Maneka Deanna Brooks | Texas State University (original) (raw)

Publications by Maneka Deanna Brooks

Grounded in research on bilingualism and adolescent literacy, this volume provides a much-needed ... more Grounded in research on bilingualism and adolescent literacy, this volume provides a much-needed insight into the day-to-day needs of students who are identified as long-term English language learners (LTELs). LTELs are adolescents who are primarily or solely educated in the U.S. and yet remain identified as "learning English" in secondary school. Challenging the deficit perspective that is often applied to their experiences of language learning, Brooks counters incorrect characterizations of LTELs and sheds light on students’ strengths to argue that effective literacy education requires looking beyond policy classifications that are often used to guide educational decisions for this population.

By combining research, theory, and practice, this book offers a comprehensive analysis of literacy pedagogy to facilitate teacher learning and includes practical takeaways and implications for classroom practice and professional development. Offering a pathway for transforming literacy education for students identified as LTELs, chapters discuss reframing the education of LTELs, academic reading in the classroom, and the bilingualism of students who are labeled LTELs.

Transforming Literacy Education for Long-Term English Learners is a much-needed resource for scholars, professors, researchers, and graduate students in language and literacy education, English education, and teacher education, and for those who are looking to create an inclusive and successful classroom environment for LTELs.

Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 2019

This proposal’s aim is to create a space for student choice and voice within a prepackaged readin... more This proposal’s aim is to create a space for student choice and voice within a prepackaged reading program. By creating a space for student perspectives, I sought to reengage students in independent reading and
to reduce Ms. Johnson’s reliance on oral reading within the classroom. I decided to share this proposal for two reasons. First, it is an example of a relatively small-scale transformation in instruction that could make a big difference in students’ experience of a course. Second, and unfortunately, Ms. Johnson and I were unable to put this proposal into action. She left her position as a reading intervention teacher the following year. Consequently,
I hope that sharing this proposal facilitates its use to support change elsewhere.

Advocacy in English language teaching and learning, 2019

In this chapter, I flip the script. I use the work of a mother as an instructional case for TESOL... more In this chapter, I flip the script. I use the work of a mother as an instructional case for TESOL educators. After problematizing dominant conceptions of LTELs, I examine the experiences of a middle school parent and future teacher: Susana Ávila (all identifying names are pseudonyms). Rather than focusing on what schools should teach Mrs. Ávila about advocating for her son’s education, I use her advocacy experiences to discuss what K-12 TESOL educators can learn about advocacy for LTELs.

The High School Journal, 2018

High school students’ participation in supplementary reading intervention courses shapes their co... more High school students’ participation in supplementary reading intervention courses shapes their course-taking opportunities. Unfortunately, there is little research that examines criteria that determine whether students are placed in these courses and their possibilities for exit. There is far less research about students’ understandings of these entry and exit criteria. These lacunae limit administrator, educator, and researcher knowledge about the role of these criteria in structuring students’ educational
trajectories. Drawing on participant observations and interviews, this article
shares the results of a dual analysis of entry and exit criteria for reading
intervention at a comprehensive high school, and student perceptions of these criteria. Findings indicate how shifting criteria, the overreliance on assessments embedded within pre-packaged literacy programs, and the absence of communication with students reproduced inequities in students’ access to other electives and choices in their high school trajectories. As a result, this article calls attention to the way in which lack of communication and hidden high-stakes assessments functioned to limit the educational opportunities of the linguistically diverse students of color enrolled in this reading intervention course. In addition, it raises awareness about the necessity for administrators and educators to be critical consumers of assessments embedded within pre-packaged literacy instruction programs.

English Teaching: Practice and Critique , 2018

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate teacher-initiated whole-group oral reading practices in ... more Purpose – This paper aims to investigate teacher-initiated whole-group oral reading practices in two ninth-grade reading intervention classrooms and how teachers understood the purposes of those practices.

Design/methodology/approach – In this qualitative cross-case analysis, a literacy-as-social-practice perspective is used to collaboratively analyze ethnographic data (fieldnotes, audio recordings, interviews, artifacts) across two classrooms.

Findings – Oral reading was a routine instructional reading event in both classrooms. However, the literacy practices that characterized oral reading and teachers’ purposes for using oral reading varied depending on
teachers’ pedagogical philosophies, instructional goals and contextual constraints. During oral reading, students’ opportunities to engage in independent meaning making with texts were either absent or secondary
to other purposes or goals.

Practical implications – Findings emphasize the significance of understanding both how and why oral reading happens in secondary classrooms. Specifically, they point to the importance of collaborating with
teachers to (a) examine their own ideas about the power of oral reading and the institutional factors that shape their existing oral reading practices; (b) investigate the intended and actual outcomes of oral reading for their
students and (c) develop other instructional approaches to support students to individually and collaboratively make meaning from texts.

Originality/value – This study falls at the intersection of three under-researched areas of study: the nature of everyday instruction in secondary literacy intervention settings, the persistence of oral reading in secondary
school and teachers’ purposes for using oral reading in their instruction. Consequently, it contributes knowledge that can support educators in creating more equitable instructional environments.

The term struggling reader is seemingly ubiquitous in literacy education. A keyword search of the... more The term struggling reader is seemingly ubiquitous in literacy education. A keyword search of the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy (JAAL)
archives for the term returns 576 articles, a search of Google Scholar returns 457,000 documents, and a search of Google returns a whopping 2,060,000 results. In this column, we focus on the term struggling reader
because of its prevalence, but we also use it as an index of broader concerns about labels that define the work of educators.

In this contribution, a literacy teacher educator describes how she used responses to an assignme... more In this contribution, a literacy teacher educator describes how she used responses to an assignment about race and literacy test scores to redesign course curriculum.

TESOL Quarterly, 2018

In this contribution to Teaching Issues, I examine three myths about students who are considered ... more In this contribution to Teaching Issues, I examine three myths about students who are considered to be long-term English learners (LTELs). I encounter these myths in my work with groups and individuals who are concerned about the education of LTELs. As I will illustrate below, these myths are also reproduced within certain publications. This article does not provide a detailed review of extant research. Instead, I use research to call attention to the inaccuracies reproduced by these myths. Then, I provide guidance for designing instructional environments that attend to local specificities of where
readers work. [THIS ARTICLE IS CURRENTLY FREELY AVAILABLE FROM TESOL QUARTERLY. I HAVE LINKED TO IT ON THIS PAGE]

In this article, I use what Baszile terms critical autobiographical reflection to examine my expe... more In this article, I use what Baszile terms critical autobiographical reflection to examine my experiences as a Black and Tamil American woman who engages in language and literacy research with Latinx adolescents. I describe my encounters with two types of research policing in which perceptions of my racial identity are used to challenge the “appropriateness” of my research. Then, I illustrate how my biographical journey as a multiracial woman has shaped how I envision the conception of community that is fundamental to my equity-focused work. Finally, I discuss that it was differences in racialized schooling experiences, not distinct ethnoracial identities, which had the potential to be the greatest barrier in my cross-racial dissertation research. Through this critical autobiographical reflection, I present a diverse representation of what it means to be a Woman of Color educational researcher and document how I enact what Paris conceptualizes as humanizing research.

This article examines the alternative English spelling practices of a student who is considered t... more This article examines the alternative English spelling practices of a student who is considered to be a long-term English learner. It draws on a theoretical framework that integrates a social perspective on spelling with a rejection of idealized conceptions of bilingualism. The analyzed English spellings presented in this article were identified in eight texts that the focal student composed during her English language arts class. Notably, this examination was contextualized within the focal student's linguistic and schooling history. The resulting findings document that the focal student was a simultaneous bilingual who had a troubled history with formal schooling—the place where many young people learn spelling conventions. The predominant practice that characterized her alternative spellings was her use of conventional English sound-to-letter relationships to create a written echo of the speech patterns of her home, school, and community. When her alternative spelling did not reflect these Englishes, they typically illustrated her familiarity with the normative spelling of particular words. Yet the practices that characterized her spelling meant that they strayed from accepted conventions (e.g., transposition/omission/insertion of letters). The focal student's alternative spelling practices illustrated her familiarity with the English writing system and the depth of her knowledge of multiple Englishes.

Educators are expected to take into account students' linguistic experiences when designing liter... more Educators are expected to take into account students' linguistic experiences when designing literacy instruction. However, official school records traditionally provide limited information about students' linguistic histories. This article presents educators with a linguistic survey that can help bridge this gap. The survey is an easy-to-use classroom resource through which educators can gather information about their students' linguistic experiences. Notably, it is based on ideas about and research on bilingualism that are not traditionally discussed in mainstream literacy education. To illustrate the survey's potential for instruction, the article includes a case study of a 10th-grade student and discusses the implications of the type of information garnered by the survey for literacy pedagogy. As a whole, this article supports educators in making more linguistically informed decisions about literacy instruction.

Although low English reading test scores play an important role in long-term English learners (LT... more Although low English reading test scores play an important role in long-term English learners (LTELs) continued classification as English learners (ELs), limited research exists on how these students actually construct meaning with academic texts in English. This article uses a literacy-as-social-practice perspective to examine the reading practices that five high school LTELs vocalized during think-alouds with biology and English language arts texts. The findings document the focal students’ detailed understandings of the texts and identify four categories of meaning-making practices in which students engaged to differing extents during think-alouds: summarizing and identifying important information; making connections to background knowledge; going beyond the text; and recognizing limitations. These findings are significant because they provide a much-needed depiction of the actual reading practices of students who have remained classified as ELs for all or most of their academic trajectory.

Long-term English learners (LTELs) are frequently characterized as struggling with academic readi... more Long-term English learners (LTELs) are frequently characterized as
struggling with academic reading in English. This paper moves
beyond broad generalizations about this population’s English-reading
practices to a situated analysis of one ‘LTEL’ Lizbeth Sanchez’s
making meaning in her sophomore biology classroom. This analysis
of Lizbeth’s reading practices reveals that she successfully navigates
the primary reading practices through which she was expected to
acquire new disciplinary knowledge. Although the examined reading
practices were fundamental to academic success in her biology
classroom, they are distinct from those predominantly portrayed as
academic reading on standardized tests and in the research literature.
Nevertheless, these findings provide an important counter-narrative
about a population that is frequently represented as lacking both
academic and linguistic ability. In addition, they illustrate the
significance of how academic reading is conceptualized for
recognizing and building upon the abilities of ‘struggling readers.’

Theories guide many aspects of literacy research. In this article we describe four theoretical ap... more Theories guide many aspects of literacy research. In this article we describe four theoretical approaches that we have used in qualitative research with students who are perceived to struggle with reading in school, including: New Literacy Studies, Disability Studies in Education, Bioecological Systems Theory, and Cultural Historical Activity Theory. We provide a brief overview of each of the theories and then explain how we have used them to gain insights about students with whom we have worked in
the context of our research. Although grounded in distinct perspectives, we argue that each of the theories are lenses through which we were better able to understand the complexities of students’ struggles with reading. We further argue that the theories are united in their ability to broaden the perspectives of researchers and teachers to better account for the social, cultural, and institutional factors that shape literacy teaching and learning in schools. We conclude by questioning the use of the term ‘‘struggling reader’’ and highlighting the implications of our individual theoretical
frames and analyses for both research and practice.

This article presents a multifaceted representation of the in-school reading experiences and idea... more This article presents a multifaceted representation of the in-school reading experiences and ideas about academic reading shared by five adolescent Latina long-term English learners (LTELs). It
uses data collected during ethnographic observations of the five focal students’ biology and English language arts classrooms and in-depth qualitative interviews with these students and selected
teachers to contextualize their standardized reading test scores. The findings of this yearlong multiple case study illustrate that the focal students’ everyday experience of in-school reading
focused on constructing meaning with texts orally in a group. During these classroom reading activities, the teacher played a primary role in facilitating comprehension. On the other hand,
the standardized tests that were used to determine their English proficiency required reading to be a silent and independent activity. Moreover, the ideas about academic reading that these
students shared reflected their daily experiences with oral reading. By calling attention to the distinction between academic reading on tests and in the classroom, this research documents that what constitutes academic reading is not static across all contexts. These findings contribute to existing work that moves away from seeing academic literacy as a set of decontextualized language skills; this research highlights the socially situated nature of reading. Additionally, these findings problematize the exclusive attribution, without further investigation, of standardized
reading test scores to LTELs’ English proficiency. This work speaks to the importance of a more holistic understanding of the literacy development of students who are considered to be LTELs.

Other Scholarly Work by Maneka Deanna Brooks

Literacy Research Association - Research to Practice talk related to forthcoming manuscript in Li... more Literacy Research Association - Research to Practice talk related to forthcoming manuscript in Literacy Research: Theory, Method, & Practice, discussing the important role of theory in research about "struggling" readers.
Hosted by Michael Mandarino.

Papers by Maneka Deanna Brooks

Linguistics and Education, 2011

Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 2019

Advocacy in English language teaching and learning, 2019

The High School Journal, 2018

English Teaching: Practice and Critique , 2018

TESOL Quarterly, 2018