A content analysis of reading methods texts: What are we told about the nonnative speaker of English

This paper focuses on how second-language children are portrayed in reading and language arts methods textbooks and in practice-oriented reading and language arts journals. Seventy-five textbooks and three journals published between 1980 and 1992 were examined for (a) their labelling of second-language children, (b) their use and application of second-language research, and (c) their instructional strategies. Although there is a high probability that inservice and preservice teach-ers have had some contact in professional fora with issues in second-language reading, professional writings do not provide a thorough discussion of second-language learners that reflects the current knowledge base. Approximately 4.6 million children who do not speak English natively attend American schools. This figure is expected to increase by 10 % to 15 % by the turn of the century (Scarcella, 1990). In light of these numbers, asking a regular class-room teacher "Do you have any children in your classroom who do not speak En-glish natively? " is no longer purposeful. The answer is almost always a perfunctory "yes " no matter the geographic region, the size of the school, or the economics of the community in which it sits. The issue of second-language speakers in American classrooms has a long and turbulent political history. At the turn of the century, social workers were attacked by forces from all political perspectives for providing second-language instruction to recent immigrants. One end of the political continuum maintained that provid-ing language skills to immigrants threatened the job marketplace for "real Ameri-cans. " The other end of the continuum maintained that providing language skill