The Teacher's Dilemma: Balancing Trade-Offs in Programming Education for Emergent Bilingual Students

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Dodoo, Emma R., Nelson-Fromm, Tamara, Guzdial, Mark
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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_version_ 1866915456421462016
author Dodoo, Emma R.
Nelson-Fromm, Tamara
Guzdial, Mark
author_facet Dodoo, Emma R.
Nelson-Fromm, Tamara
Guzdial, Mark
contents K-12 computing teachers must navigate complex trade-offs when selecting programming languages and instructional materials for classrooms with emergent bilingual students. While they aim to foster an inclusive learning environment by addressing language barriers that impact student engagement, they must also align with K-12 computer science curricular guidelines and prepare students for industry-standard programming tools. Because programming languages predominantly use English keywords and most instructional materials are written in English, these linguistic barriers introduce cognitive load and accessibility challenges. This paper examines teachers' decisions in balancing these competing priorities, highlighting the tensions between accessibility, curriculum alignment, and workforce preparation. The findings shed light on how our teacher participants negotiate these trade-offs and what factors influence their selection of programming tools to best support EB students while meeting broader educational and professional goals.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_14147
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The Teacher's Dilemma: Balancing Trade-Offs in Programming Education for Emergent Bilingual Students
Dodoo, Emma R.
Nelson-Fromm, Tamara
Guzdial, Mark
Human-Computer Interaction
K-12 computing teachers must navigate complex trade-offs when selecting programming languages and instructional materials for classrooms with emergent bilingual students. While they aim to foster an inclusive learning environment by addressing language barriers that impact student engagement, they must also align with K-12 computer science curricular guidelines and prepare students for industry-standard programming tools. Because programming languages predominantly use English keywords and most instructional materials are written in English, these linguistic barriers introduce cognitive load and accessibility challenges. This paper examines teachers' decisions in balancing these competing priorities, highlighting the tensions between accessibility, curriculum alignment, and workforce preparation. The findings shed light on how our teacher participants negotiate these trade-offs and what factors influence their selection of programming tools to best support EB students while meeting broader educational and professional goals.
title The Teacher's Dilemma: Balancing Trade-Offs in Programming Education for Emergent Bilingual Students
topic Human-Computer Interaction
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.14147