Bonnie Katz Tenenbaum Professor of Education
Founding partner of Understanding Language, an initiative that focuses attention on the role of language in subject-area learning, with a special focus on helping English Language Learners meet the new Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards.
Language, education and armed conflict on the US-Mexico border
Second language acquisition in post-secondary students
Immigrant families in Latino communities
The challenge of "curricularizing" language
Heritage language teaching and learning
Dr. Valdes' research explores many of the issues of bilingualism relevant to teachers in training, including methods of instruction, typologies, measurement of progress, and the role of education in national policies on immigration. Specifically, she studies the sociolinguistic processes of linguistic acquisition by learners in different circumstances--those who set out to learn a second language in a formal school setting (elective bilingualism) and those who must learn two languages in order to adapt to immediate family-based or work-based communicative needs within an immigrant community (circumstantial bilingualism). Her research in these areas has made her one of the most eminent experts on Spanish-English bilingualism in the United States.
She is a founding partner of Understanding Language, an initiative that focuses attention on the role of language in subject-area learning, with a special focus on helping English Language Learners meet the new Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards (http://ell.stanford.edu).
"The teaching of English to immigrant students, rather than a straightforward and unproblematic practice, is a contested site in which there is a struggle about the role and the future of immigrants in our society. As Americans, we can decide not to address these larger issues and to proceed with our discussions about how many years to teach English. We can pretend that programs, methodologies, and pedagogies are entirely neutral, and we can refuse to examine ESL [English as a second language] ghettos, poor teaching, and the isolation of English-language learners in our educational institutions. . . . If what we want, on the other hand, is to develop the full intellectual potential of all of our citizens and future citizens, the challenge before us is enormous. We must plan carefully, and we must work quickly."
- from her article, "The World Outside and Inside Schools: Language and Immigrant Children"
Since 1992
Assistant Professor, Department of Language and Literature, Western New Mexico University (1972-1973)
Assistant Professor, Department of Foreign Languages, New Mexico State University (1973-1976)
Associate Professor (1976-1982), Professor (1982-1986)
Professor, Division of Language and Literacy, School of Education, University of California, Berkeley (1986-1992)
Recent Publications/Presentations:
Valdés, G., Capitelli, S., & Alvarez, L. (2010). Latino children learning English: Steps in the Journey. New York: Teachers College Press.
Lee, O., Quinn, H., & Valdés, G. (2013). Science and language for English language learners in relation to Next Generation Science Standards with implications for Common Core State Standards for English language arts and mathematics. Educational Researcher, 42, 223–233.
Poza, L., Brooks, M., & Valdés, G. (2014). Entre familia: Immigrant parents’ strategies for involvement in children’s schooling. The School Community Journal, 24(1), 119–148.
Valdés, Guadalupe. (2014). Changes in the expertise of ESL Professionals: Knowledge and action in an era of new standards. TESOL White Paper. http://www.tesol.org/docs/default-source/papers-and-briefs/professional-paper-26-march-2014.pdf?sfvrsn=2
Kibler, Amanda, Valdés, Guadalupe, & Walqui, Aida (Eds.) (2014). Special Topic Issue:K-12 Standards-Based Educational Reform: Implications for English Language Learner Populations TESOL Quarterly.
Valdés, G., Menken, K., & Castro, M. (Eds.). (2015). Common Core: Bilingual and English language learners: A resource for educators. Philadelphia, PA, USA: Caslon Publishing.
Valdés, Guadalupe. (2015). Latin@s and the intergenerational continuity of Spanish: The challenges of curricularizing language. International Multilingual Research Journal, 9, 253–273.
Valdés, Guadalupe. (2016). Language and Immigrant Integration in an Age of Mass Migration: Shifts and Changes in “Teaching” Destination Languages. In Banks, James A., Suarez-Orozco, Marcelo, & Ben-Peretz, Miriam (Eds.), Global Migration and Civic Education (pp. 77–104). New York; London: Teachers College Press.
Valdés, Guadalupe. (2017). Entry Visa Denied: The Construction of Ideological Language Borders in Educational Settings. In Garcia, Ofelia & Flores, Nelson (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Language and Society (pp. 321–348). New York: Oxford University Press, USA.
Valdés, Guadalupe. (in press). From Language Maintenance and Intergenerational Transmission to Language Survivance: Will “Heritage Language” Education Help or Hinder? Rearticulating the Past: The Continuing Influence of Joshua Fishman. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2016(241).
Faltis, C., & Valdés Guadalupe. (2016). Preparing teachers for advocacy and for teaching in linguistically diverse classrooms: A vademecum for teacher educators. In D. Gitomer & C. Bell (Eds.), 5th Edition of the Handbook on Teaching (pp. 549–592). Washington D.D.: AERA.
Kibler, A., Valdés, G., & Walqui, A. (2014). What Does Standards-based Educational Reform Mean for English Language Learner Populations in Primary and Secondary Schools? TESOL Quarterly, 48(3), 433–453.
Kibler, Amanda, & Valdes, Guadalupe. (2016). Conceptualizing language learners: Socio-institutional mechanisms and their consequences. Modern Language Journal, 100(16), 96–116.
Poza, L. & Valdes, G. (In press). Assessing English Language Proficiency in the United States: From No Child Left Behind to the Common Core. In E. Shohamy (Ed.), Language Testing and Assessment. Springer.
Member, National Academy of Education
AERA Fellow
Member, Board of Trustees, Educational Testing Service
Member, Editorial Board Written Communication
Member, Editorial Board, Modern Language Journal
Member, Editorial Board, Español en Contexto
Member, Editorial Board, Language Policy
Member Editorail Board, Research on the Teaching of English
Member Editorial Board, Journal of Language, Identity and Education