Amanda Duncan Let's Talk Chart Page Sep

8/8/2019 Amanda Duncan Let's Talk Chart Page Sep

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Lets TalkDiscussing and Developing Bilingual Childrens Oral

Language

Amanda Duncan

Katherine Chumacero

CABE Fall ConferenceOctober 14, 2010


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Objectives

Dialogue about: academic and social

language, semilingualism andacademic

achievement, code-switching.

Understandwhat you personally believe about

oral language in bilingual students.

Learn what research says about these terms.

Reflecton our classroom practice. Advocate for our bilingual students.


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Academic vs. Social Language

Basedon what you believe, use each groupof terms to form a sentence.

Academic language, social language, difficult

Academic language, social language, context

Academic language, social language, criticalthinking


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Academic and Social LanguageResearch says:

Surely there is a specific character to the way language is used in manyacademic contexts, and it is reasonable to suspect that the use of thisacademic registerwill co-occurwith success at school and mastery ofacademic content. A serious problem arises, however, when we construethis domain of language use as more complex or developmentally

superior to the language children use natively at home or on the street, andconsequently assess school language as indicative of higher languageproficiency. (MacSwan, Rolstad & Glass, 2002, 399)

All people must learn many different registers or discourses in order to navigatethrough life (conversational, academic, technology, math, literature, fashion,sports, surfing, etc.) No one discourse is more valid than any other.

(Rolstad, 2005)

Higher order thinking can occur in any type of language. Consider a child onthe playground who says, Wow, Marys got a good kick! Ifwe get her onour team, well win for sure! (Rolstad, 2005)


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Academic and Social Language

Socio-cultural

Awareness

Instructional Practices

Remember,

communication is thegoal of language. It is

also important to learn

to express ourselves in

different ways

according to the

context.

Practice transfer from social to academic.

Sequencing a novela storyline, transfers to relating ahistorical sequence of causally linked events.

Arguing why a student should be allowed to play

basketball after school could transfer to comparing

and contrasting or using language of cause and effect.

Set language objectives related to the task and pre-

teach language structures so children learn to use

academic language, but assume the ability to THINK

is there, no matterwhat terms are initially used to

present the thinking.


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Semilingualism and

academic achievement

Whatdo you thinkpeople mean when they say:

Juanito cant speak either language very well.

I cant ask my students deep comprehension

questionsthey dont speak enough English toparticipate and they would be left out.


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Semilingualism and


Research says:

Semilingualism is the idea that children are nonverbal in both English and theirnative language. (McSwan, Rolstad and Glass, 2002)

Research tells us that all normal children acquire the language of their speechcommunity effortlessly and flawlessly. (Pinker, 1994)

Any language can be a suitable vehicle for thought and learning, and anynormal child who speaks a language already has all that is needed in orderto achieve full academic development. (Rolstad, 2005, 1994)

There is an extensive body of research documenting that both majority andminority teachers have been taught in teacher education programs tobelieve that minority children come to school with deficits in background andexperience that must be corrected by the school in order for these childrento achieve. (Escamilla 2006, 2330)


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Semilingualism and


Socio-cultural Awareness Instructional Practices

Remember bilingual development may

spread across two languages. Some

terms may be learned in one but not

both languages, in particular

depending on the language(s) used at

school. The potential for learning in

both languages is always there.

Remember that learning and deep

thinking can occur in any language or

dialect.

Be aware of how you judge students

speech in both languages.

DO NOT lower your academic

expectations simply because students

dont yet produce standard language!

Plan for multiple readings of texts,

explanation of target vocabulary,

opportunities for rich discussion and

deep thinking.

Model standard language, validate

non-standard, and explain when each

might be appropriate. Give children a

chance to practice.


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Code-switching

Finish these sentences:

Children code-switch becauseAdults code-switch because

Code-switching is (good/bad) because


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Code-switching

Research says:

It is by nowwell-established among researchers in linguistics thatintra-sentential code-switching is not a random mixture of twoflawed systems; rather it is rule-governed and systematic,demonstrating the operation of underlying grammaticalrestrictions. (Toribio 2004, 137)

Contrary to common assumptions, code-switching patterns may beused as a measure of bilingual ability, rather than deficit. (Toribio,2004, 138)

Code-switching can be used for dramatic effect, to accommodateother participants language competencies, or to organizeconversational tasks such as turn-taking, emphasis marking, andclarification. (Becker 2001, 112)


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Code-switching

Socio-cultural Awareness Instructional Practices

Code-switching does not necessarilyreflect a deficit in either language.

Create bilingual spaces for bilingualpeople.


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MyAction Research

Began with this problem: My students dont say muchduring picture walks. Theydont speak intelligibly.

Theydont speak in complete sentences. Theylackso much vocabulary.

Reflected: What factors can I control?

Developedmy research question: What happens tochildrens orallanguage development when I focuson my questioning strategies during picture walks?


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Improving my questions

Goal: To deepen my questioning strategies.Initial questions: What is this? Who is that? Where

are they? What are they doing?

Generated a list question frames: Tell me about a time

something similar happened to you. If you could pickone thing from the book, which would you choose?Why? What do you think will happen next? Whatmakes you think that? How do you know? How arethese things alike/different? *

Valued allstudent talk , looked for books that

encouraged discussion and storytelling, moved awayfrom using levels as a guide for book choice.

*Adapted from Kagan Smart Card (1999)Thinking questions


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Video of Ral


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Reflections

Children in social environments that

provide them with more communicative

interaction, particularly with an

engaging and responsive

communicative partner, and more adult-

produced, child-directed speech,

particularly speech that uses a rich

vocabulary and complex structure

acquire language more rapidly than

children in social environments thatprovide less of these supports.

(Hoff, 2006, 72)


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It is my teaching, not the kidsability,

that determines the level of theirresponses.

(Keene, 2008, 78)


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I am the sum total of my language. (Charles SandersPeirce)

Y si soy mas de uno, Peirce?Y si soy dos,

o tres

o - como dira David-

un milln?En qu momento, en qu participio del mundo

se convierte tu suma en mi resta, Peirce?

(Gustavo Prez Firat)


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References

Becker, R. (2001) Spanish-English Code-switching in a BilingualAcademic Context.Reading Horizons, 42:2, p. 99-115.

Coleman, R. & Goldenburg, C. (2010) What Does Research SayAbout EffectivePractices for English Language Learners? Part Two: AcademicLanguage. KappaDelta Pi Record, 46: 2, Winter, p. 60-65.

Escamilla, K. (2006) Semilingualism Applied to the LiteracyBehaviors ofSpanish-speaking EmergingBilinguals: Bi-illiteracy or EmergingBiliteracy? Teachers CollegeRecord, 108:11, p.2329-2353.

Hoff, E. (2006) HowSocial Contexts Support andShape Language Development.Developmental Review, 26, p. 55-88.

Keene, E. (2008) To Understand. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

MacSwan, J., Rolstad, K. & Glass, G., (2002) Do Some School-age Children Have NoLanguage? Some Problems of Construct Validity in the Pre-LASespanol. BilingualResearch Journal, 6:2, p.395-420.

Pinker, S. (1994) The Language Instinct: How the MindCreates Languages. New York:William More and Company.

Rolstad, K. (2005) RethinkingAcademicLanguage inSecondLanguage Instruction.Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Bilingualism, ed. James Cohen,Kara T. McAlister, Kellie Rolstad, and Jeff MacSwan, 1993-1999. Somerville, MA:Cascadilla Press.

Toribio, A. (2004) Spanish/English Speech Practices: Bringing Chaos to Order.International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. 7:2-3, p. 133-154.

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Amanda Duncan Let's Talk Chart Page Sep