Studies on Emergent Bilinguals

These studies attempt to broaden the current understanding of how bilinguals develop academic literacies and the relationship among developing understanding, affective factors, identity development, gender, and culture. The goal is to understand what opportunity to learn means in multilingual learning contexts. The opportunity to learn framework is applied to multiple subject areas and assessment design and use.

Academic Literacy

The academic literacy studies examine disciplinary literacy learning and development in non-STEM areas. See the STEM teaching and learning page for studies in STEM disciplinary learning.

Assesment

The emergent bilingual assessment studies examine model-based assessment modifications for emergent bilinguals.

ACADEMIC LITERACY PAPERS & PRESENTATIONS

(* = Student: # = Teachers)

  • 2024

    *Casper, R., Aguirre-Muñoz, Z., Spivey, M., & Borefield, H. (2024). Spanish-English Bilingual Heritage Speakers Processing of Inanimate Sentences. Frontiers in Language Sciences, Bilingualism section 3, 1370569. Access Paper

  • 2020

    Aguirre-Muñoz. Z., (2020, February). The Cultural Component of the E-Bilingual Library and its Importance in Supporting Young Dual Language Child Literacy. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the annual meeting of the Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage Conference, Histories and Cultures of Latinas: Suffrage, Activism and Women’s Rights, Houston, TX.

  • 2020

    Aguirre-Muñoz. Z., *Usero-Gonzalez, Bhattacharjee, M., F., *Serrano, A., & Castilla-Earls, A. (2020, February). The Nature of Latino Cultural Representations in Student-Generated, Digital, Spanish Language Storybooks. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Association of Bilingual Education (NABE), Las Vegas, NA.

  • 2017

    Aguirre-Muñoz. Z., & #Musquiz, L., & #Gregory, M. (2017, February). Crafting a Message in Dual Language Classrooms: A Genre-Based Approach to Spanish Academic Writing Development. Professional Seminar presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE), Dallas, TX.

  • 2015

    Aguirre-Muñoz, Z. *Chang, R., & #Sanders, J. (2015). Functional Grammar Instruction Impact on Writing, Educational Policies and Current Practices, 1(2), 71-85. Access Paper

  • 2014

    Aguirre-Muñoz, Z. (2014, August). Focus on meaning structures matters for English learners: Exploring opportunity to learn academic language. International Journal of Liberal Arts and Sciences, 2(6), 1-20. Access Paper

  • 2012

    Aguirre-Muñoz, Z. (2012, March). Adolescent English learner writing: Relationship between use of linguistic meaning structures and proficiency level. Colloquium paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Association of Applied Linguistics (AAAL), Boston, MA.

  • 2008

    Aguirre-Muñoz, Z. & *Amabisca, A. (2008, March). The development of point of view in adolescent English learner writing. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), New York, NY.

  • 2008

    Aguirre-Muñoz, Z. & *Amabisca, A. (2008, March). Adolescent English learner development of knowledge display in writing. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), New York, NY.

  • 2006

    Aguirre-Muñoz, Z., *Parks, J. & *Amabisca, A., (2006, March). Examining developmental patterns of academic language. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Teachers of English to Students of Other Languages (TESOL) conference, Tampa, Florida.

ASSESSMENT PAPERS & PRESENTATIONS

(* = Student; # = Teachers)

  • 2021

    Aguirre-Muñoz, Z. (2021). Teaching and assessing young gamers’ engineering problem solving using interactive simulation games. In H. O’Neil, E. L. Baker, R. S. Perez, & S. E. Watson, (Eds.). Using cognitive and affective metrics in educational simulations and games: Applications in school and workplace contexts (pp 31-54). New York: Routledge. Access Paper

  • 2021

    Aguirre-Muñoz, Z., *Usero Gonzalez, F. & Pando, M. (2021, April). Problematizing Policies for Yearly Progress of English Proficiency in DLI Programs: Do Alternative Procedures Better Reflect Language Development? Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Association of Bilingual Education (NABE), Houston, Texas.

  • 2019

    Aguirre-Muñoz, Z., Boscardin, C. K., & Chang, R. (2019). Issues in measuring English learner opportunity to learn academic language: Social desirability and teacher education effects. International Journal of Education, 11(3), 119-144. Access Paper

  • 2010

    Aguirre-Muñoz, Z. & *Amabisca, A. A. (2010). Defining opportunity to learn for English language learners: Linguistic and cultural dimensions of ELLs’ instructional contexts. Journal for the Education of Students Placed at Risk, 15(3), 259-278. Access Paper

  • 2009

    Aguirre-Muñoz, Z. & Solano-Flores, G. (2009). Accountability and Educational Assessment for Latino, English Language Learning Students: Enhancing Practices through Multidisciplinary Approaches. In, E. Murrillo (Ed.), Handbook of Latinos and Education (pp. 503-522). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Mahwah, New Jersey. Access Paper

  • 2008

    Aguirre-Muñoz, Z. & Boscardin, C. K. (2008). Opportunity to learn and English learner achievement: Is increased content exposure beneficial? Journal of Latinos and Education, 7(3) 186-205. Access Paper

  • 2008

    Baker, E.L., Aguirre-Muñoz, Z., Wang, J., & Niemi, D. (2008). Assessment strategies guidelines lesson. In H. F. O’Neil (Ed.), What works in distance learning: Sample lessons based on guidelines (pp.61-80). Information Age Publishing, Inc. Greenwich, CT. Access Paper

  • 2005

    Boscardin, C. K., Aguirre-Muñoz, Z., *Stoker, G., *Kim, J., & *Kim, M. (2005). Relationship between opportunity to learn and student performance on English and Algebra assessments. Educational Assessment Journal, 10(4), 147-172. Access Paper

  • 1999

    Aguirre-Muñoz, Z. & Baker, E. L. (1999). Improving the equity and validity of assessment-based information systems. In M. Nettles (Ed.), Measuring up: Challenges minorities face in educational assessment (pp. 121-136). Norwell, MA: Kluwer. Access Paper