Resumen de Bi-literacy and motivation as predictors of bilingual students’ talk during classroom discussion

Holly L. Griskell, Perla B. Gámez, Nonie K. Lesaux

• This study investigated the relations between bilingual students’ amount of talk during classroom discussion, motivation, and self-reported bi-literacy skills (i.e. reading, writing skills in their native and school languages). Sixth-grade Spanish-English bilinguals in the United States (N = 121; M age = 12.119 years old; SD = 0.358) reported on their reading and writing skills in both Spanish and English. Self-reported motivation was assessed using the Motivation for Classroom Discussion Questionnaire (MCD-Q). Audio-recordings of bilinguals’ speech during their English Language Arts class period were used to measure amount of talk during classroom discussion. Results demonstrated that the relation between motivation and amount of talk during classroom discussion varied as a function of self-reported bi-literacy. At high levels of motivation, bi-literate students were more likely to engage in greater amounts of talk during classroom discussion than their non-bi-literate peers.