4/24/2013

Investigating the Literacy Practices of English Learners Maneka Brooks

Maneka Brooks (in addition to being our Facebook contest winner!) Prior to graduate school, she was a high school teacher in Los Angeles, California. We’re excited to share her awesome research about education and literacy with all of our users!

What drew you to your field or this particular research project?

“My dissertation research investigates the reading and writing practices of high school students who are classified as “English learners.” Rather than focusing on recent immigrants, my research is a multiple case study of five adolescent Latinas who were raised and educated in the United States. These students, who are often referred to as long-term English learners, are described as “orally bilingual” in the research literature. In spite of their ability to speak English, one of the main reasons they remain classified as “English learners” is because of their difficulties with literacy. My research seeks to better understand the nature of their literacy practices by examining how these five focal students use reading and writing in their 10th grade biology and English language arts classes.”

What kind of support have you had for this research?

“My project was funded by multiple sources. Initial exploration into the topic was supported by the Center for Applied Linguistics G. Richard Tucker Fellowship. The data collection was supported by the National Council of Teachers of English Cultivating New Voices among Scholars of Color Fellowship and Stanford University’s Diversity Dissertation Research Opportunity Grant. The writing of the dissertation was supported by Graduate Dissertation Fellowship, Research Institute of Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity at Stanford University.”

What stage are you in with this research?

“I am currently writing my dissertation and preparing manuscripts for publication.”

What inspired this research?

“My experience as a high school teacher inspired this project and my broader research interests. In general, I am fascinated by bilingualism and literacy.”

How are you using Dedoose to meet your research needs?

“I travel a lot and Dedoose is helpful because I know that I can have access to my data regardless of my location. Moreover, the user interface is really intuitive. It didn’t take me long to figure out how to use the various features. I don’t like reading instruction manuals and I only have to use the videos/manuals as a reference. Lastly, I love the customer service. I really appreciate how fast the Dedoose team responds to my questions and comments.”

What is your favorite Dedoose Feature?

“My favorite feature about Dedoose is the data visualization. It helped me to identify patterns in the data.”

For more information, reach out to Maneka, follow this link to her LinkedIn!

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