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Classroom Teacher Talk in Early Immersion
... Studies which have attempted to determine and analyse the role of the foreign language teacher have paid little attention to the use teachers make of nonlinguistic aspects. One exception has been an analysis of the use teachers make of visual resources (Tardif, 1994). The study of body language (facial features, hand movements, mime, etc.) and its possible impact on pupils in the foreign language classroom has been almost completely ignored. ...
One of the basic conditions required for pupils to learn a foreign language is that their teachers must speak to them in the target language—and always at a level which is understandable to them. The effectiveness of interactional adjustments such as repetitions, comprehension checks, and nonlinguistic aspects used by a teacher to help primary and secondary school pupils with their general understanding of spoken texts delivered in English is analysed in this article. Once the effectiveness of such adjustments is confirmed, a comparison is made between the teacher’s use of adjustments when teaching a group of 10-year-old primary school pupils and when teaching a group of 17-year-old secondary school pupils. 外国語指導の重要な要件の一つとして、当該外国語を指導言語とし、しかもそれを学習者が理解できるレベルで使わなければならないということが挙げられる。そのために教員は学習者とのやり取りの最中、理解の確認、繰り返し、あるいは非言語行動により絶えず調整を行わなければならない。このような調整がどのくらい効果があるのかを、小学校、中学校の授業を観察し分析した。さらに10歳の小学生対象の授業、17歳の中学生対象の授業でどのように違うかをあわせて考察した。
... Om man beaktar att lärarens yttranden är märkbart längre än barnens kan man konstatera att läraren upptog mer än hälften av talrummet vid alla inspelningstillfällen. Detta var dock också att förvänta eftersom tidigare studier av lärares språkanvändning i klass gett liknande resultat (jfr Tardif 1994). Att läraren ger barnen mera talrum medför dock inte automatiskt att barnen använder andraspråket mer vilket inspelningen Rymdsaga visade. ...
... Teacher talk usually exceeds student talk in quantity but still plays a pivotal role in determining the overall quality of classroom discourse (Lyster, 2011 adjust their speech formally so that the input that learners receive is both clearer and linguistically simpler. Tardif (1994) claims that L2 teachers build redundancy into their speech by using discourse modifications such as self-repetition, modeling and paraphrase as well as many definitions, examples and synonyms to enable students to understand the target language. Teachers also vary intonation to mirror messages and use a variety of question types, e.g., comprehension checks, clarification requests, recall questions, confirmation checks. ...
While research on language immersion education has highlighted a multitude of benefits such as
cognitive skills, academic achievement and language and literacy development, some studies have also
identified challenges to its effective implementation, particularly as they relate to language acquisition.
It has been suggested that the less than optimal levels of students’ immersion language “persist in part
because immersion teachers lack systematic approaches for integrating language into their content
instruction” (Tedick, Christian, & Fortune, 2011, p. 7). Students’ interlanguage has aspects that are
borrowed, transferred and generalised from the mother tongue and differs from both the immersion
language and the mother tongue. After a period of sustained development, interlanguage appears to
stabilise and certain non-target like features tend to fossilise. Research has long suggested that
effective immersion pedagogy needs to counterbalance both form-oriented and meaning-oriented
approaches. This paper reviews the literature in relation to the linguistic deficiencies in immersion
students’ L2 proficiency and form-focused instruction is examined as a viable solution to this
pedagogic puzzle. Key instructional elements of form-focused instruction are unpacked and some
pedagogical possibilities are considered in an attempt to identify and discuss strategies that will enable
immersion learners to refine their grammatical and lexical systems as they proceed.
... Furthermore, in order to emphasise an utterance, she speaks more slowly at times. Although the L2 teacher does not translate the L2 into the L1, she translates the child's L1 utterance into the L2 and models, expands, paraphrases the children's L2 utterances (Tardif 1994). In other words, she takes up the child's utterance and provides a correct and extended model. ...
Drawing on data from eleven preschools in four European countries (Germany, Belgium, Sweden, and the UK), this edited volume explores the progress of preschool children learning English over a period of two years. The second edited volume gives details on best practices in bilingual preschools as well as background and training on topics such as second language acquisition, intercultural communication, green immersion, material development and guidelines for language use and the implementation of bilingual preschools.
... Sie nimmt dabei diese L2-Äußerungen auf, umschreibt sie und bietet ein korrektes und ggf. erweitertes Modell derselben an (Tardif 1994). Schließlich ermutigt die L2-Erzieherin die Kinder zwar zum Mitsingen und zum Verwenden der L2, zwingt sie jedoch niemals, die L2 zu verwenden oder sich bei Tätigkeiten zu beteiligen, die in der neuen Sprache durchgeführt werden. ...
... She does this in extract 5.30 (above) to teach the difference between bionic and covalent bonds. Tardif (1994) identified five modification strategies: self-repetition, linguistic modelling, providing information, expanding an utterance and using extensive elicitation, and grading and adjustment of questions. While Lynch (1996) describes ways teachers modify their interaction with confirmation checks, comprehension checks, repetition, clarification requests, reformulation, completion and backtracking. ...
This mixed-methods study concerns the teaching of CLIL to students in mainstream secondary schools in Catalonia. English proficiency levels among school students remain persistently low throughout Spain compared to other European countries, despite policies to lower the age at which pupils start to learn English and increase the time they spend in lessons. Given the limited space in the curriculum in Catalonia, which already has the challenge of teaching two official languages, CLIL has increasingly been viewed as a solution to bolster English competence. This study therefore sets out to explore interaction and discourse in CLIL and L1 secondary science classrooms to find out how teachers were able to achieve their CLIL learning aims, while comparing teaching strategies and pupil participation in CLIL and L1 learning environments. Qualitative methods (questionnaires and interviews) were used to measure student and teacher perceptions of CLIL, while a combination of qualitative and quantitative measures were employed to analyse transcripts from 20 hours of recorded lessons. The results show that teachers used a greater range of tasks in the CLIL lessons to scaffold learning, engage students and encourage participation. Learning was more visual and hands on in the CLIL classrooms, whereas in the L1 lessons it could feature long stretches of teacher talk with few student-centred activities. However, student participation was low in the CLIL lessons. Students struggled to ask and answer questions in English, and teachers were unable, and often reluctant, to employ strategies to get students speaking, for example, through the use of ELT-style speaking activities. The research also revealed high rates of L1 use, both to communicate within the CLIL lessons and to teach entire lessons on the course. This reflects the teachers’ view that the science took precedence over language learning and that their aim was to teach the same amount and depth of science content in the CLIL lessons as they would expect to teach when using students’ L1.
... Inwieweit diese Anreicherung in der Praxis eingesetzt wird, ist jedoch empirisch kaum untersucht und für deutsche Grundschulen noch zu zeigen (für immersive Kindergärten vgl. Tardif, 1994;Peregoy, 1991;Weber & Tardif, 1991). ...
Zusammenfassung: Immersionsunterricht stellt eine Integration von Sprach- und Fachunterricht (vgl. CLIL) dar, bei dem Schüler in einer Fremdsprache (z. B. Englisch) unterrichtet werden. In dieser Studie wurde die Entwicklung von Leseflüssigkeit und Rechtschreibleistung in den ersten vier Jahrgangsstufen von n = 351 immersiv und n = 306 konventionell unterrichteten Schülern verglichen. Latente Wachstumskurvenmodelle zeigten, dass die Schülergruppen in beiden Domänen dasselbe Ausgangsniveau aufwiesen. In der Leseflüssigkeit fand sich jedoch ein schnellerer Leistungszuwachs bei den immersiv unterrichteten Schülern, während sich die Rechtschreibleistung in beiden Gruppen ähnlich positiv entwickelte. Damit bestätigt sich, dass Immersionsschüler trotz Unterrichts in einer Fremdsprache mindestens keine Nachteile im L1-Lesen und Schreiben erleiden. Die Befunde werden in Hinblick auf positive Effekte des Immersionsunterrichts auf kognitive Funktionen und interlinguale Transferprozesse diskutiert.
... In addition to the findings consistent with Chaudron's model on discourse, tutors also made further modifications, used praise and the students' L1 to explain and clarify concepts. The discourse characteristics found, such as teacher modelling, repetition, and explanation/clarification are considered supportive of teacher talk (Yedlin 2004;Veque 2005;. ...
... This could account for the effect we noted of the differences in maths scores between the two groups evening out by Grade 5. Taylor (1992), who studied a Chinese boy in early immersion (who reminds us very much of Xiao Wang) suggested, on the other hand, that the success of ESL children in immersion may have more to do with the nature of the programme than with the children's ability. She mentions, as we have done above, the use of gestures, scaffolding, concrete materials, pictures and rituals whose importance was originally signalled by Tardif and Weber (1987); (see also Tardif, 1994). Taylor also notes that, in French, there is no lexical gap between the ESL children and their English peers, which might affect cognitive development if the teaching were in English. ...
Immersion or content-based language programmes are sometimes promoted as the best way of achieving high levels of proficiency in languages other than English. Evaluations of such programmes indicate that the cohort of students achieve higher levels of proficiency than students in traditional programmes. However, a recent survey of all teachers in a French early partial immersion programme revealed concerns for those who teach in English as to whether an immersion programme is suitable for all children. They felt that the problems of children who were learning English and French as second languages were compounded by the programme. There were also concerns for children who struggle with maths, the main content area delivered in the second-language programme. The same concerns are not expressed by those who teach in French. This paper will consider whether the teachers' concerns are grounded, or whether, in fact, the nature of the immersion classroom may make it a more suitable environment for fostering the learning of a diversity of children.
... Furthermore, in order to emphasise an utterance, she speaks more slowly at times. Although the L2 teacher does not translate the L2 into the L1, she translates the child's L1 utterance into the L2 and models, expands, paraphrases the children's L2 utterances (Tardif 1994). In other words, she takes up the child's utterance and provides a correct and extended model. ...
This study examined seven Louisiana kindergarten immersion teachers' practices to evaluate students' oral target language production and compare the oral production elicited when different instructional practices were used over a single semester. Three rounds of three 20-minute observations in three different contexts - circle time, direct instruction, and centre time - were conducted in seven kindergarten teachers' classrooms at the beginning, middle, and end of the semester. Using the Association canadienne des professeurs d'immersion (ACPI) accepted language proficiency levels, the researchers focused on students' global capacity to communicate. Findings suggest that teacher practices influenced student oral language production and help identify specific, practical suggestions for improving language immersion teaching practices and immersion teacher training. © The Canadian Modern Language Review/La Revue canadienne des langues vivantes.
In this chapter, the second language classroom is characterized by the ways in which teachers and learners jointly construct meanings through the ‘talk’ that they produce. Understanding and language acquisition do not simply ‘happen’; they are negotiated in the give-and- take of classroom interaction. In order to gain an understanding of classroom discourse, a variable approach is proposed, which views any lesson as a series of complex, dynamic and inter-related micro-contexts. There are three reasons for adopting a variable stance. Firstly, all L2 classroom discourse is goal-oriented and related to teachers’ unfolding pedagogic goals; secondly, the prime responsibility for establishing and shaping the interaction lies with the teacher; thirdly, pedagogic goals and language use are inextricably linked.
Student teachers’ beliefs and practices regarding the use of L1 in a foreign language primary classroom were examined. A group of 34 Polish BA students were studied on three different occasions: before observation practice, after observation practice and during their own teaching practice. Changes in opinions, triggered by formal instruction and reflective observation, were observed. However, the challenge of conducting a lesson on their own proved too overwhelming for some trainees to implement their principles in real life. The issue of L1/L2 use by learners is outside the scope of this study.
There are approximately 300,000 students currently enrolled in elementary or secondary French immersion programs in Canada (OCOL, 1996). Most of these students are from English-speaking homes yet the medium of instruction for much of their academic instruction is French. Programs differ according to the age students enter the program and according to how many academic subjects they study in French. Since the mid 1960’s when the first French immersion program began in Canada, the sociocultural, academic and linguistic (first and second language) outcomes of French immersion programs have been extensively examined. More recent research has been focusing on the nature of immersion teaching and on pedagogical strategies that might supplement and support the communicative pedagogical orientation typically found in French immersion programs.
This research examined how children understand and experience kindergarten in English first language (L1) and French immersion second language (L2) programs through interviews and direct observations of 10 French immersion and 10 regular English language classes. A sub-sample of children was interviewed using puppets. Results show that understanding of school is equally sophisticated for children in L2 immersion and regular L1 contexts as judged by direct observation, by children's 'scripts' of kindergarten, and by their responses to interview questions. The similarities between L2 immersion and regular L1 kindergartens were greater than the differences, and the equally positive picture of immersion and regular schooling, contradict suggestions in the literature that the L2 immersion experience is too stressful for five-year-olds. The multiple approaches used in this study were developed to supplement the traditional kinds of measures used in previous studies of L2 immersion based on outcomes. Findings are discussed in terms of children's understanding of school and the relative importance of the teacher's language in building that understanding.
This paper reports some of the results of a study conducted with learners of Chinese who were involved in a late immersion programme in a graduate school of education in Australia. Four learners acted as key informants for the project. The aim of the project was to explore in depth the learners' experiences of learning Chinese in an immersion setting. The learners and their teachers faced many problems during the time they were involved with this project- these problems can be described as being those involved in learning to 'do school' with/in a different script. The challenge of learning to read and write in a different script- a character-based language- was one of the challenges faced by the learners. However, both learners and teachers were faced with the challenge of coming to grips with a different script for what was meant by learning and teaching a language in a classroom.
The aim of this paper is to present the results of research conducted with four adult learners of Chinese, in order to throw some light on the process of learning Chinese as a second language. The term “process” is used here to refer to operations used by learners to find and/or construct meaning within the context of a particular second language classroom. “Strategy” refers to a single operation which is a feature of the process of meaning construction. Data were collected over a two year period using individual and group interviews, think aloud protocols, classroom observation and learner diaries. The students showed a number of different approaches to learning, not all of which could be classified as “good language learner” strategies. Findings relating to literacy are presented, as well as more general learner strategies. Research implications are that there is still much to be learned about what goes on in immersion classrooms, especially as regards older learners and languages with ideographic scripts.
Este artículo se centra en un importante aspecto de los programas de inmersión temprana al catalán: la cualidad de la aproximación pedagógica. Analizamos el efecto de dos aproximaciones pedagógicas diferentes sobre el aprendizaje del contenido y el uso del lenguaje en dos aulas de educación infantil (primer año del programa). Las dos aproximaciones han sido definidas como "más centrada en el profesor" y "más centrada en el alumno". Esta última proporciona un contexto más rico para el aprendizaje de contenidos y potencia el desarrollo de la segunda lengua. Nuestro trabajo examina implicaciones prácticas para la enseñanza de la L2 a través de contenidos dirigidos a alumnos de estas edades. This paper focuses on an important aspect of early catalan immersion programmes: the quality of the pedagogical approach adopted. We analyse the effect of two such approaches on the learning content and language used in two preschool immersion classes (first year in the programme). The two approaches are defined as: 1) "more teacher centred" and 2) "more student centred". The latter approach is considered to provide a richer learning "content" and a richer range of "language" (input and output). It is also potentially better suited to L2 use and acquisition in settings such as immersion programmes. Our work also examines various practical implications for teaching L2 through content to children in this age-range.
En: Lenguaje y textos La Coruña 1998, n. 11-12; p. 27-39 Se analiza el modo en que se hace comprensible el ínput al aprendiz de una lengua extranjera. En primer lugar lugar se investigan las modificaciones de tipo lingüístico que realiza el profesor al hablar a sus alumnos. El segundo aspecto que se trata son los ajustes de interacción que realizan los profesores para hacer su ínput comprensible, p.37-39
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