Ana Christina DaSilva Iddings - Assistant Professor

Ph.D. University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Research: Recent immigrant children in American schools; Latino young children and families, In- and out-of-school language and literacy learning; sociocultural perspectives on language, literacy and culture; preparing teachers to educate linguistically diverse students.

Teaching: Methods of teaching reading and language arts; research methods; sociocultural perspectives on language, literacy, and culture. Chris Iddings is an assistant professor who specializes on the learning processes of newly arrived immigrant children and their families, speakers of languages other than English, as they develop language and literacy in English-dominant elementary classrooms and in their local communities. Of particular interest is the understanding of how English language learners co-create and express meaning as they come to as they come to participate and to interact with native speakers of English in new cultural contexts. She examines these processes through the lens of sociocultural, critical, and cultural-historical activity theoretical approaches. In addition, she is concerned with preparing teachers to support the learning of linguistically diverse students.

Short Biography

My interest in second language learning stems from the fact that I am an immigrant from Brazil who learned English and Spanish as an adult. Also, for many years I have taught and worked with families of second language learners in different settings (pre-school, private and public schools, and community centers).

Publications

Book    

McCafferty, S.G., Jacobs, G., and DaSilva Iddings, A. C. (2006). Cooperative Learning and Teaching in the Second Language Classrooms. Language Education Series, J. C. Richards (Ed.). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Refereed Journals              

Guest Editor, Special Issues

DaSilva Iddings, A. C. & Moll, L. (2009).  Second and Foreign Language Learning and Teaching. Mind, Culture, and Activity (Accepted). 

Articles

DaSilva Iddings, A. C. & Rose, B. (Under review). The Impact of a  Design-based Research Approach to Teacher Development on the Achievement of Reading Comprehension for Spanish-Speaking English Language Learners. Journal of Teacher Education.

DaSilva Iddings, A. C., Risko, V. & Rampulla, P. (Under review). Conversations about texts to enhance reading comprehension for English language learners. The Reading Teacher.

DaSilva Iddings, A. C. & Jang, E. Y.  (2008)  The mediational role of classroom practices during the silent period: new immigrant children learning the English language in the mainstream classroom. TESOL Quarterly.

DaSilva Iddings, A. C. & Katz, L. (2007). Integrating home and school identities of recent-immigrant Hispanic English language learners through classroom practices. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 6(4), 1-16.

DaSilva Iddings, A. C.  & McCafferty, S. G. (2007). Carnival in a Mainstream Kindergarten Classroom: A Bakhtinian Analysis of Second Language Learners' ‘Off-Task’ Behaviors. Modern Language Journal, 91(1), 31-44.  

Singer-Gabella, M.; DaSilva Iddings, A.C.; Paulsen, K.; Smithey, M. Hardenbrook, M.;  Palmeri, A.; Schauble, L.; & Benbow, C. (2007). From Teacher Education to P-12 Learning Outcomes: The New Burden of Proof. Teaching and Learning: The Journal of Natural Inquiry and Reflective Practice, 21(2), 115-138.

DaSilva Iddings, A. C. (2005). Linguistic access and participation: Second language learners in an English dominant second grade Classroom. Bilingual Research Journal, 29(1), 165-183.

DaSilva Iddings, A.C. (2005).  A Time and Place for Literacy: A welcoming center for recent immigrants to American schools. Tennessee's children: The Journal of the Tennessee Association on Young Children, 30-34.

Hyatt, K. & DaSilva Iddings, A. C. (2004). Transforming schools from within: making a case for inclusionary practices. Teaching Exceptional Children Plus, 1(3), 1-11.

Chapters in Refereed Volumes

DaSilva Iddings, A. C. &  Rose, B. (forthcoming). Promoting educational equity for recent-immigrant children in English-dominant classrooms. What does it take? To be included in Milner, R. (Ed.). Empowering Teachers for Equity and Diversity: Progressive Perspectives on Research, Theory, and Practice .

DaSilva Iddings, A. C. (2008). The Writing on the Wall: Graffiti and Other Community/School Practices: An example from Brazil. To be included in J. Scott, D. Stracker, & L. Katz (Eds.). Affirming Students’ Right to Their Own Language. New York, NY: Lawrence Erbaum Associates.

DaSilva Iddings, A. C. (2006). Cooperating in a second language: an afterword. In McCafferty, S. G., Jacobs, G. and A. C. DaSilva Iddings (Eds.), Cooperative Learning and Teaching in Second Language Classrooms, New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, pp. 177-180.

DaSilva Iddings, A. C. & McCafferty S. G. (2006). Second language learners and cooperative interactions in a bilingual kindergarten classroom. In McCafferty, S. G., Jacobs, G. and A. C. DaSilva Iddings (Eds.), Cooperative Learning and Teaching in Second Language Classrooms, New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, pp. 55-73.

Jacobs, G., McCafferty, S.G., & DaSilva Iddings, A. C. (2006).  Roots of cooperative learning in general education. Cooperative Learning and Teaching in Second Language Classrooms, McCafferty, S. G., Jacobs, G. and A. C. DaSilva Iddings, New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, pp. 9-17.

DaSilva Iddings, A.C., Haught, J., & Devlin, R. (2005). Multimodal ways of re-representation of the self: English language learners in a mainstream classroom. In Hall, J. K. (Ed.) Bakhtinian Contributions to Second Language Learning, New York, NY: Lawrence Earbaum Associates, pp. 33-53.

DaSilva Iddings, A. C. & McCafferty, S.G. (2005). Language play and language learning: Creating zones of proximal development in a third-grade classroom. In Tyler, A. (Ed.), Georgetown University Round Tables on Language and Linguistics: Language in Use, Washington, D. C.: George Town University Press, pp. 112-122.

Work in Preparation

DaSilva Iddings, A. C. & McCafferty, S. G.  (in preparation). Promoting Literacies And Civic Responsibility: A Geosemiotic Analysis Of Graffiti Art In The Streets Of Brazil.

DaSilva Iddings, A. C. (in preparation). Understanding Classroom Interactions: Social and Procedural Practices as Cultural/Semiotic Resources for English Language Learners.

DaSilva Iddings, A. C. (in preparation). Understanding the Potential Academic Achievement of English Language Learners in Elementary Classrooms through Dynamic Assessment.

Invited, Non-Refereed Articles

DaSilva Iddings, A. C. (2000). Community of practice: research and application, Graduate Studies Newsletter. University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

DaSilva Iddings, A.C. (1999). The great walls of America, Multicultural Newsletter, College of Education, University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Book Reviews

DaSilva Iddings, A. C. (accepted). Virginia Yip and Stephan Matthews’ “The Bilingual Child: Early Development and Language Contact”. Mind, Culture, and Activity.

DaSilva Iddings, A. C. (2008). On Rose Drury’s ‘Young  bilingual learners at home and at school: Researching multilingual voices’. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 11(3).

DaSilva Iddings, A. C. (2007). On Charmian Kenner’s ‘Becoming bilingual: Young children learning different writing systems.’ A book review. International Journal of
 Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 10 (2), 252-256.  

Encyclopedia Entries

DaSilva Iddings, A. C. (accepted). Entry for Encyclopedia of
 Cross-Cultural School Psychology on the topic of TESOL. 

Position Papers 

NCTE Position Paper on the Role of English Teachers in Educating English Language Learners (ELLs). Prepared by the ELL task force (including A. C. DaSilva Iddings) for the National Council for Teachers of English (2006) http://www.ncte.org/about/over/positions/category/div/124545.htm

Current Project        

Recent Project

The Welcome Center

This project involved the planning, implementation, and the investigation of conditions for sustainability of a "Family Literacies" program involving second language learners (elementary-age) and their parents. In particular, it was concerned with the creation of a Welcome Center in a local school where parents were encouraged to relay their experiences and specialized expertise to the children. The children, in turn, would help their parents to learn English. This project aimed to promote children's academic achievement, respect for the multiplicity of heritages, and greater appreciation for linguistic differences.

Communicative Interactions that facilitate second language and literacy learning for newly-arrived immigrant Latino/a students. In collaboration with Eun-young Jang, Vanderbilt University.

Reseach Project designed to investigate communicative strategies English Language Learners (ELLs) utilize in order to create and express meaning in the new language and cultural context and to inform teachers on how to best use these strategies to facilitate their instruction of ELLs.

Increasing reading comprehension for English language learners.

in collaboration with Brian Rose, Vanderbilt University. Research project designed to investigate instructional means to support the advancement of reading comprehension for English Language Learners (ELLs)

Honors

2002 Portrait of Success Award - KLAS Channel 8: Contributions to the Hispanic Community. 2001 Dissertation of the Year Award, College of Education, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. 1999 Disney Teaching Awards Nomination for best teacher of the year. 1998 National Teacher of the Year Nomination for best teacher. 1996 Junior League of Las Vegas Mini-grant Award for developing a creative approach to education.