MOTHER TONGUE DEVELOPMENT

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MOTHER TONGUE DEVELOPMENT

• Issues arising from the lack of mother tongue
  development

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Historical Background

• With the transformation of our societies we are
  becoming more and more conscious of our ethnic,
  racial, religious, national, regional and global
  identities this diversity is making us more
  aware of the particular in us, simultaneously
  with an emerging feeling of the universal.
  Jalaluddin (2002)

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Historical Background

• What makes us unique among all organisms is our
  ability to create adaptive cognitive and social
  structures through self-organising learning
  abilities. Culture is our shared knowledge and
  schooling is the cultural artefact

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Language Acquisition

• Early literacy is established through
  phonological awareness, alphabetic principles and
  fluency with the text. An essential development
  in any language is the phonemic awareness, which
  is the ability to manipulate individual sounds
  (phonemes) into spoken words.

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Language Acquisition

• There is a high correlation between learning to
  read in mother tongue and subsequent reading
  achievement in the second language.
• Early intervention with students at risk in
  reading (Grade 1-2) more successful. If checks
  are in place as they proceed then the gains made
  can be maintained and transferred to other areas.

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Language Acquisition

• There may need to be support options along a
  continuum for dipping in and out at critical
  stages developmentally.
• If this type of support is available it has been
  noted to increase skill levels in the following
  areas vocabulary development, writing, abstract
  content and ideas, study and subjects taken.

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Language Acquisition

• Research indicates literacy strategies learned in
  one language transfer to reading and writing
  situations in the second language without having
  to be relearned.

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Language Acquisition

• Language and literacy skills in primary school
  are directly related to later academic success
  (Stanovich) and therefore this has implications
  for transient children from a multicultural
  background.

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Language Acquisition

• Scenario of a multilingual child
• African father French mother
• Born in South Africa
• Moved to Germany when 2
• Bilingual in French/English
• Retained some German
• Went to school in Philippines for some time
• Back to Germany
• Education in France in final years

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Language Acquisition

• Scenario of a multilingual child
• Refugee status
• Dialect/Designated language of country
• Out of formal school system for some time
• Family not intact
• Brought to English speaking country
• Few others of his background and age attend his
  school in the secondary years

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Language Acquisition

• Korean background
• National system
• Allowed to leave school at 12yrs to work
• Enters secondary school in China where English is
  language of instruction
• Emotional/Social/Behavioural issues

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Language Acquisition

• Scenario of a multilingual child
• Father Italian Mother English
• Educated in Italian
• Spoke and read in English at home
• Now in English school
• Difficulties in reading in both languages
• Siblings have no sign of language issues

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Bilingualism

• 70 of the worlds population has more than one
  language
• A positive asset
• Can benefit student's intellectual progress
• Supporting development of the mother tongue
  enhances the development of the second

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Bilingualism

• Learning a second language happens most
  effectively when taught as a means of learning
• Acquiring a second language requires motivation
• Greatest motivator is the need to communicate

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Academic Implications

• Intersection of many cultural environments within
  the school
• social context with students of many varied
  cultures
• ESL or third language class with few students
  from majority culture
• classes where majority culture dominates

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Academic Implications

• then outside the school another intersection may
  exist with a different social group plus the
  complexity of the home culture which, may be
  bi-cultural.
• Such a dynamic is a difficult course to make your
  way through on a daily basis

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Academic Implications

• Vocabulary development limited
• Inferential comprehension difficult
• Abstract concepts difficult to grasp
• Grammar simplistic
• Sentence structure basic
• Written depth detail lacking

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Academic Implications

• Academic proficiency refers to ability not only
  to use language for reading and writing but also
  to acquire information in the content areas.
• 5-7yrs for SLLs to perform as well as native
  speakers. Have to gain more language proficiency
  each year than local
• peers in order to close the gap.

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Academic Implication

• Premise every teacher is an ESL teacher
• Assumption they are trained in second language
  learning methodology and aware of cross cultural
  issues as well as equipped with approaches to
  teach academic content
• At secondary level an understanding of the
  sophisticated instructional strategies is
  essential for drawing connections between
  students experiences and curriculum ideas

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Systems

• ESL Foundation Classes - grammar, syntax and
  content related work.
• ESL English Class parallel the Mainstream English
  syllabus with abridged texts and visual formats.
• Intensive language programme in language of
  instruction for 10-12 weeks before entering
  mainstream
• Bi-lingual language instruction not only in
  English subject but other subject areas

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Systems

• Mother-tongue classes and ESL English classes.
• After school programs for minority languages to
  socialise, read literature, sing songs and
  maintain contact with their origins.
• Use technology to connect groups around the world
  from a particular culture to maintain links with
  their peers.

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Strategies

• Scaffolding
• Templates
• Concept maps
• Graphic organisers
• Socratic circles
• Role plays

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Strategies

• Read/Write Software
• Dual Language identity texts
• Journal writing
• Picture journals
• Writing rubrics

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Emotional Implications

• Bilingual students become lost and undervalued
  they may lose their roots and their identity
  subtractive bilingualism English replaces
  their mother tongue as their best academic
  language.
• Cummins (2000)

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Emotional Implications

• Sense of isolation, loneliness
• Exhaustion
• Family conflict - parents acculturated in another
  society may reject the prevailing cultural
  patterns of the society their children are
  interacting with.
• Emotional separation from relatives and culture
  of origin if mother tongue not acknowledged and
  maintained

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Emotional Implications

• Research evidence shows lack of exposure to
  mother tongue and culture may do some harm.
• The younger the child the more devastating the
  effects.
• Not just emotional but also cognitive damage that
  permanently affects students ability to learn.
• Parents and teachers need to be aware of possible
  consequences of lack of mother tongue
  development.

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Culture

• Using metaphor of the onion (Hofstedes model
  1994) certain cultural traits are superficial and
  literal like the skin of the onion but as you
  begin to peel back the layers you expose the
  behaviours and habits which are instinctively
  known and adhered to by those from that culture

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Culture

• Research has shown that very young children (4-6
  months old) show culture specific behaviours and
  that by the age of 6yrs a cultural identity is
  formed.
• This period also crucial to language development

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Summary

• Formal mother tongue development and recognition
  essential to academic learning
• Earlier the intervention the greater the success
  long term
• Critical history should be researched noted for
  those who follow in teaching.

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Thank you