Abstract

This study addresses the new context of language classrooms with increasing migrant school population. This article offers a pedagogical proposal for writing development based on an analysis of classroom interactions in the subject of language arts in contexts of a high migrant population. This proposal seeks to promote the acquisition of both low-level and higher-order skills involved in purposeful writing through reflection on the uses of language in order to promote an intercultural classroom. Three 5th-grade classrooms with a high percentage of migrant students were observed, and a thematic analysis of the data obtained was carried out. The results indicate that the classroom interactions promoted by the teachers in the classrooms observed focus on the management of learning environments to motivate student participation and activate previous knowledge, to the detriment of reflection on the students’ language or the diverse cultural practices. Therefore, the proposed pedagogical sequence is based on promoting interculturality in the language arts class by creating authentic tasks that allow for dialogue around reading and writing practices. Thus, throughout the sequence, we reflect on linguistic and discursive conventions, which allow us to increase motivation, value the diversity of identities, and favor a teaching and learning process with high expectations for all students. Finally, implications for educational practice and teacher training are discussed to provide more significant opportunities for equity and social justice from an intercultural perspective in language classrooms.