Developing a Bilingual Pedagogy for UK schools NALDIC working paper 9, 2009
Introduction
The development of the first language for learners of English as an additional language (EAL) (as emerging bilinguals) has largely been seen in the UK as the responsibility of the home or the community (Swann 1985), outside of mainstream education. NALDIC, in its 1998 Working Paper 3 ‘Guidelines on Bilingualism’, recognised that ‘this view has, in effect, set the context for the educational response to bilingualism since 1985’ (NALDIC 1998: 1). The NALDIC paper took into account the emerging evidence of the link between first language development and cognitive and academic achievement and the guidelines aimed to ‘offer positive action pointers for the development of a policy commitment to bilingualism in the education system’ (ibid.: 2). At that time, it did not go much further than an ambition that staff in schools would ‘encourage and develop pupils’ confidence in using and developing the full range of their linguistic repertoires’ (ibid.: 9). The aim of this Working Paper is explore further how this may be achieved in practice and to set out possible elements of a bilingual pedagogy in the UK context.
Mainstream schools have tended not to concern themselves with whether or not children maintain and develop oracy or literacy in their home languages or achieve age-appropriate competence. Any consideration of bilingual pedagogy will need to take into account that there are many different learners of EAL in the UK, ranging from new arrivals with little previous experience of schooling in their first language, to second or third generation pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds whose dominant language is now English. There will, therefore, be learners who have varying levels of competence in their first language. Children will also use their first language skills for different purposes at different times.
The vast majority of people in the world are bilingual, or indeed multilingual, and see the use of more than one language as a normal part of their daily lives. They may use different languages for different purposes and may be literate in one language but not in another. Many children growing up in the UK are already bilingual when they start school and would not be identified as learners of EAL. Others may speak one language at home to parents or grandparents but be learning English at school or in their early years setting. Some parents may be encouraging children to become literate in their heritage language through teaching them at home or through attendance at community schools. Bilingual children and young people are diverse in terms of their backgrounds and experiences—they are not a homogeneous group and each child and family will have a different understanding of their home or community language and how and when it is used. Language use is also constantly changing as children come into contact with other language speakers and cultures (Harris 1997). However, in England we tend to use the term ‘bilingual learner’ to refer to any child who is growing up in a home and community where the use of more than one language is part of their daily lives.
Increasingly professionals involved in the field of EAL and bilingualism have come to recognise the importance of first language development for children learning EAL. Many children could grow up as bilinguals but in the UK, through a process known as subtractive bilingualism (Lambert 1975), become monolingual as the opportunities to use and develop their knowledge and skills in their first languages decrease. The recognition of the important role of first language development in second language development has led many professionals working with EAL learners to promote the development and maintenance of first languages and to actively support bilingualism.
There are more than 700,000 children between 5–18 years old in our schools who speak some 360 languages between them, and that more than 60 of these languages are taught in community language classes (CILT Community Languages Report 2005: http://www.cilt.org.uk/home/research_and_statistics/language_trends/idoc.ashx?docid=d382eed5-5ef9-4c09-b68a-bd737f13f8 ed&version=-1. Accessed 01.10.09). As a result of recent developments in ‘modern foreign’ language teaching and learning, opportunities for bilingual pupils to maintain and develop their first language(s) have received much more support than previously. These developments are to be welcomed, but do not of themselves constitute a bilingual pedagogy.
By adopting a bilingual pedagogical approach, a school or early years setting is stating that the totality of children’s language experiences have intrinsic and extrinsic value and are a fundamental resource in their learning. Such an approach would subscribe to the view that a bilingual pedagogy is beneficial to all children and young people, those who are bilingual and monolingual and those who are learning EAL. A bilingual pedagogy which promotes effective partnership between bilingual and monolingual staff will keep language and diversity issues central to schools’ agendas. It is an approach that must be endorsed by the whole school with its rationale being made clear to all learners, staff and parents/carers. Many bilingual staff in schools provide valuable bilingual support to learners, helping them and their parents access the curriculum and the routines and procedures of the school or early years setting. However, this bilingual approach is often transitional (once the pupil has acquired sufficient fluency in English the use of first language stops), is largely unplanned and frequently its outcomes are unevaluated. This Working Paper provides the opportunity to consider ways in which the knowledge and skills of bilingual adults and children may be fully recognised, drawn on and developed in schools and early years settings.
Children learning to read in Urdu, Turkish and French using dual language books Raymonde Sneddon University of East London
This is an ongoing pilot study which begun in July 2006 to consider how children, who have no opportunity to learn their community language in complementary or mainstream schools, use dual language books provided by the school to learn to read it.
Key findings:
The following issues emerged from the pilot which a more substantial study could explore:
Where books in the community language are difficult to obtain, the role of the school and of the class teacher is crucial.
Learning to read in the family language encouraged children to use the family language more in the home.
The children and their parents used very different strategies at different stages of reading and in situations where the relationship between languages and scripts was different.
Parents less fluent in English improved their English.
Parents encouraged by the school to develop their child’s biliteracy became more involved in their child’s education.
Further information:
Details can be obtained from Raymonde Sneddon at r.m.sneddon@uel.ac.uk
Developing bilingual learning strategies in mainstream and community contexts
Charmian Kenner, Eve Gregory and Mahera Ruby, Goldsmiths University of London
This is an action research project based in two primary schools in Tower Hamlets. It examines how second and third generation British Bangladeshi children learn bilingually in after-school community language classes and investigates the benefits that can be gained if children use Sylheti/Bengali alongside English in the mainstream classroom. Key Findings:
Analysis is still in progress, but early findings include the following:
Children found it difficult to use Sylheti/ Bengali in the classroom, although they were accustomed to using it in the playground and at community class, where they switched between languages.
Children wanted to be able to use Bangla for learning in school and felt it was an important part of their identity.
Working in both languages can enhance children’s learning, through conceptual transfer, use of translation, developing metalinguistic awareness and drawing on cultural knowledge.
Second and third generation children still have bilingual skills, but are in danger of losing them unless they have sufficient support to develop their mother tongue.
In addition to community language classes, children need to do academic work bilingually in mainstream school in order to fully develop concepts and skills in mother tongue as well as English. Only then will they achieve the full benefits of bilingual learning.
Research project on Complementary Schools and their Communities
in Leicester
Arvind Bhatt (University of
Leiceter) , Nirmala Bhojani (University of Leicester) ,
Angela Creese (University of Birmingham) , Peter
Martin (University of Leicester)
The School of Education at the University
of Leicester has recently been awarded a grant from the Economic
and Social Research Council to carry out an investigation on
Complementary Schools and their Communities in Leicester. Complementary
schools, also known as supplementary schools or community schools,
are voluntary schools that aim to maintain ethnic cultures, languages
and literacies.
The study will be in two phases. The first
phase will survey all complementary schools in Leicester in order
to understand the nature and scope of provision in supporting
minority linguistic and ethnic communities. In the second phase,
a small number of schools will be studied in greater depth.
The second phase of the study will look at
how diverse ways of learning in complementary schools supportand are sustained by their communities. Further we look at how
the schools relate to other sectors of statutory education in
order to inform wider social and educational debates at the local
and national level. We also look at how complementary schools
contribute to the political, social and economic life in the
wider community, and to the changing nature of identities of
young people.
The potential impacts of this research are
to build an awareness of how complementary schools serve their
communities. It will identify participants' beliefs in and attitudes
to their languages, literacies and cultures, and how these contribute
to processes of social inclusion and forming of identities. The
study will provide a basis for stronger links within communities,
between communities and with the mainstream sector. By gaining
an understanding of how complementary schools can add value to
the mainstream sector, we will engender local and national debates
on educational and social policies and practices.
Learning
to read in three languages at the age of 5: A very common practice
in Britain today - A large number of British children learn
to read in more than one language at the same time as they learn
to read in English, according to a Watford-based Ph.D. study, and
for the children this results in social, emotional and cognitive
advantages more
Children’s experiences in multilingual environments Raymonde Sneddon University of East London
The study investigates the language use and literacy practices of 6 children (aged three, seven and ) from a Gujerati and Urdu-speaking Muslim community in North-East London. These experiences are explored in the children’s three generation families, in the community and in school through interviews,recordings and observations.
research question:
Key findings:
Children who have access to the culture and leisure facilities of a community centre maintain a higher level of linguistic vitality in Gujerati and are more creative story tellers in both Gujerati and English than children who do not have these opportunities.
Support for Gujerati in the home is oral rather than literacy-based and does not have a significant direct impact on children’s achievement in literacy.
Support for literacy in English is related to books, and does have a positive impact.
Overall, by age 11, children are performing above the norms for monolingual English-speaking children of a similar background, are fluent speakers of a dialect of Gujerati and are becoming literate in Urdu for religious purposes.
Further information:
The text is available on www.multilingual-matters.net/beb/003/0265/beb0030265.pdf ;
international Journal of Bilingual education and Bilingualism, Vol. 3:4, pp265–382
Portuguese
students who attend mother tongue classes attain higher GCSE results
A research study at Goldsmiths College, University of London,
indicates that Portuguese students who attend mother tongue classes
have a much higher probability of obtaining grades A*-C more
Children’s views on identity and language Ana Souza, Goldsmiths, University of London
This study was conducted between 1999 and 2006. It focused on mixed-heritage, children attending a Brazilian Portuguese community language school in London. The children, who had Brazilian mothers and fathers of other nationalities, were interviewed and observed in their community school.
Key findings:
Children’s reasons for selecting between the use of English and Portuguese are related to identity issues and to the way they wanted to be perceived by their classmates and teachers.
Having information about facts in the children’s lives and how they feel in relation to these facts enables proper judgement to be made of the reasons, intentions and meanings for their language choices and of the identitiesthey intend to portray in different interactions.
This knowledge is relevant in enabling teachers to reinforce positive factors of the children’s identities, and thus contribute to the full development of multilingual and multicultural learners.
Further information:more or
Souza, A.B.B. (2005) ‘Language and Identity in Brazilian Portuguese Schools’
Bosnian
parents in Britain try to maintain children's bilingualism but receive
no support from mainstream education - Bosnian parents living
in Britain regard it as essential for their children to maintain
the Bosnian language as well as learning English according to a
study at the Institute of Education more
A
large number of Portuguese students abandon school during compulsory
education - A high number of Portuguese students in Lambeth
drop out of compulsory education during Key Stage 4, according to
a research study at Goldsmiths College, University of London, funded
by the Economic and Social Research Council more
Recently-arrived
Chinese pupils face isolation and bullying in the primary classroom-
Chinese children aged 8-10 who have recently entered British
primary schools feel isolated, are bullied and suffer academically
due to lack of support in learning English, according to a new ORS
funded research study from Goldsmiths College more
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Developing a Bilingual Pedagogy for UK schools NALDIC working paper 9, 2009