Separado ou together? How to use two languages of instruction

in immersion

Else Hamayan

Cordoba, Argentina

ehamayan@gmail.com

Historically, in immersion programs, there has been a perceived need for clear and sustained separation of languages during instruction.

So, do we keep the languages of instruction separate?

Yes…

and

…No

Dual language use by the teacher (Code mixing)Concurrent translation

Flip-flopping

Preview/teach/review

Individualized code mixing

Single language use by the teacherAcceptance/modeling when students mix

Taking advantage of the “teaching moment”

The need to bridge between the two languages

The need to teach language explicitly and directly

Reasons for keeping the languages of instruction separate from one another:

.

Encouraging the use of both languages is going to favor the more proficient language, typically the home language.

•This is especially true when the home language is the language of the majority and the

language of power in the larger society (for example, Portuguese in Brazil)…But is it the same inside the school? •In English-speaking countries, research does show

more English language use by learners in French immersion programs in later grades

and shows a decrease in the accuracy of pronunciation and correct usage of French around fourth grade (LaVan, 2001; Tarone & Swain, 1995).

Patterns of language use in the classroom affect the linguistic goals of an immersion program.

Programmatic Level

Curricular Level

Instructional LevelPERSON

(Who delivers the curriculum and in

what language[s]?)

PLACE(Where is the

curriculum delivered and in

what languages?)

TIME(When are the

languages delivered in the

curriculum?)

TEACHERS

STUDENTS

Language Allocation and Use

CONTENT(What content

areas are delivered in what

language?)

Monolingual

Bilingual

---------------------LANGUAGE ALLOCATION--------------------

-------LANGUAGE USE-----

English

90/10English

50/50

Portuguese

Portuguese

alignment

alignment

Teacher uses the language of instruction exclusively

Teacher uses both languages during an instructional

event

>

When we use Portuguese more frequently, we encourage the development of that language.

When we use a language for certain purposes and not others, we implicitly assign a certain status to that language.

Reasons for using the languages of instruction together:

.

Moving between languages helps learning.

Cross-linguistic transfer

Cross-Linguistic TransferCross-linguistic transfer occurs when

specific knowledge and skills in one language are used in another language:

general strategies from one language are used to figure out the meanings of new words or to comprehend text in the other language.

When students make a “mistake” that is the result of transfer, it is important to view it as an indication of students’ resourcefulness.

rich as “reach”

strap as “estrap” I must to go now

ran as “rang” I don’t know nothing

Capitalizing on Cross-Linguistic Transfer to Promote Metalinguistic Awareness

For students to transfer knowledge from their home language to using the second language, it helps to have an awareness of the two languages; they must understand how the two languages represent sound and meaning and the similarities and differences in the ways they do this.

All students can benefit from being asked explicitly to engage in cross-linguistic comparisons.

Metalinguistic awareness can promote competence in the following areas:•Awareness of and knowledge about the cueing systems used to read and write: sounds (phonology), word formation (morphology), grammar or word order (syntax), and word meaning (semantics)

•Strategies for figuring out the meanings of new words or comprehending complex text

•Students’ confidence in their capacity to grow as readers, writers, and language users

(Mora 2007)

Aspects of word learning that depend on “metalinguistic awareness”:

• Word consciousness—Awareness of and interest in words and their meanings; understanding why some words are used instead of others and the power of words.

• Using parts of words to unlock their meanings—Using word roots, prefixes, and suffixes to figure out the meaning of new words; for example, words that begin with in or un often refer to the lack of something, like incomplete or unsure.

• Using cognates (words that are identical or almost identical in two languages and which have the same or highly similar meaning) to figure out word meanings.

Cognates: Almost 40% of all words in English have a related

word in Portuguese!

Animal   

Hospital   

Moral

Descriptive

Imaginative

Complete

Comment

The key:Although it is very tempting to use the students’ more proficient language, and although we need to take advantage of the transfer that occurs between languages, and encourage students to use all their language resources, the teacher should maintain the sanctity of the language of instruction.

Let the languages of learning rely on and feed one another (in the learner), but keep the languages of instruction (produced by the teacher) separate.

•The context of the conversation

•Which language we are switching to or away from

•The time allocation model

•The purpose of the “lesson”

The need to teach language explicitly and directly

+The need to teach for cross-linguistic transfer

=Strategies for learners to integrate the two

languages

Strategies for integrating the use of both languages:

The Bridge

The bridge is the period during the lesson or unit where the focus is on instructing students in how to transfer what they have learned and stored in one language into the other language.

Beeman & Urow, in press

-ly-fy-ous

-mente-ificar-oso, osa

Strategies for integrating the use of both languages:

The Bridge

Cross-linguistic objectives

We will extract as many cognates as we can from the reading on p. 28 (metamorphosis)

Strategies for integrating the use of both languages:

The Bridge

Cross-linguistic objectives

Process in one, produce in the other

Students work individually or in groups to complete an activity. They can use whatever language they would like while working on the task, but they produce the final product in the language of instruction.

Strategies for integrating the use of both languages:

The Bridge

Cross-linguistic objectives

Process in one, produce in the other

Extend book activities into the other language

•write books in both languages •create a home-language version of a book in the second language or vice versa•analyze bilingual books

•pre-learning: read a book in one language, learn the concept in the other language•post-learning: learn the concept in one

language, check in the other language to see if you learned it

…Before we say adios…Does what we talked about today suggest any strategies that are different from what you already do? How?

One thing you will do or think about doing as a result of what we talked about today.

ehamayan@gmail.com