Plurilingual School Students* Learning Languages at School: experiences, perceptions and

implications.

Promoting Linguistic and Cultural Diversity.

*Non EU lauguages.

• “Most of the time I don’t know what they’re saying anyway. They all speak in some other language, Urdu or something. I don’t know what it is…..”

• “Lots of our children speak other languages. You do, don’t you dear? Urdu or Hindu [sic] or something, is it? We’re very proud of them.”

1. Preliminary research:• Inequality of languages in our education

system:o unequal status in the NCo and in the names usedo heritage languages are typically taught

outside class time and rarely offered as MFLso heritage language teachers lack statuso formal accreditation is very patchy

• Language use in schools:

o pupils reluctant to use heritage languages in schools

o research points to the importance of using heritage languages for learning

o and for the development of self-image and identity

• Heritage languages are invisible in schools• EAL – a deficit model which renders

plurilingualism invisible• Bilingualism is seen as a weakness – evaluated

only in terms of competence in English• non-British cultures stereotyped and falsely

homogenised• pupils experience alienation as a result of

these inequalities

Key areas of enquiry:• What effect do the following aspects of MFL

lessons have on bilingual pupils:

1. the promotion of languages other than English2. pride in language learning3. teaching about cultures4. the linguistic aspects of language teaching

2. My research• qualitative research investigating the perceptions,

experiences and feelings of pupils, as they express them in their own words

• self-selected friendship groups

• prompts to promote discussion

• 30 plurilingual school students (18 girls and 12 boys); in a language college; Y7 – Y10; 12 languages represented

Examples of prompts for discussion in the groups

• ordering and sorting (eg. lists of school subjects)

• completing sentences (eg. “The good thing about being able to speak Arabic is…..”; “At school, the place where I am most likely to speak Taiwanese is…..”)

• direct questions (eg. “In your French lesson, have you ever noticed…..?”)

4. Key findings from my research

Note: The students talked willingly and enthusiastically about heritage languages,

making very full and considered contributions. Prompts about heritage languages always

gave rise to lively and genuine engagement. I was delighted by the richness of debate and

depth of interest.

• The students were confident about using heritage languages at school, although for most this was about the person they were talking to, rather than the place

• a minority thought that they were more likely to use heritage language in the MFL classrooms, “Cos that’s where you learn languages “ (Y7 boy)

• however, they did not feel that their MFL teachers were particularly interested in their heritage languages

• There were many instances of direct comparison of languages (15 out of 22 clear answers to the question), with a high level of sophistication and more enthusiasm from the students. In all groups, there were lengthy discussions with little or no intervention from me.

• There were comparisons of semantics, phonetics and syntax

• “… put the um noun before the um adjective in um French and Spanish and do the same in Urdu as well…” (Y7 girl)

• “Kurdish is not masculine or feminine but in Arabic it is, so it’s sort of…. when it came up I was like ‘Oh, the same thing’ “ (Y8 girl)

“In English - if it’s not same in English how they’re putting sentences together - it’s different in our lang- yeah like the language we speak at home, it’s same like that “ (Y8 girl)

“Yeah you know because um the accent sometimes you use it from the throat [example given] and it’s similar to um French” (Y7 girl)

“Yeah, sometimes, when you say like ‘si’, it’s like it can be Mandarin, Cantonese, French and Spanish.... “ (Y10 girl)

• However, students reported relatively few instances of their MFL teachers directly showing an interest in heritage languages, and seemed surprised to think that they might

• Students strongly indicated positive feelings about their own bilingualism. They reported pride, a sense of achievement, a sense of having something extra, and a sense of identity.

• “It makes me happy.... Cos I’m proud of it” (Y7 boy)

• “I like speaking in my language cos it reminds me I know where I came from... I am proud of what I am” (Y8 girl)

• “It makes me feel proud because it’s like.... You know so many languages and ... Other people don’t so you... It just makes you feel proud” (Y8 girl)

• (it makes me feel) “more talented” (Y10 girl)

• In addition, students displayed very positive attitudes towards language learning in general:

• “I think it’s good to learn all sorts of languages because you need them in life” (Y7 girl)

• “Well, I always want to speak in different languages, not just my own, in something totally different” (Y8 girl)

• Students also showed that they were able to compare lifestyles and customs, and again their comments were perceptive and mature, sensitive to the co-existence of similarities and differences.

• In many of these comments there was a clear implication that learning about cultural aspects of French or Spanish life had made them reflect on their families and/ or communities

• The importance of heritage languages was one of the strongest themes running through the interviews – a very stong impression that languages are a central part of their lives.

• They talk about languages frequently, enthusiastically and with wonderful ease.

• Their ability to compare, discuss, give opinions and describe languages and language use was inspiring.

• “I put you know a Punjabi word into it... cos I speak it mixed at home, and then when I’m speaking to someone very proper Urdu, I’m just not very.... I change a word.” (Y8 girl)

• “We’re all speaking Punjabi, in our languages,and then X says something to me and though she doesn’t say anything in Bengali, then we get to wondering what Y (a Bengali speaker) would say....) (Y7 girl)

Conclusions• Plurilingual students are hugely influenced by

their language abilities. • There is a need for schools and the British

Education System to find a way to build on these strengths

• Foreign language teachers are in a key position to lead on this.

Promoting linguistic and cultural diversity through MFL.

• the MFL classroom is different, because: 1. MFL teachers are linguists 2. MFL teachers value plurilingualism highly3. MFL lessons welcome the use of languages

other than English4. MFL teachers understand and promote

different cultural expressions

5. MFL teachers already promote and teach language-awareness and language skills

6. The teaching style of the FL classroom (contextualisation, use of visuals and props, support for speakign activities, multi-skill activities, corrective feedback) supports all learners to show their competences and skills

Tips for MFL teachers1. Be a linguist! Find out the names of languages in

your school. Learn how to say hello and goodbye. Devise bilingual vocab lists.

2. Show genuine interest in other languages. Ask questions and allow students to contribute. Demonstrate that you are a linguist.

3. Investigate cultural expressions and use them to contribute to your teaching. Search for similarities (there are more than differences) and exploit them. Promote Citizenship.

4. Show your interest after extended (or other) trips abroad.

5. Demonstrate your understanding of translating at Parents’ Evenings.

6. Challenge the assumption that any culture is monolithic. Teach the cultures of the target language country, and demonstrate that all European countries are multicultural and multilingual.

7. Make links with heritage language teachers. 8. Promote heritage language teaching as part

of the MFL department.