![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2018\/03\/180328_Patti_Buck_Class_0032.jpg\")
<\/a>Associate Professor of Education Patricia Buck. (Phyllis Graber Jensen\/Bates College)<\/p><\/div>\n
Of course, there\u2019s a bit more to it than that. But the combination of so-called literature circles and culturally relevant texts, the students found, instills the language in ways that resonate beyond the ELL classroom. And student engagement during their field research was high.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose two findings really support each other, because as students become more proficient, they\u2019re going to be more engaged with the text,\u201d said Allison Berman ’18 of Philadelphia. \u201cAnd as they\u2019re more engaged with the text, they pick up more proficiency.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can see that as proficiency goes up and engagement goes up, students are more likely to have deeper discussions about topics that they find interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Berman and the 12 other seniors in the session are education-studies minors who, last fall, took a capstone seminar, taught by Associate Professor of Education Patricia Buck, that\u2019s dedicated to community-engaged research. At the Mount David Summit, the class presented findings from the semester\u2019s two research projects.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can see that as proficiency goes up and engagement goes up, students are more likely to have deeper discussions about topics that they find interesting.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
At the invitation of an English Language Learning teacher at Lewiston High, seven members of the class took part in the literature-circles study. (The other six conducted focus groups looking at disciplinary issues in local schools. Students in Buck\u2019s winter seminar have continued both projects.)<\/p>\n
Looking at systemic factors that could impair ELL instruction, the Bates group focused on the fact that immigrant and refugee students arrive at LHS with varying levels of education and English proficiency \u2014 to say nothing of cultural backgrounds much different from their native-born peers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to examine a potential disconnect between school curriculum and the lived experiences of these students,\u201d explained Meghan D\u2019Arcy \u201918 of Concord, Mass. For the circles, they selected books spanning a range of reading levels but having in common the theme of immigration to America.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe thought that the small, supportive setting\u201d of the circles \u201cwas ideal to introduce culturally relevant texts,\u201d explained Brooke Drabkin ’18 of Roslyn Heights, N.Y.<\/p>\n