(PDF) Roots & routes in language education: Bi-multi-plurilingualism, interculturality and identity Selected papers from the 38th FAAPI Conference

Fecha de catalogación: 10/07/2013

1° Edición: Septiembre de 2013.

Diseño: Sebastián Kladniew

Renart, Laura

Roots & routes in language education: Bi-multi-plurilingualism,

interculturality and identity.Selected papers from the 38th FAAPI Conference /

Laura Renart y Darío Luis Banegas. - 1a ed. - Buenos Aires: Asociación de

Profesores de Inglés de Buenos Aires - A.P.I.B.A., 2013.

E-Book.

ISBN 978-987-20307-0-4

1. Capacitación Docente. 2. Enseñanza de Inglés. I. Banegas, Darío Luis II.

Título

CDD 420.711

Roots & routes in language education:

Bi-multi-plurilingualism, interculturality

and identity

Selected papers from the 38th FAAPI

Conference

Edited by

Laura Renart

Asociación de Profesores de Inglés de Buenos Aires (APIBA),

FAAPI 2013 Organising Association

Darío Luis Banegas

Asociación de Profesores de Inglés de Zona Andina y Línea Sur (APIZALS)

Contents

Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................... ii

From the editors ................................................................................................................................... iii

From FAAPI President ......................................................................................................................... vi

38th FAAPI Conference ....................................................................................................................... ix

1 Lessons from research on immersion programmes in Canada ........................................................... 1

Fred Genesee

2 The landscape of English language teaching: Roots, routes and ramifications ................................. 17

Cristina Banfi

3 Communicating across cultures: encounters in the contact zone ...................................................... 35

Claudia Mónica Ferradas

4 Narrative inquiry within Argentinean EFLTE: Crafting professional identities and knowledge

through students‘ narratives ................................................................................................................ 44

María Cristina Sarasa

5 Designing intercultural and bilingual e-material for primary and secondary schools ........................ 56

Silvana Barboni and Liliana Simón

6 Border pedagogy: Towards re-routing roots in intercultural education ............................................ 73

Florencia Verónica Perduca

7 Pensamiento crítico, reflexión, conciencia cultural crítica: características de la interculturalidad en la

lectura en lengua extranjera ................................................................................................................. 86

Melina Porto

8 Cultural bonding in the 21st-century language classroom ................................................................ 98

GabrielaN.Tavella and S. Carina Fernández

9 Interweaving critical reading of media texts and culture in a first year teacher training college ...... 109

Claudia Naom and Leandro Carreño

10 Meet the words: a philological and socio-cultural approach to discourse analysis at teacher training

college .............................................................................................................................................. 124

Florencia I. Viale

11 Future teachers: Identities, trajectories and projections ............................................................... 136

Flavia S. Bonadeo and Maria Susana Ibáñez

12 Cultural awareness and language enhancement through microblogging ....................................... 147

Paola Lorena Barboza and Ana Cecilia Cad

13 Digital identity and teacher´s role in the 21st century classroom ................................................. 158

Nora Lizenberg

14 ¿Se puede hablar de oportunidades de aprendizajes intraculturales? ........................................... 171

María E. Lizárraga

15 Reading and interacting with electronic texts: A multimodal process?......................................... 182

Yael Alejandra Hasbani

16 The future teacher of English in Argentina: The roles of the humanities, of research and of

collaboration in the new curricula...................................................................................................... 198

María Susana Ibáñez and Raquel Lothringer

17 Using Spanish in academic English language learning ................................................................ 210

Nancy C. González

18 The use of multimodal resources to explore a text‘s voices ......................................................... 223

Rosa Inés Cúneo and Natacha Carolina Sánchez Romera

19 Reflecting on identity and intercultural issues through literature ................................................. 236

María Ximena Maceri

20 Computer and Internet mediated narrative construction in EFL ................................................... 248

María Cecilia Chiappero, Agustín Massa, and Claudia Elizabeth Schander

Notes on contributors ........................................................................................................................ 262

About the editors............................................................................................................................... 267

ii

Acknowledgements

APIBA wishes to thank:

APIZALS for sharing their experience of editing the 37th FAAPI Conference Selected

Papers (2012) to support APIBA in producing the 38th FAAPI Conference Selected Papers

(2013).

The Members of the Academic Committee, all Members of various FAAPI Associations,

for their conscientious and invaluable work.

iii

From the editors

While Laura is working on these selected papers in Buenos Aires, Darío is in Esquel. Laura

knows that beyond her door, Spanish, Portuguese, English, Chinese, and many other

languages are there, interacting, living, inhabiting different settings and identities which

come to shape and be shaped by a constellation of voices. She knows that there are children

and teenagers learning some of these languages at school, at home, with the help of their

families and the internet. Darío knows that beyond his doors, Spanish, Welsh,

Mapudungun, English and others are being used to create and recreate the world. He knows

that there are children attending a mapudungun-español school in Lago Rosario, Chubut.

All these languages attest to our roots and routes in all directions and reveal who we are.

Bi-multi-plurilingualism, interculturality and identity in language education are

growing in different directions (Aronin & Singleton, 2008; Blackledge & Creese, 2010;

Hornberger & Link, 2012; Kramsch, 2009; Taylor & Snoddon, 2013) and may be seen, as

Weber and Horner (2012) discuss, in terms of languages or in terms of linguistic resources

and repertories (see Greer, 2010). An interest in bi-multi-plurilingualism, interculturality

and identity is not new in FAAPI conferences and Argentina. Ferradas (2003, 2006, 2009)

discusses the intercultural speaker, the concept of otherness, identity, and self by building

bridges with literature. Banfi and Rettaroli (2008) and Renart (2003) have also contributed

to this interest by examining bilingualism and bilingual education in Argentina.

The XXXVIII FAAPI Conference focused on such a fascinating topic of language

education and the 20 selected papers which constitute the body of this publication evidence

iv

the different branches we may find and explore. We may group the contributions under

three main categories: (1) reflective and theoretical discussions (Papers 2, 3, 6, 10, 13, 14,

16, and 19), (2) research-based reports (Papers 1, 4, 7, 11, and 12), and (3) classroom

accounts and materials (Papers, 5, 8, 9, 15, 16, 18, 20). It is also remarkable to see how

unifying areas of interest emerge from the authors: language teacher education (e.g. Papers

2, 7, 9, 10, 11, 16, 19, and 20), literature (e.g. Papers 3, 15, 15, and 19), and the use of

digital resources (e.g. Papers 12, 13, 15, 18, and 20). In terms of languages, it may be

interesting to note that two papers (7 and 14) are written in español and the rest in English.

Editing these contributions has been a powerful learning experience and a drive to

engage in critical examination of the literature, reflective practices, and research. The

presence of concepts such as border pedagogy (Paper 6), digital identity (Paper 13), digital

narratology (Paper 15), and aprendizajes intraculturales (Paper 14) has been eye openers to

new routes which may motivate us all to develop our curiosity further. Curiosity killed the

cat. Yet, curiosity may help teachers live professional lives more fully.

Laura and Darío

References

Aronin, L., & Singleton, D. (2008). Multilingualism as a new linguistic

dispensation.International Journal of Multilingualism, 5(1), 1 – 16.

Banfi, C., & Rettaroli, S. (2008). Staff profiles in minority and prestigious bilingual

education contexts in Argentina. In A. de Mejía & C. Hélot (Eds.), Bridging the gap

between prestigious bilingualism and the bilingualism of minorities (pp. 140 – 182).

Clevendon: Multilingual Matters.

Blackledge, A., & Creese, A. (2010). Multilingualism: A critical perspective. London:

Continuum.

v

Ferradas, C. (2003). Meeting the other, learning about ourselves: cultural awareness in the

language classroom. In Humanizing our practices: Minding the whole person. FAAPI

2003 Conference Proceedings (pp. 19 – 27). Salta/Córdoba: FAAPI/ASPI.

Ferradas, C. (2006). Diverse readings, plural responses.In N.L. Séculi & M.B. Lembo

(Eds.), XXXI FAAPI conference. Multiple literacies: Beyond the four skills. Conference

Proceedings (pp. 17 – 23). Rosario: APrIR.

Ferradas, C. (2009). Communicating identities: Finding a voice in English. In D. Fernández

(Coord.), XXXIV FAAPI Conference Proceedings. Teachers in action: Making the

latest trends work in the classroom (pp. 20 – 24). Bahía Blanca: FAAPI.

Greer, T. (2010). Identity in interculturality: Using (lack of) cultural knowledge to disalign

with an identity category. The Language Teacher, 34(3), 3 – 7.

Hornberger, N.H., & Link, H. (2012). Translanguaging and transnational literacies in

multilingual classrooms: A biliteracy lens. International Journal of Bilingual

Education and Bilingualism, 15(3), 261 – 278.

Kramsch.C. (2009). The multilingual subject. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Renart, L. (2003). Bilinguality and bilingualism in Argentina: A look at privileged

bilingualism. In Humanizing our practices: Minding the whole person. FAAPI 2003

Conference Proceedings (pp. 28 – 33). Salta/Córdoba: FAAPI/ASPI.

Taylor, S.K., & Snoddon, K. (2013). Plurilingualism in TESOL: Promising controversies.

TESOL Quarterly, 47(3), 439 – 445.

Weber, J., & Horner, K. (2012). Introducing multilingualism: A social approach.

Abingdon/New York: Routledge.

Disclaimer:

The editors made every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information contained in this

e-book. However, the editors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the

accuracy, completeness or suitability for any purpose of the contents and disclaim all such

representations and warranties whether expressed or implied to the maximum extent

permitted by law. Any views expressed in this publication are the views of the authors only.

vi

From FAAPI President

Siempre es motivo de satisfacción para FAAPI no sólo la realización de un nuevo

Congreso, sino también la publicación de una Selección de Artículos presentados para cada

oportunidad.

Este Congreso organizado por APIBA en Buenos Aires pone en blanco y negro tópicos

que están en la agenda de la enseñanza de las lenguas en los últimos años, cuyo abordaje es

más que oportuno realizar.

La enseñanza de las lenguas tiene facetas fascinantes. Esta tarea ha sido motivo de

interés no sólo de profesores, sino mucho de pedagogos, lingüistas y psicólogos. Este

desvelo por la enseñanza de las lenguas permite contar con una larga tradición que se

remonta al siglo XVI, desde el método de ―gramática-traducción‖ descripto por primera vez

por Valentin Meidinger (1756-1822), creador del método y con el fin de enseñar el francés.

A partir de entonces, han sobrevenido nuevos métodos y enfoques, y llegamos a este siglo

XXI con la globalización –con sus luces y sus sombras- la internacionalización que deviene

de la primera, y la irrupción de la tecnología, los medios sociales, paredes del aula que caen

para dar lugar allí aprendizaje ubicuo, donde la sacralización del libro se desdibuja para dar

lugar a nuevos modos de comunicación y aprendizaje.

Vivimos rodeados de sofisticados aparatos electrónicos -que habrían hasta intimidado a

nuestros ancestros- que facilitan ¿? la comunicación con ―los otros‖ que hasta pueden están

lejos. Pero debemos subirnos a la ola, y buscar familiarizarnos con nuevos términos que se

van acuñando: lectoespectador, internauta, interactividad, multitareas, multimodalidad,

vii

multimedialidad, hibridización, aprendizaje ubicuo; sin dejar de lado conceptos

sociolingüísticos como la otredad y el racismo.

En los años 1970s se empezó a manejar el concepto de competencia comunicativa; en

este milenio, ya hablamos del desarrollo de la competencia comunicativa intercultural, ya

que el cambio de centuria nos enfrenta cambios socio-históricos, y debemos estar

preparados para desaprender lo aprendidos y reaprender un nuevo rol como educadores.

Y esta re-adaptación pone a los profesores en la encrucijada de decidir o seguir las

directivas institucionales de que los celulares deben desaparecer del aula, o demostrar que

nos sirven para desarrollar las clases, usando Facebook o Twitter de manera significativa.

También irrumpen en el aula las redes sociales y las tablets, de tamaños diversos, con un

lector de libros, que puede ilustrar una clase de lengua o literatura.

Es un fenómeno que se da en todas las sociedades, y en términos de Clifford, se trata

de definir términos relativo a los viajes, en condiciones globales de cambio: las rutas

(routes) que se transitan, y las raíces (roots) que se poseen, que forjan la individualidad y la

historia de particulares mapas e historias, con conceptos como grupos minoritarios,

inmigrantes o etnicidad ligados a los caminos (roads) que recorren las personas. Es ver a los

inmigrantes como personas que luchan para aprender una lengua que les permita participar

en la vida social de la nueva comunidad, ya que su sentido de identidad está unido de

manera inextricable con la lengua materna.

En Argentina dada la conformación de la población, se dice que ―venimos de los

barcos‖, dicho que deja fuera a los grupos originarios. Entonces cuestiones de identidad, la

otredad, las lenguas en contacto, el bilingüismo, el plurilingüismo son una constante. En

viii

una vuelta de tuerca, asistimos a la revalorización de nuestra L1 en el aprendizaje,

impensada hace veinte años.

Sudhoff juega con las palabras wor(l)d, mundo-palabra, cuando señala que el

aprendiente interculturalmente competente es más consciente de las convenciones

culturales que subyacen al mundo/a las palabras con que se encuentra y usa, que a la

gramática y la forma. Es que justamente el reconocimiento de las similitudes y diferencias

culturales promueve claramente el internacionalismo, que es el vínculo entre grupos por

encima de las fronteras de los estados y naciones, al decir de Byram.

Es sobre estos temas tan convocantes que distintos colegas han decidido generosamente

compartir sus estudios, experticia y conclusiones con otros colegas.

Están invitados a leerlos, y a través de ellos, seguir abriendo puertas que dan al

conocimiento, el disfrute intelectual y el aprendizaje continuo. ¡FAAPI se regocija!

Prof. Cristina Emilia Mayol, M.A.

Presidente

ix

38th FAAPI Conference

FAAPI 2013 Organising Committee & APIBA Executive Committee

President: Analía Kandel

Vice-President: Corine Arguimbau

Secretary: Belén Tur

Treasurer: Cecilia Cicolini

Deputy Treasurer: Laura Karina López (Web & Social networks)

Members:

Laura Renart (Academic Team)

Mariángeles Portilla (Virtual Platform)

Valeria Kharsansky (Volunteers & Social Programme)

Laureana Moreno (Administration)

Collaborators: Mariela Enrici, Silvia Rettaroli, Luciana De Bartolis (Treasury); Darío

Banegas, Luciana De Bartolis (Academic Team); Liliana Simón & Jennifer Verschoor (Virtual

Platform e-moderators); Selected Papers E-book Co-editors: Darío Banegas & Laura Renart

FAAPI Executive Committee

President: Cristina Mayol (APIM Misiones)

Vice-President: Gabriela Tavella (APIZALS Zona Andina y Línea Sur)

Secretary: Emma del Valle Figueroa (APISE Santiago del Estero)

Treasurer: Marisel Girardi (ACPI Córdoba)

Members:

Perla Angélica Pereyra (AsCaPi Catamarca)

Ricardo Javier Palma (APIT Tucumán)

María del Rosario Baigorria (APISN San Nicolás)

Ana Isabel Agüero de Renner (APISE Santiago del Estero)

Accounts Committee:

Claudia Naom (APIBA Buenos Aires)

Silvia Pérez (APIT Tucumán)

x

Academic Committee:

Coordinators: Laura Renart (APIBA) and Darío Luis Banegas (APIZALS)

Mariel Amez (APrIR Rosario)

Alicia Artusi (APIBA Buenos Aires)

Darío Luis Banegas (APIZALS Zona Andina y Línea Sur)

Cristina Banfi (APIBA Buenos Aires)

Claudia Ferradas (APIBA Buenos Aires)

Emma Figueroa (APISE Santiago del Estero)

Silvia Iummato (APIBA Buenos Aires)

Mario López Barrios (ACPI Córdoba)

Claudia Naom (APIBA Buenos Aires)

Cristina Mayol (APIM Misiones)

Ricardo Javier Palma (APIT Tucumán)

Silvia Rettaroli (APIBA Buenos Aires)

Sandra Revale (APIBA Buenos Aires)

Gabriela Tavella (APIZALS Zona Andina y Línea Sur)

María Teresa Viñas Urquiza (APIBA Buenos Aires)

Elizabeth White (APIBA Buenos Aires)

Conference Coordination: Paula De Gennaro

Conference Organisation: Ana Finochetto

Conference Web: www.apiba.org.ar/faapi13

Federación Argentina de Asociaciones de Profesores de Inglés (FAAPI) and its Teacher

Associations

www.faapi.org.ar

info@faapi.org.ar

Asociación de Profesores de Inglés de Buenos Aires (APIBA)

www.apiba.org.ar

info@apiba.org.ar

Selected Papers

1

1 Lessons from research on immersion

programmes in Canada

Fred Genesee

McGill University

1. Introduction

Several popular forms of French immersion are available for English-speaking students in

Canada; they vary with respect to the grade when French-L2 is first used to teach academic

subjects and how much academic content instruction is provided through the L2. Academic

content refer here to subjects prescribed in the school curriculum whose primary focus is

not language –such as mathematics, science, and history. Immersion in languages other

than French exists in Canada; but, the focus in this review will be on French immersion. In

early total immersion, all school subjects in Kindergarten to Grade 2 are in French.

Instruction in English begins in Grade 3 and increases in each subsequent grade until about

50% of instruction is provided in French and 50% in English by the end of elementary

school (age 11). In early partial immersion, about 50% of instruction in each elementary

school grade is provided in each language, beginning in Kindergarten. In middle

immersion, use of the L2 for content instruction is delayed until grade 3, and in late

2

immersion the L2 is not used for content instruction until grade 7 (more detailed

descriptions of these programs are provided in Genesee, 2004, and in Paradis, Genesee, &

Crago, 2011). Students in middle and late immersion receive traditional French-L2

instruction in the grades preceding use of French for content instruction.

The following general goals are common to these programs:

 age/grade-appropriate levels of competence in speaking, listening, reading

and writing in the L1,

 advanced levels of functional proficiency in the L2, and

 grade-appropriate levels of achievement in prescribed academic subjects

(e.g., mathematics, science, history).

These general goals have motivated much of the research reviewed in this article. Student

learning outcomes have usually been evaluated by comparing the performance of

immersion students to that of students in the same grade in monolingual school programs

that use the L1 for all instruction or to their performance on standardized tests with norms.

In Genesee‘s research, immersion and non-immersion students were selected to be

comparable with respect to socio-economic status and academic ability so that these factors

would not influence test performance in favor of one group.

The following review is organized with respect to L1 outcomes, achievement in non-

language content subjects, and L2 outcomes. Findings within each of these sections are

organized according to important questions which are often asked about each of these

topics. Most research has evaluated the learning outcomes of students in general. However,

many educators, parents, and policy-makers have questioned the suitability of immersion

education for students who might be at risk for academic difficulty in school. This issue is

3

addressed in a section on the Suitability of Immersion Education for All Students. This is

followed by a brief section on Pedagogical Issues.

2. Student outcomes

2.1. First language outcomes

2.1.1. Do immersion students acquire the same competence in English-L1 as students in

monolingual programs?

Evaluations of immersion students‘ L1 skills have consistently shown that, in the long run,

there is no significant difference between their skills and those of students in monolingual

English programs (Genesee, 2004; Lambert & Tucker, 1972; Swain & Lapkin, 1982). In the

case of evaluations of early total immersion, it has been found that immersion students often

score significantly lower than non-immersion students during the primary grades, when all

instruction is in French, on tests of reading and writing in English; they demonstrate no such

lags in speaking and listening comprehension. These lags disappear within one year of

receiving instruction in English. The rapid catch-up in reading and writing in English that

early total immersion students experience is often attributed to the transfer of reading and

writing skills in French to English and the fact that they have extensive exposure to English

outside school. The same pattern of results has been found in immersion-type programs for

majority language students in other countries – for example, in Japanese-English immersion

programs in Japan (Bostwick, 2001), Russian-Estonian immersion programs in Estonia

(Mehisto & Asser, 2007), and Spanish-English bilingual programs in the U.S. (Lindholm-

Leary, 2001).

4

2.1.2. Is more and early instruction in English advantageous?

Evaluations of alternative forms of immersion have indicated that students acquire the same

levels of L1 competence as non-immersion students regardless of when instruction in English

begins (early vs. delayed or late) and regardless of how much instruction they receive in

English (50% in the beginning or none) (Genesee, 1981). To the contrary, there is evidence

that, in some cases, the English language skills of immersion students are superior to those of

students in monolingual non-immersion programs despite reduced exposure (Lambert,

Genesee, Holobow, & Chartrand, 1993). The home language advantage demonstrated by

some immersion students has been attributed to their extended exposure to French in school

which, in turn, is thought to have additive effects on their English language development.

2.1.3. Does linguistic similarity matter?

Immersion-type programs have been implemented in a variety of languages in communities

around the world, including languages that are typologically different; for example,

Mohawk-English (Jacobs & Cross, 2001), Hawaiian-English (Slaughter, 1997), Japanese-

English (Bostwick, 2001), Hebrew-French-English (Genesee & Lambert, 1983), Chinese-

English (Johnson, 1997), Estonian-Russian (Mehisto & Asser, 2007), and Swedish-Finnish

(Björklund, 1998). Some of these language combinations also entail different orthographies

(e.g., Japanese-English and Chinese-English). There is no evidence from evaluations of

these programs that typological differences, with or without orthographic differences,

influence student outcomes significantly.

5

2.2. Academic outcomes

2.2.1. Do immersion students attain the same levels of academic achievement as non-

immersion students?

Evaluations of immersion students‘ achievement in their non-language school subjects

indicate that they achieve the same levels of competence as comparable students in

monolingual English language programs -- in mathematics, science, history, and other

subjects. Parity with non-immersion students is often exhibited even in early total

immersion programs when students receive all academic instruction through their L2,

provided the assessment is conducted in the L2 and modifications are made to take into

account that full competence in the L2 has not been acquired. Parity with students in

monolingual programs has been found even in the case of secondary school students who

were studying advanced level mathematics, science, physics, and other school subjects in

French (Genesee, 2004).

2.2.2. Is the academic achievement of immersion students with low academic ability

jeopardized?

Parents and educators often believe that students with below average academic ability are

not good candidates for immersion because they will struggle to acquire new skills and

knowledge if they are taught through a non-native language in which they lack proficiency.

Genesee (1976) found that below average students in immersion scored at the same level as

below average students in monolingual English programs on a variety of academic

achievement measures, including standardized achievement tests and examinations

mandated by the government, in subjects such as mathematics and science. While the

6

below average students in both programs scored significantly lower than their average and

above average peers in their respective programs, the below average immersion students

were not further disadvantaged in academic achievement as a result of participation in

immersion.

Students who struggle academically in school are often advised to switch to a

monolingual program on the assumption that they will struggle less in a monolingual

English program. In fact, academic difficulty is often the main reason for students

switching out of French immersion in Canada. Indeed, Bruck (1985a, 1985b) found that

students who switched out of early French immersion in Montreal scored significantly

lower on a number of achievement measures than students, on average, who remained in

immersion. She also found, however, that the academic difficulties of the students who

switched were no worse than those of a sub-group of students who remained in immersion

despite low academic performance. Of particular interest, the immersion students who

switched expressed significantly more negative attitudes toward schooling (and immersion

in particular) and exhibited more behavioral problems than students who remained in

immersion despite academic difficulties. Bruck suggested that it was not academic

difficulty per se that caused the students to switch out of immersion; rather, they switched

because they had motivational and behavioral problems coping with poor academic

performance.

7

2.3 Second language outcomes

2.3.1. What level of L2 competence do immersion students acquire?

The French-L2 proficiency of Canadian immersion students has been found to be significantly

superior to that of non-immersion students in monolingual English programs with

conventional French-L2 instruction which usually consists of instruction for about 45-50

minutes in French per day with a focus on vocabulary and grammar. This has been found to be

true for speaking, listening, reading, and writing. In comparison with students who speak

French as a native language, immersion students often score at the same level on tests that

assess comprehension skills –listening and reading. Their performance on tests of language

production - speaking and writing - are generally very impressive. They are able to understand

and make themselves understood in all school contexts, and they demonstrate an uninhibited

and creative use of French for communication that is seldom achieved by students in

conventional French-L2 programs. At the same time, immersion students‘ use of French is less

than native-like: (a) they make numerous grammatical errors; (b) they often have restricted

vocabulary and simplified grammar; and (c) their usage is non-idiomatic (see Lyster, 2007).

These gaps in L2 competence have led to discussions of how best to integrate language and

content instruction to maximize L2 proficiency, a point discussed later in the section on

Pedagogical Issues (e.g., Lyster, 2007; Swain, 1998).

Research on immigrant children who spoke neither English nor French as an L1 and who

participated in French immersion programs has shown that they performed as well as

monolingual children who spoke only English (Swain, Lapkin, & Hart, 1990; Swain &

Lapkin, 2005). Of particular note, Swain and her colleagues found that acquisition of literacy

skills in the heritage language (L1) had a significant and positive correlation with the

8

immigrant students‘ acquisition of French-as-a-third language. These findings underline the

importance of promoting literacy in immigrant students‘ heritage language.

2.3.2. Does competence in the L2 depend on students‟ level of academic ability?

Studiesof elementary and secondary school immersion students have revealed interesting

and differential effects of academic ability on L2 achievement. Genesee (1976) found that

below average students in both early and late immersion scored lower on tests of French

reading and writing than average and above average students in the same programs;

similarly, the average students in both program types scored lower than the above average

students. In contrast, while average students in late immersion also showed advantages on

measures of speaking and listening in comparison to average and below average students,

there were no differences among the ability sub-groups in the early immersion program on

measures of L2 speaking and listening. Overall, these results suggest that early immersion

is more effective for students with different levels of academic ability than immersion

programs at the secondary level.

2.3.4. Does more L2 exposure result in higher levels of L2 proficiency?

The relationship between L2 exposure and achievement in immersion programs is complex.

On the one hand, students intotalimmersion programs generally acquire higher levels of

French proficiency than students in partialimmersion programs (Genesee, 2004; see also

Cenoz, 2008). On the other hand, students in two-year late immersion (grades 7 and 8)

have been found sometimes to perform as well as early total immersion students despite the

fact that the former have significantly less exposure to French in school (Genesee, 1981).

9

One explanation for these findings is that older L2 learners need relatively less exposure to

the L2 because they are better learners overall than younger learners. As well, older

learners who are already able to read and write in the L1 are able to transfer these skills to

French, making learning French relatively efficient. Students in late immersion are also

self-selecting and, thus, are highly motivated to do well.

Pedagogical factors are also probably important. Evidence for this comes from research

that compared two types of late immersion – one that was teacher-centered and one that

was student-centered (Stevens, 1983). In the teacher-centered program, native English-

speaking students spent 80% of their school day in French, while in the student-centered

program students spent 50% of their school day in French. Stevens (1983) found that,

despite the time advantage of the students in the teacher-centered program, students in the

student-centered program scored as well on a variety of French language measures. She

argued that students in the student-centered program achieved such impressive French

language skills because their program permitted more active use of French and, as well,

learning was more individualization insofar as students were given opportunities to choose

what they would study and how they would meet curricular objectives.

2.3.5 Is age an important factor in L2 achievement?

It is widely believed that ‗younger is better‘ when it comes to L2 learning. However,

evidence in support of this belief most often comes from studies on L2 learning in non-

school settings. Evidence from research in schools is more complex. Research in Canada

has shown, on the one hand, that students in early total French immersion generally achieve

significantly higher levels of French proficiency than students in programs with a delayed

10

(middle elementary grades) or late (secondary school) starting grade (Genesee, 1981; see

also Wesche, Toews-Janzen and MacFarlane, 1996, for a review). On the other hand,

Canadian research also shows that students in two-year late immersion can sometimes

achieve the same or almost the same levels of proficiency in French as students in early

total immersion in some domains of language, even though early immersion students begin

studying through French earlier and may have had 2 to 3 times more exposure to French

than late immersion students (Genesee, 1981). Similar findings in favor of older learners

have also been reported in evaluations of less intensive forms of L2 instruction in other

countries (e.g., Burstall, 1974; Krashen, Long & Scarcella, 1979).

3. The suitability of immersion for all students

Educators, parents and policy makers often believe that students who are at risk for

academic difficulty should not participate in immersion because such students are likely to

struggle in monolingual programs and, therefore, are likely to struggle even more in

programs where they are taught through a language they do not know. Research in

Canada has examined the suitability of immersion for at-risk students with the following

learner and background characteristics which often put them at a disadvantage in school

(Genesee, 2007): (a) low academic ability (or intelligence) (Genesee, 1976), (b) low socio-

economic status (Bruck, Tucker, & Jakimik, 1975; Genesee, 2004), (c) poor L1 abilities

(Bruck, 1978, 1982), and (d) minority ethnic group status (Genesee, 1992; Jacobs & Cross,

2001). It has been found consistently that English-speaking students who are at risk for the

above reasons can attain the same levels of competence in English-L1 and in academic

domains in immersion as comparable at-risk students in monolingual programs. At the

11

same time, at-risk students benefit from immersion by acquiring advanced levels of

functional proficiency in French.

4. Pedagogical issues

Notwithstanding the overall effectiveness of various forms of immersion, there is concern

over students‘ competence in French, as noted earlier. There are several possible

explanations why students‘ in immersion struggle with some aspects of French. It may be that

the strong focus on content that characterizes immersion teacher instruction focuses learners‘

attention on content more than on language per se. In other words, as long as students

understand what is being said about content and as long as they can communicate about

academic content in meaningful ways, the accuracy with which they use language to

communicate may go unnoticed, unchecked, and, thus, underdeveloped. Moreover, teachers

and students are not held accountable for L2 outcomes to the same extent as they are for

achievement in their other school subjects. It may also be that teachers who are teaching

content through French-L2 tend to rely on linguistic forms, including vocabulary, grammar,

and discourse-related skills, that students have already acquired in order to ensure that input

about content is comprehensible and mastered. Thus, the complexity and accuracy of students‘

competence in French may be limited by the language input they receive from their teachers.

In a related vein, errors in language made by students during content classes may receive little

or unsystematic attention from teachers for the sake of keeping communication going, but

with the unfortunate side effect of stunting students‘ accurate use of French. In any case,

educators and researchers in Canada, and the U.S., have turned their attention on how to

12

optimize language learning in immersion programs while maintaining high levels of academic

achievement.

There is growing recognition that it is critical when teaching through an L2 that

teachers systematically and explicitly promote development of students‘ L2 skills at all

times since students have little opportunity to learn the L2 outside school. This means

that teachers who are teaching non-language-based content subjects, such as mathematics

or science, should be familiar with the academic language skills of their discipline and be

able to plan instruction that promotes those language skills at the same time as students

are learning discipline-specific skills and knowledge. It is especially important that this

be done during the lower grades so that students can comprehend complex academic

content taught through the L2 in higher grade. If students do not acquire advanced

academic language skills in the L2 early on, they will not have the sophisticated language

and literacy skills they need to handle academic instruction taught through the second

language in the higher grades. Researchers and educators working in Canada and in the

U.S. have proposed strategies for promoting language development in immersion

programs (e.g., Echevarría, Vogt & Short, 2008; Genesee, 1991; Hamayan, Genesee, &

Cloud, 2013; Lyster, 2007; Snow, Met & Genesee, 1989; Swain, 1998).

5. Summary

Various forms of immersion education have been implemented and evaluated in Canada. In

general, these programs have been shown to be very effective. In particular,

13

1) English-speaking students in immersion programs demonstrate competence in their L1

that is comparable to, and in some cases better than, that of similar students in

monolingual programs.

2) Immersion students attain grade-appropriate levels of achievement in academic

domains.

3) Immersion students achieve levels of functional proficiency in French-L2 that are

significantly superior to that of students who received conventional French-L2

instruction.

3) However, the L2 competence of immersion students can be enhanced if teachers are

more systematic and explicit in integrating language and content instruction, especially

if these efforts are coordinated across grade levels.

4) L2 outcomes are also enhanced when students are given plenty of opportunities to use

the language actively in interaction with teachers and other students.

5) Immersion education has been shown to be effective even with students who might be

at risk for difficulty in school due to low academic ability, poor first language skills,

and low socio-economic background.

6) In general, students who have greater exposure to French-L2 achieve higher levels of

proficiency than students who have less exposure.

7) In contrast, more exposure and instruction in English-L1 does not necessarily result in

greater levels of proficiency in that language.

There are many advantages to bilingualism – the ability to communicate and interact

with others, the ability to access information from electronic and other sources in multiple

languages, for cognitive enrichment, and for personal, cultural, and educational enrichment.

14

Second/foreign language immersion programs are an effective way to students to acquire

competence in additional languages.

References

Björklund, S. (1998). Immersion in Finland in the 1990s: A state of development and

expansion. In J. Cenoz & F. Genesee (Eds.), Beyond bilingualism: Multilingualism and

multilingual education (pp. 85-102). Clevendon, UK: Multilingual Matters.

Bostwick, M. (2001). English immersion in a Japanese school. In D. Christian & F.

Genesee (Eds.), Bilingual Education (pp.125-138).Alexandria, VA: TESOL.

Bruck, M. (1978). The suitability of early French immersion programs for the language

disabled child. Canadian Journal of Education, 3, 51-72.

Bruck, M. (1982). Language disabled children: Performance in an additive bilingual

education program. Applied Psycholinguistics, 3, 45-60.

Bruck, M. (1985a). Predictors of transfer out of early French immersion programs.Applied

Psycholinguistics, 6, 39-61.

Bruck, M. (1985b). Consequences of transfer out of early French immersion

programs.Applied Psycholinguistics, 6, 101-120.

Bruck, M., Tucker, G.R., & Jakimik, J. (1975). Are French immersion programs suitable

for working class children? Word, 27, 311-341.

Burstall, C. (1974). Primary French in the balance. Windsor, England: NFER Publishing

Co.

Cenoz, J. (Ed.) (2008). Teaching through Basque: Achievements and challenges. Clevedon,

U.K.: Multilingual Matters.

Echevarria, J., Vogt, E., & Short, D. 2008. Making content comprehensible for English

language learners: The SIOP Model (3rd Edition). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Genesee, F. (1976).The role of intelligence in second language learning.Language

Learning, 26, 267-280.

Genesee, F. (1981). A comparison of early and late second language learning.Canadian

Journal of Behavioral Science, 13, 115-127.

Genesee, F. (1991). Second language learning in school settings: Lessons from immersion.

In A. Reynolds (Ed.), Bilingualism, multiculturalism, and second language learning:

The McGill conference in honor of Wallace E. Lambert (pp. 183-202). Hillsdale, NJ:

Lawrence Erlbaum.

Genesee, F. (1992). Second/foreign language immersion and at-risk English-speaking

children.Foreign Language Annals, 25, 199-213.

Genesee, F. (2004). What do we know about bilingual education for majority language

students? In T. K. Bhatia & W. Ritchie (Eds.), Handbook of bilingualism and

multiculturalism (pp. 547-576). Malden, MA: Blackwell.

Genesee, F. (2007). French immersion and at-risk students: A review of research findings.

Canadian Modern Language Review, 63, 655-688.

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Genesee, F., & Lambert, W. E. (1983). Trilingual education for majority language

children.Child Development, 54, 105-114.

Hamayan, E., Genesee, F., & Cloud, N. (2013). Dual language instruction from A to Z:

Practical guidance for teachers and administrators. Portsmouth, N.H.: Heinemann.

Jacobs, K, & Cross, A. (2001). The seventh generation of Kahnawà:ke: Phoenix or

Dinosaur. In D. Christian & F. Genesee (Eds.), Bilingual Education (pp. 109-121).

Alexandria, VA: TESOL.

Johnson, R. K. (1997). The Hong Kong education system: Late immersion under stress. In

R.K. Johnson & M. Swain, M. (Eds.), Immersion Education: International

Perspectives (pp. 171-189). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Krashen, S., Long, M., & Scarcella, R. (1979). Age, rate, and eventual attainment in second

language acquisition.TESOL Quarterly, 13, 573-582.

Lambert, W.E., Genesee, F., Holobow, N., & Chartrand, L. (1993). Bilingual education for

majority English speaking children.European Journal of Psychology of Education, 8, 3-

22.

Lambert, W.E., & Tucker, G.R. (1972). The bilingual education of children: The St. Lambert

experiment. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.

Lindholm-Leary, K. J. (2001). Dual language education. Avon, UK: Multilingual Matters.

Lyster, R. (2007). Learning and teaching languages through content: A counterbalanced

approach. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Mehisto, P., & Asser, H. (2007). Stakeholder perspectives: CLIL programme management

in Estonia. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 10(5), 683-

701.

Paradis, J., Genesee, F., & Crago, M. (2011). Dual language development and disorders: A

handbook on bilingualism and second language learning (2nd Ed.). Baltimore, MD:

Brookes.

Slaughter, H. (1997). Indigenous language immersion in Hawai‘i: A case study of Kula

Kaiapuni Hawai‘i. In R.K. Johnson & M. Swain (Eds), Immersion education:

International perspectives (pp. 105-129). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Snow, A., Met. M., & Genesee, F. (1989). A conceptual framework for the integration of

language and content in second/foreign language instruction.TESOL Quarterly, 23,

201-218.

Stevens, F. (1983). Activities to promote learning and communication in the second

language classroom.TESOL Quarterly, 17, 259-272.

Swain, M. (1998). Focus on form through conscious reflection. In D. Doughty and J.

Williams (Eds.), Focus on form in classroom second language acquisition (pp. 64-82).

NY: Cambridge University Press.

Swain, M., & Lapkin, S. (1982). Evaluating bilingual education: A Canadian case study.

Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.

Swain, M., & Lapkin, S. (2005). The evolving socio-political context of immersion

education in Canada: Some implications for program development. International

Journal of Applied Linguistics, 15, 169-186

Swain, M., Lapkin, S., & Hart, D. (1990). The role of mother tongue literacy on third

language learning.Language, Culture and Learning, 3, 65-81.

16

Wesche, M., Toews-Janzen, M., & MacFarlane, A. (1996). Comparative outcomes and

impacts of early, middle and late entry French immersion options: Review of recent

research and annotated bibliography. Toronto: OISE/UT Press.

17

2 The landscape of English language

teaching: Roots, routes and

ramifications

Cristina Banfi

MEGCBA, ENS en LV “SBS”, IES en LV “JRF”, ISP “JVG”, UB, UBA

1. Introduction

This paper will sketch the current landscape of the teaching of the English language in

Argentina and, to some extent, Latin America. It will trace the roots that reflect the

background of English language teachers and English language professionals. Then it will

outline the options or routes followed by teachers as part of their continuing professional

development and work life. Finally, the ramifications of these options in relation to our

context, with particular emphasis on the past two decades, will be presented and some

current trends will be briefly discussed.

18

2. Roots and routes

When we explore the professional roots of English language teachers we first turn towards

their educational background. As members of FAAPI associations in Argentina what

teachers have in common is a degree of Teacher of English. This may have been obtained

at a university or teachers‘ college; it may be generic, i.e. for all levels or specializing to

teach in Primary or Secondary schools; it may even have been designed as a four or two-

and-a-half-year degree. However, in spite of this evident diversity, many teachers are not

aware that their course of studies can trace its roots to the pioneer plan included in the

decree issued by President Julio Argentino Roca and his Education Secretary, Dr. Juan

Ramón Fernández on February 10th, 1904 as part of the creation of the institution currently

known as IES en Lenguas Vivas ―Juan Ramón Fernández‖ (see Banfi & Moyano, 2003).

The number in between parenthesis indicates the number of weekly periods taken by

students over the course of each year.

1styear

2ndyear

3rdyear

Foreign Language (12)

Foreign Language(12)

Geography (3)

History (3)

Special Pedagogy(12)

Spanish and its literature (3)

Argentine History(3)

General Psychology(3)

Child Psychology (2)

Moral and Logic(3)

This is my translation of the Spanish terms used in the decree. Note that where the

translation says Geography / History, the original plan referred to Geografía / Historia de

ese pueblo to draw a distinction with Argentine Geography / History. This is owing to the

fact that this generic plan was intended for teacher training programmes in English, French,

19

German and Italian. In those days, the reference to ―the people who speak that language‖

did not require further clarification. Nowadays it could be considered a more ambiguous

term and, yet, the content of the courses has not varied significantly. In the first instance

only English and French were implemented. This programme was a great innovation for the

time in that it provided specific and specialised education for language teachers, something

that was viewed as a matter for the State to be involved in directly. This model would be

emulated and expanded in subsequent plans in different institutions at various stages.

A trait that appears evident in that plan, and that has continued to be present in the

design of these programmes, is its interdisciplinarynature. Contents and approaches are

drawn from different disciplines and, with the passing of time, new disciplines that

emerged were incorporated, e.g. (Applied) Linguistics, Phonetics, Discourse Analysis, to

mention some. One of the current challenges in the curricular design of teacher education

programmes is, in fact, finding ‗space‘ in any given plan for all the content areas that are

deemed ‗necessary‘. A related challenge is the nature of teacher educator appointments and

the level of (in-) flexibility when it comes to updating content in rigidly assigned slots. This

is not a minor issue and is linked to the academic vs. professional nature of the programmes

and institutions. Pierce (1991) writes:

Although most studies fail to define the term [discipline] explicitly, they typically

assume that boundaries of disciplines closely follow those of academic departments.

The use of such boundaries may seem to fix overly concrete limits on a highly

abstract phenomenon, excluding too large a number of people with interest in the

subject. But its importance in creating and maintaining disciplinary communities

makes the academic department the building block from which disciplines are

created.(Pierce, 1991, pp. 22-23)

20

A related aspect of the programmes that has been present from the outset is the

devotion of considerable time to the language development of prospective teachers, hence

the presence of a significant number of hours allotted to ‗Foreign Language.‘ This

overarching objective has on occasion distorted the boundaries between instrumental

content/skills development and those areas that are discipline-bound (see Banfi & Iummato,

1998).

At a comparativelevel, the common ground that Argentine teachers share may lead us

to the mistaken belief that this is the way teachers of English have always been educated

everywhere. However, models for educating foreign and second language teachers are as

varied as the contexts and traditions where they exist. There are various reviews of foreign

language teacher education in Europe (Kelly et al, 2002), in various countries from a US

perspective (Pufahl, Rhodes & Christian, 2000), in Chile (Vivanco Torres, 2012), in

Mexico (Ordoñez, 2009), in Colombia(Moss & Salamanca, 2012). Some elements that can

be observed in the programmes in many countries in Latin America are the recent creation

or major reform of English language teacher education programmes reflecting the

expansion of English language teaching in schools and the active participation of agencies

such as the American Embassy and the British Council.

The parameters for differentiation are not only geographical or national but temporal.

The late 1990s saw the passing of new educational legislation (Ley Federal de Educación –

LFE – Ley24.195 and Ley de Educación Superior – LES – Ley24.521) and the birth of

Licenciaturas for teachers (i.e. two year university conversion courses for holders of

tertiary level degrees) and postgraduate courses, particularly Master‘s programmes. There

21

was also the formalization of different in-service and continuing education courses and

programmes with greater or lesser recognition at an official level. Professional associations

have played a part in providing information about these programmes as they appeared and

expanded to ensure that teachers had access to the information necessary to make a choice

(e.g. Moyano, 1999a &b for the summary produced by APIBA following the 1999 APIBA

Seminar). They also participated in the field of courses with accreditation. Crucially, they

have acted as networks where teachers could share experiences and information (see

APIBA SIGs, Kandel, 2002).

A concomitant effect of the LES was the segmentation and differentiation of two sub-

sectors within the Higher Education area, i.e. ‗universities‘ and ‗non-universities

institutions,‘ as labelled in the law, a clear distinction in status. A direct effect of the

passing of the LES and a related law concerning funding of education (Ley 24.049 – Ley de

Transferencia de Servicios Educativos) was the transfer of non-university higher education

institutions to the sphere of the provinces and the City of Buenos Aires. There is

insufficient time to analyse this situation in depth here (see Banfi 2013 and forthcoming),

but we can say that the effect has not been altogether felicitous in strengthening the

teaching profession and raising the status of teachers. Several projects to reform the LES

have been under study in Congress but have not yet obtained sufficient consensus to redress

this situation, as well as other shortcomings of the current law. It would be most important

for teacher‘s associations, as well as colleges, to play a role in these discussions, although

to date they have been underrepresented.

22

Teachers‘ multiple and often overlapping jobs have taken them down various roads.

Teachers of English in Argentina may work in the state or private sector or both. They may

teach at one or more educational levels (i.e. Pre-school, Primary, Secondary, Higher

Education). The courses they teach may fall under the label of ‗curricular‘ or ‗extra-

curricular‘. Other possible, and often concurrent, jobs may include: materials writer,

examiner for examiner body, consultant or advisor for different institutions, teacher

educator, etc. (see APIBA, 2006). Along these paths teachers have often needed to go back

to ‗school‘ to update their knowledge-base and acquire news skills in areas as diverse as

educational management, age group specialization, school management, online teaching,

etc., all in the spirit of the much-discussed continuing professional development(see Craft,

2000 and Banfi, 1997). This often took teachers down the road of degree-plus programmes

(NB: Licenciaturas are undergraduate degrees according to Argentine law, even if for

teachers they are second degrees, see Marquina, 2004 for clarification), and has frequently

implied making a choice between specializing, changing track (or even discipline), or

taking a broad outlook.

Along the road teachers often realize that there are different benefits and challenges

associated with the diverse professional and educational paths they have chosen.

3. Ramifications

Now we turn to some further changes and trends that have characterised the last two

decades and that have had considerable impact on the education and professional practice

of English language teachers in our country and, to some extent, in our region. One

23

overarching feature that has characterised this period has been that of almost permanent

change. This trait is not exclusive to our area or profession but probably a defining

characteristic of the Zeitgeist. Let us concentrate on those changes that are most specific to

teachers of English.

As we have mentioned, the last two decades have seen the emergence of a range of

new degrees and institutions that provide teaching qualifications and degrees-plus

qualifications for teachers. During the 1990s we saw a number of instances of what has

come to be known as Transnational Education (Banfi, 2002). Whereas before the only

possibility to specialise at postgraduate level was to change discipline or go abroad, almost

overnight, a number of options became locally available. Also, the passing of the Ley de

Educación Superior lead to the appearance of different Licenciaturas, initially the only

way, as an intermediate step, to access local postgraduate courses (Álvarez & Dávila,

2005). This would later change with the introduction of Artículo 39bis of the law (see

Banfi, 2003), but Licenciaturas, nevertheless, became part of our landscape to the present

as are some MA programmes of interest to teachers. We have yet to see if full-blown four-

year Licenciaturas and Doctorates in relevant disciplines are to follow.

Another change in educational options for teachers was the emergence of new types of

providers of different kinds of certification and accreditation. This is a 21st century

development that is still very much in its early stages. Various agents are taking part in this

growing ‗market‘ ranging from university extension departments to publishers and

examination groups, sometimes in conjunction, and, in many cases, with profit motivations.

24

We will probably see considerable growth in this area (for a discussion of the issues, see

McGettigan, 2011).

In parallel to these formal developments, and to some extent preceding them, we have

seen great expansion in the area of the organisation of conferences, workshops, courses and

other events … of all sorts. Many senior members of our associations remember when the

association was the single most important, if not the only, source of such activities (e.g. see

testimonies in Day, 2002). This was some time ago, however. Over the last two decades we

have experienced what I will label a Cambalache situation (for an early discussion of this,

see Banfi, 2000). In the very mixed bag of events we often find a wide variation in the

quality of speakers, material, content, etc. If we review a list of events presented as ‗teacher

development‘ in a given year or even month, we find pseudo-conferences organised by an

individual with a profit motive, or sponsored activities with commercial backing;

presentations given by researchers or practitioners, others by individuals with vested

interests (e.g. author or bestselling book looking for a platform); and even activities almost

akin to yoga or Reiki. It is not a question of dismissing any of the above as more or less

useful or even attempting to rank them: it is clear that they are essentially different and

hardly comparable. Some of these events have helped communicate certain notions,

methods and approaches vary widely. Thus, ideas such as multiple intelligences (Gardner

1983, 1993), intercultural approaches (Byram, 1997 Colbert, 2003, MEGCBA 2009), Task-

Based Learning (Willis, 1996, Willis & Willis, 2007), CLIL and Content-Based instruction

(see Mehisto, Marsh & Frigols 2008,Met 1999), bi-, multi- and plurilingual education

(Genesee, 2002, García, 2009, and Hamel, 2008), the benefits of an early start in language

learning (Banfi, 2010 and MEGCBA, 2010), and the educational value of teaching

25

additional languages (MEGCBA, 2001 and Banfi, 2012) are now present in the rationales

of teacher‘s projects as described, for example, in the III Jornada de Intercambio de

Experiencias Pedagógicas de Idioma Extranjero de los DDEE 19 y 21 in July of this year

as well as the Jornadas Buenos Aires y sus Idiomas, held at the Legislature of the City of

Buenos Aires since 2010. Professional associations play a crucial role in the development

of critical appreciation necessary to develop awareness among their members of the

difference between activities of substance and relevance and those that have other

objectives. In other words, there is a place for everything, but different things belong in

different places.

The growth of post-degree activities, particularly postgraduate degrees, has led to the

incipient emergence of research in the area. Much of the work done as part of these courses

is contributing to a better understanding of the issues in the field, but its reach is still

limited, often to the institution or even a cohort of students. There is still great need to share

and communicate these findings. We should be particularly tentative in this respect

because, even though we may have entered an Age of Research (Banfi, 2007), there is still a

scarcity of research positions or positions that combine research and teaching: individuals

have commitment and good will to conduct research, but a proper research structure

requires institutionalised support and initiatives. There are some opportunities for research

projects such as those promoted by the INFD Instituto Nacional de Formación Docente,

but there is almost no room for what could be labelled ‗curiosity-driven research‘. There is

much to learn from those who have explored educational research in other contexts (e.g.

Genesee, 2006).

26

The need to form networks among teachers and communicate the results of research

has led to the appearance of different publications and forums. The English Language

Journal – ELJ, edited by Aldo Blanco between 1970 and 1989, was a pioneer publication,

possibly too innovative for its time. The newsletter and e-forum ELT News and Views,

published between 1994 and 2000 by Martin Eayrs were important in disseminating

information and getting the ball rolling. Both these publications were the result of the

determined effort of individuals and had difficulties to be sustained in the long run. The

annual Revista Lenguas Vivas published by the IES en Lenguas Vivas ―J.R. Fernández‖ has

institutional support and brings the concerns and work of academics and practitioners from

the different languages taught at that institution. The launch of the Argentinian Journal of

Applied Linguistics - AJAL in 2013 is an auspicious event that will hopefully mark the

beginning of a new era in academic publications in our midst. Issues such as the Open

Access debate are bound to have great impact among us as well (for an introduction to this

controversial debate, see Freedman & Anyangwe, 2012). As Milner-Gulland (2013) very

aptly puts it (my emphasis):

At the moment most open access is based on an author-pays mode. However this also risks

imposing substantial inequalities, and means that many people who are best placed to

translate their knowledge into practice – authors outside academia and in poorer countries –

are precluded from publishing their work. Put crudely, we are moving from a position in

which the less privileged can write but not read, to one where they can read but not

write – neither is conducive to open dialogue.

Much has been said about the increasing access to information from all over the world

that globalization and information technologies have brought. This access has forever

27

changed the way language teachers can obtain material for teaching (e.g. authentic audio

and video texts, ready-made teaching materials, automated exercises, etc.) as well as

academic and professional publications for teachers (for very early examples, see Banfi &

Day, 1995). A question that is inescapable if we think about access to information, though,

is that of selection. How, assuming it is true that we have access to ‗everything there is‘

(and that is a leap in itself), are we supposed to sift through it and get to what really matters

to us?

In the professional arena the status of teachers has been much discussed (e.g. Banfi,

1997, 2006). There is a clear tension between two quite distinct outlooks: one that views

teachers as professionals vs. another that considers them workers. This tension manifests

itself in the organisational structures of professional associations on the one hand and

unions on the other, with significant differences in outlook. Related to this is the porous

nature of the English language teaching profession. A defining characteristic of associations

is the need to possess officially recognised teaching qualifications as the entry requirement

to the profession. Yet, as we are well aware, there are numerous cases of individuals who

engage in the teaching of English, and even teacher development and coordination, without

any such qualifications. Some analyse this as a consequence of the increasing demand for

teachers of English that makes it possible for students, and even those who have no specific

studies, to get formal and informal jobs as teachers. Others refer to the fact that there are so

many job opportunities for teachers of English, many much more ‗glamorous‘ than the

classroom, that many qualified teachers opt out of the education system. Yet others blame

the deceitful and unscrupulous for exploiting the ignorance and misconceptions that the

general public have as regards what it takes to be a teacher of English. They are probably

28

all partly right. Whatever the case, the fact is that we are dealing with an increasingly

heterogeneous and diverse sector with multiple needs and interests. This is a challenge to

professional associations as they cannot think of an ideal or unique type of member but

rather an increasingly diversified reality. The dichotomy between Native and Non-Native

Teachers interestingly presented and reconciled by Peter Medgyes seems to be nowadays

moving in favour of the Non-Native Teacher (though, see Phillipson, 2009 on the native

speaker fallacy). Given the plethora of resources and the ubiquitousness of English

(internet, SAP, cable, see Graddol, 1997) we can safely say that the balance is tipped in

favour of the professional teacher to the detriment of ―the native speaker with a vocation

for teaching‖.

If we go beyond the individual level or even the sector and we look around us, we will

notice that many of the changes we have discussed so far have taken place as a

consequence of changes further afield that may involve policy (educational and other),

markets, and other collectives. Teachers cannot abstract themselves away from these

changes or, if they do, they will have to learn to live with their effects. Crucially, in the

period we are discussing, there have been policy changes that have affected the teaching of

English specifically. There has been legislation and government regulation at the national

and jurisdictional levels on curricular design and teacher education. In these changes, the

teaching profession and its representative organisations have had limited representation.

This is partly because we simply lack the strength in numbers and dedicated resources that

other groups have. On the other hand, we have seen the expansion of the teaching of

languages and, in particular, English. This is a worldwide phenomenon but in some

countries and regions it has had quite significant impact in terms of the demand of teachers.

29

The manner in which this demand is met and the long-term projection of this trend vary

considerably from country to country as does the role of the State and of other providers in

this arena.

Another trend that seems to be acquiring significant momentum is the development of

regional links and projects. The ELT N&V e-forum was an early example of these links and

there have been some conferences and other events that have brought project leaders to

share common concerns (e.g. see the British-Council-organised Policy Dialogues ―English

for the Future‖, Cartagena, October 2012 www.britishcouncil.org/colombia-policy-

dialogues-english-for-the-future.htm). Several projects that can be viewed as regional at

some level are being launched. The programmes Ceibal en Inglés in Uruguay (see Banegas,

2013; Banfi & Rettaroli, forthcoming) and the CiSELT teacher development programme in

Chile are hiring teachers and trainers based regionally to work in various capacities, e.g.

materials design, teaching using IT, etc. Whether this is outsourcing of some kind or

networking and capacity-building at a regional level remains to be seen (for some related

issues see Fairclough, 1989; Phillipson, 1992; and Pennycook, 1994).

Opportunities for collaboration and collaborative projects can be found at levels other

than the regional and have great potential, for example to bridge the gap between different

kinds of language education (see Banfi & Rettaroli, 2008). Or it can serve to bring different

types of experiences to bear when analysing complex situations, such as in the project

SEEDS (Toledo, 2012).

30

4. Conclusions

We touched on the issues of quality when discussing event organisation and we should

return to this at this stage. Quality and separating the wheat from the chaff will certainly

become a central concern in the years to come. References to instances of pseudoscience

(e.g. Emoto‘s crystals; readers need go no further afield than the Wikipedia entry to check

this) or the bastardisation of scientific results (see Dörnyei, 2009‘s critical review of the

misuse of the results of lateralization research) have a short life expectancy in teacher

development activities. When assessing faculty for university or teacher educator positions

we will have to start making distinctions between different degrees, different kinds of

publications and not simply ticking boxes or adding apples and oranges. We should be

prepared to raise the bar, make it clear that ‗not everything goes,‘ or that there is a place for

everything, but everything should be in its rightful place.

If I need to think of a conducting thread for our reality, it would be the notion of

change. We can be sure that change is not innocuous, but remaining unchanged only makes

us move backwards. We have to learn to live with the fact that change is and will continue

to be a permanent feature of our time and, if we don‘t adapt, we recede. Also, change is not

only some external force we should deal with. We are also capable of generating change. It

is up to us to take stock of these developments and direct our destiny, both individual and

collective. So, in the spirit of plurilingual education, we can safely say Plus ça change, …

plus on a besoin de changer. The more things change, the more we need to change.

Notes

Manuscripts can be obtained contacting the author at cbanfi@gmail.com

31

Previous versions of this paper have benefitted from corrections and comments from Graciela

Moyano and the editors of this volume. Needless to say, any errors or misinterpretations that

remain are the author‘s sole responsibility.

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35

3 Communicating across cultures:

encounters in the contact zone

Claudia Mónica Ferradas

Instituto de Enseñanza Superior en Lenguas Vivas “Juan Ramón Fernández”

1. Introduction

Our identities are transformed by everything we learn, and this is particularly evident in

foreign language learning, which involves an encounter between self and other:

Every time language learners speak, they are not only exchanging information with

their interlocutors; they are organizing and reorganizing a sense of who they are and

how they relate to the social world. They are, in other words, engaged in identity

construction and negotiation (Norton, 1997, p. 410).

Rather than encouraging learners to hide behind the mask of an ideal native speaker, thus

sacrificing their own multiple and fluid identities, the overall aim of foreign language

education, in Michael Byram‘s words, should be the development of an ‗intercultural

speaker‘:

a learner with the ability to see and manage the relationships between themselves and

their own cultural beliefs, behaviours and meanings as expressed in a foreign language,

and those of their interlocutors, expressed in the same language—or even a combination

of languages—which may be the interlocutor‘s native language or not(Byram 1997, p.

12).

36

In fact, the development of intercultural awareness is at the core of the national guidelines

for foreign languages in Argentina (Núcleos de Aprendizajes Prioritarios de Lenguas

extranjeras, subsequently referred to as NAPs):

La perspectiva plurilingüe e intercultural […] apunta a tornar visibles las relaciones

entre las lenguas y culturas que están o podrían estar en el currículum y a

sensibilizar hacia la pluralidad constitutiva de estas lenguas y culturas. Apunta,

asimismo, a contribuir a que la enseñanza de lenguas en el contexto escolar

reconozca el papel del español en tanto lengua de escolarización y sus distintas

variedades y valorice el lugar de las otras lenguas y culturas maternas diferentes del

español que circulan en Argentina. Desde esta premisa, los NAP de LE [Núcleos de

Aprendizajes Prioritarios de Lenguas Extranjeras] privilegian tanto el saber de y

sobre las lenguas y el lenguaje, como la formación de ciudadanos/as respetuosos/as

de las diferencias lingüísticas y culturales, favoreciendo actitudes que promueven

nuevas formas de ser y estar en el mundo y de situarse frente a la diversidad

sociocultural y lingüística.

Esta perspectiva de enseñanza de lenguas, entonces, promueve enfoques

multidisciplinarios y combina el aprendizaje de lenguas con la capacidad de

reflexión y disposición crítica necesaria para convivir en sociedades de gran

diversidad cultural; en otras palabras, propicia la participación activa en procesos

democráticos y contribuye a la educación para la ciudadanía y la paz. (NAPs 2)

To achieve these aims, which go beyond the acquisition of the language system, the NAPs

are structured into six strands (ejes): the four macro-skills, reflection on the language being

learnt and intercultural reflection, which links language learning to the acquisition of

democratic values and behaviours and the development of citizenship skills.

On the basis of this conception, intercultural awareness is now a transversal objective

in foreign language curricula in different regions of Argentina. However, teachers often

find it challenging to plan classes with an intercultural focus. Often used to syllabi

traditionally designed to develop the four macro skills and only occasionally encourage

metacognitive reflection, teachers may find the intercultural focus an overwhelming

addition to their very busy agendas. This is related to the fact that intercultural concerns are

37

often perceived supplementary aspects of English language teaching, rather than integral,

transversal ones.

2. Materials from the contact zone

It is my contention that what McRae (1991, p. 3) calls ‗representational‘ materials can help

us focus on intercultural issues. These materials include literary works, but also texts

produced and distributed unconventionally, as well as any kind of multimodal texts (verbal,

auditory and/or visual) which involve the imagination of the receiver: comics and graphic

novels, advertisements, graffiti, song lyrics, films, video clips, blogs, v-logs, hyperfiction

…. Such texts are rich in cultural content, often metaphorically expressed, and challenge

readers‘ schemata. English, as an international language, can open doors into a wide range

of cultures that express themselves in English. A whole world of multicultural texts is at

our disposal (Ferradas, 2010).

In particular, texts in which intercultural encounters are illustrated may help teachers

highlight intercultural aspects and encourage students‘ personal response and reflection on

identity. Such texts can contribute to developing an awareness of difference, overcoming

stereotypes and leading to a respectful encounter with otherness. They illustrate what Mary

Louise Pratt calls encounters in the contact zone: “the space in which peoples

geographically and historically separated come into contact with each other and establish

ongoing relations, usually involving conditions of coercion, radical inequality and

intractable conflict‖ (Pratt, 1993, p. 6).

Dealing with this potential conflict, which Pratt considers unavoidable in colonial

situations, is the challenge we need to be aware of and face in our hyperconnected post-

38

millennial context. The contact zone may be our own neighbourhood, our Facebook page,

the classroom… Our aim should be to educate citizens who do not just tolerate but respect

and enjoy diversity and are ready to consider their own views and customs critically. How

can we empower students to express their own meanings, learn about others and negotiate a

respectful position in the encounter with difference?

3. Travelling and translation revisited

In the constant encounters with otherness we undergo in the post-millennial world, we have

become what James Clifford in his book Routes calls travelling cultures. His use of the

adjective ―travelling‖ is not to be taken literally, for it embraces not only ―the ways people

leave home and return, enacting differently centered worlds, interconnected

cosmopolitanisms‖ (1997, pp. 27-28) but also ―sites traversed‖, as ―the travel, or

displacement, can involve forces that pass powerfully through –television, radio, tourists,

commodities, armies.‘ (Clifford, 1997, p. 28).

In Clifford‘s use, ―travel‖ is a ―translation term‖.

By ―translation term‖ I mean a word of apparently general application used for

comparison in a strategic and contingent way. ―Travel‖ has an inextinguishable taint

of location by class, gender, race, and a certain literariness. It offers a good reminder

that all translation terms used in global comparisons –—terms like ―culture‖, ―art‖,

―society‖, ―peasant‖, ―mode of production‖, ―man‖, ―woman‖, ―modernity‖,

―ethnography‖— get us some distance and fall apart. Tradittore, traduttore. In the

kind of translation that interests me most, you learn a lot about peoples, cultures

and histories different from your own, enough to begin to know what you are

missing. (Clifford 1997, p. 39, my emphasis)

39

Clifford‘s concept of translation, understood as movement, both from one language to

another and from one cultural locus to another, seems particularly suitable to frame the

intercultural awareness we aim at when teaching and learning a foreign language.

4. Exploring routes to express our roots

When our ―translation‖, like that of planets around the sun, involves changing places

(though tourism, displacement, exile, or simply virtually on the web or social media), we

find ourselves facing the challenge of ―translation‖ in the sense of finding the words to

express our own meanings —explain our customs, express our values, often to others who

see the world from a very different perspective. This is, according to Claire Kramsch, the

central problem of foreign language learning: ―wanting to express one world view through

the language normally used to express another society‘s world view‖ (1992, p. 20).

However, in aiming at intercultural awareness, very often the emphasis is laid almost

exclusively on otherness, on difference, to such an extent that learners may feel that their

cultural identity is at risk, as was the case when the ―native speaker model‖ was prevalent.

Instead, when selecting materials and strategies to approach them interculturally, teachers

need to make sure learners can profit from the enriching experience of coming into contact

with otherness by reflecting on their own values and identity and on the construction of

their self-image. While teaching the language system, teachers can focus on activities

which aim at developing the linguistic repertoire learners need to express their own

meanings in English.

We can contribute to intercultural awareness by putting representational texts from

different cultures in contact, making sure texts which may be representative of students‘

40

identities are part of the selection. Besides, the varieties of English used in texts from

different contexts can encourage reflection on the role of English as an international

language and develop awareness of the cultural and linguistic diversity of ―world

englishes‖.

Personal response and reflection based on comparison can be encouraged by means of

‗textual intervention activities‘ (Pope, 1998) that invite students to adapt the text, change it

and extend it creatively. The silences in the text (information and opinion gaps) are left for

readers to fill in with their own reading. Transposing situations in the text to the students‘

own cultural context can prove particularly enriching, as they will need to find the words to

express their own customs and views and will find opportunities to reflect on their own

identities.

5. Constructing identity

By putting the foreign language and culture in contact with the students‘ own reality, the

comparison invites students to read both cultures from a ‗third place‘ which keeps a critical

distance from both worlds. At the intersection of multiple native and target cultures, the

major task of language learners is to define for themselves what this ‗third place‘ that they

are engaged in seeking will look like, whether they are conscious of it or not. (Kramsch,

1993, p. 257).

By reflecting on similarities and differences, by discussing how to describe their own

context and customs and express their own vision of the world in a foreign language,

students may become aware of the values expressed in the text and wonder how

representative they are of what they consider their own identity—and how stereotypical.

41

Texts which exemplify encounters in the contact zone can illustrate potential conflicts in

the students‘ context vicariously. Racial, social and gender issues, cultural

misunderstandings, bullying, etc. are themes which such texts deal with, and the teacher

can then find appropriate ways of reflecting on the students‘ own circumstances and teach

them the language necessary to describe them and discuss them.

6. Suggested resources

Some of my favourite examples of authentic texts (which can be adapted by the teacher) to

bring the contact zone into class are:

 Telephone conversation by the Nigerian Nobel Prize Wole Soyinka (racial

prejudice)

 Kill to Eat by the aboriginal writer Oodgeroo Noonuccal (the values and beliefs of

Aboriginal Australians as compared to that of ―the white man‖)

 Robert and the Dog by the Nigerian writer Ken Saro Wiwa (different sets of values

connected with culture and social class)

Some of the most productive resources for the Argentine context are texts written in

English about Argentina, not only travel literature from the nineteenth century but more

recently published accounts that illustrate culture clash as well as attempts at mutual

understanding. Some highlights are:

 Tales of the Pampas by William Bulfin

 Goodbye Buenos Aires by Andrew Graham –Yooll

 The Whispering Land by Gerald Durrell

42

 El Ombú and Other Stories by William Henry Hudson

 Sebastian‟s Pride by Susan Wilkinson

 ‗Faith Hard tried‘: The Memoir of Jane Robson

 In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin

 Out of Patagonia by Janet Dickinson

Apart from providing relevant vocabulary, as well as glossing and paraphrasing strategies

to describe the Argentine context and way of life, these texts can become provocative

starting points for discussion, critical consideration of stereotypes and defamiliarisation of

cultural features which may have been naturalised. An elementary level version of the story

of the encounter between the Welsh and the Tehuelche in Chubut, available at

www.claudiaferradas.net under ―intercultural activities‖, intends to prove that even

linguistically complex texts can be adapted to suit the level and maturity of different

classes. Such texts can provide an opportunity, as early as possible, to reflect on conflict

resolution, encourage respect for diversity and develop democratic citizenship skills.

Our selection of texts and strategies to approach them can make a significant contribution

towards peaceful global citizenship with a local impact, if we highlight not only our

differences but what all human beings have in common.

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44

4 Narrative inquiry within

Argentinean EFLTE: Crafting

professional identities and knowledge

through students’ narratives

María Cristina Sarasa

Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata

1. Introduction

This paper summarizes a narrative inquiry developed naturalistically during 2007-2011

with sophomores attending the course Overall Communication (OC), in the English

Foreign Language Teacher Education Program (EFLTEP), School of Humanities,

Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Argentina. It considers students‘ identity

descriptions as textual interventions and written biographical narratives emerging after

exploring a syllabus unit on Irish Studies. Categories of analysis derived from narrative

investigation of these texts are interpreted in their local setting. Discussion of results

examines how narratives allowed undergraduates to (re)conceptualize their academic

identities and trajectories.

45

2. Research rationale and design

This research stems from narrative investigations on good university teaching practices, as

recounted by students, and memorable professors‘ biographies by the Education and

Cultural Studies Research Group, School of Humanities, Universidad Nacional de Mar del

Plata, Argentina (Álvarez, Porta & Sarasa 2011; Álvarez & Sarasa, 2007; Sarasa, 2008). It

aims at describing narratively textual interventions and biographical narratives written by

OC students in the EFLTEP, examining undergraduates‘ productions and their reported

observations on theseexperiences. The study also aims at discussingsome implications these

pedagogical interventionsbear for EFLTE. Its twoancillary goals are to elucidate students‘

insights into these class activitiesinvolving their family and academic existences and to

appraise the educationaloutcomes of student–created stories.

Narrative inquiry in education (Connelly & Clandinin, 1990;Clandinin& Murphy,

2009) involves ―a way of thinking about experience.‖ As a methodology, it means adopting

―a particular narrative view of experience as phenomena under study‖ (Connelly &

Clandinin, 2006, p 477). In EFLTE (Johnson & Golombek, 2011),narrative inquiry

includes research and development to enhance teachers‘ personal practical knowledge. In

this case, the narrative process adopted in the classes, and the current narrative analysis, are

in themselves forms of inquiry in ―the phenomenal world in which experience is mediates

by story‖ (Xu & Connelly, 2009, p. 222).

This small scale ethnographic study(Wilson & Chadda, 2010) was undertaken during

2007-2011 with sophomores attending the subject OC, which endeavors to boost awareness

of the global status of English (Canagarajah, 2006) through exploring print and media texts,

46

striving to render contents relevant to EFLTE (Álvarez, Calvete, & Sarasa, 2012). This

naturalistic research (Bowen, 2008) involved OC syllabus second unit on Irish Studies

(Calvete & Sarasa, 2007). First, from 2007 to 2010, thirty undergraduates(S1—S30, out of

four small cohorts totalling fifty six) voluntarily responded in writing to the essay ―I Am

One of the People‖ (Patterson, 2006b) composing their parallel textual interventions(Pope,

1995).In this paper, Northern Irish writer Glenn Patterson(2006b) defined his identity

embracing his private Belfast domain within the public European realm. Patterson (2006a,

2006c) observed how roots and routes (Clifford, 1997) forged individual and communal

trajectories. Second, in 2011, students explored the films Michael Collins (Jordan, 1996)

and The Wind that Shakes the Barley (Loach, 2006). Among other questions, they

considered representations of Irish heroes (Ó Giolláin, 1998) shown in these pictures.

Afterwards, undergraduates narrated common people‘s praiseworthy lives orally. Then,

nineteen (SI—SXIX, out of a total a large single cohort of thirty) freely wrote their

contribution, providing feedback on this class experience.

This paper addresses categories of analysis derived from a purposive sampling

(Teddlie & Yu, 2007) of students‘ textual interventions and biographical tales in their

context of production and reception (Pavlenko, 2007). Drawing on the theoretical literature

(e.g. Clandinin, Steeves & Chung, 2007),the author interpreted the written productions

conceptually, uncovering emerging themes in students‘ written accounts (Corbin & Strauss,

2007; Polkinghorne, 2007).

47

3. Discussion of results

Volunteered texts problematized undergraduates‘ identities, exploring the itineraries they

wished to follow as students and prospective educators. When composing their writings,

students found sustenance along their demanding course of study. Thus, life-writing

encouraged life-learning (Pope, 2002). Similarly, undergraduates explored a professional

knowledge landscape (Clandinin & Connelly, 1996), reaching into the teaching identity

they wished to acquire and the stories they wanted to enact as future educators (Clandinin,

Downey, & Huber, 2009).

Textual interventions derived from ―I Am One…‖ (Patterson, 2006b) disclosed rich

immigrant origins. As S4 indicated, ―I am one of the descendants of the three hundred

thousand European immigrants who flocked into Argentina during the late nineteenth

century and the first half of the twentieth.‖ Next, S19 explained that ―I am one of the great

great-granddaughters of… an Italian immigrant who arrived in Argentina together with a

large number of Italian, German, and Spanish immigrants in the 1880s.‖ S18 displayed a

mature awareness of her roots, indicating that

I am one of the many people who find themselves lost in a melting-pot of identities.

I am neither Italian, nor Spanish, nor Uruguayan, nor Native American, nor English,

nor Arab, nor Argentinean, but somehow I am a bit of all that…

Concurrently, S3 revealed her all-encompassing background: ―I am one of the people who,

born in a melting pot and speaking three languages, find myself torn among three cultures:

a mother culture which is already a mixture of many others…‖

48

These origins became a source of strength. S25 asserted that ―I am one of the people

who are extremely proud of her Italian grandfather, who fought in WWI.‖ Then, S28 stated

that

I am one of the million people who live in a country that has officially welcomed

other peoples since 1853 and has absorbed these peoples‘ culture since then. I am

one of the people who live in a country where everybody is proud of their foreign

lineage.

Students‘ pride in their background was mirrored in their relatives‘ biographies, the

common—though heroic—lives undergraduates retold after watching the two films. SVI‘s

and SXVI‘s great-grandparents had fought the two World Wars and had immigrated into

Argentina to build a family life based on hard work. SXV`s grandfather had ―had to settle

in a country which was not his homeland and adapt to it,‖ witnessing how his siblings and

wife passed away but being ―strong enough to survive and live without them…‖.

Ancestors‘ migrant existences surfaced in written considerations on the class experience,

when the group created shared knowledge.SVI remarked that ―this gave us a kind of family

feeling, our families had all gone more or less through the same things, all—or most—of us

are immigrant descendants and our stories melted into one...‖

These ancestors‘ itineraries were successful because their pains had been rewarded by

the family ties they had constructed. Therefore, ―all of the stories were teachings of

courage, endurance and most important of love‖ (SVII). SVIII praised these biographies‘

value, since students had told true stories of ordinary people—mainly our grandparents—

who had suffered because they underwent many hardships, mainly because they had had to

49

flee from their country, had fought a war, had worked very hard since they were kids, but

who had been happy too because they got married and had kids, succeeded in life, (or)

accomplished their goals.

Eventually, tales signified pride in a non-essentialist heritage while infusing students

with their protagonists‘ valour. These undergraduates, empowered by their telling, gathered

strength to continue an arduous course of study. The textual interventions dwelt on the

EFLTEP‘s challenging nature. S4 stated that ―I am one of the few people who, after five

years, still struggle in the English Language Teacher Education Program.‖ Similarly, S15

was ―one of those English students… able to survive the ‗jungle of the state university.‘

One of those who prefer to remain at university no matter what, rather than choose the easy

option of ‗fleeing‘ to ‗safer‘ private institutions.‖ S13 indicated that ―I am one of the

hundreds of students who complain that the Course is TOO HARD but who keep on trying

every day to get their degree,‖ adding that ―I am one of the people who after so many years

of being in the educational system can compare it to a Trail of Tears.‖ More identities were

marked by these difficulties: ―I am one of the students who have taken very long to

complete their degree, maybe longer than physicians take to qualify. Why then didn‘t I

change to a private institution if it was so difficult for me?‖ (S19). Finally, S21 linked

textual interventions with relatives‘ biographies by disclosing the perseverance needed and

the lessons learned.

I am one of the hundreds of students of English… who really never thought that the

course of study was going to take such a long time! But who still believes and

50

knows that getting a University degree is almost a privilege nowadays and that,

therefore, giving up or quitting is not an option.

Likewise, students who told their families‘ epic narratives found that thosespelt hope

for their future. Shared accounts of relatives overcoming difficulties became stimulating

within their trying EFLTEP context. SIV explained that

We are now convinced that although our course of study gets harder and harder,

experiences such as the ones we gained… in (this subject) make students reflect

upon their future as teachers. And in spite of all adversities, we can make it

happen.

Furthermore, these tales encouraged students to visualize their teaching practices

optimistically. SXVII believed that

What mattered was… creating a bond, a human perspective so many times absent at

University… which I feel is so much necessary if we are to work ―teaching‖

people… I hope (we) can understand… that every time we step into a class it is not

only up to the teacher to make it memorable, it is also up to us.

Inquiring narratively into relatives‘ biographies empowered students. For SV, ―as I

finished talking I realized I had felt comfortable… I also realized that many other students‘

unheroic characters, especially grandparents, had gone through tough situations just as my

grandmother had.‖ According to SXVII, ―it was marvellous to share these narrations about

great people, who were close to us, and who touched our hearts and changed our lives

forever.‖ Wisdom was derived from the class, since ―all of us were surely left pondering

51

not just on grammar or on pronunciation but on what is really important in life.‖ (SVII)

Finally, SVIII explained that

We were given the opportunity to speak about something that we regarded as

meaningful and we were eager to share it with the rest of the class… I know that we

are studying to be language teachers so we have to pay a lot of attention to how we

say something instead of what we say… but this class was different because we

were paying attention to what we wanted to say instead of how we said it.

Ultimately, this narrative inquiry evolved from a ―pedagogy of life-telling‖ (Elbaz-

Luwisch 2002, p.408) to a pedagogy of life-learning (Goodson, 2012). Students elaborated

not just their ―roots‖ but the ―routes by which they have been arrived at‖ (Patterson, 2006c,

p. 171). They also discovered that their families‘ roads were connected.

4. Conclusion

What are some of the implications of this narrative inquiry into ties between EFLTE and

academic identities (Tedder & Biesta, 2007)?Bauman (2009, pp. 157-163) argues within

―education in the liquid-modern setting,‖ students need ―counsellors who show them how

to walk rather than teachers who make sure that only one road, and that already crowded, is

taken.‖ These counsellors should help students ―to dig into the depths of their character and

personality, where the rich deposits of precious ore are presumed to lie…‖ This EFLTE

class strived for linguistic and cultural authenticity by working with students‘ own expert

52

NNSE productions (Canagarajah, 2006; Morris, 2001) unearthing stories as experiential life

processes (Bathmaker, 2010; Huber, Caine, Huber, & Steeves, 2013).

Likewise, instructors and students created knowledge from class-generated texts

(Trahar, 2009). Consecutively, a narrative pedagogy intervention facilitated the encounters

to produce these accounts constructing identities which shape consecutive teaching

practices. Understanding derived from life-stories and identity papers constitutes narrative

learning proper, suitably meaningful when sustained during scaled-up inquiries (Goodson

& Gill, 2011). Undergraduates experienced narrative research while working towards

agency development (Bruner, 1996), acting upon the family roots revealed in their texts to

envision academic and professional routes. This occurred when students became aware of

how their—and their families‘— lives‘ plots (Biesta & Tedder, 2008) helped them imagine

a hopeful future. Thus, students came to own the English language to voice their meaning

(Bakhtin& Holquist, 1981; Pope, 2002) translating themselves away from NSE-NNSE

dichotomies (Rushdie, 1991). Thus, ―appropriating the language by confidently using it to

serve one‘s own interests according to one‘s own values, helps develop fluency in English‖

(Canagarajah, 2006, p. 592).

This paper highlighted the centrality of attending to lives and experiential knowledge

in EFLTEPs. Students bring to class rich linguistic and cultural existences and family

stories—which are undergraduates‘ tales too. These narratives embody ―roots and routes,

fixed and entrenched in one sense and on the move in another‖ (Friedman, 2002, p. 22).

Indeed, future EFL teachers can learn the language while learning from lives and for their

professional lives (Biesta & Tedder, 2008) within a reflexive teaching and learning context.

53

This was an occasion for balancing family identities, understanding origins, projecting

expectations, and representing identities to others meaningfully (Mosselson, 2006). These

results also suggest the emancipatory significance (Nelson, 2011; Nunan & Choi, 2010;

Smolcic, 2011) of sharing biographical knowledge in EFLTEPs to contribute to teachers‘

development by implementing scaled-up interventions to support narrative inquiry in these

fields.

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5 Designing intercultural and

bilingual e-material for primary and

secondary schools

Silvana Barboni

Liliana Simón

Universidad Nacional de La Plata

Programa de Educación Plurilingüe e Intercultural Pcia Bs. As.

1. Introduction

1.2 The challenge of a plurilingual pedagogical perspective in ESOL

The last decade has been witness to deep theoretical changes in ESOL education in the

province of Buenos Aires. The changes introduced at regulatory levels since 2006 have

brought about the recognition of English as an international language in the context of a

provincial system of education which is in turn nurtured by the linguistic and cultural

diversity present in its 4.7 million students (Barboni & Porto, 2011). This diversity is the

result of sustained migratory processes especially from neighbouring countries, increased

interaction with an international community in our present knowledge society reality and

policy changes in line with national and regional development policies. The change

processes required considering two main principles in the ESOL education provided by the

57

state which do not constitute the ways in which English was traditionally taught in non-

compulsory educational settings in Argentina: social justice and social practice. Social

justice refers to intercultural awareness principles guiding teaching while social practice is

the principle at the basis of a discourse perspective of language teaching.

On the one hand, the principle of Social Justice stems from a need to recognise the

multiple identities that are conveyed in the use of languages and the diverse linguistic and

cultural backgrounds that students reveal in educational institutions of the province. This

diversity is constituted by the diverse trajectories that students bring to the English class in

formal schooling under present educational laws. Unlike ten years ago, when secondary

education was not compulsory and English was not a compulsory subject in all primary

schools, the present legal frame challenges educators and policy makers to develop

inclusive educational strategies. These strategies are aimed at embracing an understanding

of English as one of the languages present in the province of Buenos Aires among other

languages such as Guaraní, Wichi and Mapuche as well as Spanish. While Spanish bears

the status of the language of schooling, indigenous languages remain to be the mother

tongue for a great part of the children attending schools in the province. English in this

context acquires the status of an international language that ―allows speakers from different

linguistic and cultural backgrounds [...] to have their voices heard and to interact directly

without the need of mediators or translators‖ (Byram, 2009) in an international context.

Social justice in the English class is present when the teaching strategy used "enables the

creation of a learning context which is not threatening to students´ identities but that builds

multiplicities of language uses and linguistic identities, while maintaining academic rigour

and upholding high expectations‖ (García, 2009, p. 318).

58

On the other hand, the principle of Social Practice―places learning through an

additional language as a result of collaborative social practices in which students try out

ideas and actions (Lave & Wenger, 1991), and thus socially construct their learning

(Vygotsky, 1978). Learning is seen as occurring through doing (Dewey, 1897). Thus, an

action-based pedagogy falls within this principle. In the field of language education, this is

often referred to as task based pedagogy (Ellis, 2009)‖ (García, 2009, p. 323). An ESOL

pedagogy stemming from this principle embraces a communicative curriculum prescribed

as part of the learning experiences that children should undergo during formal schooling

with a strong emphasis on a task based pedagogy. This is to be translated in school

programmes that present learning English through using it by solving problems (Ellis,

2003, 2010). Emphasis is given to interactive processes to address some of the present day

concerns with literacies: knowing languages will multiply improved communication

strategies (García, 2009: 5-18) in multiple contexts of use for work, study, entertainment or

any other purpose. Languages, whether it be the mother tongue, a second language or a

foreign language, are seen as a resource to the development of translanguagings, that is to

say, ―multiple discursive practices‖ (Ibid, 2009: 45 - 47) necessary in a world of constant

interaction among people. In this respect, Canagarajah (2011) advocates a focus on what

he calls performative competence, that is, the type of knowledge conveyed through

interactive skills and strategies that people use when they are using and learning to use

languages in specific situations (of use).

These ideas relate to some of the main objectives of the ESOL curriculum of Primary

education which is to help children find ways of saying and doing things in English in a

sheltered environment: one that encourages them to take risks –a necessary condition to

59

learn languages. On the other hand, they connect with the theoretical foundation of the

ESOL curriculum for Secondary education when it says:

English being an effective resource for international communication and the spread of

technical-scientific knowledge and literature, it allows access to:

• advances of science and technology for its use and adaptation in the development of

self projects;

• other cultures and a reflection about self culture;

• an education in agreement with present day work requirements and with new modes

of production;

• updated information in their original language.

All of the above address language as an object of study as well as the construction of

knowledge on how to do something, that is to say, knowledge to address communicative

situations inside and outside the classroom. (ESOL Secondary Level Curriculum Design,

200, p. 155).

2. The setting of the project

The teacher meetings developed with ESOL teachers across the Province of Buenos Aires

as from 2010 reveal a pervasive concern of teachers in the public sector with teaching

materials. Through the 134 districts of the province, teachers have acknowledged

difficulties to work with the ESOL textbooks in the market, in particular, in contexts of

60

vulnerability. It is evident that the textbook industry studies the populations that are likely

to buy those textbooks and develops a target user as the aim of their publishing projects. In

all cases, they are considering those audiences who invest in books for the commercial

reasons associated to their activity.

The state system of education of the province receives a 20% intake of students within

the social vulnerability index. That intake reaches higher percentages in schools located in

certain areas of poverty and deprivation of the "conurbano" in the province of Buenos

Aires. Also, these schools receive immigrant populations and certain minority groups

established in the territory. The state is responsible for these citizens since children in these

contexts need to have their identities and their linguistic diversity recognised.

The collection "Cuadernos para el Aula de Inglés" (―Workbooks for the English class‖)

was in fact developed for these contexts of vulnerability. Though it is not the intention of

the Ministry of Education to develop a publishing enterprise as a body of the state, it bears

the responsibility to cater for the needs of those who are often neglected and whose

vulnerability is sometimes the reason for their exclusion. In this context of inclusion and

social justice, the project was released to provide resources to schools where vulnerability

rates reach high percentages. Thus, approximately twenty thousand children for each

educational level, out of a hundred and eighty thousand, are entitled to their "cuadernos".

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3. How are these principles realised in the design of ESOL materials for compulsory

schooling in the Province?

When designing ―Cuadernos para el Aula de Inglés‖, a set of aspects were considered in

relation to the principles of social justice and social practices. These aspects were:

 An understanding of English as an international language and of language learning

as a process of developing a ―translanguaging‖ understanding of language use.

 A strong local contextual reference as part of a Latin American perspective.

 A task-based pedagogic perspective considering a focus on content, language and

thinking skills integration in activities.

 A digital support for the analogic publication in the structure of ―the digital corner‖

3.1. ESOL learning for translanguaging practices

It is a well recognised fact that people use today the languages available to them to develop

better communication practices. That is part of what researchers are studying in connection

to the ways in which linguistic diversity and plurilingualism is improving the way people

communicate around the world. These practices, which refer to the ways people use

―language‖ have been called ―translanguaging‖ and can be described as the ―multiple

discursive practices in which bilinguals engage in order to make sense of their bilingual

worlds (García, 2009, p. 319).‖ This notion was taken up for the construction of interaction

in the materials developed. As the example in picture 1 in the appendix shows, the flexible

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use of languages before different interlocutors, the use of ―non translatable terms‖ such as

che or pichi - both exponents of indigenous language terms reflect that translanguaging has

become natural in our provincial context. The interactions intend to exemplify the

systematic, strategic, affiliative and sense-making process that is carried out by bilinguals

to include and facilitate communication with others, but also to construct deeper

understandings and make sense of their worlds which are lived in different languages.

3.2. From the local to the international

The situations present in the material refer to genuine language uses in the local context to

speak about our local reality. By means of geographical references, explicit allusions to our

natural world in this part of the world and a clear understanding of the world from the eyes

of Latin America, with its ecology problems and its social reality, the teaching of English

becomes highly contextualized in our own land to help us talk about us in an international

context. There is a strong presence of our local natural world with explicit references to

Latin American geographical mobility and sociocultural practices. An example of this can

be found in picture 2 of the appendix in which a picture story is presented.

3.3. Solving problems to learn language and content.

The tasks developed in the material include a wide set of information gap, reasoning gap

and information gap tasks, involving different levels of work in terms of thinking skills,

from lower order to higher order ones aiming at the uttermost objective of critical thinking.

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All the tasks amount for the construction of a set of four final projects among which

teachers and students can choose depending on their interests and contextual circumstances.

These final inclusive projects are third generation tasks with an educational ethical

dimension accounting to students´ citizenship education. Picture 3 in the Appendix shows

examples of these tasks.

3. 4. Digital component in the digital corner

Once the "Cuadernos para el Aula de Inglés" were published, the second stage of the

Project was ready to start. This second stage involves the integration of Learning

Technologies in the classroom. Technology is already present in many secondary schools in

the province of Buenos Aires with the National Programme called ―Conectar Igualdad‖

which started in 2010. Also this year (2013) the primary schools of the province of Buenos

Aires are launching a new project called ―Aulas Digitales‖; thus, primary schools will

receive netbooks to be used in primary school classrooms. Thanks to these programmes,

students have now the opportunity to enhance their learning with the use of technology in

the language classes.

However, computers are not enough to make the big change in the 21st century

learners. Even though teachers from the Province of Buenos Aires have been receiving

training sessions on Learning Technologies delivered by the programme ―Conectar

Igualdad‖ and the programme of Plurilingualismand Intercultural Education of the Province

of Buenos Aires, we are aware of the fact that teachers still have difficulties in the use of

technologies in their classroom. Teachers need to be confident in order to offer effective

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technology integration with appropriate strategies in their real contexts. Therefore, we

decided to create a special place for teachers of English who can find motivating e-

activities triggered by the content developed in "Cuadernos para el Aula de Inglés" called

―Digital Corner‖ (―Rincón Digital‖).

The following text is the introduction of the e-book ―Digital Corner‖:

The main focus of the Digital Corner materials is to help and guide

English teachers to walk together the paths towards Learning

Technologies. We all know how technologies have invaded our teaching

context and that we cannot resist its integration anymore. We know that

each teacher has a personal and unique scenario in his/her own class;

therefore, we will suggest different paths to take together with

technology, your students and you.

Remember that you together with your students will be leaving your

digital footprints when you walk through the paths of the web. Hope

this e-booklet will help you throughout your digital way.

All the activities suggested in the ―Digital Corner‖ were already tested; all the webtools

used are free and all the photos and pictures used are free as well. In this way, we have tried

to avoid copyright issues and we teach teachers how to create online material free of legal

problems. The webtools recommended are user-friendly and appropriate to the age and

level of knowledge of the students and their learning context.

The e-activities suggested by ―Digital Corner‖ involve the ―students learn by doing‖

principle mentioned by Dewey (1897). The four skills are present throughout the e-book:

reading, writing, speaking and listening. Once the students finish with their tasks, all the

projects can be uploaded to a school/class/student blog , wiki, school webpage, etc. In these

virtual environments students have the opportunity to share their work not only with their

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classmates but also with other institutions, their parents and, of course, the rest of the

world.

Reading and writing activities have always been easy to carry out in our classes

whereas listening and speaking tasks have presented more difficulties as regards the use of

the different technological gadgets we have used in the last years. Nowadays, the

convergence of technologies and the growth of webtools have solved many of our

problems. For

Roots & routes in language education: Bi-multi-plurilingualism, interculturality and identity Selected papers from the 38th FAAPI Conference

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