat women who have undergone procedures (WHO, 2010).

Although the medical practice of FGM was made illegal in Ghana in 1994, the interminable opinion of those living in Northern Ghana, is that the procedure is culturally and practically necessary.

Groups that still widely practice circumcision are the Frafra, among other communities in the north and various

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communities in the capital city of Accra, such as the Nima and Madina, who contain large concentrations of migrants from the north (Ankomah, 2010). These communities continue to view the procedure as an important ritual that marks the transition from childhood to adulthood. Despite the existence of the law, FGM is still practiced in these areas while most of the perpetrators remain unprosecuted (Medical News Today, 2004). Protectors of the ritual believe that FGM is necessary for a girl to enter womanhood. In fact, the ceremony surrounding the actual procedure traditionally is seen as a social function that symbolizes puberty (Ankomah, 2010). More specifically, it is believed that during the ceremony a woman is given the skills and information needed to complete her many duties as a wife and a mother. Other cultures outside of Ghana believe that if you are not circumcised, you are simply less of a woman. For example, many practicing communities believe that FGM is preferable and makes a woman more hygienic and aesthetically pleasing since female genitalia is viewed as ugly, offensive and/or dirty (IRIN News, 2004).

In such cultures, the procedure is also believed to be necessary in reducing a woman’s sexual desire, thus ensuring virginity at marriage (Razor’s Edge, 2005).

In fact, women who have not undergone the procedure are believed to have uncontrollable and overactive sex drives, which the culture views as a sign of inevitable promiscuity and adultery. As mentioned above, the most invasive circumcision procedure, infibulation, involves removing all female genitals, including clitoris, labia majora, and labia minora and stitching up a single, small opening that is meant for urine and menstrual flow. This procedure has the same intent but also reduces the size of the vaginal canal, aiming to increase the husband’s enjoyment of sexual intercourse. This ideology causes many advocacy groups against FGM to assert the “bodies of young girls affected by FGM are literally molded [towards] male satisfaction” (Akintunde, 2010, p. 193).

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Other communities carry out the procedure because they believe that FGM makes a woman more fertile and thus increases the chances of her children’s survival. Others believe that the clitoris has the power to kill a baby if it comes into contact with the child during childbirth, as the secretions of the clitoris are also believed to kill sperm.

As discussed, the very foundations of FGM as understood and performed in rural Ghana suggest that the sexuality of a woman is dirty, unsightly, and unnecessary. Furthermore, the existence of a woman’s sexual exploration is seen as posing a threat to the status and opportunities of a man (Braddy, 2007), and thus FGM is believed to be essential.

Perhaps the reason for such an impediment in eliminating FGM is a result of the major discrepancy between FGMsupporting and Western cultures’ ideologies regarding gender inequality.

Western cultures, which represent a majority of the groups advocating against FGM, have made a conscious attempt to eliminate gender inequality in their societies. On the other hand, the cultures that continue to perform FGM are still plagued by fervent gender inequality that is not only fostered by males, but also by the women elders who see no other alternative way of life. In other words, in societies where women rely on community and spousal support for survival, a decision to forgo circumcision may have negative outcomes, such as shame for the woman’s family and exclusion from the society. As a result, women themselves are often the strongest advocates of the practice, because they believe it will “ensure necessary advantages for their female children” (Braddy, 2007, p. 158). It seems as though gender inequality is an integral part of a society’s promotion of FGM and therefore, the predominance of FGM as a procedure may be a function of the strict gender roles that have been socially constructed and maintained for years. With the existence of FGM, young girls are taught to believe that having any sexual pleasure is strictly allotted to their husband and that the possibility of their

own sexual desire is disgusting and inappropriate (Braddy, 2007). Thus, a vicious cycle is perpetuated between men who have sense of ownership over women and women who have been brought up believing this is the norm or status quo.

With these foundations strictly in place, it’s no surprise that womanhood means a very different thing in rural Ghanaian communities than it means in Western culture.

Even though a woman herself may not agree with FGM, she will most likely experience pressure from society, which dictates the status quo regardless of her viewpoint. For example, families often coerce their daughters to undergo the procedure because it makes them more marriageable and marketable to the other sex. The operation ensures their daughters will have willing suitors and ensures them a suitable bridal price. In fact, many men will not even consider marrying a girl who has not been circumcised. Furthermore, once it is revealed that a woman has not been circumcised, other circumcised girls will no longer associate with her. The pressure to undergo the procedure is immense; women who refuse what is socially expected are often isolated, ostracized, and prohibited from marriage (Braddy, 2007, p. 160). Moreover, an uncircumcised woman is often called derogatory names and denied access to roles that other adult women in the community are allowed to occupy. This in turn produces shame and embarrassment for those who will not undergo the process (Dorkenoo, 1994). In addition,

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many communities insist on the procedure occurring anywhere from two weeks after birth to toddlerhood, eliminating the possibility for a woman to make her own decision about the practice. In fact, it is assumed that her guardians or parents make the decision for her, which sheds light on the major limitation of the law criminalizing the practice. Unfortunately, the laws preventing FGM do not hold the accomplices who help the FGM practitioner such as family and parents accountable, “therefore the parents that coerce their daughters to undergo the procedure are an instrumental force in the unrelenting prevalence of the procedure that continue to escape prosecution” (Irin News, 2004).

Furthermore, Florence Ali, the president of the Ghanaian Association for Women’s Welfare explains, “if these collaborators [such as families of the women] are left free, the traditional practices will continue” (Medical News Today, 2004). If a woman does not undergo FGM, it’s likely that she will face public and private isolation, life without children or a husband, will be seen as dirty and unclean, and perhaps not even acknowledged as a woman by her own culture.

Although it might be tempting for one to conclude that FGM is a detrimental practice that must be swiftly eradicated, it is apparent that difference cultures have different ways of perceiving the practice.

It is only through understanding the cultural significance of FGM that advocacy groups will be able to make any progress in asking women to reconsider their decision to practice FGM. Perhaps in order to improve the current situation, instead of merely providing education on the possible risks of the procedure, advocacy groups should offer a more egalitarian approach in discussing the cultural foundations of FGM. Perhaps advocacy groups need to relinquish their control as the “experts” and in turn, allow those who have undergone the procedure to play a more active role in unmasking the complicated controversies of the situation.

It is only through understanding the complex underlying cultural, social, and psychological factors involved that a

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sustained change can be developed and be beneficial for all parties.

References Akintunde, D. O. (2010). Female genital mutilation: A socio-cultural gang up against womanhood.

Feminist Theology, 18(2), 192-205.

Ako, M.A.,&Akweongo, P. (2009). The limited effectiveness of legislation against female genital mutilation and the role of community beliefs in upper east region, Ghana.Reproductive Health Matters, 17(34), 47-54.

Ankomah, A. (2010). Ghana: Adolescents. International Encyclopedia of Sexuality. Retrieved from: http://www2.huberlin.de/sexology/IES/ghana.html Assaad, M.B. (1980). Female circumcision in Egypt: social implications, current research, and prospects for change. Studies in Family Planning, 11(1), 3-16.

Braddy, C. M. &, Files, J. A. (2007). Female genital mutilation: cultural awareness and clinical considerations. Journal of Midwifery & Woman’s Health, 52(2), 158-163.

Dorkenoo, E. &, Elworthy, S. (1994).Female genital mutilation. Health and Medicine, 63, 396-403.

Kouba, L.J. &, Muasher, J. (1985). Female circumcision in Africa: An overview. African Studies Review, 28, 95-110.

Toubia, N. (1994).Female circumcision as a public health issue. The New England Journal of Medicine, 331, 712-716.

---. (2004). Female Genital Mutilation in Ghana.

Retrieved from: http://www.medicalnewstoday. com/articles/5681.php ---.(2004). Ghana: Women Calls for Stricter Circumcision Laws. IRIN: Humanitarian News and Analysis.

Retrieved from http://www.irinnews.org

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The Elephant in the Classroom: The Elephant in the Classroom:

A Policy Proposal for Bilingual Education in California Public Schools

THIAGO C.S. MARQUES In 2000, the United States’ foreign-born, or immigrant, population measured 31 million, accounting for about 11% of the total U.S. population. With the foreign-born population exceeding 34 million in 2004, demographers predict that by 2010, the foreign-born population is expected to reach 42-43 million, accounting for over 13% of the total U.S. population. Over 16 million of these immigrants were from predominantly Spanish-speaking Latin America, representing 52% of the total foreign-born population (Malone, Baluja, Costanzo, & Davis, 2003). Moreover, first and second generation immigrants are the fastest growing group of the U.S. child population, which includes 60% of all Hispanic-American children (Zhou, 1997).

However, because of interstate differences in migration patterns within the U.S., these estimates are somewhat limited. For instance, of the foreign-born population in 2000, more than 38% lived in the Western United States (Malone et al., 2003). Given this pattern of emigration, certain states, such as California, have a substantially larger number of immigrants than the rest of the country.

California’s population of 34 million makes up about 12% of U.S. residents, but includes about 33% of U.S. immigrants and 40% of unauthorized foreigners. Onefourth of California residents emigrated to the United States, another one-fifth were born in the country but have at least one immigrant parent, and over 50% of California’s children have at least one parent who is foreign-born (García y Griego & Martin, 2000). Since 1990, one-third of the California’s annual growth in population is comprised of immigrants, and is expected

to continue growing. Latinos are projected to be the largest ethnic group in the state by 2021 (Alonzo-Diaz & Wu, 2005).

Undoubtedly, the societal and demographic trend of immigration and efforts at integrating immigrants are amid the most pressing policy matters contending California residents and policymakers.

When immigrant children enter California schools, they confront challenges that include cultural differences, minimal exposure to socioeconomic capital, and limited healthcare access (Wolfe, 1994). As evident in the literature, these issues are detrimental to the development of children’s cognitive, socio-emotional, and motor functioning (Brooks-Gunn, Duncan, & Aber (eds.), 1997a; 1997b; Petitto, 2009).

Research also suggests that language barriers constrain children’s capacity to not only develop normally, but flourish fully in their economic, social, political or spiritual spheres. This is an especially important consideration, as most immigrant children enter the school system with little to no proficiency of the English language (Alkire, 2002; Garrison, Roy, & Azar, 1999). State legislators can improve the educational realities unraveling in California and provide its rapidly expanding immigrant children population with a comprehensive education curriculum that both facilitates the development of English, and also fosters language skills in the child’s native tongue.

Empirical Support for Bilingual Education Until recently, a prevalent belief in the United States was that childhood bilingualism led to cognitive and linguistic deficits (Darcy, 1953). Coupled with contemporary

Marques | A Policy Proposal for Bilingual Education in California Public Schools

social unease and ethnic prejudices, results of standardized testing employed faulty research approaches, which garnered support for English-only instruction. Newly arrived immigrants performed poorly on exams measuring intelligence, verbal abilities such as vocabulary and written composition, and were often compared to monolingual participants of higher socioeconomic statuses, a methodological concern regularly overlooked in several empirical studies of the time (Barke & PerryWilliams, 1938; Carrow, 1957; Macnamara, 1966).

A large body of recent research, however, shows that children who become fluent in two languages are actually advanced in cognitive development and display advantages over their monolingual peers. Studies incorporating brain-imaging indicates that acquiring and developing early proficiency in two languages affects the density of neuronal connections in language areas of the left hemisphere, which might suggest an ability to meet the demands of both their language environments, further enhancing language skills in each (Mechelli et al., 2004). Bilingual children surpass their monolingual peers on tests in the areas of analytical reasoning, concept formation, cognitive flexibility, and selective attention – abilities that help children understand and classify objects, events, or ideas in different situations (Bialystok, 2001; Bialystok & Martin, 2004).

They are also advanced in detecting grammar and meaning errors, as well as other aspects of metalinguistic awareness.

Furthermore, if two languages share phonological features and letter sounds, children are more readily able to transfer their skills in phonological awareness in one language to the other (Bialystok, McBrideChang, & Luk, 2005; Snow & Kang, 2006).

These characteristics, as noted earlier, facilitate reading achievement and are important for children’s acquisition of advanced discourse and emergent literacy skills, characteristics that largely inform eventual success in reading and fluency in speaking (Whitehurst & Lonigan, 1998).

Children can acquire a second language in two ways. Young children can become bilingual by acquiring both languages simultaneously early on in childhood or by learning a second language after mastering the first (Genesee, 2008). An example of simultaneous dual language learning is when parents regularly communicate with their child using two different languages since birth. Children of bilingual parents who teach them both languages in infancy and early childhood show no extraordinary difficulties in mastering language development. Preschoolers gain basic native skills in the language of their immediate community and moderate proficiency in the second language, depending on how often they come into contact with it (Genesee, 2001). From the beginning, bilingual children discriminate between their language systems, distinguishing their sounds, comprehending comparable words in each, and achieving early language goals according to a typical developmental trajectory (Conboy & Thal, 2006; Genesee & Nicoladis, 2007; Holowka, Brosseau-LaprĂŠ, & Petitto, 2002). Research also finds that children who participate in early bilingual code-mixing (e.g., using elements from two languages in the same statement) demonstrate communicative competence and a growing capacity to manage the use of their two languages in socially appropriate ways (Comeau, Genesee, & Mendelson, 2007; King, 2006).

The second model of dual language acquisition reviews the nuances of preschool-age children picking up a second language after already speaking a first. For example, when children are introduced to and speak only their primary language at home during the first one or two years of life and then attend preschool programs in which another language is used. Initially, these English language learners tend to utter common expressions that use few language units, suggesting that children rely a great deal on previously acquired and memorized phrases (e.g., look it, wait a minute, lemme see) (Tabors, 1997; Wong Fillmore, 1979). The phonological acquisition of sequential second language learners

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can also vary from simultaneous language learners in the form of a discernible foreign accent (Flege, 1999). Lexical learning can also differ since children are more cognitively mature when this process begins taking place, and can employ their knowledge of the first language’s lexicon to develop vocabulary in the second language faster (Winitz, Gillespie, & Starcev, 1995).

Given that this form of second language acquisition is successive, it is important to study these English language learners (ELLs) separately from simultaneous bilinguals, especially when considering education policy. There are practical reasons for studying preschool-age children. Research validates that during the preschool years, children develop their basic academic language and literacy abilities (Genesee, Lindholm-Leary, Saunders, & Christian, 2007). Such findings are leading policymakers and early childhood educators (e.g., Early Head Start, Head Start) to recognize the decisive role of programs that develop and foster fundamental language functioning in preschool children. This growing body of literature provides empirical evidence supporting the development of new bilingual education programs in the nation.

Normative Support for Bilingual Education Other sources of information, such as government treatises and international conventions, further strengthen incentive to reform bilingual education in the States.

For instance, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN General Assembly, 1989) outlines the social and cultural, economic, and political rights of children in a comprehensive list of 54 articles guided by the basic principle that all children (i.e., all human beings below the age of 18) are born with fundamental freedoms and the inherent rights of all human beings. Articles 28 and 29, in particular, devote effort to the topic of education and a child’s unconditional right to have access to it: States Parties recognize the right of the child to education, and with a view to achieve this right progressively and on the basis of equal

opportunity, they shall in particular: (a) Make primary education compulsory and available free to all [and] (e) Take measures to encourage regular attendance at schools and the reduction of dropout rates (Article 28; UN General Assembly, 1989).

Additionally, Article 29 reports: “States Parties agree that the education of the child shall be directed to: (a) The development of the child’s personality, talent and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential” (United Nations General Assembly, 1989). Although the aforementioned articles reinforce the right of children to education, it does not provide sufficient rationale for States Parties to consider a bilingual curriculum.

The premises of Article 8, however, can and should be considered in supporting such a curriculum: (1) States Parties undertake to respect the right of the child to preserve his or her identity, including nationality, name and family relations as recognized by law without unlawful interference. (2) Where a child is illegally deprived of some or all of the elements of his or her identity, States Parties shall provide appropriate assistance and protection, with a view to reestablishing speedily his or her identity” (UN General Assembly, 1989).

Linguistic anthropological studies have noted that individuals create, understand, and share their identities through the use of language (Bucholtz & Hall, 2004; Schieffelin & Ochs, 1986). Moreover, Article 30 discusses States Parties’ obligation to protect a child’s culture, which previous research demonstrates has a bidirectional relationship with language; culture and language are embedded within one another (Schieffelin & Ochs, 1986): In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities or persons of indigenous origin exist, a child belonging to such a minority or who is indigenous shall not be denied the right, in community with other members of his or her group, to

Marques | A Policy Proposal for Bilingual Education in California Public Schools

enjoy his or her own culture, to profess and practise [sic] his or her own religion, or to use his or her own language (UN General Assembly, 1989).

Surprisingly, as of 2008, the United States has not ratified the articles negotiated at the Convention and, therefore, has no official responsibility to adhere to it (Child Rights Information Network, 2009). Regardless of the United States’ official stance on these articles, the Millennium Development Goals, derived at the United Nations Millennium Summit in September 2000 from the Millennium Declaration, has endeavored to achieve universal primary education, arguing that “better education is fundamental to the prospects for economic and social development and the end of world poverty” (UN Development Programme, 2009).

According to the capabilities-based approach (Alkire, 2005), peoples and institutions should aim to expand the freedom that marginalized people have, so that they may be able to access the essential constructive resources (e.g., education, healthcare) and agency deemed imperative in making choices that matter to them, while not inhibiting the potential for longterm human fulfillment (Alkire, 2003; Alkire, 2005). Institutions have a responsibility to implement strategies that safeguard peoples from direct (e.g., genocide, soil degradation) and indirect (e.g., overinvestment in military, underinvestment in public healthcare) critical and pervasive threats, ultimately preserving the rights and freedoms pertaining “to survival, to lively-hood, and to basic dignity” (Alkire, 2003, p. 3). By not providing immigrant children with scientifically-sound and morally-supported educational opportunities, governing entities fail to safeguard children from threats like poverty, which empirical data suggests increases as years of education decreases (DeNavas-Walt, Proctor, & Smith, 2010). Even more alarming, Hispanics accounted for nearly 34% of young children living in poverty in 2003 (Barrueco, Lopez, & Miles, 2007). Empirical sources of information and normative

values of morality make very explicit the need for bilingual education programs, especially in California where the growing Hispanic population is at risk.

Dual Language Programs The advantages of bilingualism strongly warrant investment in bilingual education programs, and the rationale behind the dual language approach to education for English language learners is especially salient in California. For instance, the educational advantage of dual language programs is that they rely heavily on the systematic use of the English-learners’ home language. Research has demonstrated that English language learners draw upon their abilities, understanding, and experiences associated with their home language, regardless of whether it is a dual language or English-only program (Genesee, Lindholm-Leary, Saunders, & Christian, 2005). Dual language programs build upon the natural acquisition strategies of English language learners’ through bootstrapping (e.g., using their developed, primary language to help learn a second language) resulting in English literacy (Genesee, Lindholm-Leary, Saunders, & Christian, 2005).

Currently in California, there are a number of school programs that offer alternatives to mainstream education agendas for educating English language learners. Alternative programs differ in primary goals, theoretical rationale, and intended student populations. These programs include: (a) transitional bilingual, (b) developmental bilingual, and (c) two-way immersion.

Transitional Bilingual Occasionally referred to as early-exit bilingual education, transitional bilingual education (TBE) has traditionally been the most widely used form of bilingual education for English language learners in the United States (Moran & Hakuta, 1995).

Academic instruction is in the English learner’s native tongue, but they simultaneously learn English. Transitional bilingual education aims to achieve proficiency of grade-respective academic skills and knowledge; it does not aim for full bilingualism, rather monolingualism (California DoE,

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2010). These alternative programs focus on expediting English language acquisition and helping children transition to Englishonly mainstream classrooms. Transitional programs teach English language learners in their first language during kindergarten and first grade. The transition to English occurs in second and third grades (Gersten & Woodward, 1995). Essentially, TBE does not facilitate the ELs’ development of their native language and is viewed as a remedial program, which replaces the home language with English (Genesee & Gándara, 1999).

Developmental Bilingual Commonly referred to as late-exit or maintenance bilingual education, DBE (developmental bilingual education) uses ELLs’ native language and English for academic instruction throughout their primary grades and begins transitioning students to English in late elementary and early middle school, as opposed to second and third grades. Many ELL students learn to speak English conversationally within their first 2 years of instruction, but research shows that, by high school, most students are able to use English to learn academic subjects and perform at the same level with native English-speaking classmates, between five to seven years (Paradis, 2007). However, whenever necessary, DBE is implemented in high school as well. DBE programs aspire to uphold high levels of academic success, while promoting full mastery in the students’ home language and English in academics (California DoE, 2010).

Two-Way Immersion Implementation of two-way immersion (TWI) programs, also known as two-way bilingual education or dual language immersion, has been steadily increasing.

TWI integrates language and academic instruction for native English-speakers and English language learners aims to promote high levels of academic achievement and self-esteem, first and second language proficiency, and cross-cultural understanding (Padilla, 2006). Language-majority students become exposed to the difficulties English language learners confront in their attempt to learn new material in a different language. Such exposure and

integration can essentially promote a better learning environment for all students and decreases fears and anxieties associated with speaking a new language, making mistakes, and doubt of intelligence.

Beginning in primary school and extending five to seven years, TWI programs tend to operate between kindergarten and senior year of high school. A TWI classroom consists of equal numbers of English language learners and native English speakers (e.g., 50:50 model), and provides at least 50% of instruction in the partner language, but is delivered in one language at a time without translation (California Department of Education, 2010; Howard & Sugarman, 2009). Classroom instruction aims to integrate language-minority and language-majority students at least 60% of the time, and are additive programs, in which a second language is mastered while maintaining the native language (Howard & Sugarman, 2001; Howard et al., 2007).

TWI programs also vary in the language of choice for initial literacy instruction. In 2001, 31% of national programs used language-minority initial instruction, contrasting the 53% of programs in California (Howard & Sugarman, 2001). Implementing a two-way bilingual immersion program does not necessarily require two teachers; one teacher who is proficient in both languages will suffice (California DoE, 2010). For the language blocks of instruction, however, educators are encouraged to teach in teams so that students can identify with one model in each language; this is especially true in kindergarten through second grade (California DoE, 2010).

Current Policy Proposal Empirical evidence demonstrates the degree to which two-way immersion programs facilitate bilingual oral and academic performance among not only Englishlanguage learning Hispanics, but Englishspeaking children as well. A voluminous body of research compares the standardized achievement scores of students participating in TWI curriculums to those in other programs, and finds that duallanguage Hispanics and English-speakers

Marques | A Policy Proposal for Bilingual Education in California Public Schools

perform as well or better on tests in Spanish and English than peers of the same age (Barnett, Yarosz, Thomas, & Blanco, 2006; Cobb, Vega, & Kronauge, 2005; García & Jensen, 2006). Other studies, however, do not find any significant differences between or within groups (e.g., Howard, Sugarman, & Christian, 2003). More often than not, researchers present strong evidence to promote two-way immersion programs because of its various benefits, and program goals directed toward achieving high levels of both language and academic proficiency (i.e., bilingualism, biliteracy) and multicultural competence (i.e., understanding of different cultures and development of high self-esteem).

Given this, the current policy proposal builds on the two-way immersion model.

Currently in California, there are a total of 201 two-way immersion programs across 90 districts. Established in San Francisco, San Jose, Windsor, Santa Monica-Malibu, and Oakland, these programs promote proficiency in six languages, including Spanish, Vietnamese, Hmong, and Cantonese (California DoE, 2010; University of California at Davis, 1997). However, it is important to recognize some of the setbacks of California’s bilingual education system in order to make significant improvement. Of particular interest is the shortage of qualified and competent native-language teachers in dual language education programs. In 1996, California had 220,000 teachers, but only 13,500 had the necessary credentials to teach English language learners, producing very high ratios of ELs per qualified teacher (University of California, Davis, 1997).

Currently, approximately two-thirds of ELs students do not receive the special services they require. Given the increase in the number of children whose native language is not English and a decrease in the resources going to schools, California faces an enormous challenge not to be taken lightly (NEA, 2000). Not surprisingly, qualified and well-trained staff is an integral component of successful bilingual education programs and should be considered in policy proposals aimed at minimizing this pervasive issue (Lindholm-

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Leary & Genesee, 2007; Howard & Sugarman, 2001).

Teacher’s International Arrangement Campaign for Education The proposed policy borrows from the concept of a teacher exchange program with other countries, with the aim of locating teachers who are proficient in the target minority language. The proposed program, Teacher’s International Arrangement Campaign for Education (Teacher’s I-ACE), will provide opportunities for qualified educators to take part in direct exchanges of positions with teachers from the 90 California districts where two-way immersion programs are currently implemented.

Teachers from language minority countries will exchange positions with teachers in California bilingual programs. The visiting instructor will provide participating students with a unique and authentic opportunity to experience their native language and culture, while mutually developing English proficiency. Educators from within the California school system will be given an opportunity to further expand his or her knowledge of the language minority’s culture. Upon return, these teachers will be able to provide their students with information acquired experientially.

Educators will be required to stay for a full academic year, so that students develop a sense of trust and community. The Teacher’s International Arrangement Campaign for Education is a year long, paid teacher exchange program. Participants in the program must be able to commit 40 to 45 weeks during the academic school year to participate in the program. Educators will find placement in a California district that operates a two-way immersion program, with the assistance of Teacher’s IACE. Participants will be awarded a stipend of $30,000 for participation in the program. $15,000 will be awarded at the start of the program to assist with housing costs.

The second $15,000 will be awarded after the successful completion of the program.

Teacher’s I-ACE will offer assistance to participants in finding housing, but cannot guarantee, provide or pay directly for housing in California for the duration of the pro-

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gram. Participants in the program will be required to sign a standard work agreement and complete proper immigration forms.

The goals of the program are to enhance the competence and integrity of native-language teachers, with the aim of stimulating children’s development of bilingualism and biliteracy, in addition to promoting mutual understanding between the peoples of the United States and the peoples of other countries through educational exchange. Participants work to ensure that students growing up today in our country's bilingual communities are given the educational opportunities they deserve. Alumni of the program are a powerful force of leaders working to reform education from every facet to promote the fundamental changes needed to ensure that all children have an adequate bilingual education. In exchanging positions with foreign teachers or administrators, program participants have the opportunity to live and work in the cultures of their host countries, an experience which has benefits for the teachers, their schools, and their communities.

Benefits to Teachers and Administrators, Schools, and Communities There are many advantages for teachers and administrators to employ such a program. One benefit is that teachers increase their understanding of their host country and language. This newly gained understanding will be transmitted naturally to students through the scheduled curriculum. Additionally, it is an opportunity for such professionals to enhance their careers, allowing teachers to gain new perspectives in addition to being exposed to new teaching methods. These newly gained tools will help educators accommodate more efficiently their classroom populations.

Schools participating in Teacher’s I-ACE will also gain from the program. The program hopes to create opportunities for students to learn foreign languages from native speakers. Through this, foreign exchange teachers encourage students to develop an increased awareness of the global village, ultimately educating the entire person in a holistic way. Instructors

have an exciting opportunity to connect school children to various cultures, communities, and languages, highlighting the growing importance of diversity in sociocultural expression and problem resolution. Given that all cultures represent meaningful ways of existing, children can establish cultural empathy and acquire new skills for navigating their social spaces.

Teacher’s I-ACE also recognizes the growing need for today’s children to remain competitive later on in life when they seek opportunities in the global labor market.

Multicultural educators can ensure that students develop an understanding of other culture’s specific values, beliefs, and actions.

In addition to this, I-ACE facilitates the development of a professional relationship between the institutions participating in the program. Expanding the network of invaluable resources and knowledge is a beneficial product of this proposal.

Furthermore, possibly one of the most fundamental parts of this program surrounds the idea of community building.

Teacher’s I-ACE hopes to increase the number of opportunities by increasing awareness of diversity of ideas, values, worldviews, and ways of life.

The goal of this teacher foreignexchange program is to build upon the strengths of teachers, schools, and communities, which are key factors in the development of children’s language and academic abilities. However, rigorous research must also accompany such an initiative. In order to properly evaluate the efficacy and potential effectiveness of the program, place-randomized trials, in which a number of public schools within the California districts are randomly assigned to the intervention, will be conducted (Boruch et al., 2004). After initial evaluations, the California school system will be encouraged to modify parts of the program considered unnecessary or inefficient.

California’s immigrant population is on the rise, and academic, governmental, and social institutions in the state should prioritize this growing population when addressing societal and demographic trends. Research is imperative in expanding

Marques | A Policy Proposal for Bilingual Education in California Public Schools

knowledge in the implementation of bilingual education. Moreover, conducting methodologically rigorous, community responsive, and policy-relevant research with understudied groups is increasingly important for policy and practice. In addition to adhering to the normative values of today’s society, empirical data provides academic, governmental, or social institutions with significant information so that responsible actions are exercised when addressing these populations.

In summation, policy recommendations include the following:  Provide unique and authentic opportunities for bilingual students to experience their native language and culture, while mutually developing English proficiency.  Establish programs that encourage children’s development of bilingualism and biliteracy, and connect them to various cultures and communities, highlighting the growing importance of diversity in sociocultural expression, problem solving, and cultural empathy.  Fund teacher preparation programs to further develop the competencies native-language teachers who are trained in second language acquisition to work as language specialists and promote mutual understanding between the peoples of the U.S. and the peoples of other countries through educational exchange.  Educate children so they remain competitive later in life when they seek opportunities in the global labor market.

Multicultural educators can ensure that students develop an understanding of other culture’s specific values, beliefs, and actions.  Periodically evaluate the efficacy of two-way immersion programs by randomly assigning schools to the intervention, and modify parts of the program considered unnecessary or inefficient.  Build participatory action research committees and consistently check in with residents and neighborhood stakeholders, modifying the implementation of the program as necessary.

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Niño | Literary Practices and Book Reading Styles

Literacy Practices and Book Reading Styles in Bilingual Head Start Classrooms Silvia Niño Early narratives shared between children and adults are crucial for children’s linguistic and cognitive development. Most research on narrative development has focused on parent-child conversations and book reading interactions. However, parent-child interaction is only one context through which children develop narrative skills. Because preschoolers spend a significant part of their day in preschool, interactions between children and their preschool teachers also play a formative role for children’s narrative competency. Nevertheless, only a handful studies have examined the book-sharing styles used by preschool teachers, and little is known about how teachers adapt their book-sharing approach to bilingual environments. The present study examined the literacy practices and book-sharing styles of teachers in twelve bilingual (Spanish-English) Head Start classrooms as they shared wordless and text-based books with their class. Results suggest that there are differences in the ways teachers share text-based and wordless books, and that book types elicit different behaviors which may have implications for emergent literacy development. Results are discussed in relation to the role of teacher-class book-sharing on children's language development as well as how bilingual teachers’ book reading style compares to that of Latino mothers.

As the largest growing minority in the country, Latinos comprise over 15% of the total U.S. population (Garcia & Jenson, 2009; National Research Council, 2006; U.S. Census Bureau, 2007). In fact, one in every five children under the age of 5 is of Latino background. Although there is much diversity in Latino culture and heritage (Garcia & Jenson, 2009), the majority of Latino children in the United States come from Spanish-speaking homes. At present, over 60% of English-language learners in preschool and elementary classrooms come from lowincome Spanish-speaking homes (Capps, Fixx, Ost, Reardon-Anderson, & Passel, 2004). Already when they enter kindergarten, Latino children from lowincome families lag behind their mainstream peers in reading, math and overall school readiness skills, in particular those tasks related to emergent literacy skills. For example 50% of Latino children do not recognize the letters of the alphabet at the start of kindergarten, as compared to 25% of White children (Duncan & Magnusun, 2005; Espinosa et al., 2006).

Thus, starting at school entry, Spanish-speaking Latino children from low-income families tend to score below their White and Black peers on measures of emergent literacy skills, and this cycle of failure continues to grow throughout the school years (Duncan & Magnuson, 2005), with Latino adolescents demonstrating an alarmingly high level of high-school dropout rates (U.S. Census Bureau, 2004). For this reason, early childhood programs such as Head Start During the course of this research, the author received partial support from the NYU Steinhardt Dean’s Grant for Undergraduate Research. The author extends her gratitude to Dr. Gigliana Melzi, Adina Schick, and the Child Language research team for their unwavering support throughout the course of her project. Correspondence should be addressed to Silvia Nino at smnino22@gmail.com

play a critical role in fostering early school readiness skills, including emergent literacy, in children from low-income Latino backgrounds. In fact, 27% of children enrolled in Head Start centers nationwide (Office of Head Start, 2009) and 35% of children enrolled in New York City in Head Start centers (Dolan, 2009) are Latinos from Spanish-speaking homes. Nevertheless, to date, few studies have explored the classroom emergent literacy experiences of Spanish-speaking Latino children in Head Start classrooms.

Emergent literacy is a developmental process that begins early in life and is highly correlated with literacy achievement and overall school success (Sénéchal & LeFevre, 2002; Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998; Snow, Tabors, & Dickinson, 2001; Yaden, Rowe, & MacGillivray, 2000). Emergent literacy includes a variety of skills including vocabulary, print knowledge, letter recognition, and metalinguistic awareness (Caspe, 2007; Purcell-Gates, 2001; Whitehurst & Lonigan, 1998), as well as decontextualized discourse skills. Researchers have examined decontextualized discourse skills through the study of narratives, interactions in which one must create meaning through the use of words (Caspe, 2009; Snow, Tabors, Nicholson, & Kurland, 1995).

Narrative Development According to Vygotskian theory (1978), early interactions between children and more skilled

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members of society are crucial for children’s linguistic and cognitive development. Thus, narrative development begins at an early age, as children interact with adults and older peers in various contexts, such as parent-child conversations or conversations with teachers at school. As children mature physically, cognitively and linguistically, they are able to contribute more to the conversation, relying less on others to provide content and structure (Eisenberg, 1985). As research demonstrates, the ways in which adults and peers structure these conversations influence how children construct narratives later in their development (Fivush & Fromhoff, 1988).

To understand and investigate narrative development, researchers have focused on a common early literacy practice between children and their parents: book reading. Researchers have identified several book reading styles adopted by mothers, including describers, who include detailed descriptions and focus a lot on language, but do not encourage much discussion about the storyline itself (Haden et al., 1996), collaborators, or storybuilders, who encourage child participation by asking numerous questions (Haden et al., 1996; Melzi & Caspe, 2005), comprehenders, who engage their children in analytical talk, and encourage them to make predications (Haden et al., 1996), and storytellers, who focus on sharing an engaging story, without encouraging child collaboration (Melzi & Caspe, 2005; Welborn-Thill, & Haden, 1999).

Findings from this body of research suggest that maternal book-sharing styles play an important role in the development of children's narrative and overall literacy skills (Bus, van Ijzendoon, & Pellegrini, 1995; Eisenberg, 1985; Reese & Cox, 1999). For example, research has shown that mothers’ use of decontextualized talk, especially inferences and predictions, as is typical of those who adopt the comprehender book sharing style, results in children with higher vocabulary and story comprehension than children of mothers who adopt a describer style (Haden et al., 1996).

In effort to understand the importance of culture in children’s narrative development, recent researchers have rooted their studies in culture and context. The works of these scholars suggests that cultural differences exist in the narrative styles mothers adopt when sharing books with their children.

For example, the little narrative research that has been conducted among Spanish-speaking Latinos has found marked cultural differences in their storytelling styles, particularly in comparison to their Euro-American counterparts (see Melzi, Schick & Kennedy, in press).

Research suggests that Latino mothers tend to take different roles depending on the narrative context.

When engaging their children in a narrative about past experiences, mothers take the role of an active audience, allowing their children to take control of the conversation. By contrast, when sharing a book with their preschool-aged children, these mothers take the role of the storyteller, serving as the main narrator of the story and eliciting little child participation (Eisenberg, 1985; Melzi, 2000; Melzi & Caspe, 2005; Melzi et al., in press). Additional research has noted similar findings in the book sharing styles of lowincome Latino mothers of Head Start children. Similar to the findings of Melzi and her colleagues with middle-class Peruvian mothers (e.g., Melzi & Caspe, 2005; Melzi et al., in press), Caspe (2009) found that during book sharing interactions, the majority of Latino mothers served as storytellers, sharing the story with their children, while making minimal requests of them. What is perhaps most interesting is that Caspe’s (2009) work showed that children of storytellers had higher emergent literacy scores at the end of the Head Start year, as compared to children of mothers who used a more co-constructive style and elicited information from the children. Thus, it appears that common narrative styles within middle-class European American homes might not be culturally appropriate - or even effective - for Latino families.

Narratives in the Classroom Although most research on narrative development focuses on mother-child interactions, conversations between parents and children at home is not the only context that supports preschool children’s narrative development. Over 1.1 million children in the United States attend state-funded preschools or day cares (National Institute for Early Education Research, 2009). With such a large number of children spending a considerable part of their day in a classroom, it is essential to examine their narrative experiences at school. In addition, classroom narrative experiences in preschool settings are especially important for children from low-income families who enter preschool with less-developed emergent literacy skills and fewer home book sharing experiences (Snow et al., 1998).

The teacher’s role as a creator of social context, facilitator, guide and participant in classroom narrative is highly influential, and thus the quality of teacher discourse might define the quality of the experience for children (Dickinson & Smith, 1994).

Teacher talk occurs across various preschool contexts such as meal-time, free play, and centers-time (Dickinson 2001). These classroom interactions contribute to the language skills children need for literacy development (Connor, Morrison, Slominski, 2006; Dickinson & Brady 2005; Dickinson, Darrow, & Tinubu 2008; Dickinson & Tabors, 2001). As a

Niño | Literary Practices and Book Reading Styles

result, intervention studies have focused on training teachers to ask specific questions and make comments that help children elaborate on prior utterances by including more intricate and detailed descriptions for common events. All of these strategies are aimed at expanding vocabulary, as well as to encouraging children to use more language overall (Wasik, Bond, & Hindman, 2006). Research suggests that children in preschool classroom where teachers encourage students to elaborate on topics rather than provide the information themselves will display stronger language development (Dickinson & Tabors, 2001). Most importantly, research shows that the use of cognitively challenging decontextualized talk and abstract concepts in the classroom are especially beneficial for children’s language development (Dickinson & Smith, 1994). This includes talk about past events, future events, or even those imaginary in nature (Massey, Pence, Justice, & Bowles, 2008).

Though studies are few, the little research that has been conducted on teacher discourse in preschool classrooms has focused on book sharing in the classrooms. Book sharing interactions during the course of the school day is such a central aspect of teacher talk that researchers have recommended that preschool teachers spend a minimum of 45 minutes a day (divided into three sessions) reading books aloud to their students (Dickinson & Tabors, 2001). Book readings foster vocabulary growth and story comprehension, both key skills in the development of school readiness (Dickinson & Smith, 1994).

Nevertheless, given the realities of a classroom setting, it is difficult for the teacher to individualize their reading styles to match children's preferences, due to the large number of students (Dickinson, 2001).

In fact, book sharing in preschool classrooms typically occur in group settings with large adult-child ratios where teachers generally share text-based picture books with the full class during circle-time (Schick & Melzi, 2010; Wasik & Bond, 2001). Thus, it makes sense that the styles preschool teachers use when sharing books with their class differ from those used by parents in the home.

The limited research that has examined preschool teachers’ book reading discourse has identified three main styles. The first style is the didacticinteractional approach, in which teachers elicit student participation by asking basic recall questions following each section of the text, and encourage the students to chant aloud familiar refrains from the text.

Students are rarely asked to make predictions about the text, and few connections are made between the storyline and the children’s everyday lives. Teachers who adopt the second style, performance-oriented, are dramatic and expressive as they read to their class.

During the book reading itself, they encourage little

conversation about the text. However, they engage their students in extensive conversation both before and after the book reading, as they discuss the story in great detail, and link the events to the children’s personal experiences. In the third style, the coconstructive style, the focus is on the story itself.

Although teachers who adopt this style include very litter pre- or post- book-reading talk, they co-construct the story with their students, stopping frequently during the book reading itself to engage the class in analytical and evaluative talk about the story, and to draw connections between the plot and the children’s experiences (Dickinson, 2001; Dickinson & Smith, 1994). The three styles result in very diverse book reading experiences for preschoolers, and differ in the extent to which they support children’s emergent literacy. Follow-up research on the link between teachers’ book reading styles and children’s early literacy suggests that when reading books, teachers should encourage decontextualized discourse skills such as linking the storyline to children’s experiences, encouraging their students to question the motivations of the characters in the book, and analyzing the sequence of events in the story (Dickinson, McCabe, & Anastasopoulos, 2003).

Teacher talk during book sharing interactions is particularly important in classrooms serving lowincome students since they typically enter school with lower levels of language skills, which, in turn, are related to future literacy development and overall school success (National Assessment of Educational Progress, 1999). Currently, over 25% of children enrolled in Head Start centers are Latino, and more than 20% of all children in Head Start classrooms speak Spanish at home and are not formally introduced to English until they enter preschool (Gael & Cohen, 2000). As immigration in the United States increases, it is estimated that one in every five Americans under 18 is a Latino immigrant or the child of a Latino immigrant (Jensen, 2001), and these numbers are rising. Bilingual children from Spanishspeaking backgrounds are at higher risk for academic difficulties than are other groups and perform poorly on national indicators of reading achievement when compared to children from other backgrounds (United States Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1997). Despite this national trend, few studies have addressed the early literacy experiences of bilingual children and how teachers might accommodate their book reading style to promote their emergent literacy, be it in one or both languages, or how teachers deal with the added demands of a bilingual environment. Teachers who serve dual-language-learners face a more challenging task since they need to resolve additional issues (e.g., how to approach a bilingual book, different linguistic

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book, A Boy, A Dog and a Frog1 (Mayer, 1967). This book was chosen because wordless books of this nature have been used successfully to elicit narratives from individuals of different cultural and linguistic backgrounds (see Berman & Slobin, 1994; Melzi & Caspe, 2005; Caspe, 2009). Although the pictures provide structure to the story, the wordless nature of the book allows teacher to tell their own story. During the second visit, teachers were asked to share a bilingual picture book (i.e., the text appears in both Spanish and English on each page), Moon Rope/Un Lazo a la Luna (Ehlert, 2003). This book was chosen because it is an original oral folktale from Latin America (i.e., Peru), and it was written in both English and Spanish by the same author (i.e., the Spanish is not merely a translation of the English), with text in both language appearing on each page. Both books are age appropriate as well as novel to the classrooms. No time limit was placed on the length of the book sharing interactions, and all interactions were both audio- and video-recorded.

All teachers received a copy of the books a week before their scheduled visit, so that they could read through them and prepare any desired lesson plans.

Upon completion of both book sharing activities, teachers completed a classroom literacy questionnaire describing their typical classroom literacy activities (adapted from the FACES Head Start Teachers SelfAdministered Survey the FACES Parent Survey, 1999) as well as how these book sharing interactions compared to their typical reading activities.

proficiencies in the classroom) not present in monolingual classrooms, while still meeting every student’s need.

The present study examined the ways in which teachers in bilingual Head Start Centers shared picture books with the children in their classrooms. Two main questions guided the study: (1) What global literacy practices are observed in bilingual classrooms, and (2) What are the characteristics of the discourse teachers use during two typed of book sharing activities (e.g., text-based picture-book and wordless picture-book)?

As noted earlier, sharing text-based picture-books is standard practice in preschool classrooms. For the purpose of this study, we introduced a wordless picture-book to the classroom to see its functionality in preschool classroom settings serving dual-language learners (for a review see Jalongo, Dragich, Conrad, & Zhang, 2002) Method Participants and Setting The present study is a part of a larger investigation examining the home and school literacy practices of Latino children enrolled in a bilingual Head Start center in New York City. As part of the larger project, a partnership with the Center was developed, and the investigator volunteered in the Center as a classroom assistant twice a week for two years.

The participating Head Start center was chosen because of its unique status as one of the only bilingual Head Start centers in New York City; that is, both Spanish and English are primary languages in each of the classrooms. The Head Start center serves approximately 250 children (between the ages 3-5), of whom approximately 90% are Latino, primarily Mexican, and come from Spanish-speaking homes.

Following Head Start policies, each classroom has a lead teacher and an assistant teacher. Most lead teachers at the center are of Latino background and are bilingual speakers of English and Spanish. All lead and assistant teachers at the center are female. All lead teachers (N = 12) participated in the study.

Procedure All teachers were asked to complete a demographic questionnaire to gather basic information including age, race/ethnicity, country of origin, language spoken, number of years in U.S., level of education, and teaching experience. Additionally, all lead teachers were visited in their classrooms on two occasions, during their regularly scheduled circletime, and, were asked to share picture books with the children as they normally would. During the first visit, teachers were asked to share the wordless picture

Transcription and Coding All book sharing interactions were transcribed using a standardized format, Codes for the Analysis of Human Language (CHAT), available through the Child Language Exchange System (CHILDES; Mac Whinney, 2000). Transcriptions were later verified by a native Spanish speaker.

Both teacher and child discourse were coded at the utterance level using an adaptation of the coding schemes developed by Dickinson and Smith (1994) and Melzi and Caspe (2005). Utterances were coded for speaker (i.e., teacher, one child, or the class), language used (i.e., Spanish only, English only, or a combination of both Spanish and English within the utterance), and narrative speech event (i.e., prereading, reading, or post-reading), In addition, utterances were further coded for pragmatic function and cognitive difficulty. Cohen’s Kappa was established for codes on pragmatic function (K=.90) and cognitive difficulty (K=.85). Pragmatic function codes included: provision and request of information, 1

Permission was granted from the publisher to enlarge the book to a “big book” so that it could be shared in a classroom context.

Niño | Literary Practices and Book Reading Styles

responses to questions, conversational utterances whose main function was to ensure optimal communication and maintain flow of conversation and non-narrative contributions.

Utterances that received a pragmatic function code of provision, request, response, or non-narrative related were further coded for degree of cognitive difficulty. Cognitive difficulty was defined according to the extent to which decontextualized talk was used.

Cognitive challenging utterances included: analysis of characters or events, predictions, recall of extendedchunks of the story or text-reader links or linking the storyline to children’s everyday experiences and vocabulary analysis. Less cognitively challenge utterances included: directly telling the story, chiming and skill routines (such as counting and singing), labels, recall of immediate events and comments made about the book itself.

Results Data Analysis To explore the global literacy practices in bilingual classrooms, descriptive statistics were run on teacher’s responses to each of the items on the literacy practices questionnaires. To investigate teacher discourse across text-based and wordless books, descriptive statistics and, when possible, exploratory paired sample t-test were run on the following features: length of book sharing, use of Spanish and English, pre-reading and post-reading activities, pragmatic function, and cognitive challenge of discourse. These features were target to reflect the most salient features of the three teacher book reading styles previously defined by the literature. Data from all 12 teachers was used to compare across length of book sharing. However, given the richness of the data at the time of writing this manuscript, verification and coding was only complete for half of the teacher transcripts, and as a result, in-depth analysis of book sharing interactions from only half of the teachers (n = 6) was included the remainder of the analyses.

Global Literacy Practices Descriptive statistics were run to determine the language (or languages) used most in the classrooms, the types of books available to the class, and the type of literacy and narrative practices most common to the classrooms. Sixty-six percent of the teachers reported using both English and Spanish to similar extents.

Teacher from the remaining classrooms reported using both languages, but using English more than Spanish.

In addition, regardless of the language most frequently used in the classroom, 91% of teachers reported having more than 20 picture books in English in their classroom. By contrast, there was much more

variability in number of books in Spanish in the classroom, with eight out of the twelve teachers (66%) reporting having fewer than 20 books in Spanish.

In terms of the literacy practices most common to the classroom, results showed that the most common form of classroom narrative interactions were teacherclass book sharing interactions, with 83% of teachers (n = 10) reporting reading to the class on a daily basis, and the remaining two teachers reporting sharing books at least on a weekly basis. Interestingly, there was much more variability in teacher’s self-report on the frequency in which they told oral stories to the class. Fifty-nine percent (n = 7) reported sharing oral stories daily. Of the remaining 41% of teachers, two reported doing so weekly, two reported doing so monthly, and one teacher reporting never sharing stories with her class.

Teachers also reported encouraging independent literacy activates among their students. All teachers reported encouraging children to look through books by themselves at least on a weekly basis, with the majority (n = 10) doing so daily. Teachers also reported encouraging children to share stories among peers. Nine teachers reported doing so on a daily basis, one at least once a week and two at least once a month. Another common practice to promote emergent literacy was teaching students the letters of the alphabet. Nine of the teachers reported teaching letters (in English) on a daily basis, 2 reported doing so on a weekly basis, and 1 reported doing so monthly.

Comparisons across Book Types Length of time. In looking at teachers' book sharing styles across book types, the first comparison explored the length of book reading in minutes. Textbased book reading interactions (M = 16.33, SD = 5.8) tended to be longer than wordless interactions (M = 22.17, SD = 6.43). An exploratory paired samples ttest showed that, in fact, wordless book interactions were significantly longer that text-based interactions, t(11) = 3.35, p < .01.

Use of English and Spanish. Book sharing interactions (n = 6) were also compared for language use, that is, use of English and Spanish. Three of the teachers used consistently more English over Spanish across both book types. Two teachers were balanced in their language use in the text-based book, but chose one language over the other in the wordless book, and one teacher used more Spanish across both types.

Overall, controlling for total number of utterances, use of English (M = 54.87, SD = 29.78) and Spanish (M = 42.87, SD = 29.98) were balanced in the text-based book. However, teachers' use of English (M = 60.48, SD = 41.28) was greater than their use of Spanish (M = 37.53, SD = 40.26) in the wordless context.

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In balancing their language use in the text-based book sharing interactions, teachers read the text in one language first and then in the other, going back and forth by page. By contrast, in the wordless context, teachers switched languages for multiple purposes, such as: drawing in particular children, controlling behavior, teaching vocabulary and summarizing the story. In some cases, the teacher shared the story in English and code-switches to Spanish only to engage particular children who are not English-dominant in the book sharing interaction. In other words, she translates her utterances for the benefit of specific children in the class who might not otherwise be able to follow the storyline. Interestingly, each time she does so, she prefaces her code-switching by noting the child's name, and only then translates what she has said into Spanish (see Figure 1).

T: T: T:

C: C: T: T: T: T: T: T:

Mira la rana.

La rana se quedó todavía media triste.

Mírala aquí, la carita de tristeza que tiene la rana.

Aww. Muy xx.

Está sad.

He's sad.

Ok? Jesús, I need you to sit down please.

Thank you.

Pedro, I need you to sit down please.

Look at the frog.

The frog stayed a little sad.

Look at her, the frog has a sad face.

Aww. Muy xx.

He’s sad.

He’s sad.

Ok? Jesús, I need you to sit down please.

Thank you.

Pedro, I need you to sit down please.

Figure 2: Language use of Teacher B.

T: C: T: T:

I'm so lonely.

I'm so lonely.

Luis.

Estoy solita solita, no tengo amigos.

T:

I don't have no friends.

I'm so lonely.

I’m so lonely.

I’m so lonely.

Luis.

I am lonely lonely, I don’t have friends.

I don’t have no friends.

I’m so lonely.

She is so lonely.

Maria say, estoy solita.

Estoy solita.

She is so lonely.

Maria say, I’m lonely.

I’m lonely.

T: T: T: C:

Figure 1: Language use of Teacher A.

By contrast, other teachers use Spanish throughout the sharing of the book, rarely translating to English. When she does code-switch, however, she does so to control classroom behavior. What makes this particularly interesting is that in some cases, the children of those particular classrooms are Spanishdominant, while the teacher herself is Englishdominant. Thus, it appears that she shares the events in the story in Spanish, the language the children are most comfortable with, but then switches to English, her own dominant language, when attempting to control behavior (see Figure 2).

Pre-reading and post-reading activities. The third comparison explored pre-reading and post-reading activities across the book types. Results showed that teachers engaged in pre-reading activities, and there were no differences found across book types.

However, when controlling for total number of utterances in the narrative exchange, pre-readings in the text-based books (M = 19.78, SD = 14.65) were longer than in the wordless books (M = 15.41, SD = 6.82). Four main types of activities were prevalent throughout pre-reading. They included: songs & chants, behavioral talk, book-focused comments and request for labels. Song and chants included teachers singing good morning song with their class during circle time or engaging in activities like counting, to engage children’s attention. Behavioral talk included asking children to sit quietly in a circle. Book-focused comments were those questions and statements related to the book itself. They included information on how to hold a book, and on the author and illustrator. In addition, before sharing the wordless book, 3 out of the 6 teachers commented on the wordless nature of the book. A final activity common during pre-reading was discussion of pictured depicted on the covers of the books, mainly providing and requesting labels for the pictures. Interestingly, though, there were very few predictions about what the stories might be about during pre-reading across both book types.

Additionally, all teachers engaged in post-reading activities when sharing the wordless book and all but one of the teachers engaged in post-reading after sharing the text-based book. Across both book types, the most common form of post-reading activity was recall of extended chunks of the story. All teachers engaged in some form of recall activity, asking children what had happened in the story and what

NiĂąo | Literary Practices and Book Reading Styles

their favorite part had been. Some teachers also encouraged text-reader links, asking children if they had liked the story and why.

There were some noteworthy differences in the post-reading across book types. After controlling for total number of utterances, the text-based book (M = 8.14 SD = 7.67) contained shorter post-reading interactions than did post-readings following the wordless book (M = 10.45 SD = 7.44). Additionally, after completion of the wordless books, teachers were frequently engaged the class in follow-up literacy activities. For example, two teachers asked children to draw their favorite part of the story after sharing the wordless book, and one teacher engaged in an extensive vocabulary lesson with words used in the story after sharing the wordless book. No such activities followed the reading of the text-based book.

Pragmatic function. The fourth comparison across book types looked at the pragmatic function of the utterances, or the extent and manner in which teachers engaged the children in the book sharing.

Overall, there was very little variation across teachers.

In the text-based book teachers mainly provided information from the story (M = 50.37, SD = 6.81), asking few questions (M = 11.62, SD = 5.99) and more frequently controlling behavior (M = 18.82, SD = 9.6). In the wordless book sharing activities teachers also provided more information (M = 42, SD = 8.75) than they requested (M =19.55, SD = 8.98). However, results of an exploratory paired sample t-test showed that teachers asked significantly more questions as they shared the wordless books as compared to the text-based books, t(5) = 3.22, p < .05. Additionally, teachers used significantly more conversational talk during the wordless book sharing activities, encouraging children to narrate t(5) = 3.97, p < .05.

Cognitive difficulty. The final comparison investigated the degree of cognitive challenge of the discourse directed to children. Cognitive difficulty was defined according to the extent to which decontextualized talk was used. Overall, teachers used more less-cognitively challenging talk (M = 59.04, SD = 9.81 for the text-based book; M = 46.14, SD = 6.22 for the wordless book) than cognitively challenging talk (M = 9.00, SD = 6.22 for the text-based book; M = 11.40, SD = 4.53 for the wordless book). Moreover, exploratory paired sample t-test showed that teachers used significantly more cognitively challenging talk during the wordless interactions as compared to the text-based narratives t(5) = 3.197, p < .05.

In terms of type of cognitive difficulty, there was little variability in the less-cognitive challenging category, when controlling for the total number of less-cognitively challenging utterances (see Figure 3).

Text

Immediate Recall

Label

Book-focused 10.94 (3.87)

83.14 (7.90)

Wordless

77.00 (11.99)

Text-Based

0%

20%

15.34 (7.36)

40%

60%

80%

100%

Figure 3: Distribution of less-cognitive challenging discourse.

Teachers mainly told or read the story (M = 83.14, SD = 7.90 for the text-based book; M = 77.00, SD = 11.99 for the wordless book) and assessed childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s immediate comprehension (M = 10.94, SD = 3.87 for the text-based book; M = 15.34, SD = 7.36 for the wordless book). By contrast, there was much more variability in the cognitive challenging category across book types (see Figure 4).

Analysis

Text-Reader Links

Predictions

Vocabularly Analysis

Recall of Extended Chunks

53.52 (23.49)

Wordless

Text-Based

22.85 (21.24)

0%

13.20 20.93 (10.30) (14.26)

56.50 (28.59)

20%

40%

60%

15.02 (13.39)

80%

100%

Figure 4: Distribution of cognitive challenging discourse.

When controlling for total number of cognitively difficult utterances, teachers used more analysis in the wordless book (M = 53.52, SD = 23.49) followed by predictions (M = 20.93, SD = 14.26) and text-reader links (M = 13.20, SD = 10.30). The opposite was true in the text based book, with teachers mainly using text-reader links (M = 56.50, SD = 28.59) followed by analysis (M = 22.85, SD = 21.24) and predictions (M = 15.02, SD = 13.39).

Discussion The present examined the ways in which teachers in a bilingual Head Start support the emergent literacy development of children by looking at their global

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literacy practices and book reading styles. Two main questions guided the study: (1) What are the global literacy practices that support children’s oral narrative development in bilingual classrooms, and (2) What are the characteristics of the discourse teachers use during two typed of book sharing activities (e.g., textbased picture-book and wordless picture-book)? A combination of descriptive statistics and exploratory paired sample t-tests were used to address these questions, and contributed to the development of several more, as the number of Latino dual-language learners in the U.S.s increases and continue to face unique academic challenges.

Analysis of global literacy practices showed that all teachers engaged in activities to support children’s emergent literacy skills. For example, to help children develop letter recognition skills, teachers reported teaching the letter of the alphabet on at least a weekly – if not daily basis. Interestingly, though, although the Head Start is officially a bilingual center (i.e., the curriculum fosters the development of both Spanish and English), teachers typically taught children only the English alphabet. It is possible that teachers might be doing so as a way to prepare children for their transition into Kindergarten. In other words, once they leave Head Start, most of the children will enter monolingual kindergarten classrooms where they will be expected to speak and understand English.

Therefore, teachers appear to be fostering the development of English emergent literacy skills for their school readiness. Nevertheless, most teachers reported using both English and Spanish to similar extents in the classrooms. Future studies should investigate further teacher language use to build a better understanding of the uses of both languages across various classroom contexts.

In terms of narrative practices in the classroom, there was much variability with teachers regard to how often teachers shared oral stories with the class, with some doing so only a daily basis, whereas other reported do so far more infrequently. By contrast, most teachers did report encouraging children to share stories with their peers, at least on a monthly basis.

This finding was surprising as it contradicts previous research that has demonstrated that few, if any, oral narratives are shared among peers in head start classroom (Dickinson & Tabors, 2001; Schick & Melzi, 2010). It is important to note, however, that the findings of the current study are based on teachers’ self-reports, as opposed to observations used in previous studies. It is possible that teachers are overreporting the extent to which they encourage children to engage in peer narratives, because they truly do think that they engage in this practice, but in reality are unable to do so on a regular basis due to time constraint of the short preschool day. Moreover,

although it is conceivable that teachers are overreporting the extent to which they encourage children to tell stories with their peers, it is equally plausible that the observational techniques used in past work were limited, given that they only provide a snapshot of a day in the classroom, rather than reflect general practices. As a result, future researchers should employ more rigorous methods in order to explore fully the oral stories shared in classrooms between teachers and children and among peers.

All teachers also reported encouraging children to engage in independent book reading activities (e.g., teachers encourage children to go to the library corner, pick out a book and quietly look through the pages).

Such activities are especially important for the development of pre-literacy skills, including concepts about print (Whitehurst & Lonigan, 1998).

Encouraging this practice in preschool setting seems particularly critical for children from low-income families, as research suggests that they generally have fewer books at home and do not visit public libraries on a regular basis (Raikes et al., 2006; Reese & Gallimore, 2000). Therefore, preschool might be the only context where children have access to books and are able to look through them independently. Given the bilingual context of the Head Start, however, it is somewhat unfortunate, then, that teachers reported having far more books available to the children in English than they do in Spanish.

Overall, book sharings in large group settings (i.e., during circle-time) were the most common form of teacher-child narrative interactions. This supports the findings of previous work that book readings during circle-time are the most common form of teacher talk in preschool classrooms (Dickinson & Tabors, 2001; Schick & Melzi, 2010; Wasik & Bond, 2001). When sharing picture books with the class, about half of the teachers consistently used English more than Spanish across both book types, whereas the remaining teachers used more Spanish in at least one of the books. Perhaps not surprisingly, some of the teachers were balanced in their language use in the text-based book (where the text appeared in both English and Spanish on each page), but chose one language over the other when sharing the wordless book. This suggests that bilingual text-based books provide a more balanced form of language use, thereby simultaneously promoting literacy in both languages, as opposed to emphasizing one over the other.

Teachers’ book sharings were further explored for length. Findings demonstrated that, although there was variability across teachers, overall, wordless book sharings were significantly longer than were textbased books. In other words, sharing wordless, books seems to promote more discourse and hence longer

Niño | Literary Practices and Book Reading Styles

interactions. Nevertheless, the longest book sharings, even for the wordless books, were just under 30 minutes. Thus, the book sharing interactions were significantly shorter than the 45 minutes a day of book reading interactions researchers have recommended for teachers of Head Start classes (i.e., Dickinson, 2001; Dickinson & Tabors, 2001). However, findings of the current project suggest that these guidelines might not be feasible, given that teachers also have to incorporate activities other than literacy to promote school readiness. This is particularly true for half-day classes, where teachers have to incorporate lessons, two meals (i.e., breakfast and lunch), free play and other social-emotional and school-based activities in a 3-hour day. Interestingly, a closer look at the book sharing interactions highlighted that teachers incorporated other literacy activities as part of post-reading in the wordless book, thereby using the book reading for multiple literacy purposes, such as vocabulary lessons.

Past research has identified three styles of teacher-child book reading that differ in the extent to which teachers involve children, the cognitive difficulty of the content of their language, and the prereading and post-reading activities. In general, results of this study showed that teachers did not fall into any of the previously identified book sharing styles. If anything they were a combination of the three: using didactic-interactional features, such as asking basic recall questions, engaging in extensive pre and postreading talk as suggested by the performance-oriented style, and in some cases, drawing connection between plotline and children’s everyday experiences, as do co-constructors (Dickinson, 2001; Dickinson & Smith, 1994). Across book types, teachers spent most of the interaction sharing the story to the children (i.e., reading or telling). However, they involved children more in the wordless book than in the text based book.

Moreover, teachers used more cognitive challenging discourse in the wordless book as compared to the text-based book. In the wordless book teachers engaged in more analysis, exploring motivations and general knowledge whereas in the text-based book they mainly engaged in text-reader links. Although researchers recommended that teachers engage in both of these decontextualized skills when sharing books with children, results from previous studies show that analysis or exploring character motivations, are more predictive of children’s later literacy development (Dickinson, McCabe, & Anastasopoulos, 2003).

Although the styles do not match those reported in previous work with English-speaking monolingual Head Start teachers, the fact that teachers provided more information than requested is congruent with the maternal styles found among various Spanishspeaking Latino groups. Research has suggested that Latino mothers, regardless of socioeconomic status,

take different roles depending on the context, acting as an active audience when talking about past experiences with their children and taking the role of storytellers when sharing books, serving as the main narrator and providing information and encouraging little participation from children (Caspe, 2009; Eisenberg, 1985; Melzi & Caspe, 2005; Melzi, Schick, & Kennedy, in press) Therefore, as do Spanishspeaking Latino mothers from various Latino backgrounds, teachers for the most part act as storytellers, providing more information than they are requesting when sharing books (Melzi & Caspe, 2005; Caspe, 2009). This affinity between mother and teacher book sharing styles might be due to teacher’s accommodating to children’s home book sharing experiences. It is possible that children respond better to this particular way of interaction therefore teachers accommodate their book reading in order to engage them in what they know instead of introducing a new way of sharing books.

Teachers’ features of providing more information than they are requesting runs counter to the recommended by intervention research that teachers ask specific questions to encourage children to elaborate rather than providing information (Wasik, Bond & Hindman, 2006). Nevertheless, the recent work by Caspe (2009) has shown that children of storytellers (i.e., those that provided more than requested) yielded higher emergent literacy scores in Latino children when compared to other styles used

by Latino mothers. Therefore, for Latino children, it might beneficial for mothers and teachers to take the role of the culturally-preferred storyteller as opposed to those styles recommended by intervention researchers that encourage teachers to co-construct the story (Dickinson & Tabors, 2001; Wasik, Bond & Hindman, 2006).

Future research must examine a larger sample of teachers serving dual-language learners in order to get a more generalizable description on their literacy experiences outside this particular Head Start center.

Additionally, the present study followed the protocol of a larger investigation examining home and school literacy experiences of dual-language learners and therefore, book reading tasks were not counterbalanced. Teachers read the wordless book first followed by the text-based book a couple of days later. Although all teachers reported sharing the wordless book as they normally would share any picture book, it is possible that the order of the books might have influenced their book sharing approach, therefore order should be counterbalanced in future research. Lastly, it possible that the content of the books influenced teachers narrative input, particularly in the text-reader link category given that the wordless book focuses on a human character whereas the textbased book does not, therefore books with similar

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content should be used in future research.

It is predicted that by the year 2100, 33% of the US population will be from Latino backgrounds (Ramirez & de la Cruz, 2002). Given the rapid growth of Latinos in the country, it is essential to examine the literacy experiences of children in dual-language classrooms as their development of one or both languages involves a different experience as compared to monolingual children. Despite the challenging task of supporting emergent literacy in two languages, teachers provided rich linguistic experiences to children when discussing both text-based and wordless books. Both types of books are essential components in classrooms serving dual-language learners, given that they foster different emergent literacy skills. The use of language in the text-based books might foster literacy skills, such as vocabulary and met linguistic awareness (i.e., phonemic and word awareness), whereas the sharing of wordless books seem to be especially important for the development of decontextualized discourse skills. However, it is important to note that neither of these books is usually found in preschool classrooms, even those serving dual-language learners. In future research, it would be important to examine children’s response to teachers’ book reading styles across different book types, including which discourse features most strongly predict their emergent literacy development. It is particularly important to examine which features of teacher book reading style most strongly predict emergent literacy in Latino children given the recent findings that Latino children might not benefit as much by those styles recommended by the literature based on Euro-American families.

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Staff & Contributor Bios Alyssa Deitchman is a junior in Applied Psychology. She is interested in both industrial/ organizational psychology and clinical work, and plans to pursue dual degrees in psychology and business administration.

Caila Gordon-Koster is a sophomore in the Applied Psychology program. Her academic interests lie in alternative modes of counseling and rehabilitation and she dreams of improving the U.S. education system.

Jacob Graham-Felsen is a senior in the Applied Psychology program. He has worked as an intern for membership services at The Door for the past year, and looks forward to keeping it real after graduation.

Sibyl Hayley Holland, is a senior in the Applied Psychology program. She is a member of Elise Cappella’s research team and an America Reads literacy tutor. Her research interests include child development and educational psychology. Upon graduation, she hopes to pursue a Masters in School Counseling and work in the NYC public school system as an elementary school counselor.

Brandon Lam is a freshman in the Applied Psychology program. He’s interested in decisionmaking processes and the study of perception.

After graduating, he plans to apply to graduate school and travel the world.

Bofan Luo is a sophomore in the Applied Psychology program. He is interested in social psychology and the effects of media use on psychological development, and seeks to use his knowledge to advance Chinese society.

Coralie C. Nehme is a junior in the Applied Psychology program. She is mainly interested in social psychology and the development of gender stereotypes. After completing her undergraduate education, she plans to apply to graduate school and save the world one stressed psych student at a time.

Javanna Obregon is a junior in the Applied Psychology program. Her main research interests include eating disorder interventions and women's mental health. After graduating, she plans to apply to graduate school.

Josephine M. Palmeri is a junior in the Applied Psychology program. She is interested in child development and the study of mental disorders.

After graduating, she plans to pursue a career in child psychology.

Jackson J. Taylor is a senior in the Applied Psychology honors program. He is a member of the NYU Latino Family Involvement Project, and current vice president of Psi Chi at NYU. He also interns at USABP Journal, exploring his interests in attachment and the therapeutic relationship.

He plans to pursue a doctorate in clinical psychology, and hopes to one day edit a professional journal of psychotherapy. As a constant observer, Jackson enjoys collecting data and documenting his studies of psychology in its various forms on his blog, visit at blogs.nyu.edu/jjt290/unpackedbox Vanessa Victoria Volpe is a senior in the Applied Psychology honors program. She is a member of Dr. Niobe Way and Dr. Selcuk R. Sirin's research teams and her main research interests include the social construction and negotiation of identity, as well as the impact of macrocontextual influences on identity development and expression. She is also a founding member of Applied Psychology’s Inside Scoop, and was recently named one of NYU’s 15 Most Influential Students by the Washington Square News. After graduating, she hopes to pursue further education in developmental psychology, with the ultimate goal of becoming a research professor.

Staff & Contributor Bios

Kirk DeSoto graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Applied Psychology in December 2010. He is mainly interested in social psychology and the intersections of economic and political systems.

After graduating he plans to travel abroad, write, and study commercial and banking law.

Melissa Fulgieri is a senior in the Applied Psychology program. As a research assistant in Dr. Alisha Ali's lab, she investigates economic empowerment for domestic violence survivors.

She is also a research assistant for Dr. Perry Halkitis' study, Project 18, documents the drug use and sexual behavior of young men in urban environments. Her academic interests include HIV/AIDS, gender and sexuality, women's mental health, and feminist theory. She plans to pursue a doctorate in clinical or counseling psychology.

Thiago C.S. Marques graduated with a Bachelor of Science, magna cum laude, in May 2009 with a concentration in Applied Psychology and a minor in Sociology. In addition to working with NYU's Youth and Masculinity (yAm) Project, he has conducted collaborative research at Columbia Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Center for Research on Environmental Decisions. Currently, he works at TheLadders, an online job board in NYC, as a research and content analyst covering the employment market.

He plans to pursue a doctorate in sociology, with interests in socioeconomic mobility, comparative politics, and social policy.

Annabelle C. Moore is a junior in the Applied Psychology program. Her main research interests include human sexuality and Deaf culture. After graduating, she plans to pursue a Master's degree in Social Work.

Silvia NiĂąo graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Applied Psychology in May 2010. She is mainly interested in Latino early childhood education and currently works as a Head Start family worker and as a research assistant on Dr. Gigliana Melzi's child language research team.

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