scholarly journals Teachers’ Beliefs about Translanguaging: Effects of Language Skills and Instructional Settings

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. p107
Author(s):  
Bruce Torff ◽  
Audrey Figueroa Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
General Education ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Pedagogical Practice ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Teachers Beliefs ◽  
Instructional Settings

Experimental research was conducted to examine teachers’ beliefs about classroom activities involving translanguaging, a pedagogical practice in which students use both their home language and second language to communicate, learn academic content, and develop oral and literacy skills in both languages. Teachers (n = 249) completed a survey to rate the effectiveness of translanguaging in general and specifically for students who vary in L1 and L2 proficiency (in this research, Spanish and English). Participants were randomly assigned to respond concerning one of four instructional settings: Bilingual Education (BE), Dual Language (DL), General Education (GE), and English as a Second Language (ESL). In general, translanguaging was viewed as more effective when students’ Spanish skills are strong, although strong English skills also were seen to make it more effective to a lesser extent. Teachers rated translanguaging as generally more effective in DL and BE, likely because these settings explicitly leverage students’ home-language skills. Classroom practices based on these beliefs may exacerbate achievement gaps between high- and low-proficiency populations, by directing the richness of the home language and culture disproportionately to high-proficiency students. Teacher-education practices are needed emphasizing translanguaging for all students regardless of home-language proficiency.

Home language and societal language skills in second-generation bilingual adults

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 1071-1087 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Giguere ◽  
Erika Hoff
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Hierarchical Regression ◽  
Early Exposure ◽  
Language And Literacy ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Grammatical Skills ◽  
Heritage Language Speakers

Aims: Research aims were (a) to test competing predictions regarding the levels of heritage and societal language proficiency among young adults who experienced early exposure to both languages, and (b) to identify sources of individual differences in degree of bilingualism. Design/methodology/approach: Participants comprised 65 Spanish–English bilinguals who reported using both languages on a weekly basis, 25 native English monolinguals, and 25 native Spanish monolinguals. Language and literacy skills were assessed with a battery of standardized and research-based assessments. Degree of bilingualism was calculated for the bilingual participants. Data and analysis: Paired sample t-tests compared the bilinguals’ skills in English to their skills in Spanish. Hierarchical regression evaluated factors related to their degree of bilingualism. Independent sample t-tests compared bilinguals’ single-language skills to monolinguals. Findings/conclusions: The bilinguals’ English skills were stronger than their Spanish skills on every measure. Thus, degree of bilingualism was largely a function of level of Spanish skill and was associated with concurrent Spanish exposure. Bilinguals’ English skills were not different from the monolinguals except in speed of lexical access. The bilinguals’ Spanish skills were significantly lower than the Spanish monolinguals on every measure except in accuracy judgments for grammatically correct sentences. Originality: Previous studies of bilingual adults have focused on sequential bilinguals and previous studies of heritage language speakers have focused on their grammatical skills. This is the first study, to our knowledge, to assess a wide range of functionally relevant skills in adults with early exposure to a heritage and societal language. Significance/implications: These findings demonstrate that early exposure to and continued use of a home language does not interfere with the achievement of societal language and literacy skills, while also demonstrating that even a widely and frequently used home language may not be acquired to the same skill level as a societal language used in school.

MANAGING TRANSITION: TEACHER ACCOMMODATION STRATEGIES IN AN ENGLISH SECOND LANGUAGE CLASSROOM

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-66
Author(s):  
Blandina Makina
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Intermediate Phase ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
First Language ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Slow Development ◽  
And Function

The South African Language in Education Policy (LiEP) makes provision for learners to be taught in their first language in the first three years of schooling. In accordance with this language policy, in most public schools, learners are taught in their home language in the first three years of school. In grade 4, which is the beginning of the intermediate phase, English - the second language (L2) – becomes the language of learning and teaching (LoLT) across all subjects except the mother tongue. Contrary to expectations, by grade 4, learners in disadvantaged environments have barely developed sufficient reading and writing skills in their home language to make a successful transition and function effectively in the L2. This paper is based on insights from lesson observations and interviews of three Grade 4 teachers of English as a Second Language. It documents the accommodation strategies used to help learners manipulate the language of learning and teaching (LoLT). Findings indicate that the translanguaging processes involved in making English part of the learners’ linguistic repertoire are heavily embedded in the home language, resulting in very slow development of the learners’ language proficiency in English. Recommendations are made on how to enable teachers to assist their learners to bridge this transition gap.

scholarly journals FUNCTIONS OF SPEAKING IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE & SPEAKING ANXIETY

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Noor Hanim Rahmat ◽  
Nor Syahiza Shahabani ◽  
Irma Wahyuny Ibrahim
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Pilot Study ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Oral Communication ◽  
Speaking Anxiety ◽  
Reading And Writing ◽  
Second Language Speakers ◽  
Speaking Skills

Plato once said “a wise man speaks because he has something to say, a fool speaks because he has to say something!” Often the ability to speak (or not) is used to gauge a person’s language proficiency. Speaking is one of the four language skills which includes listening, reading and writing. However, of all the four skills, the first skill that is portrayed is a person’s speaking skills. A person’s speaking skills (or lack of it) is often used by future employers to evaluate the oral communication abilities of their employees. This is because speaking has many different functions and failure to understand the varying functions may lead to anxiety among the speakers. This pilot study is done to investigate the usage of the English language in undergraduates’ interaction and transaction in their everyday lives, their speaking performances and their speaking anxiety. Data is analysed using SPSS and presented in the form of mean scores. Findings for interaction and transaction showed that English is used during formal transaction. In addition to that, the discussion on academic matters is a necessity to speak English. Next, findings for performance revealed that no matter how good or poor their achievement in this second language, speakers have to make it happen – this is one of the challenges that the speakers have to face. Lastly, the speaking anxiety may impact their (speakers) interaction with other people. Results of this study bear interesting implications towards the acquisition and learning of speaking in English among learners. <p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0736/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Co-Enrollment and the Education of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Learners: Foundations, Implementation, and Challenges

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Shirin Antia ◽  
Harry Knoors ◽  
Marc Marschark
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
General Education ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Hard Of Hearing ◽  
Full Membership ◽  
Education Teacher ◽  
General Education Teacher ◽  
The Social ◽  
Time Required

This chapter introduces the concept of co-enrollment, exploring the philosophical and pragmatic foundations of this educational option of educating deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) students. The intent of co-enrollment programs is to promote full membership of both DHH and hearing students in the school and classroom. Co-enrollment programs are often bilingual in sign language and spoken language and are frequently co-taught by a general education teacher and a teacher of DHH students. The scant research on co-enrollment classrooms indicates that the social outcomes are positive, but academic and language proficiency outcomes are not yet established. Teachers, parents, and students all perceive co-enrollment programs positively. Challenges include the time required for students and teachers to master a second language and the time and effort required to establish and maintain teacher partnerships.

The impact of verb form, sentence position, home language, and second language proficiency on subject–verb agreement in child second language Dutch

2012 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 777-811 ◽  
Author(s):  
ELMA BLOM ◽  
HARALD R. BAAYEN
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Verb Agreement ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
Sentence Position ◽  
Default Form ◽  
Syntactic Properties ◽  
Communication Demands ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACTIt has been argued that children learning a second language (L2) omit agreement inflection because of communication demands. The conclusion of these studies is that L2 children know the morphological and syntactic properties of agreement inflection, but sometimes insert an inflectional default form (i.e., the bare verb) in production. The present study focuses on factors that explain errors with subject–verb agreement in the speech of children learning Dutch as their L2. Analyses of experimentally obtained production data from 4- to 9-year-old L2 children reveal that verb form, sentence position, home language, and L2 proficiency determine accuracy with subject–verb agreement in the L2. Most errors were omissions of inflection, in line with the above hypothesis. However, in more exceptional contexts, the children also substituted verb forms, which is more difficult to reconcile with the claim that L2 children's errors reflect insertion of a default form.

Using Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) materials in English as Second Language (ESL) classrooms: perspectives of teachers and students in United Arab Emirates

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramia DIRAR SHEHADEH MUSMAR
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Language ◽  
Learning Technologies ◽  
Student Diversity ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Computer Assisted Language Learning ◽  
Learning And Teaching

Integrating scaffolding-learning technologies has been recognized for its potential to create intellectual and engaging classroom interactions. In the United Arab Emirates, having language teachers employ computers as a medium of new pedagogical instrument for teaching second languages generated the idea of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) as a medium of an innovative pedagogical instrument for facilitating and scaffolding language learning, with an aspiration that it will lead to improved English language attainment and better assessment results. This study aims at investigating the perspectives of students and teachers on the advantageous and disadvantageous impacts of CALL on learning and teaching English as a second language in one public school in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. The results show that CALL has a facilitating role in L2 classroom and that using CALL activities is advantageous in reducing English learning tension, boosting motivation, catering for student diversity, promoting self-directed language learning and scaffolding while learning English. The results additionally report that numerous aspects like time constraints, teachers’ unsatisfactory computer skills, insufficient computer facilities, and inflexible school courses undesirably affect the implementation of CALL in English classrooms. It is recommended that further studies should be undertaken to investigate the actual effect of CALL on students’ language proficiency. 

Can Virtual Replace In-person Coaching? Experimental Evidence on Teacher Professional Development and Student Learning in South Africa

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacobus Cilliers ◽  
Brahm Fleisch ◽  
Janeli Kotzé ◽  
Nompumelelo Mohohlwane ◽  
Stephen Taylor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Oral Language ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Reading Proficiency ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Oral Language Proficiency ◽  
Virtual Coaching ◽  
Negative Effect

Virtual communication holds the promise of enabling low-cost professional development at scale, but the benefits of in-person interaction might be difficult to replicate. We report on an experiment in South Africa comparing on-site with virtual coaching of public primary school teachers. After three years, on-site coaching improved students' English oral language and reading proficiency (0.31 and 0.13 SD, respectively). Virtual coaching had a smaller impact on English oral language proficiency (0.12 SD), no impact on English reading proficiency, and an unintended negative effect on home language literacy. Classroom observations show that on-site coaching improved teaching practices, and virtual coaching led to larger crowding-out of home language teaching time. Implementation and survey data suggest technology itself was not a barrier to implementation, but rather that in-person contact enabled more accountability and support.

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