Challenging Beliefs About Multilingual Language Acquisition

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Challenging Beliefs About Multilingual Language
Acquisition
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Challenging beliefs about multilingual language
acquisition

• What do we believe about multilingual language
  development?
• Or
• Can that really be true?

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Who am I?

• Educational Psychologist
• 20 years in Paris
• 2 bilingual children
• 13 years at International School of Paris
• Learning support teacher
• Doctorate in Educational Psychology UCL
• Particularly interested in the development of
  oral language for academic purposes in
  multilingual children attending international
  schools.

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Why do the Myths Persist?

• Facts about multilingual development are
  counterintuitive
• Recent impact of brain research
• Benefits of bilingual education questioned
• Lack of research on positive multilingual
  experiences

(Tokuhama-Espinosa 2003)
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How is bilingualism represented in the brain?

• Common Underlying Proficiency
• 
  (Cummins 2000)
• Common information processing
• Common concept formation
• Common understanding of literacy

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The Threshold Hypothesis

• Explains why some children do better than others
• Strong bilingualism advantageous
• Weak bilingualism can cause problems
• Importance of maintaining mother tongue

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Children learning through a language other than
their mother tongue take 1 to 2 years to develop
the language skills necessary to be academically
successful in class.
False !
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Language features

• 2 years surface features basic vocabulary,
  phonetics, alphabet, conversational skills
• Up to 7 years academic proficiency

Thomas and Collier 2002
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Children should learn to read first in their
native language rather than the language of
instruction

• Should read first in their strongest language
• Surface features e.g. phonological awareness,
  knowledge about print, will transfer across
  languages
• Depends on language strategy and possibilities
• Reading is vital for development of academic
  language

True
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Young children learn additional languages more
easily than older children or adults.

• Depends what we mean by easily
• Do it differently
• Adults can learn to speak a foreign language as
  fast as a child but they have to overcome the
  barriers of frequency and security to do so
  (Tokuhmama-Espinosa 2003)

Not necessarily!
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Children who are learning through a language
other than their mother tongue should continue to
have instruction in their mother tongue

• To ensure the advantages of additive bilingualism
• Constant rich exposure to all languages

True
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Students should speak English in the classroom
when it is the language of instruction

• Learning language, learning through language,
• learning about language (IB Doc 2008)

• 
  
• Elaborate conceptual understanding, extend
  comprehension
• Emotional unwell, sad, frustrated, angry
• Definition when translating for others
• Clarification tasks or instructions
• (ESL in the mainstream 2008)

except
Yes
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Teachers should respond to childrens errors by
correctly rephrasing what they have said rather
than explicitly pointing out the errors.
Not necessarily

• Adults interpret it as corrective feedback.
• Children interpret rephrasing as a recast or
  confirmation of meaning.
• I understand what you are saying but Im
  showing you how to say it better.

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Children with SEN can not benefit from bilingual
education

• Depends on the special need
• Language delay will be extended
• Bilingualism enhances intellectual development
• Bilingualism can not always be avoided

Depends
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Thank you!

• Jfeinmann_at_gmail.com
• Jenny Feinmann

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References

• Baker, C. (2006). Foundations of bilingual
  education and bilingualism. (4th ed.).
  Multilingual Matters Ltd. Clevedon U.K.
• Carder, M.(2007). Bilingualism in International
  schools. Clevedon Multilingual Matters.
• Cummins (2000) Language, Power and Pedagogy,
  Clevedon Multilingual Matters.
• Genesee, F., Lindholm-Leary, K., Sanders, W.M.,
  and Christian, D. (Eds.) (2006) Educating English
  language learners a synthesis of research
  evidence. Cambridge University Press New York
• Gallagher, E. (2008) Equal rights to the
  curriculum, Multilingual Matters, Clevedon, U.K.
• International Baccalaureate (IB 2008a). Learning
  in a language other than mother tongue in IB
  programmes.
• Thomas, W.P. and Collier, V.P. (2002). A national
  study of school effectiveness for language
  minority students long-term academic
  achievement. Santa Cruz, CA Centre for research
  of education, diversity and excellence,
  University of California-Santa Cruz.
• Tokuhama-Espinosa, T. (2003). Myths about
  multilingualism. In T. Tokuhama-Espinosa, The
  Multilingual mind Issues discussed by, for, and
  about people living with many languages.
  Portsmouth, Heinemann