MEXICAN-AMERICAN STUDENTS AND CLASSROOM INTERACTION - AN OVERVIEW ANDCRITIQUE

The failure of U.S. schools to successfully educate Mexican American s tudents has been well documented In this article, studies of Mexican A merican students and classroom interaction are reviewed and critiqued from a Vygotskian perspective. Four traditional approaches to the stud y of Mexican American classroom interaction were found. The research r eviewed suggests that teachers can better ensure Mexican American stud ent involvement in classroom interaction through collaborative learnin g techniques, acceptance and appreciation of student language use, and presentation of challenging material related to student interests. Re searchers may expand our understanding of this topic through the descr iptive study of Mexican American students in the mainstream English-on ly secondary or college-level classroom. Topics in need of further res earch are identified.