Aurolyn Luykx | University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) (original) (raw)
Papers by Aurolyn Luykx
Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education, 2007
Background A critical issue in academic assessment is the effect of children's language and c... more Background A critical issue in academic assessment is the effect of children's language and culture on their measured performance. Research on this topic has rarely focused on science education, because science is commonly (though erroneously) assumed to be “culture free.” Students’ scientific understandings are influenced by the cultural values, experiences, and epistemologies of their home communities. Efforts to minimize cultural bias include designing tests to be “culturally neutral” and, conversely, tailoring assessments to specific cultural groups; both approaches are theoretically and practically problematic. Several studies have focused on testing accommodations for English language learners (ELLs), but accommodations raise validity and feasibility issues and are limited by “English-only” policies. This article stresses the linkages between language and culture, drawing on contemporary literacy theory and research on scientific communities as well as groups traditionally...
Language Socialization in Bilingual and Multilingual Societies, 2003
International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2016
It is our pleasure to present this special issue dedicated to contact among indigenous languages ... more It is our pleasure to present this special issue dedicated to contact among indigenous languages of the Americas. Understandably, the sort of contact that garners the lion’s share of attention from indigenous language advocates and scholars is that between indigenous languages and global/colonial languages such as English, Spanish, and French. All of the languages examined here – even the Quechua language family, with 6–8 million speakers spread across three countries – are united by the overriding circumstance of their endangered status. For smaller indigenous groups, like those of Brazil or Argentina’s Chaco region, researchers are racing against time to document the structural characteristics and sociolinguistic practices of languages that are unlikely to survive the current century. Due to this urgency, research on the displacement of indigenous American languages by colonial languages has tended to overshadow important sociolinguistic interactions among indigenous languages themselves. Of course, it would be misleading to characterize these phenomena as occurring independently of the larger sociolinguistic context; as will be evident from the cases gathered here, the presence and weight of the dominant language is felt even by speech communities for whom it is not the predominant mode of communication. Virtually no indigenous group in the hemisphere has escaped the influence of migration, urbanization, wage labor, extractive industries, schooling, and all the other colonial and post-colonial institutions that have shaped current cultural and linguistic landscapes. Nonetheless, the imposition of European languages and the dislocation of myriad indigenous societies did not halt the dynamic interactions among indigenous speech communities themselves. The linguistic practices examined here reveal relationships of competition, alliance, and accommodation, as ethnolinguistic groups employ language (and metalanguage) both to differentiate themselves from their neighbors and to forge political and ideological bonds across geographic, national, ethnic, and linguistic divides.
Practicing Anthropology, 2008
The present collection of articles is a welcome antidote to the stereotype of applied anthropolog... more The present collection of articles is a welcome antidote to the stereotype of applied anthropologists of education as technicians rather than theoreticians, institutional enablers rather than social critics. These authors demonstrate that, despite institutional constraints and the problem-driven nature of their endeavors, applied anthropologists of education engage some of anthropology's most fundamental theoretical and methodological questions, and can foster an attitude of social critique even from within bureaucratic systems of social reproduction.
Journal of Latin American Anthropology, 2008
Encyclopedia of Anthropology
Encyclopedia of Anthropology
Encyclopedia of Anthropology
Encyclopedia ofthe Social and Cultural Foundations of Education
Encyclopedia ofthe Social and Cultural Foundations of Education
Encyclopedia of Anthropology
Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 2007
... The Challenge of Altering Elementary School Teachers' Beliefs and Practices Regarding Li... more ... The Challenge of Altering Elementary School Teachers' Beliefs and Practices Regarding Linguistic and Cultural Diversity in Science Instruction Okhee Lee,1 Aurolyn Luykx,2 Cory Buxton,1 Annis Shaver3 1School of Education, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33146 ...
Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 2007
Abstract: This article is situated within a theoretical framework, instructional congruence, arti... more Abstract: This article is situated within a theoretical framework, instructional congruence, articulating issues of student diversity with the demands of academic disciplines. In the context of a large-scale study targeting elementary school science, the article describes a research ...
International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2004
Current language policies in Bolivia are based on ideological assumptions that reflect the langua... more Current language policies in Bolivia are based on ideological assumptions that reflect the language practice of Spanish speakers, rather than sociolinguistic evidence. These assumptions include: that standardization is key to Quechua language revitalization and political empowerment; that etymological criteria are the best guide for elaborating a standard; and that literacy-and school-based functions are the most crucial to Quechua's future. Inasmuch as these assumptions conflict with the language ideologies of Quechua communities, policies' chances for success are diminished. Rather than focusing exclusively on domains where Spanish is dominant, language planners should address language shift in those domains that constitute Quechua's stronghold: the home and the community.
International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 2013
ABSTRACT Available as a pdf by request to jmheyman@utep.edu . This article focuses on efforts to ... more ABSTRACT Available as a pdf by request to jmheyman@utep.edu . This article focuses on efforts to critically analyze the social reproductive functions of schooling with a group of pre-service teachers in the US–Mexico border region, and on students’ reactions to these efforts. The students – all female, predominantly Mexican-American – had experienced both educational discrimination and academic success, and heavily invested in the dominant view of schooling as a meritocracy where individual talent and motivation regularly overcome structural obstacles. We argue that the students’ ideologies and experiences of class, gender, ethnicity, nationality, and language predisposed them to resist analysis of systemic inequalities in schools; we also examine the implications of this resistance for their future success as teachers. We conclude with recommendations for balancing structural pessimism and strategic optimism in the classroom, and for bringing students’ personal and social histories to bear on the contradictions between schooling’s promise of social mobility and its tendency to reproduce social inequality.
Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 2003
ED479953 - Language as Cultural Practice: Engaging Minority Language Use within Intercultural Edu... more ED479953 - Language as Cultural Practice: Engaging Minority Language Use within Intercultural Education.
American Educational Research Journal, 2005
In the climate of standards-based instruction and accountability, scaling up educational innovati... more In the climate of standards-based instruction and accountability, scaling up educational innovations is necessary to bring about system-wide improvements. As a result of fundamental tensions involving effective educational policies and practices for diverse student groups, scaling up is especially challenging in multilingual, multicultural, and inner-city settings. In this article, grounded in the instructional congruence framework, the authors highlight the challenges facing schools and teachers in articulating science disciplines with nonmainstream students’ linguistic and cultural experiences while also promoting English language and literacy. Rigorous attention to such challenges is needed to make scaling up of educational interventions more effective and to answer the question of what constitutes “best policies and practices” for diverse student groups.
Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education, 2007
Background A critical issue in academic assessment is the effect of children's language and c... more Background A critical issue in academic assessment is the effect of children's language and culture on their measured performance. Research on this topic has rarely focused on science education, because science is commonly (though erroneously) assumed to be “culture free.” Students’ scientific understandings are influenced by the cultural values, experiences, and epistemologies of their home communities. Efforts to minimize cultural bias include designing tests to be “culturally neutral” and, conversely, tailoring assessments to specific cultural groups; both approaches are theoretically and practically problematic. Several studies have focused on testing accommodations for English language learners (ELLs), but accommodations raise validity and feasibility issues and are limited by “English-only” policies. This article stresses the linkages between language and culture, drawing on contemporary literacy theory and research on scientific communities as well as groups traditionally...
Language Socialization in Bilingual and Multilingual Societies, 2003
International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2016
It is our pleasure to present this special issue dedicated to contact among indigenous languages ... more It is our pleasure to present this special issue dedicated to contact among indigenous languages of the Americas. Understandably, the sort of contact that garners the lion’s share of attention from indigenous language advocates and scholars is that between indigenous languages and global/colonial languages such as English, Spanish, and French. All of the languages examined here – even the Quechua language family, with 6–8 million speakers spread across three countries – are united by the overriding circumstance of their endangered status. For smaller indigenous groups, like those of Brazil or Argentina’s Chaco region, researchers are racing against time to document the structural characteristics and sociolinguistic practices of languages that are unlikely to survive the current century. Due to this urgency, research on the displacement of indigenous American languages by colonial languages has tended to overshadow important sociolinguistic interactions among indigenous languages themselves. Of course, it would be misleading to characterize these phenomena as occurring independently of the larger sociolinguistic context; as will be evident from the cases gathered here, the presence and weight of the dominant language is felt even by speech communities for whom it is not the predominant mode of communication. Virtually no indigenous group in the hemisphere has escaped the influence of migration, urbanization, wage labor, extractive industries, schooling, and all the other colonial and post-colonial institutions that have shaped current cultural and linguistic landscapes. Nonetheless, the imposition of European languages and the dislocation of myriad indigenous societies did not halt the dynamic interactions among indigenous speech communities themselves. The linguistic practices examined here reveal relationships of competition, alliance, and accommodation, as ethnolinguistic groups employ language (and metalanguage) both to differentiate themselves from their neighbors and to forge political and ideological bonds across geographic, national, ethnic, and linguistic divides.
Practicing Anthropology, 2008
The present collection of articles is a welcome antidote to the stereotype of applied anthropolog... more The present collection of articles is a welcome antidote to the stereotype of applied anthropologists of education as technicians rather than theoreticians, institutional enablers rather than social critics. These authors demonstrate that, despite institutional constraints and the problem-driven nature of their endeavors, applied anthropologists of education engage some of anthropology's most fundamental theoretical and methodological questions, and can foster an attitude of social critique even from within bureaucratic systems of social reproduction.
Journal of Latin American Anthropology, 2008
Encyclopedia of Anthropology
Encyclopedia of Anthropology
Encyclopedia of Anthropology
Encyclopedia ofthe Social and Cultural Foundations of Education
Encyclopedia ofthe Social and Cultural Foundations of Education
Encyclopedia of Anthropology
Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 2007
... The Challenge of Altering Elementary School Teachers' Beliefs and Practices Regarding Li... more ... The Challenge of Altering Elementary School Teachers' Beliefs and Practices Regarding Linguistic and Cultural Diversity in Science Instruction Okhee Lee,1 Aurolyn Luykx,2 Cory Buxton,1 Annis Shaver3 1School of Education, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33146 ...
Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 2007
Abstract: This article is situated within a theoretical framework, instructional congruence, arti... more Abstract: This article is situated within a theoretical framework, instructional congruence, articulating issues of student diversity with the demands of academic disciplines. In the context of a large-scale study targeting elementary school science, the article describes a research ...
International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2004
Current language policies in Bolivia are based on ideological assumptions that reflect the langua... more Current language policies in Bolivia are based on ideological assumptions that reflect the language practice of Spanish speakers, rather than sociolinguistic evidence. These assumptions include: that standardization is key to Quechua language revitalization and political empowerment; that etymological criteria are the best guide for elaborating a standard; and that literacy-and school-based functions are the most crucial to Quechua's future. Inasmuch as these assumptions conflict with the language ideologies of Quechua communities, policies' chances for success are diminished. Rather than focusing exclusively on domains where Spanish is dominant, language planners should address language shift in those domains that constitute Quechua's stronghold: the home and the community.
International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 2013
ABSTRACT Available as a pdf by request to jmheyman@utep.edu . This article focuses on efforts to ... more ABSTRACT Available as a pdf by request to jmheyman@utep.edu . This article focuses on efforts to critically analyze the social reproductive functions of schooling with a group of pre-service teachers in the US–Mexico border region, and on students’ reactions to these efforts. The students – all female, predominantly Mexican-American – had experienced both educational discrimination and academic success, and heavily invested in the dominant view of schooling as a meritocracy where individual talent and motivation regularly overcome structural obstacles. We argue that the students’ ideologies and experiences of class, gender, ethnicity, nationality, and language predisposed them to resist analysis of systemic inequalities in schools; we also examine the implications of this resistance for their future success as teachers. We conclude with recommendations for balancing structural pessimism and strategic optimism in the classroom, and for bringing students’ personal and social histories to bear on the contradictions between schooling’s promise of social mobility and its tendency to reproduce social inequality.
Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 2003
ED479953 - Language as Cultural Practice: Engaging Minority Language Use within Intercultural Edu... more ED479953 - Language as Cultural Practice: Engaging Minority Language Use within Intercultural Education.
American Educational Research Journal, 2005
In the climate of standards-based instruction and accountability, scaling up educational innovati... more In the climate of standards-based instruction and accountability, scaling up educational innovations is necessary to bring about system-wide improvements. As a result of fundamental tensions involving effective educational policies and practices for diverse student groups, scaling up is especially challenging in multilingual, multicultural, and inner-city settings. In this article, grounded in the instructional congruence framework, the authors highlight the challenges facing schools and teachers in articulating science disciplines with nonmainstream students’ linguistic and cultural experiences while also promoting English language and literacy. Rigorous attention to such challenges is needed to make scaling up of educational interventions more effective and to answer the question of what constitutes “best policies and practices” for diverse student groups.