Leah Durán
Biographic Data
| ID | 6747249 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Leah Durán |
| GIVEN NAMES | Leah |
| FAMILY NAME | Durán |
| SIGNATURE | DURÁN L |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Arizona |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7028-9140 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 9 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 4 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 9 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2013 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Names y nombres: Names as gateways to biliteracy in multilingual early childhood classrooms
This paper describes name-related literacy practices in a multilingual preschool classroom and their implications for emergent biliteracy. We draw on a translingual framework to understand children’s name-writing activities and how bilingual children’s early literacy interacts with, and at times disrupts, the written conventions of named languages. Drawing on fieldnotes, observations, and artifacts from a preschool classroom serving Spanish-Engli…
Making sense of reading’s forever wars
Recent stories raising the alarm about students’ poor reading skills and calling for greater attention to the “science of reading” represent the latest round in the ongoing “reading wars.” Going back at least as far as the 1950s, scholars, pundits and policy makers have debated which teaching strategies are most successful at helping students become proficient readers. However, Leah Durán and Michiko Hikida argue that these debates fail to get at…
Walls, Bridges, Borders, Papers: Civic Literacy in the Borderlands
This article reports findings from a qualitative study in a third-grade classroom in the Southwest in the wake of Donald Trump’s campaign and inauguration. In response to students’ concerns about Trump’s rhetoric around immigration and border-wall construction, the teacher provided curricular space for students to study immigration policy and write letters to their congressional representative expressing their positions. Drawing on field notes, i…
A Historical Inquiry Into Bilingual Reading Textbooks: Coloniality and Biliteracy at the Turn of the 20th Century
The authors present an analysis of bilingual reading textbooks published at the turn of the 20th century. The authors examined the kinds of opportunities for learning offered by bilingual reading textbooks developed for students in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines in the aftermath of the Spanish–American War. The analysis revealed challenges to understanding related to both the content and the structure of these textbooks, as well as the co…
Todas las poems que están creative”: Language Ideologies, Writing and Bilingual Children
This research employs a language ideologies framework to examine the language practices and beliefs of bilingual first grade students in an ESL classroom, in which the teacher valued and encouraged Spanish and translingual talk and writing. Using ethnographic methods of data collection and analysis, the findings pointed to the influence of both hegemonic and counter-hegemonic ideologies in children’s decisions about writing. These findings extend…
Becoming “Spanish Learners”: Identity and Interaction Among Multilingual Children in a Spanish-English Dual Language Classroom
This article explores the interactional co-construction of identities among two first-grade students learning Spanish as a third language in a Spanish-English dual language classroom. Drawing on ethnographic and interactional data, the article focuses on a single interaction between these two “Spanish learners” and two of their Spanish-speaking classmates that took place within the context of a classroom literacy event. Analysis involved examinin…
Unpacking Ideologies of Linguistic Purism: How Dual Language Teachers Make Sense of Everyday Translanguaging
This article draws on qualitative data from two Spanish-English dual language elementary classrooms to explore how teachers in these classrooms made sense of the everyday practice of bilingualism. Methodologically, this study relied on participant observation, video recording, and semi-structured interviews. Conceptually, this article draws on the notion of translanguaging to describe how these teachers and their students moved fluidly across mul…
Pluralist discourses of bilingualism and translanguaging talk in classrooms
This paper examines student and teacher talk in a first grade classroom in a two-way immersion school in Central Texas. Drawing on audio and video data from a year-long study in a first grade two-way classroom and using a methodology that fuses ethnography and discourse analysis, the authors explore how pluralist discourses are constructed and lived in by bilingual students and teachers. These findings have implications for understanding the ways…
Spaces for Dynamic Bilingualism in Read-Aloud Discussions: Developing and Strengthening Bilingual and Academic Skills
A substantial body of research has collectively concluded that encouraging students to draw flexibly on multiple aspects of their linguistic repertoires is positively associated with developing bilingualism, metalinguistic awareness, and academic skills. However, most bilingual education programs—including transitional and dual-language—limit, discourage, and/or stigmatize such practices. This study examines literature discussion in a fifth-grade…
Spaces for Dynamic Bilingualism in Read-Aloud Discussions: Developing and Strengthening Bilingual and Academic Skills
A substantial body of research has collectively concluded that encouraging students to draw flexibly on multiple aspects of their linguistic repertoires is positively associated with developing bilingualism, metalinguistic awareness, and academic skills. However, most bilingual education programs—including transitional and dual-language—limit, discourage, and/or stigmatize such practices. This study examines literature discussion in a fifth-grade…
Spaces for Dynamic Bilingualism in Read-Aloud Discussions: Developing and Strengthening Bilingual and Academic Skills
A substantial body of research has collectively concluded that encouraging students to draw flexibly on multiple aspects of their linguistic repertoires is positively associated with developing bilingualism, metalinguistic awareness, and academic skills. However, most bilingual education programs—including transitional and dual-language—limit, discourage, and/or stigmatize such practices. This study examines literature discussion in a fifth-grade…
Pluralist discourses of bilingualism and translanguaging talk in classrooms
This paper examines student and teacher talk in a first grade classroom in a two-way immersion school in Central Texas. Drawing on audio and video data from a year-long study in a first grade two-way classroom and using a methodology that fuses ethnography and discourse analysis, the authors explore how pluralist discourses are constructed and lived in by bilingual students and teachers. These findings have implications for understanding the ways…
Unpacking Ideologies of Linguistic Purism: How Dual Language Teachers Make Sense of Everyday Translanguaging
This article draws on qualitative data from two Spanish-English dual language elementary classrooms to explore how teachers in these classrooms made sense of the everyday practice of bilingualism. Methodologically, this study relied on participant observation, video recording, and semi-structured interviews. Conceptually, this article draws on the notion of translanguaging to describe how these teachers and their students moved fluidly across mul…
Becoming “Spanish Learners”: Identity and Interaction Among Multilingual Children in a Spanish-English Dual Language Classroom
This article explores the interactional co-construction of identities among two first-grade students learning Spanish as a third language in a Spanish-English dual language classroom. Drawing on ethnographic and interactional data, the article focuses on a single interaction between these two “Spanish learners” and two of their Spanish-speaking classmates that took place within the context of a classroom literacy event. Analysis involved examinin…
Todas las poems que están creative”: Language Ideologies, Writing and Bilingual Children
This research employs a language ideologies framework to examine the language practices and beliefs of bilingual first grade students in an ESL classroom, in which the teacher valued and encouraged Spanish and translingual talk and writing. Using ethnographic methods of data collection and analysis, the findings pointed to the influence of both hegemonic and counter-hegemonic ideologies in children’s decisions about writing. These findings extend…
A Historical Inquiry Into Bilingual Reading Textbooks: Coloniality and Biliteracy at the Turn of the 20th Century
The authors present an analysis of bilingual reading textbooks published at the turn of the 20th century. The authors examined the kinds of opportunities for learning offered by bilingual reading textbooks developed for students in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines in the aftermath of the Spanish–American War. The analysis revealed challenges to understanding related to both the content and the structure of these textbooks, as well as the co…
Making sense of reading’s forever wars
Recent stories raising the alarm about students’ poor reading skills and calling for greater attention to the “science of reading” represent the latest round in the ongoing “reading wars.” Going back at least as far as the 1950s, scholars, pundits and policy makers have debated which teaching strategies are most successful at helping students become proficient readers. However, Leah Durán and Michiko Hikida argue that these debates fail to get at…
Walls, Bridges, Borders, Papers: Civic Literacy in the Borderlands
This article reports findings from a qualitative study in a third-grade classroom in the Southwest in the wake of Donald Trump’s campaign and inauguration. In response to students’ concerns about Trump’s rhetoric around immigration and border-wall construction, the teacher provided curricular space for students to study immigration policy and write letters to their congressional representative expressing their positions. Drawing on field notes, i…
Names y nombres: Names as gateways to biliteracy in multilingual early childhood classrooms
This paper describes name-related literacy practices in a multilingual preschool classroom and their implications for emergent biliteracy. We draw on a translingual framework to understand children’s name-writing activities and how bilingual children’s early literacy interacts with, and at times disrupts, the written conventions of named languages. Drawing on fieldnotes, observations, and artifacts from a preschool classroom serving Spanish-Engli…
Sociology (9 works) · Linguistics (8 works) · Pedagogy (8 works) · Psychology (8 works) · Multilingual Education and Policy (7 works) · Bilingual education (5 works) · Mathematics education (5 works) · Neuroscience of multilingualism (5 works) · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning (4 works) · Literacy (4 works)