Abstract:

The pace and scope of bilingual program development and implementation in the Comunidad de Madrid have been rapid over the past seven years. However, the goals of establishing effective bilingual and multilingual programs will only be achievable with continued research into program effectiveness and student progress, as well as with intensive teacher development and preparation. It is imperative for teachers to receive highly effective professional development in linguistic and pedagogical competencies. Teachers will need to receive professional development in a variety of areas: English linguistic competencies (oral, written, listening, reading comprehension, vocabulary development, etc.), teaching methods and strategies, developing resources and materials, second language acquisition and learning theories, curriculum development, Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) methodology, and student centered, interactive classroom practices. It is equally important to document these changes through research.

The Presenter’s experience as an Associate Professor (Titular) includes preparing highly qualified teachers who will provide effective instruction for linguistically and culturally diverse students, and measuring effective pedagogy and program design for English Language Learners (ELLs). As a 2011-2012 Fulbright Scholar in Bilingual Education, sponsored and supported by the Government of Spain and the United States State Department, the Presenter is working with a major institution of higher education in Madrid to provide professional development through workshops, seminars, and sessions for bilingual teachers and auxiliares de lengua. These workshops encourage and support teacher change to improve student outcomes and enrich program effectiveness. A major goal of this grant is to affect positive changes in teacher pedagogy and practices that will lead to better student outcomes.

This session will talk about the professional development modules that are being offered to post graduate teachers and auxiliares de lengua in the Comunidad de Madrid. It will present the modules that have been developed to prepare teachers and auxiliares de lengua with the knowledge and skills that are demonstrated by effective bilingual teachers. These include strategies for the strategic teaching of vocabulary, comprehension strategies, content-based language teaching, student engagement and active participation in lessons, and linguistic (phonology, morphology), syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic awareness. Lesson preparation to include a variety of planning options will be outlined and discussed, such as the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) and Backward Design including ‘Essential Questions’ and ‘Enduring Understandings’ for lesson development. Effective teaching methods will be demonstrated through the use of CLIL, the 5 E’s (Engagement, Exploration, Explanation, Elaboration, Evaluation) and the 5 Cs, (Communication, Culture, Connections, Comparisons, Communities).

This session will also discuss the research questions and agenda that are being pursued during the Fulbright grant period. It is hoped that academic and collegial collaboration fostered by the Fulbright grant is improving bilingual teacher skills, methods, pedagogy and linguistic skills of teachers and auxiliares de lengua in bilingual programs in La Comunidad de Madrid. Results up to the point of this seminar will be disseminated to the participating audience.

Keywords:

Bilingual Education, Bilingual Teacher Professional Development, Auxiliares de Lengua Preparation and Support, Fulbright Scholar Award.