“Strong foundations” and “good bridges” in

Multilingual Education: Lessons from current theory and practice

Seminar on multilingual educationKabul, 13-18 March 2010

Susan Malone

What is the situation for many minority language students in dominant language education programs?

1. They are expected to learn a new language (the official school language);

2. They are expected to learn to read and write in the new language; and…

3. They are expected to learn academic concepts in the new language.

What is the result of this kind of program?For the students themselves…• High repetition and drop-out rates• Lack of knowledge and skills for employment

For their communities…• Lack of access to social, political economic,

health resources• Poverty, higher rates of mortality• Loss of heritage language and culture

For society in general…• Loss of the knowledge and wisdom that are

embedded in those languages and cultures

How can we improve educational access and quality in minority language communities?

The most important single factor influencing learning is what the learners already know. Ascertain this and teach them accordingly (Ausubel, D. P. 1968. Page 235)…

A good “rule” to help us plan:

Why? Because there is no learning without meaning and…

There is no meaning unless we can relate new ideas and information to what we already know (our “prior knowledge”)

How does that relate to languages in school?

 

“Bridging” from home to school for children who come from the dominant culture and speak the dominant language.

Bridging from home to school for children from other cultural groups who do not speak the dominant language

What does research tell us about the process by which children acquire languages?

1)It takes children about 12 years to gain the level of proficiency in their first language that will enable them to continue developing that language for the rest of their lives;

2) In a good language learning program, it takes people about 2 years to gain the level of L2 proficiency they need to use L2 for ‘everyday’ communication

3) In a good language learning program, it takes people 5-7 years to develop the level of L2 proficiency they need to learn abstract concepts.

Therefore, a good multilingual education program uses the students’ L1, along with the L2, to ensure that they understand new concepts (math, science, etc.) as they are learning the “academic L2” they will need to continue their education.

Build oral L1Use L1 for teaching & learning

Begin literacy in L1, introduce oral L2Continue oral L1Use L1 for teaching & learning

Bridge to literacy in L2Continue oral and written L1, oral L2Use L1 and L2 for teaching and learning

Continue oral and written L1 and L2, for daily communication and for learning academic content

Phases of a strong MLE program—2 languages

Build oral L2Continue oral and written L1Use L1 as LOI for teaching & learning

FROM THE RESEARCH: The most powerful factor in predicting educational success for minority learners is the amount of formal schooling they received in their L1. … Only those language minority students who had 5-6 years of strong cognitive and academic development through their L1— as well as through [L2]—did well in Grade 11 assessments (Thomas and Collier, 1997, 2004)

How do we help students use their L1 to build this strong foundation for learning?

•Teach the L1 as a subject through primary school

•Use the L1 as the only language for teaching and learning in early grades and use it with the L2 in later grades

•Relate new concepts to the knowledge and experience that students bring from their home communities.

Singing L1 songs

Photo: Nguyen Thi Quyen

Learning traditional L1 dances

Photo: Eunice Tan

Responding to the teachers’ questions; sharing ideas

Photo: Heidi Cobbey

Reading L1 stories together with the teacher

Photo: Heidi Cobbey

Writing creatively (and then talking about their stories), even before they can form letters and words

Writing creatively using letters and words

Photo: Heidi Cobbey

Celebrating young children’s creative writing efforts

Photo: Dennis Malone

Spelling practice

Photo: Heidi Cobbey

Handwriting practice

Photo: Pamela MacKenzie

Having fun with word

games

Photo: Rebecca Wallin

Reading & writing longer and more complex texts and…

Photo: Diane Dekker

Using L1 for teaching & learning in early grades

How do we help students build a “good bridge” to the L2?

First, students “listen, see and do”: They listen to L2 commands, observe the actions and then do the actions themselves.The best language learning methods … do not force early speaking in the L2 but allow students to speak when they are ‘ready’. These methods recognize that the best way to build children’s L2 is though letting them hear and respond to meaningful communication, not from forcing and correcting speech (adapted from Krashan, 2001).

Listening and responding to directions

Photo: Heidi Cobbey

Listening to stories and acting them out

Photo: Dennis Malone

Then, when they are ready, they begin speaking in L2.

Additional research finds that when students use the L2 to talk about things that are meaningful to them—as they also listen to meaningful communication from others—they become aware of the structure of the language and become more competent in its use (adapted from Cummins, 2001).

Using L2 to talk about “Big Pictures”

Photo: Wanna Tienmee

Responding to teacher’s questions using L2

Photo: Susan Malone

Then, having achieved basic fluency in L1 literacy and in oral L2, they begin reading and writing L2

Children's knowledge and skills transfer across languages from the mother tongue…to the school language (Jim Cummins, 2000)

Reading L2 story books alone or with a partner

Photo: Dennis Malone

Writing their own L2 stories

Photo: Dennis Malone

Talking about what they have learned in small groups

Photo: Susan Malone

As they gain fluency…

sharing their own written L2

texts with others

Photo: Dennis Malone

Using L1 and L2 as languages of Using L1 and L2 as languages of instruction through primary school to instruction through primary school to achieve success in all their subjectsachieve success in all their subjects

Photo: Dennis Malone

Questions for Group DiscussionWhat is the educational situation for girls

and boys who do not speak Dari or Pashto when they begin school?

What are the challenges to providing quality education for those children—girls and boys alike?

What general ideas do you have for improving education for those children? (We will continue to think about this 3rd question over the next 5 days.)

A reminder: A strong foundation and good bridge provides the best “bridge” to success in

multilingual education programs.