Language and the Mind Prof. R. Hickey SoSe 2006

1. Language and the MindProf. R. HickeySoSe 2006 Natural Bilingualism Deborah Hengst GS LN Sebastian Krieg GS TN Juliane Schodrok HS LN

2. Deborah: 1. Introduction to Bilingualism & Education 2. Aspects of Bilingual Education in the United StatesJuliane: 1. Educational Policies for Guest Worker & Immigrant Children in GermanySebastian: 1. Consequences of Assessment Procedures of Bilingual Children 2. Political Ideology and Bilingual Education

3. Introduction to Bilingualism and EducationAspects of Bilingual Education in the United Statesby Deborah Hengst

4. Hornberger and Skuttnabb-KangasHornberger (1991): recognizes 3 models-         transitional-         maintenance-         enrichmentSkuttnabb- Kangas (1984): variables and consequences involved in types-         immersion-         submersion- maintenance

5. Introduction to Bilingualism and Education-        In general: There are many different ways andcontexts in which children become bilingual and there are many different outcomes-        bilingualism and education deals with bilingualism as a positive or negative force-        by no means a modern phenomenon

6. A number of hypotheses about influences on children’s achievement in school, e.g:1 bilingualism itself2 lack of exposure to the school language3 linguistic mismatch between home and school4 cultural mismatch 5 inferior quality of education provided to minority students6 factors associated with socio-economic status7 disrupted patterns of intergenerational cultural transmission as a result of minority/majority status relations

7. Bilingualism and school educationSchool-         powerful role-        social control-         endorses mainstream/ middle-class values-         conflict: working-class children/ children belonging to an ethnic minority-         violence in schoolchildren entailed removing them from: parents and cultural group

8. Example 1: Physical aspects9-year-old school girl in Papua New Guinea:“ Hits them. He’ll hit them. He’ll scold them for speaking pidgin. If they speak pidgin, the headmaster will get angry and hit them and write their names down on a list. He’ll punish them.” Example 2: Psychological aspectsTeaching Kurdish children in Turkish. Skuttnabb-Kangas reports:“ ... separation of minority children from their own group has become institutionalised. The children are not taught enough of their own language and culture to be able to appreciate it. They are made to feel ashamed of their parents and origin. Although it is not usually done by physical punishment or by telling children that their parents are primitive and uncivilized, the school is organized in such a way so as to convey the same message.”

9. Typologies-         there are many typologies of bilingual education-         same terms  different types-         different terms  same types-        transitional: also refers to compensatory or assimilation bilingualism-        educational models: defined in terms of their goals with respect to language, culture and societyprogram types: defined in terms of their characteristics relating to student population,teachers and program structure

10. Hornberger and Skuttnabb-KangasHornberger (1991): recognizes 3 models-         transitional-         maintenance-         enrichmentSkuttnabb- Kangas (1984): variables and consequences involved in types-         immersion-         submersion- maintenance

11. aim  programenrichment  immersionassimilation  submersionless direct and extreme:assimilation  transitional bilingualism

12. Aspects of Bilingual Education in the United States

13. The Bilingual Education ActAim: to provide instruction in mother tongue  to allow children to proceed into mainstream classes  subtractive bilingualismBasis: Civil Rights Act of 1964“ No person in the United States shall, o the ground of race, colour, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

14. Americans’ belief:Bilingualism = learned achievement = stigma of recent immigrationbilingual education = ethnicity = poverty = compensatory educationWhereas:Foreign language instruction = valuable  economically and culturally(world’s major languages)

15. ConclusionUnited States: no intention of giving wider recognition to the students’ minority languages Although: many experts such as Padilla (1990) demand: Bilingual education as a strategy for all students

16. Educational Policies for Guest Worker & Immigrant Children in Germanyby Juliane Schodrok

17. During the 1960‘s & 1970‘s a new wave of immigrants entered many of the western Europe countries to serve as guest workers- Foreigners account for instance 2 % of the population in Denmark, while 7 % in Germany- Economic expansions began to decline in the 1970‘s- As unemployment rates began to rise in the European countries, people began to argue that guest workers should be sent home

18. Guest working may also disrupts family life ( man emigrates first )- In some cases work permits were only given to unmarried men without children- They are often untrained and unable demanding their rights → menial kinds of labour- Different countries have different policies regarding the legal status of guest workers & immigrants

19. Some states have committed themselves taking certain measures to care for the educational needs of ethnic minority & migrant children ( vary from country to country )- Tove Skutnabb-Kangas ( a linguist from Helsinki ) makes a distinction between guest worker & immigrant↓ guest workers have no legal right to remain in the host country, while immigrants do

20. In the case of guest workers, some sending countries may extend aspects of their legal & educational system to the host country ( Turkish police & extremist organizations are allowed to operate in Germany )- In Germany there are 6 differen types of classes in which guest workers` children receive their education

21. 1.Ordinary German classes with minimal or no consideration2.Special classes for guest workers` children only - Follows the German Curriculum - Children are segregated from German – speaking kids3.International preparatory schools - Intensive training in German as a second language - Transitional because children are expected to be intergrated into the ordinary German classes

22. 4.Another type of transitional program provides instruction in the native language for several years & German as a second language↓ 5.Some of these lead to compulsory transfer to ordinary German classes after grade 6

23. 6.Mother tongue classes which follows the Curriculum of the home countries & are organized by them - Segregationist model & does not aim at bilingualism - Maintenace of the native language & culture - From the perspective of the child‘s chances of returning to the home country & reintergrating → only the last option is a resonable one

24. Bilingualism and education by Sebastian Krieg

25. Some consequences of Assessment procedures of bilingual children - unacknowledged relationship between bilingualism and special education - Cummins (1984) discussed why a large number of minority language children have been placed into special education classes. - He blames the misguided use of psychological assessment tests for presenting ethnic minority children in mentally retarded classes. - educators poorly understand intelligence, learning disability, language proficiency and bilingualism

26. Some consequences of Assessment procedures of bilingual children -This refers to a low verbal IQ, which many children of ethnic minorities have. The result of a low verbal IQ is that these children are classified as mentally deficient. Cummins draws a conclusion that a low verbal IQ reflects inadequacy abilities to speak proper English. - These tests are in English, so that no valid assessment can be made about minority children. - Cummins says that there is tom much credence attached to these results. Research has proven that tests which focus on knowledge which minority children have, are likely good as test of majority children.

27. Some consequences of Assessment procedures of bilingual children -IQ tests are constructed to exclude all cultural ways of gaining intelligence. -Intelligence is learned through specific cultural ways in the particular language. So it is impossible to generate a test of intelligence which is not bound to the cultural and social context. - Cummins mentions that teachers tend to have negative expectations of minority children. - He also states that there large achievement differences between different minorities. These differences often tend to be ignored.

28. Some consequences of Assessment procedures of bilingual children - Cummings claims that bilingualism is the scapegoat to legitimize discriminatory educational practices. - The identification of cultural differences depends on ethnographic observation in the community. - The negative attitudes of the majority towards the minority may result in low self-esteem. Their worldview is projected onto the view of the minority. This would extend the “power” of the majority.

29. Some consequences of Assessment procedures of bilingual children - Patterns of bilingualism cannot be regarded as the cause of failure since the are determined by social and educational factors.

30. Political Ideology and Bilingual Education - Political and sociological idealogy is an important mediatorial feature in issues between bilingualism and bilingual education. - Fishman (1992) says that if transsitional education helps in the acqusition of the majority language, then it will soon be phased out and all instruction will soon be in the majority language.

31. Political Ideology and Bilingual Education - He continues to state that if transitional bilingual education produces unsatisfactory results, it will be blamed and ist recipients threaten it for not solving the problems that the mainstream is largely responsible for. - People tend to react quite shocked and astonished when transitional or any kind of bilingual education does not lead to maintenance.

32. Political Ideology and Bilingual Education - Bilingual education needs to be established as a strategy for all students and not as a special program für disadvantaged minorities. - Only a few educational systems are usiing the child`s bilingualism as a begining to genreate a resource across the school curriculum.

33. Political Ideology and Bilingual Education - Edwards (1981) states that schools end to reflect society. He concludes that if bilingual programs can be recognized as a response to the appeals from the minor groups, which are a part of the attempt to define themselves with the new context, which means the new language.

34. Political Ideology and Bilingual Education Conclusion: Bilingualism, education and society are strongly interweaved. Bilingualism always develops in a particular social context. Every society has their own goal on context to invole bilingual children from minor social classes. It is nearly impossible to create a perfect type of `skill-school` because there are to many factors to consider.

35. Thank you for your attention