Interfaces of language use, multilingualism and identity: school and family in the intergration process

Transcription

1 Interfaces of language use, multilingualism and identity: school and family in the intergration process Maisa Martin University of Jyväskylä FLIN

2 Jyväskylä Language Campus

3 Theme How to support the identity of recently arrived school-aged children? What is the relationship between learning the language and the identity of the child? What goes on in language acquisition in the first year or so? What can school do? What about the parents? Siblings? The role of the immigrant community? I ask questions and provide background with research results, you think of answers.

4 Topics Language and identity Language system, language use Language learning Multilingualism theory and practice Language at school Language at home Language at the immigrant community Examples

5 Language and identity Identity only partly stable, changes across the lifespan but also by situation and context Important to some, not to everyone Much dependent on language and the level of language skills (but not entirely) Lots of research on its composition and dynamic aspects, not reviewed here Position in the family, gender issues The role of the home language(s) and the school language(s) Recently arrived children in a fluctuating phase, SLA crucial

6 Stuck by your tongue

7 Language system, language use The way we imagine language and language learning influence greatly our decisions. Language as a stable abstract system, rule-based, vocabulary, grammar and meaning separate entities, clear boundaries between languages Language as usage-based, concrete chunks which can be modified, constantly changing, situated, embodied, vocabulary, grammar and meaning all intertwined, no discrete boundaries between languages The latter view better suited to multilingual classrooms

8 Dynamic systems theory (DST) (Tilma 2013)

9 Language learning Based on beliefs about language Foreign vs. second language distinction disappearing (internet, multilingualism) Rule-based starting point works better in teacher-controlled situations In SLA learning paths are automatically individual as language contacts vary. SLA teaching has two goals: Provide tools for noticing and learning from environment Make sense of chaos

10 Clip Art survey (1) Langauge learning as a personal activity

11 Clip Art survey (2) Language learning as an interactive effort

12 Stages of language acquisition Step by step Taking turns

13 or Spiraling Multidirectional

14 Very comprehensive / wide (overall) scales are problematic both in LT and SLA Writing C2 C1 B2 B1 A2 A1 At which level should we place this learner or piece of writing? C2 C1 B2 B1 A2 A1 Different features of grammar, vocabulary, mechnics, cohesion, sociolinguistic appropriatenes, content.

15 Linear scale vs. non-linear learning? Does a scale such as CEFR imply that learning is linear? C2 C1? B2? B1 A2 A1 Whereas in reality, learning is usually non-linear = view of learning in SLA Assessment is often a snapshot of somebody s proficiency at a certain point in time. It does not often contain any information about how the learner got where he/she is now.

16 CEFLING PROJECT The linguistic basis of the Common European Framework levels: Combining second language acquisition and language testing research

17 Results on a variety of constructions PhD studies: Indirect references (passive, you, one etc.) (Seilonen 2013) Existential sentences (Kajander 2013) Local case expressions (concrete vs. abstract uses) (Mustonen 2015) Transitive constructions (Reiman, in progress, also 2011) Syntactic complexity (Mylläri, in progress) MA studies: Time expressions, noun phrases, verb chains, negation, possessive expressions, personal pronouns, government Other: conjunctions, clauses and sentence borders Vocabulary (overall, common verbs, derivation)

18 Overall results Idiomatic use by young learners from A1 but with very limited number of words More variability among adults Occurrance of abstract entities in the constructions grows A>B>C but much task-related, development of complexity qualitative Accuracy reached earlier by young writers Frequency of use grows sharply between A2 and B1 (or B1 to B2 with less frequently occurring constructions) Accuracy grows sharply between B1 and B2 (or B2 and C1)

19 Implications for theory and teaching Frequency of use precedes accuracy: proof for usage-based approaches (as opposed to rule-based) Construction-based approach: still in its infancy but promising, can show the development from many angles simultaneously Teaching: Practising until (near) perfection less useful than extensive use and opportunities to expand the constructions

20 Tools for learning Mobile phones bring all languages into the classroom and language learning tools out of the classroom > learner agency, unlimited affordances, situated learning Games and virtual worlds Motivation Provides or simulates new ways to use languages Makes room for individual learning paths Do the skills transfer to other domains of language use?

21 Multilingualism Related to social equality (vs. discrimination) and inclusion (vs. exclusion) Nearly all classrooms are multilingual Monolingual habitus of the educational system (Hélot, Bordieau) Multilingualism as a starting point is difficult to imagine

22 Translanguaging How to do it in practice: Christine Hélot, Ofelia García An example: A classroom book of languages New curricula in Finland: Language aware school All teachers are language teachers

23 Finnish across the lifespan In-service training project by Jyväskylä Language Campus , financed by the Ministry of Education Goal: to involve people in and out of school system to help families as a whole Directed to all groups working with immigrants in a given community Hard to recruit people other than teachers Six modules with 2 3 days in Jyväskylä and one day working visits to he work sites of the participants between the modules, pre- and intermediate tasks, developing project as the final product, dissemination via publications Work place visits a success, enlargened to target audience, made people talk to each other

24 Back to the theme How to support the identity of recently arrived school-aged children? What is the relationship between learning the language and the identity of the child? Does the identity change when the child is moved from the entrance class to the ordinary class? What goes on in language acquisition in the first year or so? Learning skills, phonological awareness, speech patterns, school language What can school do? Inclusion. What about the parents? Siblings? Involvement. The role of the immigrant community? Support or hindrance? I ask questions and provide background with research results, you think of answers.