MRC Speaker Series: Amanda Kibler (UVA)
Title: Examining collective scaffolding through sibling and peer relationships in multilingual homes, schools, and communities
Abstract:
The notion that scaffolding occurs not only through the guidance of “experts” but also collectively among peers (Donato, 1994) is an increasingly familiar notion in studies of language learning, and in this presentation, I critically explore how both siblings and peers contribute to the multilingual language and literacy development of children and adolescents from a range of home language communities. Drawing upon findings from a longitudinal qualitative study of adolescents from Mexican immigrant families, an ethnographic study of 4-6 year-olds from Mexican and Central American families interacting with their older siblings at home, and a mixed-methods study of English-learner-classified middle-schoolers from multiple backgrounds in heterogeneous classrooms, I explore what characterizes this scaffolding, what benefits it offers, and the ways in which it reflects the complex and contradictory social and linguistic positioning of non-English languages (and their speakers) in U.S. educational institutions.
Bio:
Amanda K. Kibler is an Associate Professor in the Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education at the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education. Dr. Kibler’s research interests include adolescent second language development, bi/multilingualism, second language writing, peer learning, ethnography, discourse analysis, and the impacts of standards-based reform on multilingual populations. She is currently working on three main projects: 1) an eight-year study of multilingual adolescents’ longitudinal writing development, 2) a William T. Grant-funded mixed-methods study of peer interaction and social networks in linguistically diverse middle school classrooms, and 3) an ethnographic study of the home language and literacy practices of Spanish-speaking Latino preschoolers and their parents, funded by the Spencer Foundation.
