Supporting Bilingual Learners

1. Supporting Bilingual Learners Geri Smyth University of Strathclyde Geri Smyth University of Strathclyde

2. I thought everyone would speak English then I saw my language and I was happy. Boy, age 11: speaks Arabic and Fench Geri Smyth University of Strathclyde

3. What is bilingualism? • A native like control of two languages (Bloomfield, 1935) • Where a speaker of one language can produce meaningful utterances in the other language (Hangen, 1953) • Ability to use the complete repertoire of each language (Baetens Beardsmore) • Using two (or more) languages in everyday life (Wiles, 1984) Geri Smyth University of Strathclyde

4. Multilingual pupils I speak Farsi and English. I speak Somali and English. I speak French and English. How many languages do you speak? Geri Smyth University of Strathclyde

5. Terminology • ESL: English as a second language • EAL: English as an additional language • First/home/community language/mother tongue: the main language spoken in the child’s home • ESL/EAL teachers may work with bilingual pupils to support their English language development • Bilingual teachers may work with bilingual pupils in their first language to support their first language development Geri Smyth University of Strathclyde

6. What does it mean to be bilingual? L2 L1 Surface features Central operating system Separate underlying proficiency Common underlying proficiency Geri Smyth University of Strathclyde

7. The teacher’s role • Value and encourage the maintenance of the home language. • Develop the child’s English language in order that they can achieve their potential. • Recognise the language demands of the curriculum. • Support the bilingual child’s language and learning. Geri Smyth University of Strathclyde

8. Linguistic makeup of Scotland • Urdu, Punjabi, Cantonese – 2nd/3rd generation: inner city; community shift – suburbs • Far East inward investment: new towns • Postgraduate students: African; Pacific; Malay; Arabic – housing schemes • East Europe political changes – coastal areas • Immigration Act – asylum seekers’ dispersal: Africa; E. Europe – housing schemes • Fresh Talent initiative – across Scotland Geri Smyth University of Strathclyde

9. Experiences of bilingualism The Singh/Tandon family • What evidence is there of languages being gained and lost over the three generations? • What are the differences in the experiences of language learning of the different family members? • What are the different purposes for which the family members use their languages? • What views are expressed about schools promoting multilingualism? Geri Smyth University of Strathclyde

10. Experiences of Supporting Bilingual Learners In language groups of 3 or 4, discuss the following issues: • How many bilingual pupils have you worked with and from which linguistic backgrounds? • What support have you had? • What difficulties have the pupils encountered? • What are your questions concerning supporting bilingual learners? Choose one question and record it on the flipchart. Geri Smyth University of Strathclyde

11. First steps in supporting bilingual learners • Pronounce the child’s name correctly. • Pair the child with a supportive peer. • Find out what the child’s linguistic background is. • Find out about the child’s family circumstances, cultural and educational background. • Support the child’s acquisition of basic additional language vocabulary for communication. Geri Smyth University of Strathclyde

12. Personal Getting help Everyday Around school Around the community Around the home Relationships Instructional words and commands Specific to curricular areas Concepts Bilingual pupils need to acquire or be taught vocabulary in the following categories: Geri Smyth University of Strathclyde

13. Working in an additional language • Work in mixed language groups of four. • Three members of each group should work out the meaning and requirements of the task. • The fourth member should observe and note down the strategies which they use and the degree to which they employ existing knowledge and skills. • Together, the four should decide on the kind of support they would have found useful to make the task fully accessible. Geri Smyth University of Strathclyde

14. Visual support Peer support Stimulus in mother tongue Modelling by peers Relevance to class work Drawing on previous education Pupil involvement Opportunity to use English with peers Informal classroom atmosphere Rainforest display 3 games Dual language text ‘Happy Families’ game Environmental studies Maths All tasks Games throughout Naser, support strategy examples from video Geri Smyth University of Strathclyde

15. Every bilingual child is different • Consider the child’s language background • Consider the child’s language background • Consider the child’s strengths • Consider the child’s needs Geri Smyth University of Strathclyde

16. Omar – 1st year • Omar, age 12 • multilingual: Urdu, Punjabi, English • Learning to read the Qu’uran in Arabic • Learning French in school • The challenge: how to acknowledge Omar’s linguistic strengths Geri Smyth University of Strathclyde

17. Jack, 1st year • Jack, age 11 • Bilingual in English and French • French being taught in school • The challenge: how to value Jack’s existing skills and develop his French Geri Smyth University of Strathclyde

18. Sunita, 1st year • Sunita, age 12 • Recently arrived refugee from Somalia • Educated in Somali, very little English • Parents have very little English and are keen for Sunita to succeed. • The challenges: how to ensure Sunita can achieve in education • How to involve Sunita’s parents in her education Geri Smyth University of Strathclyde

19. BICS / CALPBasic Interpersonal Communicative Skills / Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency • Although learners may acquire fluency in conversational English quite quickly (approximately 2 years), it takes much longer (7 years or more) to acquire the level of proficiency in English which is required for learning and production within the school curriculum. Geri Smyth University of Strathclyde

20. Multilingualism in the classroom I did Lingala because it’s her best language. She doesn’t know English yet but she knows French. Geri Smyth University of Strathclyde

21. Acquiring an additional language • The motivation for learning a language is the need to communicate. • Language is best taught in the service of other learning. • The best place for bilingual children to develop their English language is the mainstream classroom. • BUT this learning must be supported or the child may ‘drown in language’ (Skutnabb-Kangas, 1981) Geri Smyth University of Strathclyde

22. Acquiring an additional language • Children must feel part of the school from the start. • Plenty of listening time is important. Insisting on oral responses too early may hinder learning. • Children make excellent helpers. • Activities which are good for bilingual learners are good for all learners. Geri Smyth University of Strathclyde

23. Confident bilinguals tend to have: • Well developed deductive abilities • Facility for mathematical reasoning • Awareness of the importance of context and audience in language use • Strong potential for creativity and empathy • Ability to talk about language and how it works • Experience of learning two languages Geri Smyth University of Strathclyde

24. Education and Bilingual pupils • Additive bilingualism (both languages are allowed to develop side by side with equal status) benefits the bilingual individual. • Subtractive bilingualism (the majority languages develops to the detriment of the minority language) has generally negative effects on the bilingual individual. Geri Smyth University of Strathclyde

25. Education and Bilingual pupils • Thomas and Collier’s research on school effectiveness for bilingual pupils was conducted over 14 years with over 700,000 pupils and showed that children educated through the medium of their first and second language consistently achieve higher than those who are educated monolingually. Geri Smyth University of Strathclyde

26. Education and Bilingual pupils • The message from our findings is overwhelmingly clear that all language minority groups benefit enormously in the long term from on-grade level academic work in their first language (L1). The more children develop L1 academically and cognitively at an age appropriate level, the more successful they will be in academic achievement I n L2 (in this case English) by the end of their school years. School Effectiveness for language minority Students Thomas and Collier, 1997 Geri Smyth University of Strathclyde

27. Bilingual Parents • Successful schools had ensured that parents were treated as equal partners in the education of their children. They had tried to find imaginative ways to break down barriers and make parents welcome, being responsive to parents’ needs and respectful of the constraints upon them. Information was shared with parents on achievement and development as well as discipline issues. Removing the Barriers, DfEE, 2000 Geri Smyth University of Strathclyde

28. Giving bilingual pupils access to the curriculum as quickly as possible • The task facing the bilingual learner • To progress from a radically different starting point from other children • To learn a new language • To learn the curriculum in a new language • To acquire the appropriate social skills • To accommodate the new language, values culture and expectations alongside the existing ones learnt at home This has to be achieved in a relatively short time and attainment will be measured against a constantly moving target Geri Smyth University of Strathclyde

29. What is to be done? • Bilingual learners need to become increasingly independent in their use of a range of learning strategies --- the teacher has a key role to play in encouraging pupil independence through the selection of planned activities, and by assisting learners to apply strategies which develop self reliance, e.g providing opportunities to model and extend what has been taught; scanning texts to look at sub-headings and diagrams prior to reading; using diagrams to demonstrate knowledge; note taking; teaching study skills Geri Smyth University of Strathclyde