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“She is a very good child but she doesn’t speak”: The invisibility of children's bilingualism and teacher ideology
Abstract
This paper discusses the micro-level ideologies of four teachers in mainstream Greek schools concerning linguistic diversity, bilingualism, second language learning and minority language maintenance. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews with the teachers and observations in the school context which focused on their views and attitudes concerning the presence of Albanian background children in their classrooms and the way the Greek school responds to the children's bilingualism and to linguistic diversity. Thus, we attempt to bring to the surface aspects of the broader language ideologies which underlie their school practices. Teachers’ responses could be placed on a continuum ranging from awareness of the importance of bilingualism and minority language maintenance to the absolute rejection of the minority language and the subtraction of bilingualism.
... Even though significant progress has been made for improving different aspects of diverse multilingual communities' education, redefining the objectives and methods of language teaching remains crucial. The inquiry into the language ideologies and teaching approaches adopted by educators in the Greek school context demonstrates that a discrepancy is often observed between pedagogic theory and teaching practices, especially in the field of multilingual and multicultural education (Gkaintartzi & Tsokalidou, 2011;Thoma, 2022). Furthermore, the opportunities provided for teachers to engage in reflective processes (Winter, 1996;Danielson, 1989;Casas-Deseures, 2020) on their educational and social role appear scarce. ...
... In some cases, language learning occurs in a noninstitutionalised context, as friends and relatives informally undertake the task of teaching the younger learners. Besides the decisive influence of the family members and of the Greek educational context (Gkaintartzi & Tsokalidou, 2011;Giavrimis & Dimitriadou, 2023), other crucial factors contributing to the shaping of plurilingual repertoires are one's personal inclinations and preferences, systematic engagement, and deep love of reading. This is, as pointed out, an ongoing process within the scope of lifelong learning (Ex. ...
... It offers insights into the ways in which an individual constructs a more fluid and complex identity when placed in different discourse and learning communities (Todeva & Cenoz, 2009). The awareness of identity as being a fluid, dynamic and multidimensional construct is essential for an emergent critical and transformative education (Freire, 1974(Freire, /2001, capable of embracing all learning communities (Gkaintartzi & Tsokalidou, 2011), especially the most marginalised. ...
This research focuses on the impact of language autobiographies in promoting multilingualism practices and fostering the cultivation of respect towards linguistic and cultural diversity at educational contexts. It aims at investigating how language autobiographies, as a reflective practice, promote the development of students' critical linguistic awareness regarding stereotypes and language ideologies, and how it can contribute to the professional development of teachers engaged in multicultural classrooms across Europe. In terms of methodology, the study embraces qualitative methodological tools for analysing language autobiographies written by university students in Greece, within the framework of an inter-disciplinary E.U. project. The text analysis and the reflective views expressed by the pre-service teachers throughout the duration of the project suggest that language autobiographies can significantly benefit the school community. The writing process mobilises the linguistic repertoire of the learners and raises teachers' awareness about their students' spoken languages. This opportunity for free expression is particularly important for learners who have refugee and migrant backgrounds or belong to other minority communities, as their languages are often marginalised due to the predominance of the host country national language. Writing language autobiographies could thus become part of both initial teacher education and in-service training programs, as it is consistent with the critical emancipatory education principles and strongly promotes all citizens' equal participation in sociocultural actions.
... In this study, data was gathered using the interview technique, and a semi-structured interview form created by the researchers was utilized during the interviews. Prior to the preparation of interview questions, the relevant literature (Baker & Jones, 1998;Baker, 2021;Butler & Hakuta, 2006;Çetintaş & Yazıcı, 2016;Demirdöven & Okur, 2017;Eyüp & Güler, 2020;Flores, 2001;Gkaintartz & Tsokalidou, 2011;Menéndez, 2011;Sarıbaş & Demir, 2020;Sönmez, 2020;Şengül & Yokuş, 2021;Tercan & Tercan, 2020) was reviewed, and the opinions of experts and experienced individuals in the field were sought. As a result of feedback from experts, complex or unclear expressions were changed. ...
... In contrast to our findings, Gkaintartz and Tsokalidou (2011) noted that, in their research, there were teachers who supported not only the importance of children's bilingualism and their mother tongue but also those who advocated for the complete rejection of the mother tongue and the promotion of bilingualism. In Belet's (2009) study on the education of bilingual Turkish children living in Norway, teachers emphasized factors such as developing the native language, facilitating the teaching of the second language, and acquiring the ability to express oneself and communicate as reasons for supporting the children's native language, Turkish. ...
... These studies could aim to identify best practices and effective strategies for supporting bilingual children in various educational settings. Eyüp & Güler, 2020;Flores, 2001;Gkaintartz & Tsokalidou, 2011;Melendez, 2011;Sarıbaş & Demir, 2020;Sönmez, 2020;Şengül & Yokuş, 2021;Tercan & Tercan, 2020) yazın taranmış, alanında uzman ve deneyimli kişilerin görüşleri alınmıştır. Gelen eleştiri ve önerilerden sonra görüşme formunun çalışıp çalışmadığını ölçmek için, uygulamadan önce, araştırmaya katılmayacak olan üç okul öncesi öğretmeni ile ön görüşme yapılarak görüşme formu düzenlenmiştir. ...
Starting bilingual education from birth and early childhood allows the child to be introduced to the advantages of bilingualism at an early age. This study was conducted to explore the perspectives of early childhood teachers working in private preschools that offer education in a foreign language and monolingual teachers working in public preschools on bilingualism and bilingual education in Ankara, Türkiye. The sample consisted of 16 early childhood teachers, 8 of whom were bilingual and 8 of whom were monolingual. Five themes were identified through content analysis. The sub-themes and codes that emerged from these overarching themes were further elucidated using selected sample statements. The findings revealed that early childhood teachers' perspectives about bilingualism and bilingual education may vary depending on whether they are bilingual or monolingual. Despite the differences in teachers' views on bilingualism and some gaps in their knowledge about educational programs, all of them acknowledged bilingualism as an advantage and emphasized the need for the proliferation of bilingual schools in Türkiye. The conditions of bilingual education in Türkiye were taken into account in interpreting the results, and recommendations were made accordingly.
... Defenders of monolingual ideologies view multilingualism as a threat to both individuals and societies (Pavlenko, 2005). They can do serious harm, especially if they are people in positions of authority like teachers in schools who consider the minority language spoken by pupils at home as an obstacle to their integration into mainstream society (Gkaintartzi & Tsokalidou, 2011). Recent research on multilingualism suggests that it does no harm but that the positive effects may be more diffuse and more subtle than previously thought (for an overview, see Cabrelli et al., 2023). ...
... One particularly satisfying finding in the current paper is that the repertoire of the multilinguals in studies 2 and 3 included minority languages that had low prestige in the local context (Amazigh in Morocco and Arabic in France). In other words, the knowledge of minority languages that may be perceived as a problem for integration in mainstream society by some teachers (Gkaintartzi & Tsokalidou, 2011) turned out to be a strength as far as FL learners' emotions were concerned. This confirms that any language in the multilinguals' repertoire is valuable (cf. ...
Multilingual foreign language learners have been found to typically experience less Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety (FLCA) and more Foreign Language Enjoyment (FLE) than their less multilingual peers. Since most existing research was based on single databases, authors had to be careful to avoid sweeping generalisations about the positive effect of multilingualism. In order to increase validity, the current paper will investigate the link between the degree of multilingualism and two learner emotions using three different existing databases that contained relevant data but where multilingualism was not part of the research questions in the subsequent papers. Participants who contributed to the first database were 360 FL learners in a Kuwaiti university, the second database included data from 502 English Foreign Language (EFL) learners in secondary schools and universities in Morocco, and the third database included data from 181 pre-teen EFL learners in secondary schools in France. Separate statistical analyses of the three databases confirmed that multilingualism was linked to significantly higher FLE in all three databases and to lower FLCA in two out of the three databases. This suggests that knowing more languages contributes to more positive and fewer negative emotions in the FL class.
... During knowledge construction, emphasis should also be given to the processes of "mixing of cultures and world views" (Brutt-Griffler & Varghese, 2004, p. 94), creating equitable learning spaces where students can learn and "recontextualize identities into new contexts" (García, 2017, p. 23). Translanguaging can be a linguistic tool to overcome invisible multilingualism, such as when someone is proficient in two or more languages, but their bilingualism is not acknowledged by society (Gkaintartzi & Tsokalidou, 2011). Invisible multilingualism needs to be overcome to foster opportunities and diversify the STEM field. ...
Although there have been efforts to broaden the participation of underrepresented students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), few studies have focused on how Latine bilingual students in rural contexts can access computer programming. The purpose of this case study is to examine how translanguaging facilitates understanding among emergent bilingual students. The findings showed how translanguaging is more than translation, how students used their linguistic repertoire to negotiate meaning, and the use of language brokering as a pedagogical tool. Implications for translanguaging in STEM have the potential for a deep understanding of computer programming concepts.
... Η συγκεκριμένη ηλικιακή ομάδα ατόμων με προσφυγική εμπειρία δεν έχει ακόμη διερευνηθεί συστηματικά στην Ελλάδα (για ορισμένες εξαιρέσεις βλ, για παράδειγμα, Daskalaki & Leivaditi, 2018· Gogonas & Gatsi, 2021· Yilmaz, 2021. Επιπλέον, στο ελληνικό εκπαιδευτικό πλαίσιο οι εκπαιδευτικοί της γλώσσας τείνουν να αντιμετωπίζουν ακόμη τα παιδιά ως μονόγλωσσες/ους ομιλήτριες/τές, αγνοώντας την πολιτισμική και γλωσσική τους ποικιλομορφία, αν και αναγνωρίζουν την πολυπολιτισμική φύση της σύγχρονης ελληνικής σχολικής τάξης (Gkaintartzi & Tsokalidou, 2011). ...
This paper aims to present a rhizomatic cartography of translingual practices used in an
informal “classroom” of language literacy. We refer to the linguistic interaction of four
Arabic-speaking youths residing in a hosting center for unaccompanied minors in Athens
(2020-2021) during a literacy event. Using ethnographic data from participant
observation, we palpate how languaging is performed in this fluid translanguaging
space including the socio-spatial/-material dimension. Disrupting the sameness-oflanguage
idea established by vague taxonomic labels, such as “I speak Arabic” or
“Arabic-speaking”, our overall aim is to sensitize people working with Arabic-speaking
refugees about their “non-canonical” sociolinguistic repertoires.
... Within this framework an educator who recognises the linguistic and cultural specificities of the individual learner and respects her/his right to use the first language of socialisation in order to interact with others will seek to encourage the child's use of his/her entire linguistic repertoire which may lead all concerned (the child, the child's family/caregivers and the teacher) to use translanguaging as a tool for expression, communication and meaning making. Moreover, research has shown that young children are sensitive to the image their teacher has of them, integrating the value attributed to their home language and culture (Moons, 2010;Gkaintartzi & Tsokalidou, 2011;Thomauske, 2011). Emergent bilingual children's first encounters with the institution and its representatives take on all the more importance given the potentially enduring impact on their sense of self-worth and well-being (Harter, 1999) throughout their school lives. ...
... Furthermore, it has been linked to improved academic outcomes and better social integration, particularly for students from marginalized or minority groups (Gay, 2018;Ladson-Billings, 1995). Research within Greek educational contexts has revealed a significant lack of preparedness in teacher training programs regarding the acquisition of intercultural competence and communication skills (Gkaintartzi & Tsokalidou, 2011;Kipouropoulou, 2019;Mogli et al., 2019;Palaiologou & Faas, 2012). Studies indicate that teachers often enter the classroom without sufficient training in these critical areas, which is essential for effectively teaching diverse student populations, including migrants and refugees (Ioannidou & Mitakidou, 2020). ...
The provision of Greek language education to diverse and multilingual groups has become increasingly important, especially in light of the recent refugee crisis. This study explores the teaching strategies used in non-formal educational settings for refugee and migrant children, with a particular focus on the role of their first language (L1) and the importance of intercultural education. It also seeks to identify the challenges teachers face in these non-formal environments. Nine (9) teachers who specialize in non-formal education and teach Greek to refugee and migrant children participated in the study. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings show that teachers use a variety of teaching methods, favoring communicative and student-centered approaches. Although the importance of multicultural education and translanguaging practices was recognized, they were not fully implemented. The study also examines the challenges educators face in their teaching in these settings. These include issues like irregular attendance, cultural and practical factors, mental health problems, language barriers, and varying levels of prior education.
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... At the same time, the recently legislated provision for compulsory two-year, preschool attendance may have enriched classrooms with children of minority communities, such as Roma children, who might otherwise be discouraged from attending school. Despite such rich cultural and linguistic diversity present in class, and nominal aims in the curriculum towards the promotion of intercultural education and multilingualism, schools tend to be monolingual in terms of language policy, as teachers are faced with important challenges in fostering linguistic diversity in class leading to what has been termed as 'invisible bilingualism' (Gkaintartzi et al., 2011;. ...
This article outlines a teacher training programme called: "English in the Kindergarten: Towards Multilingual Education", which was designed and implemented as a response to the introduction of English in Greek state preschools from 2021 onward. The programme aims to develop teachers' knowledge, skills, and attitudes for the introduction of the English language as a cross-linguistic and cross-cultural bridge and ultimately to promote multilingualism and inclusion in the class. It is theoretically grounded on a critical sociolinguistic approach toward languages in education, which valourises the children's entire linguistic repertoire and challenges 'parallel monolingualisms' that typify some initiatives in the field of early (foreign) language education. Classes are reimagined as spaces where learners and teachers engage with age-appropriate experiential and plurilingual practices, art-based learning, drama techniques, and puppetry. At the same time, pluralistic approaches and translanguaging are proposed to be used to leverage children's linguistic and cultural capitals as they engage with English in early language education, thus enhancing multilingual and intercultural awareness. After discussing the theoretical tenets of the program's design, an overview of its structure and sample activities is provided as well as extracts from participant teachers' output and data from its evaluation. The paper concludes with the implications of the programme and the perspective it advances.
... The prevailing perception in the official discourse of the maintenance of migrant languages pertains to a human right that does not concern the Greek school, thus, transferring the responsibility of teaching and learning their languages to the immigrant groups themselves (Kiliari 2005;. Immigrant children's bilingualism remains largely "invisible" in education (Gkaintartzi and Tsokalidou 2011;Tsokalidou 2005). This has resulted in a language shift, for example, in the case of the Albanian community (Gogonas 2009;2010;Gogonas and Michail 2015), and low perceptions of ethnolinguistic vitality (Gogonas 2009;2010). ...
... Hundreds of research studies have been conducted on these issues. The most characteristic studies are the ones about bilingualism in Greek schools [2], about teachers' attitudes and parents' views on bilingualism [3], and, more recently, on cultural and linguistic diversity in the Greek primary school [4]. The most recent research is about the newly arrived refugees in non-typical education in Greece after 2015 by Simopoulos and Stergiou [5]. ...
After many decades of research, publications, and exchange of good practices, the debate about intercultural pedagogy, the importance of bilingual education and the promotion of existing multiculturalism in school classes remains topical in the public educational system in Greece. My ongoing research interest focuses on the inclusive education of students with migrant backgrounds, taking into account the foreign language lessons in public education in Greece, specifically the teaching of German as a second foreign language. The empirical part of the study took place in a public primary school in a Province of the city of Karditsa during the school year 2021/2022. A class of 18 students of the 6th Grade, where 7 of them were bilingual/multilingual with a migrant background, was under research during the second and third trimester in the German language lesson. The research work is based on the methodology of the Functional-Pragmatics language theory by Ehlich and Rehbein. The data analysis is in progress; however, questionnaires were given to all participant students, and interviews were conducted with all bilinguals parents.
... This aligns with the views of Te Puni Kōkiri (2010) who highlighted attitude as a key contributing factor concerning the health of te reo Māori which can have positive and negative impacts on language. Gkaintartzi and Tsokalidou (2011) argue that "Teacher attitudes towards bilingualism and language diversity are part of the language ideologies which underlie their language practices" (p.588). The Education Review Office (2020) reported a positive attitude and sense of responsibility amongst most of the school leaders they interviewed regarding te reo Māori. ...
It is essential that teachers are prepared to teach te reo Māori speaking children so that Māori tamariki enjoy equal and equitable opportunities to succeed as Māori (Education & Training Act, 2020). This article draws on research undertaken for my master’s degree which investigated teacher preparedness to teach te reo Māori speaking children in mainstream primary schools. Key findings included an awareness of how language and culture impact on identity and educational outcomes. Although participants acknowledged the absolute necessity that te reo Māori and tikanga Māori are included in all aspects of the education setting, they also reported that tikanga Māori is a more comfortable space to be in than te reo Māori as there were clear connections to their own values. Four key themes emerged from the findings which I promote in this paper as key factors for teacher readiness to teach reo Māori speaking children. These are: Kia rite (be prepared), Kia hono (be connected); Kia tātatiako (be culturally competent and responsive) and, Kia whakauruuru (be integrative). This article discusses the four factors listed above and implications for tamariki, their whānau, teachers and Initial Teacher Education (ITE) providers.
... Established monolingual mindsets and monocultural approaches are still the case for the Greek educational context. Language educators keep treating children as monolingual speakers, ignoring their cultural and linguistic diversity, yet they acknowledge the multicultural nature of the mainstream classroom (Gkaintartzi and Tsokalidou 2011). Specifically, regarding the appearance of #Arabic 2 in the Greek mainstream language classroom, educators tend to perceive #Arabic as a unified entity and exhibit extended unfamiliarity with the superdiverse #Arabic sociolinguistic environment; they approach #Arabicspeaking populations with skepticism, often relating them with Islam and terrorist events (see Vasilopoulou 2020). ...
... At the same time, the cultural elements of immigrant/refugee students should be considered since more than the existing texts are needed to highlight them. Thus, educational policy is based on a monolingual and monocultural approach, where different cultures during the learning process are silenced, marginalized, and ultimately not considered (Gkaintartzi & Tsokalidou, 2011;Karananou et al., 2022). As a result, students whose cultural capital is different from that of the Greek educational system are often excluded from having access to essential aspects of the knowledge capital since the only way out is to internalize the dominant cultural elements of the Greek school (Androulakis et al., 2018;Chatzisotiriou & Xenophontos, 2014;Kessidou, 2008). ...
Intercultural education is an educational movement that aims to ensure all students have equal learning opportunities at school and in society. Intercultural education seeks to achieve a harmonious co-existence of all these different cultural groups. In intercultural education, diversity is deconstructed, and the boundaries of power between dominant and non-dominant groups are not fixed. The research aimed to study the views of primary and secondary school teachers on implementing interculturalism of immigrant/refugee students in Greek educational policy. Qualitative research through the semi-structured interview method was chosen for the data collection. The constructed interview guide was based on the literature on migration and its theoretical framework. The participants in the research were twenty-two primary and secondary school teachers. Eight of them were males, and fourteen were females. The results showed that most primary and secondary education teachers positively approached immigrant/refugee students in Greek education. Furthermore, teachers mentioned that the Greek language is essential in the educational inclusion of students from migrant and refugee backgrounds. However, at the same time, some teachers had negative attitudes based on ethnocentric elements. The inadequately organized educational policy mediated their mentioned views. Therefore, it is more than a necessity to establish learning strategies and educational practices based on an educational approach that transcends the mainstream cultural elements, enhances multilingualism and diversity of social identities, and yet seeks to provide equal opportunities and eliminate educational exclusions from groups of the student population experiencing school failure or school marginalization.
... Καθώς φαίνεται, οι εκπαιδευτικοί δεν δείχνουν μεγάλη ετοιμότητα να ενσωματώσουν αυτές τις πρακτικές στις καθημερινές τους εκπαιδευτικές πρακτικές . Πέρα από τις ιδεολογικές διαστάσεις και αντιστάσεις που έχουν αναδειχτεί (Gkaintartzi, et al., 2011(Gkaintartzi, et al., , 2019, υπάρχουν οι προκλήσεις του τρόπου εφαρμογής τους στην πράξη, τόσο στη διδακτική διαδικασία όσο και στην αξιολόγηση, καθώς διατυπώνεται σημαντικός προβληματισμός ιδιαίτερα γύρω από την αξιοποίηση της διαγλωσσικότητας στη διδακτική πρακτική, όπως και στην υιοθέτηση διαγλωσσικών μοντέλων αξιολόγησης (Vallejo & Dooly, 2020). Σχετικά με τη δυσκολία της εφαρμογής διαγλωσσικών προσεγγίσεων στην εκπαίδευση, οι García & Lin (2017) παρατηρούν ότι έχουν αναπτυχθεί διαφορετικές θεωρητικές απόψεις που μπορούν να χαρακτηριστούν ότι εκφράζουν ισχυρές ή πιο αδύναμες εκδοχές της διαγλωσσικότητας. ...
This book attempts to fill a gap in the Greek literature
concerning the needs of courses related to Multilingualism/
Plurilingualism, Educational Linguistics, Applied Linguistics,
Language Education as well as Sociolinguistic Dimensions in
Language Education. The book covers the following fields:
Multilingualism, second language acquisition, multilingual
assessment, linguistic diversity and superdiversity,
intercultural communication, translanguaging, sociolinguistic
approaches to multilingual education, Lingua Franca,
language education for refugees and migrants, bilingual
education and heritage languages and language policies in
education and in the family. The book also discusses issues of
language education in Greece and approaches to Greek as a
second language in formal education.
The
... Καθώς φαίνεται, οι εκπαιδευτικοί δεν δείχνουν μεγάλη ετοιμότητα να ενσωματώσουν αυτές τις πρακτικές στις καθημερινές τους εκπαιδευτικές πρακτικές . Πέρα από τις ιδεολογικές διαστάσεις και αντιστάσεις που έχουν αναδειχτεί (Gkaintartzi, et al., 2011(Gkaintartzi, et al., , 2019, υπάρχουν οι προκλήσεις του τρόπου εφαρμογής τους στην πράξη, τόσο στη διδακτική διαδικασία όσο και στην αξιολόγηση, καθώς διατυπώνεται σημαντικός προβληματισμός ιδιαίτερα γύρω από την αξιοποίηση της διαγλωσσικότητας στη διδακτική πρακτική, όπως και στην υιοθέτηση διαγλωσσικών μοντέλων αξιολόγησης (Vallejo & Dooly, 2020). Σχετικά με τη δυσκολία της εφαρμογής διαγλωσσικών προσεγγίσεων στην εκπαίδευση, οι García & Lin (2017) παρατηρούν ότι έχουν αναπτυχθεί διαφορετικές θεωρητικές απόψεις που μπορούν να χαρακτηριστούν ότι εκφράζουν ισχυρές ή πιο αδύναμες εκδοχές της διαγλωσσικότητας. ...
... This attitude has astrong impact as it has been found that there is alink between the teachers' beliefs about languages and their practices in the classroomt hat may lead them either to silence or to support children'shome languages (Mary & Young 2020: 446). Consequently, teachers' attitudes and actions can havet he effect of disempowering (e. g. Gkaintartzi & Tsokalidou 2011) or empowering pupils. By contrast, teachers and other school personnel can empower multilingualchildren by valuing the pupils' home languages and incorporatingthem into the classroom as aresource (Mary & Young 2020: 450) and this can involvecreating room for translanguaging (see Chapter 6). ...
... Established monolingual mindsets and monocultural approaches are still the case for the Greek educational context. Language educators keep treating children as monolingual speakers, ignoring their cultural and linguistic diversity, yet they acknowledge the multicultural nature of the mainstream classroom (Gkaintartzi and Tsokalidou 2011). Specifically, regarding the appearance of #Arabic 2 in the Greek mainstream language classroom, educators tend to perceive #Arabic as a unified entity and exhibit extended unfamiliarity with the superdiverse #Arabic sociolinguistic environment; they approach #Arabicspeaking populations with skepticism, often relating them with Islam and terrorist events (see Vasilopoulou 2020). ...
... there are very few that were based on data from younger language learners. The main belief behind avoiding researching young learners lies in the fact that children were viewed as variables rather than as human beings and subjects of the research (Gkaintartzi & Tsokalidou, 2011). This means that research did not draw information about how they experienced the situation they were found in, in order to allow them to present their own perspective. ...
... Official educational policies responding to multiculturalism in Greek schools have made some important steps, since the early immigration years, to support the inclusion of immigrant children, moving gradually from assimilationist to more inclusive policies (Gkaintartzi, Kiliari, & Tsokalidou, 2015). Yet, despite the positive steps, the children's bi/multilingualism remains largely 'invisible' in the Greek state school (Gkaintartzi & Tsokalidou, 2011;Tsokalidou, 2012) while current educational policies and practices are mostly monolingual without taking into account the multilingual and translingual realities of these children. ...
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... Ιn this context, migrants are forced to learn Greek to communicate with the majority population and become accepted by them. Their heritage languages are rejected as "inferior" and eventually become "invisible" in the public sphere (Gkaintartzi and Tsokalidou 2011). ...
... Poser des questions à propos des perceptions sur l'usage et la valeur des langues en milieu scolaire est une niche de recherche féconde que l'on retrouve dans plusieurs endroits du monde, de l'Équateur (Adronis, 2004) à la Grèce (Gkaintartzi et Tsokalidou, 2011), en passant par la Guyane (Léglise et Migge, 2014). Pour Mayotte, voir par exemple Laroussi et Liénard (2011). ...
... Poser des questions à propos des perceptions sur l'usage et la valeur des langues en milieu scolaire est une niche de recherche féconde que l'on retrouve dans plusieurs endroits du monde, de l'Équateur (Adronis, 2004) à la Grèce (Gkaintartzi et Tsokalidou, 2011), en passant par la Guyane (Léglise et Migge, 2014). Pour Mayotte, voir par exemple Laroussi et Liénard (2011). ...
This chapter analyses language attitudes of Maore primary school teachers-in-training. It adresses questions regarding the role of French and the two major local languages, Shimaore and Kibushi, in public education.
... This is very important because translation is not only a transfer of language symbols or words, but more than that, translation has consequences for changes in meaning, cultural transformation, and "the emergence of a new text". Regardless of the circumstances, the right first step to overcome various suspicions, mistakes, and changes in meaning or ideas in a text, techniques, methods, and messages or ideologies contained in translation need to be seen [8]. ...
The translation is an activity that cannot be separated from the development of technology and science. A translator must have the ability to solve problems, namely when a translator does not understand the meaning of a word, sentence, or paragraph so that the translator has difficulty translating it even though he already understands the source text. To be able to translate, a translator must know the ins and outs of translation including procedures, ideology, methods, and techniques of translation. The translator must master the language aspects of the source language and target language. These aspects are very different between the source language and the target language, for example in terms of use. Translators are faced with two ideologies, namely foreign (foreign) and domestication. Translators in translating need to pay attention to the type of text being translated. The type of text used in this research is the type of religious text. Religious texts are texts whose substance is dominated by themes and topics originating from one religion.
... Aligning ourselves with Freedman and Ball (2004), Gkaintartzi and Tsokalidou (2011) and (Palmer, 2008) we believe that it is not so much the eduuctor's job to change the subjective and ideological positioning of students as it is to develop a space in which change is possible. Students and educators approach courses with a number of ideologically shaped beliefs and subjective stances that they hold to be true. ...
We propose a novel method for repurposing online course discussion posts to explore educators’ language ideologies. Drawing on asynchronous discussion posts from a subset of 30 educators enrolled in an online, masters-level, sociolinguistics-for-educators course at a US Southwest university, we “smooth” posts into a dialogue resembling a focus group discussion, a method we are terming a fabricated focus group (FFG). The topic of the discussion forum was defining “Standardized English” (SE), allowing us to observe nuances of participants’ ideological stances, positioned and juxtaposed to one another within a constructed dialogue. Online discussion forums offer a unique tool for researchers/educators to generate a context for student stance taking and reflexivity, which can raise educator’s critical consciousness. FFGs can help us to represent educators’ varying ideological positions and provide direction as instructors of such courses attempt to foster more tolerant, democratic, and empowering attitudes toward cultural and linguistic diversity.
... ont mis en lumière les représentations et les idéologies sous-jacentes des enseignant.e.s à propos du bilinguisme de leurs élèves, en démontrant de cette façon la nécessité de leur proposer une formation. Ainsi, diverses recherches ont souligné que le multilinguisme des élèves est perçu par les enseignant.e.s comme un problème éducatif qui influence négativement la maitrise de la langue grecque (Govaris et al., 2010 ;Skourtou, 2002 ;Tressou & Mitakidou, 2003) et plus globalement que le bilinguisme des enfants immigrés reste « invisible » au sein de la classe (Gkaintartzi & Tsokalidou, 2011 ;Tsokalidou, 2005Tsokalidou, , 2012. Cette situation est due notamment au fait que les enseignant.e.s n'ont pas reçu de formation sur les questions de bilinguisme, de développement des langues et d'apprentissage/enseignement des langues secondes (Chatzidaki, 2012). ...
This paper presents some results from the data analysis of a PhD thesis dealing with the design, implementation and evaluation of a blended learning training course on plurilingualism and pluriculturalism in Greece for teachers. This training included distance learning sessions, where teachers worked independently on the training resources, and face-to-face sessions, where they participated to semi-structured interviews and conducted classroom interventions. This article focuses on the teachers' representations of the contributions of language autobiography (LA) and reflective drawing to both their own teaching practices and the impact of the didactic process on their students. Results have shown that the teachers perceive the importance of LA and reflexive drawing in the pedagogical process, particularly for the understanding, sharing and enrichment of students’ linguistic and cultural capital.
... Gkaintartzi, A. & Tsokalidou, R. (2011) "She is a very good child but she doesn't speak": The invisibility of children's bilingualism and teacher ideology, //www.ncca.ie/en/Curriculum_and_Assessment/Inclusion/English_as_a n_Additional_Language/IILT_Materials/Primary/ accessed 8/10/11. ...
... To our knowledge, no previous study has focused on this aspect of adult language education in Greece. However, a number of studies focusing on multilingualism in primary and secondary education have concluded that while teachers generally recognise the value of maintaining students' heritage languages, they do not see a place for these languages in school and do not acknowledge their role in their students' academic development (Gkaintartzi et al., 2014;Gkaintartzi & Tsokalidou, 2011;Mattheoudakis et al., 2017;Mitits, 2018). Given these findings, it is worth investigating adult educators' stance on the issue, i.e., if and how they engage with multilingualism in their teaching practices. ...
Current developments in language education call for a reassessment of the role that students' already-established linguistic repertoires can play in language teaching. This study probed into adult second language education in Modern Greek offered in Greece, where classes are culturally and linguistically diverse. We investigated teachers' views and perceived practices regarding the use of other languages in their classes. A mixed-method design was followed. Data on teachers' opinions was collected via a questionnaire completed by 30 teachers. Complementary data on teachers' practices collected through observations of two classes was also studied. The results indicated that English was mainly used by the teachers as a mediation language, although a wide variation was reported in the amount of other-language use. Large variations were also reported in the students' behaviour. Teachers stressed several benefits from using other languages in class, but also expressed concerns about excessive reliance on other languages and on how using a support language would impact students with limited proficiency in this language. These findings were discussed in light of recent developments in language education and implications for teacher training were considered.
... As a result, both non-standard varieties of Greek and heritage languages of minorities (whether endogenous or exogenous) are stigmatized. In fact, the latter are completely rejected as "inferior" and have eventually become "invisible" in the Greek public sphere (see Gkaintartzi & Tsokalidou, 2011;Archakis et al., 2018;Archakis, 2019Archakis, , 2020. ...
Greek national discourse promotes linguistic and cultural homogenization within Greek borders often through racism against migrants. Racist homogenizing practices are not always explicit but are quite often “liquid,” namely, covert, ambiguous, and hard to trace. The effective promotion of national homogenization not only naturalizes linguistic and cultural assimilation but may also infiltrate antiracist discourse and eventually lead to migrants’ internalization of racism. Within the framework of critical discourse analysis, we investigate how and why migrants may align themselves with national discourse and internalize discrimination against themselves. To this end, this case study analyzes an article written by a young migrant in Greece and published in a newspaper of leftwing and antiracist orientation. By exploiting the problem-solution pattern and the concept of face, our analysis reveals that the migrant author appears to accept the expectations and impositions of national homogenizing discourse. Concurrently, racism emerges as liquid, since the text expressing the author’s internalized racism is published in an antiracist newspaper. The article reproduces racist standpoints typical of the dominant national discourse in a way (and in a context) that disguises such standpoints and deflects any antiracist criticism potentially raised against them. Thus, the hegemony of Greek national discourse is further reinforced.
... Ιn this context, migrants are forced to learn Greek to communicate with the majority population and become accepted by them. Their heritage languages are rejected as "inferior" and eventually become "invisible" in the public sphere (Gkaintartzi and Tsokalidou 2011). ...
Τhis paper studies online narrative texts, which, despite their declared antiracist stance, reproduce racist positionings against migrants. Based on the broader framework of Critical Discourse Analysis, our main research question concerns the ways racist and antiracist positionings coexist. To this end, we employ an enriched version of Bamberg’s tripartite model which distinguishes the micro-levels of narrative world and narrative interaction, from which the positionings towards the discourses of the macro-level, in the present case the national discourse, emerge. A common feature of the media narratives under study is the ambiguity between an antiracist reading and a motile racist one. In these readings the denοuncement of majority instances of illiberal/frozen racism coexist with the representation of migrants as people largely assimilated to the majority context. Due to this coexistence, such texts become vehicles of liquid racism.
... Previous studies carried out in Greece have highlighted not only teachers' linguistic perceptions and ideologies, but also the pedagogical practices they employ with their students. In their practice, the bilingualism of immigrant children remains "invisible" (Gkaintartzi & Tsokalidou, 2011;Tsokalidou, 2005Tsokalidou, , 2012. Indeed, teachers either consider their students as monolingual or treat them as "alloglossa paidia" (Tsokalidou, 2005), which is to say as children who speak a language other than Greek. ...
This chapter presents some of the results derived from the data analysis of a thesis which dealt with the conception, implementation, and evaluation of a blended learning training course in plurilingualism and pluriculturalism. More precisely, this blended learning training course was addressed at teachers working in Greek primary schools in the city of Thessaloniki. This chapter focuses on the last phase of this project, which is to say the evaluation phase in which the researcher interviewed participating teachers. The analysis of the interviews sheds light on the teachers' perceptions of blended learning as a training mode. The results present the difficulties the teachers encountered with distance training, as well as their views on the possible implementation of distance learning with their students. They also highlight the teachers' perceptions of online interaction on a forum with other participants, and of good blended learning.
This chapter presents some of the results derived from a blended learning training program in plurilingualism and pluriculturalism that was addressed at teachers working in Greek primary schools in the city of Thessaloniki. It focuses on the language autobiography, a subject that was covered during the training, and especially on the interactions that took place during the face-to-face sessions with the researcher that followed the distance training. More precisely, it aims to shed light on teachers’ perceptions of the contribution language autobiography can make at both the personal and professional levels through the study of excerpts from their interviews. The results indicate both that teachers understand the role language autobiography can play in their own personal reflection and awareness, and that the examples written by other teachers helped them identify their own life experiences. They also reveal that the participants recognize the contribution this tool and approach can make to their practice with students.
In today’s society, multilingualism has become the standard, and research has consistently shown that it brings numerous benefits in cognitive, affective and social domains (Fürst & Grin, 2021; Monnier et al., 2021; Tiurikova et al., 2021). Multilingualism encompasses the dynamic and integrated knowledge and use of multiple languages or language varieties (Haukås et al., 2021), different levels of language proficiency, receptive and productive skills (Council of Europe, 2001), multilingual identities (Forbes et al., 2021; Rutgers et al., 2021), which depend on such factors as age, educational background, and socioeconomic status. The “multilingual turn” in education, advocated by May (2019), presents challenges for teachers who lack training in teaching in linguistically and culturally diverse classrooms (De Angelis, 2011; Otwinowska, 2014). Several researchers (De Angelis, 2011; García & Kleyn, 2016; Lundberg, 2019) have recommended prioritizing multilingualism in teacher education and ongoing professional development.
This paper explores the geographies of migrant schooling in Athens following the 2015–2016 crisis, which left thousands of migrants stranded in the country. Drawing on a multi‐sited ethnography of everyday bordering (2017–2018), I examine the school as an ordinary bureaucratic institution and as a physical space in relation to the border. I discuss the processes that rendered the schooling of racialised children a problem to be managed and solved. These migrant schooling timescapes, I argue, were marked by contradictory state logics, and temporalities, and were shaped by context‐specific colonial and racialisation discourses. These tensions shaped the encounters between families on the move and the state throughout the academic year. The paper argues that the school became an everyday space of bordering, controlling membership and reproducing the families’ marginalisation. In this way, it contributes to the literature that highlights the role of ordinary institutions and temporal forms of governance conditioning migrant lives.
Based on a sample of 65 German immigrants living in Greece, an understudied minority in this context, this paper explores the connection between participants' attitudes towards the heritage and host dimensions and emotions when using the heritage language (L1). Statistical analysis of survey data revealed that sociolinguistic practices reflected cultural affiliations without cross-interferences. Socialization in the L1 predicted immigrants' identification with the heritage culture and socialization in the local language predicted immigrants' identification with the host culture. Experiencing a sense of pride and empowerment when using the L1 enhanced participants' belonging to the heritage culture. Pride when using the L1 also enhanced their belonging to the host culture. Following the economic crisis in 2009 there was a rise of an anti-German sentiment in Greece. However, qualitative insights from open-ended questions highlighted participants' lack of negative experiences in the country. This could be explained by the high standing of the German language in Greece. Many reported no change in their positive self-perceptions when using German. Facing minor discrimination did not affect these feelings. These results are relevant in sociopolitical discourse promoting monolingual ideologies that portray minority language use as a hindrance to integration, clarifying the connection between immigrants’ self-perceptions and well-being.
The notion of inert benevolence has been written about in the context of primary school teachers working with languages beyond English (Cunningham and Little, 2022). However, the concept has a broader relevance for those working in education and this paper seeks to explore it more fully, through the use of the metaphor of a flower press in order to understand how the power of numerous factors bearing down on teachers leads to inert benevolence.
Η κατανόηση και αξιοποίηση από τους/τιςεκπαιδευτικούς της σχέσης διγλωσσίας και μάθησης επιτρέπει τη διαμόρφωση υποστηρικτικού μαθησιακού πλαισίου για την εκμάθηση της γλώσσας του σχολείου και τη διδασκαλία των μαθημάτων μέσω της Ελληνικής ως δεύτερης γλώσσας. Σκοπός της παρούσας εργασίας ήταννα διερευνήσει τις αναπαραστάσειςεκπαιδευτικών Γυμνασίων για τη διγλωσσία των προσφύγων μαθητών/τριώντους, με έμφαση στην ανάπτυξη της ακαδημαϊκής γλώσσας του σχολείου. Το δείγμα της έρευνας αποτέλεσαν 153 εκπαιδευτικοί όλων των ειδικοτήτων, που υπηρετούν σε Γυμνάσια της επικράτειας, όπου λειτουργούν Τάξεις Υποδοχής(ΤΥ), και διδάσκουν σε πρόσφυγες μαθητές/τριες. Από τα αποτελέσματα της έρευνας προέκυψε ότι οι εκπαιδευτικοί, παρά την ευρεία θεώρηση του περιεχομένου της διγλωσσίας, δεν αντιλαμβάνονται τους πρόσφυγες μαθητές/τριεςως δίγλωσσα υποκείμενα. Μολονότι οι δυσκολίες εκμάθησης της ελληνικής εντοπίζονται στην κατανόηση αφηρημένων εννοιών και τις δεξιότητες του γραπτού λόγου, η πλειονότητα των εκπαιδευτικών υιοθετεί την αρχή της μέγιστης έκθεσης στη γλώσσα στόχο και προκρίνει ως ενδεδειγμένη πρακτική την αποκλειστική χρήση της ελληνικής στον χώρο τουσχολείου. Ωστόσο, αρκετοί εκπαιδευτικοί εφαρμόζουν διδακτικές πρακτικές και παιδαγωγικές μεθόδους που υποστηρίζουν την ακαδημαϊκή ανάπτυξη των προσφύγων μαθητών/τριών
Η κατανόηση και αξιοποίηση από τους/τις εκπαιδευτικούς της σχέσης διγλωσσίας και μάθησης επιτρέπει τη διαμόρφωση υποστηρικτικού μαθησιακού πλαισίου για την εκμάθηση της γλώσσας του σχολείου και τη διδασκαλία των μαθημάτων μέσω της Ελληνικής ως δεύτερης γλώσσας. Σκοπός της παρούσας εργασίας ήταν να διερευνήσει τις αναπαραστάσεις εκπαιδευτικών Γυμνασίων για τη διγλωσσία των προσφύγων μαθητών/τριών τους, με έμφαση στην ανάπτυξη της ακαδημαϊκής γλώσσας του σχολείου. Το δείγμα της έρευνας αποτέλεσαν 153 εκπαιδευτικοί όλων των ειδικοτήτων, που υπηρετούν σε Γυμνάσια της επικράτειας, όπου λειτουργούν Τάξεις Υποδοχής (ΤΥ), και διδάσκουν σε πρόσφυγες μαθητές/τριες. Από τα αποτελέσματα της έρευνας προέκυψε ότι οι εκπαιδευτικοί, παρά την ευρεία θεώρηση του περιεχομένου της διγλωσσίας, δεν αντιλαμβάνονται τους πρόσφυγες μαθητές/τριες ως δίγλωσσα υποκείμενα. Μολονότι οι δυσκολίες εκμάθησης της ελληνικής εντοπίζονται στην κατανόηση αφηρημένων εννοιών και τις δεξιότητες του γραπτού λόγου, η πλειονότητα των εκπαιδευτικών υιοθετεί την αρχή της μέγιστης έκθεσης στη γλώσσα στόχο και προκρίνει ως ενδεδειγμένη πρακτική την αποκλειστική χρήση της ελληνικής στον χώρο του σχολείου. Ωστόσο, αρκετοί εκπαιδευτικοί εφαρμόζουν διδακτικές πρακτικές και παιδαγωγικές μεθόδους που υποστηρίζουν την ακαδημαϊκή ανάπτυξη των προσφύγων μαθητών/τριών.
Σκοπός της παρούσας μελέτης ήταν να καταγράψει την υπάρχουσα κατάσταση στην εκπαίδευση των παιδιών-προσφύγων, ώστε να αποκτήσουμε σαφέστερη εικόνα για τους εξής τομείς:
α. το κοινωνικό και εκπαιδευτικό προφίλ των προσφύγων μαθητών/μαθητριών
β. τις ψυχολογικές και εκπαιδευτικές ανάγκες των προσφύγων μαθητών/μαθητριών
β. τις δυσλειτουργίες των υφιστάμενων εκπαιδευτικών δομών και τις ενέργειες στις οποίες πρέπει να προβεί η Πολιτεία.
Το κείμενο συντάχθηκε, καθώς η ΑΔΕΔΥ, εκπροσωπώντας τις συνδικαλιστικές οργανώσεις των εκπαιδευτικών, έχει λόγο παρέμβασης στα εκπαιδευτικά ζητήματα της χώρας επιδιώκοντας τη συστηματική ανάπτυξη της εκπαίδευσης, προς όφελος των μελών της, αλλά επίσης των παιδιών-προσφύγων και των πολιτών γενικότερα.
Στο πρώτο μέρος αναδεικνύεται η υπάρχουσα κατάσταση τόσο σε επίπεδο δεδομένων όσο και σε επίπεδο εκπαιδευτικής πολιτικής. Στο δεύτερο μέρος παρουσιάζεται η μεθοδολογία της έρευνας. Στο τρίτο, ακολουθεί η παρουσίαση και η συζήτηση των ευρημάτων. Η μελέτη ολοκληρώνεται με την εξαγωγή συμπερασμάτων και τη διατύπωση προτάσεων.
21 st century early years practitioners are expected to become agents of change by challenging societal inequalities and embracing anti-oppressive approaches. Yet, research suggests that many practitioners hold negative attitudes about children and families who are ethnically, culturally, linguistically and economically different from those in the mainstream and appear oblivious to how their own practice may contribute to the educational inequalities experienced by these children. This article draws on research carried out with early-years practitioners completing a Foundation degree in early years and an Early Childhood Studies BA (Hons) Top-Up course in England, which examined the practitioners’ perspectives of a transformative pedagogy for social justice. Findings suggest the pedagogy inspired practitioners to work towards eradicating enduring societal inequalities. However, when the emotional impact of the transformation is overwhelming, transformative learning may not only inhibit action but also lead practitioners to a state of liminality that requires time to emerge from.
This study, undertaken in a predominantly monolingual area of England, examines pre-service teachers’ (N = 293) suggestions of how they could reflect linguistic diversity in primary classrooms (ages 4-11). Trialling a mixed method approach where open-text data are quanticised, a combination of content analysis and statistical analysis are used to ask a) what methodsare identified as ways of reflecting linguistic and cultural diversity? And b) is there a difference in the methods suggested by the pre-service teachers according to their own experience of learning languages and the institution they train at? The methods most commonly suggsted were likely to be isolated events and fit with existing structures (e.g. ”show and tell” time, multicultural days and guest speakers). Overall, substantial differences in pre-service teachers' pedagogic repertoires were found, highlighting the need to ensure practice, research and rhetoric supporting multilingualism reaches all.
s, 1 τόσο από εκπαιδευτικούς δημοτικής εκπαίδευσης, όσο και από μαθητές που έχουν την ελληνική ως επιπρόσθετη γλώσσα (ΕΕΓ) εντός και εκτός της σχολικής τάξης. Η γλωσσική χρήση των μαθητών ΕΕΓ και των εκπαιδευτικών μελετήθηκε σε περιστάσεις που εξυπηρετούσε σκοπούς επικοινωνίας ή/και σκοπούς κοινωνικοποίησής τους. Για τη συλλογή δεδομένων χρησιμοποιήθηκαν ποιοτικές μέθοδοι σε δημόσια δημοτικά σχολεία της ελεύθερης Κύπρου. 2 Συγκεκριμένα, πραγματοποιήθηκαν παρακολουθήσεις μαθημάτων της ελληνικής γλώσσας, συνεντεύξεις καθώς και παρακολουθήσεις στην αυλή του σχολείου κατά τη διάρκεια διαλειμμάτων. Τα αποτελέσματα που προέκυψαν δείχνουν μια ποικιλότροπη χρήση διαφόρων γλωσσικών ποικιλιών. Αυτή η γλωσσική χρήση εάν αξιοποιηθεί κατάλληλα και συστηματικά στο αναλυτικό πρόγραμμα, μπορεί να διευκολύνει την ομαλή ένταξη μαθητών ΕΕΓ στα κυπριακά δημοτικά σχολεία. 1 1.. Εισαγωγικά Τα Ελληνικά και τα Τούρκικα είναι οι επίσημες γλώσσες του νησιού από το 1960, όταν η Κύπρος ανακηρύχθηκε ανεξάρτητο κράτος (Karyolemou 2002). Οι δύο αυτές γλωσσικές ποικιλίες 3 χρησιμοποιούνται από δύο διαφορετικές κοινότητες, την Ελληνοκυπριακή και την Τουρκοκυπριακή. Σπάνιες είναι οι περιπτώσεις Ελληνοκυπρίων (περισσότερες οι περιπτώσεις Τουρκοκυπρίων) που γνωρίζουν τη γλωσσική ποικιλία της «άλλης» κοινότητας, λόγω διάφορων πολιτικών συγκρούσεων μεταξύ των δύο κοινοτήτων 1 Εννοώντας τη χρήση είτε της Κοινής Νεοελληνικής, Κυπριακής Ελληνικής, μητρικής γλώσσας μαθητών ΕΕΓ και Αγγλικής. 2 Εννοώντας το διεθνώς αναγνωρισμένο κράτος της Κυπριακής Δημοκρατίας. 3 Η γλωσσική ποικιλία αναφέρεται σε ένα σύνολο «γλωσσικών στοιχείων» που μπορούμε να συνδέσουμε με ένα εξωτερικό παράγοντα όπως η γεωγραφική περιοχή στην οποία παρατηρούνται ή η κοινωνική ομάδα στην οποία χρησιμοποιούνται (Hudson 1996, as cited in Wardhaugh 2006). Επομένως ο όρος «γλωσσική ποικιλία» χρησιμοποιείται για να περιγράψουμε κάτι πιο ευρύ από μια γλώσσα ή ακόμη και κάτι πιο συγκεκριμένο όπως μια διάλεκτος. Παρά τη δυσκολία που υπάρχει στο να καθοριστούν αυτά τα «γλωσσικά στοιχεία» ο όρος «γλωσσική ποικιλία» δεν είναι τόσο ασαφής και συνδεδεμένη με ιδεολογικό φορτίο όπως συνηθίζεται με τους όρους «γλώσσα» και «διάλεκτος». (Wardhaugh 2006) 7 7
This chapter presents some of the complex issues relating to the teaching/ learning of (emergent) pluringual children within the context of formal education. In addition to defining key concepts, the chapter exemplifies research findings by giving voice to the learner through the inclusion of short extracts from a personal testimony in which early education experiences in relation to plurilingualism are discussed. When the language(s), cultural codes and expectations at school differ from those at home, both teachers and learners can feel destabilized. Inadequate teacher education about plurilingualism leaves a void all too easily filled with misguided and unhelpful practiced language policies, fuelled by ideologies rather than research. This chapter discusses the consequences of language (de)legitimization, focusing on the complex dynamics and interplay of language, power and relationships. It examines how schools and their staff acknowledge and build on or ignore and impede plurilingual children’s knowledge and skills development.
Childhood multilingualism has become a norm rather than an exception. This is the first handbook to survey state-of-the-art research on the uniqueness of early multilingual development in children growing up with more than two languages in contact. It provides in-depth accounts of the complexity and dynamics of early multilingualism by internationally renowned scholars who have researched typologically different languages in different continents. Chapters are divided into six thematic areas, following the trajectory, environment and conditions underlying the incipient and early stages of multilingual children's language development. The many facets of childhood multilingualism are approached from a range of perspectives, showcasing not only the challenges of multilingual education and child-rearing but also the richness in linguistic and cognitive development of these children from infancy to early schooling. It is essential reading for anyone interested in deepening their understanding of the multiple aspects of multilingualism, seen through the unique prism of children.
As multicultural classrooms appear to be the norm nowadays, giving rise to new, more particular and targeted needs which must be accommodated, teachers now need to reflect on and adjust the strategies and practices they apply in order to meet the specific learning needs of their intercultural classrooms. For this reason, teachers’ education should be re-examined, evaluated, and enriched. In this light, this original study uses a case study to explores the language views and attitudes of graduates of a Hellenic Open University Master’s international programme entitled “Language Education for Refugees and Migrants” (L.R.M.). The aim is to explore teachers’ level of intercultural competence and readiness as well as their global competences as future teachers in multilingual and multicultural settings after completing the programme. To do this, the study attempts to evaluate the programme through the lens of the personal experiences of the graduates in terms of successes, weaknesses, and strengths. To conduct the research, both quantitative and qualitative methods were applied in the form of a close-ended questionnaire and a semi-structured interview conducted in two different formats. The results indicate that the majority of the participants were confident enough to manage the challenges arising in multicultural settings after completing the program, as they felt they had developed appropriate Skills, Knowledge, and Attitudes; however, a few among them still felt uncertain in doing this. In addition, a number of different approaches and methods were found to be appropriate as used for teachers’ training, while the importance of teachers’ intercultural training was highlighted.
We investigated the perceptions of teachers about challenges and opportunities associated with group characteristics in early childhood education (ECE) settings. We analyzed individual semi-structured interviews with 18 preschool teachers (Mage = 51.77, SD = 7.74), serving in Portuguese public ECE settings, using thematic analysis. According to teachers' accounts, groups with children with disabilities, mixed-age groups and groups with a higher number of younger children, socioeconomic disadvantaged groups, groups with children who speak a language other than Portuguese, and groups with more boys than girls, can be particularly challenging; larger groups and a lower adult-child ratio can also present increased challenges. Teachers noted the impact of teachers' age on their ability to manage groups perceived as more challenging. Teachers’ accounts further indicated that increased challenges can result from an interaction between microsystemic variables. Findings support the relevance of considering multiple structure characteristics and the interactions among them when investigating variations in ECE quality.
Dyslexia has been described as one of the most intriguing and prominent issues in the field of education research. Nevertheless, many remaining issues need to be explored, such as the relationship between dyslexia and foreign language learning. In Greek primary school, English is recommended as the main foreign language in the curriculum, allowing
the option between French or German as the second foreign language.
Both English and French are considered as opaque languages with no clear correlation between phoneme – grapheme thus complicating the learning performance of dyslexic students. The goal of the present single case study was to create a methodology of dealing with learning difficulties, by examining the correlation between learning difficulties, intelligence, school learning and learning performance. We studied the strategies that are activated by the student in order to acquire new communication codes (new languages), through a series of activities in English and French.
In France, education policies concerning children’s home languages have recently changed, with the country’s highly centralized and monolingual national education system now promoting inclusive language policies, specifically at the pre-primary level (M.E.N. (Ministère de l’Education Nationale). 2016. Statégie langues vivantes . 22 janvier 2016. Paris). However, such prescribed practices run contrary to historically rooted monolingual ideologies and interpretations of the values of the République (Hélot, Christine. 2008. «Mais d’où est-ce qu’il sort ce bilinguisme?» La notion de bilinguisme dans l’espace scolaire français. In Gabriele Budach, Jürgen Erfurt & Melanie Kunkel (eds.), Écoles Plurilingues – Multilingual schools: Konzepte, Institutionen und Akteure. Internationale Perspecktiven , 55–80. Frankfurt: Peter Lang). Understanding the policies and ideologies influencing teachers’ agency to implement inclusive language policies via their own classroom practices is vital to developing effective teacher education programs. In this paper, we analyze data from our research into pre-primary and primary school teachers’ attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge about their pupils’ plurilingualism and its place in the classroom, with the aim of answering the following research questions: what are some of the reported practiced language policies in these classrooms, and on which underlying ideological foundations have they been constructed? In order to uncover the ideological challenges to implementing plurilingual education approaches and language-supportive pedagogies, semi-directed interviews with eight pre-primary and primary school teachers working in low-resource contexts (primarily low-income families) were conducted, transcribed and analyzed using the constant comparative method.
Ο συνεχώς αυξανόμενος αριθμός των προσφύγων μαθητών/τριών στις ελληνικές τάξεις καθιστά επιτακτική ανάγκη ένα ολοκληρωμένο σχέδιο δράσης για την εκπαίδευσή τους, με πρωταρχικό σκοπό τη δημιουργία ενός πολύγλωσσου περιβάλλοντος μάθησης, όπου οι γλώσσες των μαθητών/τριών εκτιμώνται και αναγνωρίζονται ως πηγή μάθησης (Cummins, 2001• Cook, 2001∙ Σκούρτου, 2002• Garcia, 2009). Στην παρούσα έρευνα συμμετείχαν μαθητές/τριες με προσφυγική εμπειρία με στόχο να εκφράσουν τις αντιλήψεις τους προς την πολυγλωσσία. Για τη συλλογή των δεδομένων, υιοθετήθηκε μια συμμετοχική μέθοδος έρευνας, ενσωματώνοντας τις ζωγραφιές των μαθητών/τριών και τις εστιασμένες ομάδες συζήτησης. Η ανάλυση των δεδομένων ανέδειξε ότι οι μαθητές/τριες εκφράζουν θετικές στάσεις απέναντι στην πολυγλωσσία, θεωρώντας την μέσο επικοινωνίας, εκπαιδευτικό εφόδιο και επαγγελματικό προσόν.
The following paper introduces research studies and publications that could broaden English language teachers and scholars’ understanding about policies for the teaching of English, targeted at public primary schools in various countries of the world. This article also explains how these policies have been addressed in these institutions depending on their needs, the contexts, and the perspectives of teachers, administrators, and stakeholders.
Το βιβλίο «Μια εισαγωγή στην Πολυγλωσσία» εξετάζει πολλές από τις πτυχές που άπτονται του πολυδιάστατου φαινομένου της πολυγλωσσίας και επιχειρείται μια επισκόπηση των σύγχρονων εξελίξεων στην έρευνά του. Ο αναγνώστης εξοικειώνεται με την ορολογία και τις πτυχές του πολύπλοκου φαινομένου της πολυγλωσσίας, τους ορισμούς που έχουν προταθεί γι’ αυτήν, καθώς και την προβληματική που έχει αναπτυχθεί αναφορικά με τους διάφορους τύπους πολυγλωσσίας, τα στοιχεία που επιτρέπουν τον χαρακτηρισμό ενός ομιλητή ως πολύγλωσσου, ενώ εξετάζεται και η τυπολογία των πολύγλωσσων ομιλητών.
Επιπλέον, διερευνώνται οι γραμματισμοί και γίνεται ιδιαίτερη αναφορά στον τρόπο και στις συνθήκες ανάπτυξής τους, παρουσιάζεται η έννοια του διγραμματισμού και πώς ο αναδυόμενος διγραμματισμός αναπτύσσεται στην προσχολική και σχολική ηλικία. Αναλύεται η έννοια της διαγλωσσικότητας και οι τρόποι που μπορεί να εφαρμοστεί και να βοηθήσει την διδασκαλία στην δίγλωσση εκπαίδευση, καθώς επίσης και η έννοια των πολυγραμματισμών παρουσιάζοντας τους τρόπους με τους οποίους αυτή μπορεί να περιγράψει αφενός την όλο και αυξανόμενη σημασία της πολυμορφίας σε επίπεδο γλωσσών και πολιτισμών και αφετέρου την έννοια του κριτικού γραμματισμού.
Γίνεται παρουσίαση επίσης των ιδιαίτερων χαρακτηριστικών που συνθέτουν την προσωπικότητα των πολύγλωσσων, με ιδιαίτερη έμφαση στον δυναμικό, μη γραμμικό και πολυεπίπεδο χαρακτήρα του φαινομένου της πολυγλωσσίας για το άτομο, τις ομάδες και τις κοινωνίες.
Τέλος, παρουσιάζεται ο τρόπος αλληλεπίδρασης των γλωσσών στους πολύγλωσσους και εξετάζονται τα βασικά χαρακτηριστικά του γλωσσικού προϊόντος ενός πολύγλωσσου ομιλητή, όπως τα φαινόμενα της παρεμβολής και η εναλλαγή και μείξη κωδίκων ενώ ειδική αναφορά γίνεται στους παράγοντες που επηρεάζουν την διαγλωσσική επίδραση.
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Arnetha Ball is Assistant Professor of Education at the University of Michigan. Her research focuses on an interdisciplinary investigation of oral and written literacy, particularly as they relate to culturally and linguistically diverse populations. Ted Lardner is Associate Professor of English at Cleveland State University where he teaches composition theory along with courses in writing and creative writing. A shared interest in the social, pedagogical, and expressive dimensions of language diversity fueled their collaboration on this essay.
794 elementary and secondary teachers filled out a questionnaire probing attitudes toward bilingual education. While support for the principles underlying bilingual education was strong, support for actual participation by students in bilingual programs was not as strong. Those with more supplementary training in ESL and bilingual education were more supportive of bilingual education.
This article presents a qualitative case study of a sevenyear-old Mexican American student and his family. Using Critical Discourse Analysis, we examine both the child’s emergent ideas about language, as expressed in bilingual literature discussions, and his parents’ ideological discourses about the use of a minority language in public schools. Vygotsky’s theory of learning oriented this research on language ideologies, focusing on how parents’ ideological discourses shape both literacy development and identity formation in early childhood. Our findings illustrate the importance of looking beyond the classroom and school contexts to identify diverse factors that may affect children’s development of biliteracy in early childhood, such as the role of language ideologies. This study demonstrates the complex relationships between literacy, language ideologies, and issues of identity within the broader contexts of controversies over bilingual education and official English laws in the USA.
This paper investigates how bilingualism is understood and practiced by adults and students in a dual-language elementary school. In this dual-language program, native English speakers and native Spanish speakers receive language and content instruction in both languages in linguistically integrated settings. I examine the participants' use of “tactics of intersubjectivity” to understand how children use their two languages to ally themselves with and distance themselves from particular people, groups, and linguistic varieties. I ultimately argue that, while the program model is fundamentally based on the idea of the separation of languages and “parallel monolingualism”, it does offer students opportunities to explore linguistic forms and their attendant social meanings.
This qualitative study aims to explore the loss and maintenance of Spanish in Hispanic children in Vancouver from the perspective of parents. It focuses on the experiences of Hispanic parents of children either developing bilingually (Spanish-English) or monolingually (English). The primary method of data collection is the semi-structured interview. Data collected in this study support the notion that first language (L1) cultural identity is crucial to heritage language maintenance in the context of a dominant second language (L2). However, the data contradict previous findings that a narrow linguistic community and the input of one parent are not sufficient for L1 maintenance. The bilingual (i.e., L1 maintenance) children in the present study had L1 input from only one parent and limited L1 contacts outside the home. The data also show that the type of encouragement parents give to their children to speak the L1 can have a facilitating or a detrimental effect. Therefore, this article urges parents committed to L1 maintenance to promote a positive attitude in their children and to address their affective needs accordingly.
The results of studies analyzing teachers' opinions about the theoretical and practical aspects of the use of native language instruction for language minority students appear to reflect a clear discrepancy: There is strong support for the underlying theory, while there is less support for its practical implementation. The present study analyzed 218 K–8 teachers' responses to a questionnaire dealing with the aforementioned issue. In addition, the study also examined which factors influenced their opinions, and whether their opinions varied across different grades (K–2nd, 3rd–4th, 5th–8th). Consistent with previous research, support for the theoretical principles underlying the use of the students' native language was strong. Support for its practical implementation was less positive. No clear predictors of attitudes toward the issue being investigated were found. Alongside, no significant variations in opinions were found among the groups in which the teachers were clustered (K–2, 3–4, 5–8). The results of the present study appear to indicate that teachers were guided by their own beliefs at the time of answering the survey. The need for more research in this area is underscored, as is the need to incorporate and take into consideration teachers' personal opinions, feedback, and input at the time of designing teacher preparation programs.
The life chances of students are determined by their ability to interact critically with the discourses around them, while still avoiding the temptation to be seduced by the disempowering messages those discourses often contain. The discourse surrounding children teaches them who they are, what their place is in the world and what they need to do to become autonomous and valuable citizens. Language, critically acquired, is potentially empowering for people as they constantly build on previous encounters with the words in their unique search for meaning and value.
While bilingual education programmes in European mainstream languages are becom-ing increasingly popular in France, the bilingualism of migrant children remains over-looked and is believed by many to delay the acquisition of French. An institutionalised language hierarchy lies all too often unchallenged within the French education system and linguistic policies for primary schools, while trying to develop foreign language learning from the earliest age, fail to deal with the question of minority languages. This study presents a language awareness project in a small primary school in the Mulhouse area of Alsace as an example of how languages of unequal status can be placed on an equal footing in a school context, how children can be educated to linguistic and cultural variety and teachers made aware of the linguistic and cultural wealth present in their classes and their community. Finally, we shall argue that language awareness programmes do not have to compete with early foreign language teaching, but can be implemented in a complementary way, to educate children about language, languages and cultures, thus valuing differences as a source of learning, helping to foster toler-ance and fight racism and extending teachers' knowledge and understanding of multi-lingual and multicultural issues.
This paper presents the results of a research project involving bilingual children in selected primary schools in Volos, Greece, focusing mainly on the findings that have led to the proposal of two class activities, with the aim of promoting 'bilingual awareness' in primary schools. The activities are the creation of 'The bilingual portrait' and the use of the children's book titled My first book on bilingualism , which was produced in order to help teachers in their efforts to raise awareness in relation to bilingualism in their multilingual classes. The research project in question took place during the school year 2002 Á /2003, while co-operation with some of the teachers involved still continues, as the implementation of the research findings necessitates on-going efforts to turn theoretical issues on bilingualism into specific classroom activities. Both 'The bilingual portrait' and My first book on bilingualism , initiatives and practices suitable for first and second grade primary school children, provide an opportunity for teachers, children and parents alike to realise some of the important benefits of our multilingual Greek reality, both in and outside the school environment.
This paper reports research designed to highlight how three groups of teachers make sense of linguistic, ethnic and cultural diversity in the classroom. The collecting of the data concentrated on the way in which the participants in the study worked together to construct socially negotiated meanings of linguistic diversity within the context of language learning, principally in the EFL (English as a Foreign Language) classroom. A key assumption of the analysis is that the speakers within a conversation 'construct' or 'assemble' categories which are based on a background of 'common knowledge', and that the assem-bly of categories are not descriptions of truth; rather they are the speakers' constructed versions of how they make sense of the world. The research indi-cated that the participants in this study consistently assembled the category of 'diversity' with features such as 'problematic', 'difficult', 'hard'; thus implying that there was a common understanding of this type of classroom. However, the analysis indicates that, despite an overall similarity among the groups' categorisations concerning linguistic diversity, the preservice teachers were more likely to re-negotiate their initial categories towards more positive understandings of linguistic diversity. Details of the approach, examples of the analysis and a discussion of the research findings are provided.
1. Introduction: Language Ideology as a Field of Inquiry 2. Ideologies of Honorific Language 3. "Today there is no respect": Nostalgia, "respect," and oppositional discourse in Mexicano (Nahuatl) language ideology 4. Anger, gender language shift and the politics of Revelation in Papua New Guinean Village 5. Arizona Tewa Kiva speech as a manifestation of a dominant language ideology 6. The uses and utility of ideology: Some reflections 7. Linguistic ideology and praxis in US las school classrooms 8. Mediating unity and diversity: the production of language ideologies in Zambian broadcasting 9. The role of language in European nationalist ideologies 10. Language ideologies in institutions of power: A commentary 11. "You're a Liar-you're just like a woman!": Constructing dominant ideologies of language in Warao men's gossip 12. Our ideologies and theirs 13. Indonesian('s) development: On the state of a language of state 14. The "real" Haitian creole Ideology, metalinguistics, and orthographic choice 15. Multiplicity and contention among language ideologies: A Comment
TESOL practice in the schooling sector in England has implicitly assumed that ESL students are linguistic and social outsiders and that there is a neat one-to-one correspondence between ethnicity and language. This perspective has tended to conceptualise L2 learners as a linguistically diverse group (from non-English-speaking backgrounds) but with similar language learning needs. However, demographic and social changes in the past 30 years have rendered such assumptions inadequate and misleading, particularly in multiethnic urban areas. In this article we seek to (a) offer an alternative account of the classroom realities in contemporary multilingual schools where the linguistic profiles and language learning needs of ESL students are not easily understood in terms of fixed concepts of ethnicity and language; (b) draw on recent developments in cultural theory to clarify the shifting and changing relationship among ethnicity, social identity, and language use in the context of postcolonial diaspora; and (c) question the pedagogical relevance of the notion of native speaker and propose that instead TESOL professionals should be concerned with questions about language expertise, language inheritance, and language affiliation.
This article reviews basic issues of theory and method in qualitative research approaches to applied linguistics research. As pointed out by Lazaraton (this issue), a great deal of debate, misunderstanding, and confusion currently surrounds the use of qualitative research methods in the applied linguistics field. Much of this controversy appears to center around three interrelated issues: research traditions, definitions of research, and qualitative research theory and methods. In this article I examine these issues with a view toward dispelling some of the confusion and illuminating the ways in which qualitative research can contribute to our understanding of language acquisition and use.
Basic orientations toward language and its role in society influence the nature of language planning efforts in any particular context. Three such orientations are proposed in this paper language-as-problem, language-as-right, and language-as-resource. The first two currently compete for predominance in the international literature. While problem-solving has been the main activity of language planners from early on (language planning being an early and important aspect of social planning in ‘development’ contexts), rights-affirmation has gained in importance with the renewed emphasis on the protection of minority groups. The third orientation has received much less attention; it is proposed as vital to the interest of language planning in the United States.
Bilingual education is considered in the framework of these orientations. Many of the problems of bilingual education programs in the United States arise because of the hostility and divisiveness inherent in the problem- and rights-orientations which generally underlie them. The development and elaboration of a language-resource orientation is seen as important for the integration of bilingual education into a responsible language policy for the United States.
The field of language planning and policy (LPP) provides a rich array of research opportunities for applied linguists and social scientists. However, as a multidisciplinary field that seeks to understand, among other things, why some languages thrive whereas others are marginalized, LPP may appear quite theoretical and far removed from the lives of many English language teaching (ELT) practitioners. This is unfortunate, because ELT professionals—be they teachers, program developers, materials and textbook writers, administrators, consultants, or academics—are involved in one way or another in the processes of LPP. The purpose of this article is to unravel those processes and the role of ELT professionals in them for both theoretical and practical reasons: theoretical, because we believe there are principled ways to account for why particular events affect the status and vibrancy of languages and speech communities, and practical, because we believe there are ways to influence the outcome of social processes. In general, we find that the principle of linguistic self-determinism-the right to choose (within limits) what languages one will use and be educated in—is not only viable but desirable for LPP decision making because it both promotes social equity and fosters diversity. In this article, we examine how ELT professionals are already actively engaged in deciding language policies, how they promote policies reaffirming or opposing hierarchies of power that reflect entrenched historical and institutional beliefs (see Phillipson & Skutnabb-Kangas, this issue), and how they might affect changes in their local contexts.
This article presents a case study of an elementary school situated within a prestigious school district that has undergone rapid demographic change in recent years. The authors explore how the school has accommodated growing numbers of linguistically and culturally diverse students while at the same time struggling to maintain district standards. In order to further our understanding of the process of subtractive schooling, a critique of an Englishimmersion program deemed “successful” is provided by examining the discourses that define what success means in an inclusive setting. The authors theorize the concept of hegemonic multiculturalism to explain the transitional nature of a school culture defined by dissonance between the ideology of multiculturalism and the school's pervasive assimilation agenda. Within this transitional space, success is defined quite narrowly in terms of immigrant students' level of assimilation, fluency in English, and performance on standardized tests. Although the school community claims to value bilingualism and student diversity, instructional practices inadvertently devalue these qualities in the name of equality for all.
This paper examines teachers' attitudes towards their students' heritage language maintenance and their engagement in classroom practices that may or may not affirm the value of maintaining and developing heritage languages among students. Through surveys and interviews with K–12 teachers in California public schools, the data show that the nature of teacher training and personal experience with languages other than English significantly affect teacher attitudes toward heritage language maintenance and bilingualism. Teachers who did not receive training as language educators expressed negative or indifferent attitudes toward heritage language maintenance and did not see a role for themselves and schools in heritage language maintenance efforts. This study highlights the need for all educators to better understand the critical role and functions of heritage languages in the personal, academic, and social trajectories of linguistic minority students.
The central thesis of this paper is that a cognitively and academically beneficial form of bilingualism can be achieved only on the basis of adequately developed first language (L1) skills. Two hypotheses are formulated and combined to arrive at this position. The “developmental interdependence” hypothesis proposes that the development of competence in a second language (L2) is partially a function of the type of competence already developed in L1 at the time when intensive exposure to L2 begins. The “threshold” hypothesis proposes that there may be threshold levels of linguistic competence which a bilingual child must attain both in order to avoid cognitive disadvantages and allow the potentially beneficial aspects of bilingualism to influence his cognitive and academic functioning. These hypotheses are integrated into a model of bilingual education in which educational outcomes are explained as a function of the interaction between background, child input and educational treatment factors. It is suggested that many evaluations of bilingual education programs have produced uninterpretable data because they have failed to incorporate the possibility of these interactions into their research designs.
This paper looks at the ways US English-language policies at the micro and macro levels have influenced the development of Khmer biliteracy for children and adults. It shows the power of teacher policymaking and the role of the legal system in shaping what is possible in multilingual classrooms in the United States. By focusing on ESL teachers in four multilingual classrooms, the analysis shows that it is not just that legal decisions have shaped the realities of schools, but that the discourse of the legal system has become part of students' and teachers' perspectives on what is possible in the classroom and, further, reifies and legitimises commonplace assumptions about assimilation, subtractive bilingualism, and the relative value of some languages over others. Even so, the analysis of four teachers and four classrooms show the ways that teacher policies can contest these assumptions and provide support for Khmer language and culture in the classroom. The paper ends with a call for educators to engage not only in micro-level policymaking as teachers but also more in macro-level policymaking as voting and engaged citizens in order to create emancipatory multilingual classroom ecologies that support linguistic diversity.
Embracing a critical race theory perspective, the researcher argues for a revisiting of the role of the hidden curriculum in education, particularly as it pertains to multicultural education. Using the concept of hegemony as a tool for analysis, the author explicates the ways in which the hidden curriculum enables educational institutions to argue in support of multicultural initiatives while simultaneously suppressing multicultural education's transformative possibilities. Through its failure to appreciate the challenges posed by the hidden curriculum, multicultural education gets appropriated as a "hegemonic device" that secures a continued position of power and leadership for the dominant groups in society. The author calls on those who conduct research on multicultural education to turn their attention to the ways in which the hidden curriculum keeps multicultural education stagnant.
This textbook, edited by Jane RITCHIE and Jane LEWIS, is meant for both students and researchers, but be- cause it primarily presents basic knowledge it is more sui- table for students. It is intended to lead practitioners through the process of qualitative research, i.e. from the design of a study, conducting of in-depth interviews and analysis of da- ta to the presentation of results. The authors impart in a pro- fessional way both broad theoretical knowledge and practi- ce-oriented information. They do not provide the reader with an overview of qualitative methods, but focus on in- depth interviews and so-called focus groups.
The proposed theoretical framework emphasizes the interaction between sociocultural, linguistic, and school program factors in explaining the academic and cognitive development of bilingual children. It is theorized that bilingualism that is cognitively and academically beneficial can be achieved only on the basis of adequately developed first language (L1) skills. This position is based on two hypotheses. The "developmental interdependence" hypothesis proposes that the development of competence in a second language (L2) is partially a function of the type of competence already developed in L1 at the time when intensive exposure to L2 begins. The "threshold" hypothesis proposes that there may be threshold levels of linguistic competence that bilingual children must attain both in order to avoid cognitive disadvantages and to allow the potentially beneficial aspects of bilingualism to influence their cognitive and academic functioning. This model of bilingual education explains educational outcomes as a function of the interaction between background, child input, and educational treatment factors. Attention is also directed to problems with bilingual education program evaluations that fail to consider these potential interactions. A review of relevant literature and studies is included. (Author/SW)
In a question-and-answer format, the guide responds to common queries about bilingualism in children. The first section poses and answers questions about family issues and bilingualism, including family communication, support of language development, cultural and social context for language development, social integration, and parent language learning. The second section focuses on more specific language development issues such as language dominance and fluency, intelligence and achievement, multilingualism, variability related to age and gender, language attitudes, code-switching and translation, educational strategies, and employment prospects for bilinguals. Concerns about problems and disadvantages of bilingualism are addressed in the third section, including language mixing, behavioral and developmental problems, prejudice, and language choice. Section 4 is devoted to questions about reading and writing instruction and support for literacy development. A wide variety of education-related questions are answered in the fifth section. These concern basic education issues, bilingual education, academic achievement and underachievement, and language use in the classroom. The concluding section contains miscellaneous questions and answers. A glossary and index are included. (MSE)
Similarities among ethnolinguistic groups are greater than differences. It is the belief in the influence of culture and language on basic structures of thought and personality that divides groups, not the structures themselves. However, linguistic differences among ethnic groups are real. The linguistic distinctiveness of a particular ethnic group is a basic component of its members' personal identity; thus, ethnicity and language become associated in the thinking of those inside and outside the group. Three questions based on these assumptions are currently being studied: (1) Do beliefs about a particular ethnolinguistic group affect the efficiency of learning that group's language? (2) Is there any basis to the belief that in becoming bilingual or bicultural cognitive powers are dulled and identities are diluted? (3) Should minority groups try to maintain their ethnolinguistic identities and heritage in the North American setting? Research on English-Canadians learning French demonstrated that attitudes held toward the French strongly influenced the learning of the language. As for bilingualism, French-Canadian bilingual students tested higher than carefully matched monolinguals on both verbal and nonverbal measures of intelligence. Also, testing of adolescent boys of mixed French-English parentage demonstrated that there is no basis for the belief that biculturalism produces a loss of identity. Finally, results of work with French-Canadians, and French-Americans in Maine, substantiate the need for the maintenance of minority ethnolinguistic identities. (LG)
Why Do Ethnographies of Bilingualism?What Reality? Whose Reality?Bilingualism, Ideology, Difference, and PowerWhat Might an Ethnography of Bilingualism Look Like?Bilingualism and SchoolFollowing Up
Language Ideologies: Practice and Theory. Bambi B. Schieffelin. Kathryn A. Woolard. and Paul Kroskrit. eds. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. xiii. 338 pp., illustrations, references, index.
This paper concerns current transformations in the relationship between political and linguistic ideologies of la francophonie based on a sociolinguistic ethnographic study in a French-language minority school in Canada. A dominant modernist orientation, focussing on unilingual social spaces and the authenticity and integrity of French, is being confronted by an emerging globalizing orientation which emphasizes the value of French as an economic resource, or commodity, and which values both pluralism and a common language. The result is a crisis of legitimacy for francophone institutions, struggles for voice among old and new elites, and the marginalization of the working class speakers of the ‘authentic’ vernacular.
In societies like the United States with diverse populations, children from linguistic minority families must learn the language of the society in order to take full advantage of the educational opportunities offered by the society. The timing and the conditions under which they come into contact with English, however, can profoundly affect the retention and continued use of their primary languages as well as the development of their second language. This article discusses evidence and findings from a nationwide study of language shift among language-minority children in the U.S. The findings suggest that the loss of a primary language, particularly when it is the only language spoken by parents, can be very costly to the children, their families, and to society as a whole. Immigrant and American Indian families were surveyed to determine the extent to which family language patterns were affected by their children's early learning of English in preschool programs. Families whose children had attended preschool programs conducted exclusively in Spanish served as a base of comparison for the families whose children attended English-only or bilingual preschools.