Perceptions of linguistically responsive teaching in language specialist teachers and mainstream teachers

Linguistically responsive teaching (LRT) means understanding the role that language has in building meaningful learning environments. In this paper linguistically responsive teaching is viewed as one way of implementing the notion of intercultural education. This qualitative study analysed data from 10 specialist language teachers and mainstream teachers to examine their perceptions of linguistic responsiveness in teaching Spanish as a second language to immigrant students. The findings revealed that there are differences in the perceptions of teachers on linguistically responsive teaching. Overall, the language teachers, as compared to mainstream teachers, showed a more extensive perceptions related to the LRT framework. Qualitative data suggested that training in relation to teaching L2 and previous experiences in teaching immigrant students had an influence on participants’ perceptions. Finally, the study indicates that while teachers did consider several elements of the LRT framework in their discussions on their practices, much more work regarding skills and knowledge aspects of understanding second language acquisition is necessary to prepare linguistically responsive teachers.