Examining Student Cognitive and Affective Engagement and Reading Instructional Activities: Spanish-Speaking English Learners' Reading Profiles

• Published in: Literacy research and instruction Vol. 55; no. 3; pp. 209 - 236
• Main Authors: Barber, Ana Taboada, Gallagher, Melissa, Smith, Peet, Buehl, Michelle M., Beck, Jori S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Coral Gables Routledge 02.07.2016; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Affective Behavior; Affective engagement; Coding; Cognitive ability; cognitive engagement; Cognitive Processes; English (Second Language); English as a second language; English Language Learners; English learners; Grade 6; Hispanic; Hispanic American Students; Hispanic people; instructional activities; Interviews; Learner Engagement; middle school; Middle School Students; Observation; reader profiles; Reading; reading activities; Reading Comprehension; Reading Tests; Social Studies; Spanish Speaking; Student Attitudes; Student Characteristics; Student participation; Teacher Attitudes; Teaching Methods; Video Technology
• ISSN: 1938-8071; 1938-8063
• DOI: 10.1080/19388071.2016.1167987

Recent research has emphasized the key role of engagement in helping students succeed in school and beyond. Given the academic struggles that many English learners (ELs) face as they transition to middle school, exploring the facets of engagement in middle school ELs is needed. We established reader profiles for eight sixth grade Hispanic ELs and examined the relationship between these students' profiles and their engagement using teacher-, student-, and observer-reported data. We further examined the observer data (i.e., coded video) to determine if there were differences in individual students' cognitive and affective engagement in four different reading activities. We found that, although engagement in the different activities varied by student, guided reading seemed to be the most engaging activity for most of the ELs in the study.