Technology-enhanced learning environments: Language acquisition for native Spanish-speaking English language learners in the preschool and elementary classroom
Abstract: This interpretivistic qualitative research focused on student engagement and teacher beliefs on the topic of language acquisition and the influence of emerging technologies. Forty-six bilingual and ESL teachers from five school districts representing 15 elementary campuses in Texas completed a self-identified online questionnaire. From the initial group of participants, 10 agreed to take part in face-to-face semi-structured interviews. A two-cycle progressive refinement coding technique analyzed these follow-up teacher interviews. In Vivo Coding selected for the first-cycle coding methodology evaluated their direct language coding important words and phrases describing the influence of emerging technologies on language acquisition. Focus Coding chosen for the second-cycle coding methodology examined the initial codes and grouped the words and phrases to form prominent categories. Through this process of reanalyzing and reorganizing coded data, four emergent themes resulted: (1) engagin