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Using L1 & L2 for teaching and learning

Using L1 & L2 for teaching and learning. Susan Malone December 2008. Strong MT-First BE programs focus on 3 types of development…. Language development (learning L1 and L2 as subjects in school)

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Using L1 & L2 for teaching and learning

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  1. Using L1 & L2 for teaching and learning Susan Malone December 2008

  2. Strong MT-First BE programs focus on 3 types of development…

  3. Language development (learning L1 and L2 as subjects in school) • Academic development (using L1 and L2 as languages of instruction, to achieve government competencies in each grade) • Socio-cultural development (using both languages confidently in interactions within the community and the wider society; becoming productive members of the heritage community and of the nation)

  4. In an L2-only program, children who do not speak the school language when they begin school must do several very challenging things at the same time…

  5. They must learn a new language; • They must learn to read and write in the new language, even though they do not yet speak or understand it; and • They must learn new concepts in a language they do not yet understand. No wonder so many children have problems!

  6. An alternative, learner-centered approach is to use the L1 as LOI as students are learning L2 (oral and written), and then use both L1 and L2 for instruction aslongaspossible through primary school.

  7. Why use both L1 and L2 as LOI for as long as possible? Remember what the researchers have reported..

  8. “Children's knowledge and skills transfer across languages from the mother tongue…to the school language” Jim Cummins (2000). And…

  9. …when students’ L1 is invoked as a cognitive and linguistic resource through bilingual instructional strategies, it can function as a stepping stone to scaffold more accomplished performance in the L2. (Cummins, J. (2007). Rethinking monolingual instructional strategies in multilingual classrooms. The Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 10(2), 221-240. Special issue on Multilingualism in Canadian Schools edited by Roy Lyster and Sharon Lapkin.) And…

  10. It is very important that this program continue through 8th grade, because when there are no native [L2] speakers in the classes, it takes longer to reach grade level in [the] second language.  In this model, students receive literacy development in L1 and L2, as well as academiccontentdevelopmentinL1andL2. (Virginia Collier, personal communication, 2004). 

  11. Question that we must consider when planning for the teaching of academic content to L2 learners…

  12. How can we ensure that students will understand the academic concepts and also gain the necessary (L2) language to continue learning and to use what they learned (think Bloom’s taxonomy!)

  13. In other words… …all lessons in every subject, probably throughout primary school, need to focus on concept-learning AND language learning

  14. Thinking about the process…

  15. Identify new L2 terms that students need to learn relating to the concept that will be introduced. • Introduce the concept in the L1 using learner-centered methods, based on their own knowledge and experience, using appropriate visual aids; • Ask questions to encourage students to talk about the concept in the L1; • Introduce the new L2 term; add to Word Bank; • Re-teach the concept in L2 that is appropriate for their level of understanding (short sentences, repetition, stops to check for clarification); • Review and check for comprehension in L1.

  16. Using language appropriate for L2 learners • Speak slowly; • Pronounce words carefully; • Use simple sentence structure; • Repeat and /or explain if students seem confused; • Ask questions to check for understanding.

  17. Regarding L2 textbooks & activity books • Review illustrations: Will the illustrations communicate clearly to students in different ethnic communities and will they help students understand what is being taught? • Review words and language: Are they appropriate level for students who are just learning the language? • What vocabulary terms do the students need to learn before they see them in the textbooks? • Plan a system for introducing those terms before the students encounter them in the textbooks.***

  18. Challenge for you: Explain these English terms in your L1 without using any technical vocabulary • fractions • photosynthesis • mathematics • magnification • gravity • aerodynamics

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