Languaging, Translanguaging,

Bilingualism and Theory

Session 3

Overview of Today’s Class

● Share Mini-Investigation in small groups● Language Policy and Educational Practice: 21st Century Preparation for

Teaching English Language Learners● Theories & Models of Bilingualism

○ Language Variation○ Academic Language○ BICS CALP○ Threshold Hypothesis○ Comprehensible Input○ Languaging and Translanguaging: Theoretical Framework

Early Bilingualism

Mini-Investigation #1

1. Form groups of 4-5; Choose a timekeeper & a reporter

2. Take turns reporting on your findings from Mini-Investigation #1: Language History & Use (5 minutes per person). Be sure to provide information about the person you interviewed (or yourself).

a. Change over timeb. Impact of different contextsc. Any other interesting findings

3. Group reporter will summarize your discussion in whole class wrap-up

Dia

lect

s Dialects are used for variants of a specific language; a variation of languages

Dialects can be mutually intelligible or mutually incomprehensible

Dialects or language practices can be politically oppressed

Speakers of dialects who gain political power often designate a dialect as a language

Languaging Socially constructed; languages practices of people

Varieties of language practices may be a better term to use when referring to the different ways people “language”,whether standard or non-standard ways

Varieties of Language Practices:

Standard or Non-Standard Ways

The Californians

Linguistic Profiling

Pidgins & Creoles

Pidgins are created when 2 languages come into contact

Used to by speakers with different language backgrounds to communicate

Another way people language

Pidgins & Creoles

Pidgins can be standardized and adopted as the “language” of a whole population and it then becomes a creole

Creoles can become an official language of a state

Creoles can often be stigmatized

Language in Education

● Definitions of “language” have educational consequences (Tatyana; Pablo)

● Languages are socially constructed

● “It is the social context in which language is used and the wishes and powers of its speakers, that determine its role, especially in schools” Garcia, p 25

Language in Education

● Standard or Academic language is used in schools

● Notions of “language” are also…..● Psychological and psycholinguistic● Grammatical

● And language is processed in the brain

Bilingualism & The Brain

Policies in EducationEducation Policy in CA

Legislature (Education Code,Senate Assembly Bills & Courts)

K-12 Students: California Dept of Education (CDE)

Standards for what students should know and be able to do (Common Core State Standards)

Teacher Licensure: California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CCTC)

Standards for Licensure Programs (accreditation)

Standards for what teachers should know and be able to do (Credential, Preliminary and Clear)

EL Issues Policy Snapshot

○ Proposition 227 (1998) – restricted bilingual education for K-12 students

○ Proposition 58 (2016)

○ SB 2042 (adopted 1998; implemented by CCTC in 2000) - “subsumed” CLAD emphasis: all credentials include training that leads to authorization to teach EL students within the professional preparation year

EL Issues Policy Snapshot

○ Growing alarm about achievement gaps, particularly for “Long Term English Learners” (2008) – K-12 field, research, policymakers

○ CCTC: Bilingual Authorization (BLA) Standards (2008) for bilingual teacher prep programs (replaced BCLAD emphasis)

Policy Snapshot

○ CDE: Shift to Common Core State Standards-- Smarter Balanced Assessments for all K-12 students

○ CCTC EL Authorization Review Panels (2009-2011); all credential Program Standards updated (2013) for teacher prep programs

○ CDE Next Gen ELD Standards (adopted 2012 and implemented) for K-12 English learners

California Policy for Licensure“Alternative” (Bilingual) Program

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Bilingual

Language Use English only with some L1 support possible

Credential Required

Academic language in the US is regulated by….

Dictionaries, etc. Professional societies

Across Program Standards

Candidates (preservice teachers) know how to plan and differentiate instruction based on student assessment data and diverse learning needs of the full range of learners e.g struggling readers, students with special needs English Learners EL of varied proficiency levels, educational and cultural backgrounds, speakers of non- dominant varieties non-standard of English and advanced learners(new or revised language)

Signed English vs ASL

● Signed English is often accompanied with spoken English; sometimes called “Simultaneous Communication”

● School policy will often require signing and speaking at the same time;

● Compromises both languages; more English like word order and ASL structure/facial expressions, manual markers are often lost

Educational Policy/Practice:

ASL versus Signing Exact English (SEE)

Bilingualism● Balanced Bilingual is rare; Threshold Hypothesis

● Semilingualism: unequal performance of bilingual children in their 2 languages when compared to monolinguals; negative connotation; “emerging bilinguals” is a preferred term.

● Bilingual Use--depends on social context/interactions,

communicative intent

Bilingualism

● Codeswitching-going between one language to the other within the same communicative exchange; purposeful

● Code Mixing--combining elements from each language because the speaker doesn't know how to differentiate; may be due to proficiency levels of speaker; developmentally appropriate

Languaging & Translanguaging

Translanguaging-switching of language modes; goes beyond codeswitching;

Languaging; Translanguaging

● What kind of “language”?● Academic Register--

characteristics● Register switching in different

situations● Language practices of

people

Relationships between two (or more) national languages

● Acquisition and proficiency● Social and language

practices of bilinguals● Pedagogical practices

Translanguaging

Pedagogical Practice; read in one language and write in a different language

Students are permitted to use their entire language repertoire

Multiple discursive practices are used to engage and make meaning of their bilingual worlds.

Translanguaging

Spanglish is a negative term that devalues bilingual speakers of Spanish

Denies the speaker to engage in complex linguistic practices

A deficit perspective

Translanguaging

Translanguaging has no boundaries between the languages of bilingual speakers

The linguistic repertoire is complex and integrated

Bilinguals are not 2 monolinguals in one person

Bilinguals should not be studied from a monolingual perspective

The type of language used in particular social situations when communicating with a particular set of people

“Although many countries are addressing pollution, environmental degradation continues to create devastating human health problems each year.”

Partner Talk“Unpack” the meaning of the sentence at the left as if you were explaining it to a first-grader.

Models of Bilingualism

Subtractive: Student speaks a first language and a second language is added while the first one is subtracted; increasing loss of linguistic features of the first language

Additive: A second language is added and the two languages are maintained; expectations for bilingual is to be equal to monolinguals in both languages

Garcia’s New Models of Bilingualism

Models of BilingualismSubtractive Additive Recursive Dynamic

Moves towards monolingualism

Attempts balanced bilingualism; doubled monolingualisme.g bicycle

Revitalization of language; Movement back and forth along a bilingual continuum

Encourages communicative and dynamic bilingualism; draws from different contexts in which it develops and functions

Garcia.Table 3.1, p 55

A Few Important Theories

CumminsThreshold Hypothesis BICS/CALPSUP versus CUPInterdependence TheoryLanguage Interference versus Language Transfer

BICS and CALP (Cummins)

BICS-Basic Interpersonal Communication --2-3 years for emerging bilingualto reach same level as monolingualcontext embeddedCALP=Cognitive AcademicLanguage Proficiency--5-7 years for 2nd language learner to reach same level as monolingualcontext reduced

Separate Underlying Proficiency & Common Underlying Proficiency

Interdependence Hypothesis (Cummins)

Second language competence is dependent on the level of competence in the first language (L1)

More developed L1 makes it easierto develop L2; does not mean L1 has to be fully developed

Language Transfer

L1 will transfer to L2; more similar 2 languages are and the more the learner is aware of the relationship between the 2 languages, the more positive transfer e.g cognates

Krashen: Theories (DVD)

TheoriesComprehensible Input

Affective Filter Input Hypothesis Model

Krashen

Krashen

Krashen

Early Bilingualism

● Children are born with the need to communicate; biologically ready; no such thing as a child having “no language/communication”;

● Memory for language sounds begins very early (fetal stage)

Early Bilingualism

● Simultaneous versus Sequential childhood bilingualism (DeHouwer, 2009a;Barron-Hauwer.2004);

● Other terms used “childhood bilingualism and emerging bilinguals”

● Acquisition or “picking up” the language versus learning a language indicates a more formal study of the language; more conscious or aware of learning the language (Krashen)

Early Bilingualism

Different Paths to Bilingualism ○ One Parent-One Language OPOL is an approach to bilingualism--well

documented

○ Home Language is different from the language outside of the home;

○ Mixed language approach where parents speak both languages

○ Delayed introduction to 2nd language can occur in additive or subtractive environments

Early Development

● First words emerge as early as 8 months and more often 1 year in both languages

● Bilingual development is often uneven and has been confused with the idea that acquiring 2 languages is detrimental or confusing

● Deaf children's early language development in ASL parallels and is similar to hearing children's bilingual development.

Early Development

● Babbling stage (10-12 months) when exposed to 2 languages tend to babble in stronger language and language specific babbling features of each language

● Language specific patterns and speech discrimination prior to first year (Maneva and Genesee, 2002)

● Deaf babies start manual babbles before 10 months approximately the same age as hearing babies begin stringing together sounds into word like units "finger babbling" (Pettito, 1991)

Babbling Deaf Toddler (ASL)

Deaf babies “finger babbling”

Early Development

● As early as 2 year old (or even earlier), children know which language to speak, to whom and in what context/situations

● Switching languages to match the context or appropriate “language matching” is normal and part of bilingual development e.g. matching when talking/signing with strangers (2 years old)

Early Development

Deaf children may even ask the person are you deaf or hearing--distinguishing which language to use

Young bilinguals do codemix--not a sign of confusion but a sign that the child may not have the vocabulary to express themselves

Code Mixing is normal and about language proficiency--more fluency will reduce code mixing

Early Development

● Parents often are misinformed about early bilingualism

● For hearing parents of Deaf children, fear is instilled often from the medical community and some educators (Allen, 2000) about a critical period

● Parents concerns about confusion or retarding language development are unwarranted.

Early Bilingualism

Codeswitching is affected by many factors--parents, cultural appropriateness, norms of the community, social contexts

Codeswitching has many different purposes for emphasis ,express a concept that has no equivalent, reinforce,clarify,identity, relating a conversation, interjecting into a conversation, ease tension and inject humor, exclude, etc.

Early Bilingualism

● Language borrowing occurs in all languages. Insertions from the other languages, specifically words or phrases that become an integral part of the recipient language e.g bon appetit (enjoy your meal)

● Language interference is a negative term suggesting that there is a problem. “Transference across languages” is a preferred term.

Early Development

Bilingual development in preschool settings is best when the approach is based on natural, authentic, communicative, social interactions and focused on meaning rather than formal instruction (Thompson, 2000; Allen, 1998)

Adults Bilingual Development

● Adults can develop bilingual and biliteracy fluency

● No age-related differences in the process of language learning

● No critical period for L2

● Early 2nd language learners are neither more successful nor more efficient in acquiring a 2nd language

Adults Bilingual Development

● Adults are able to use their metalinguistic skills from L1 more efficiently; learn more quickly than young learners

● Native-like accent and fluency more likely with young children as compared to adults

Cognitive and Social Advantages

Cognitive● metalinguistic awareness--mental flexibility; performance on IQ

test (verbal and nonverbal) Peal & Lambert, 1962)● divergent or creative thinking via test of divergent thinking● communicative sensitivity● ability to learn multiple languages

Social Advantages

● Socioeconomic factors e.g higher earnings, upward mobility● Maximizes global & local interactions● Potentializing acts of identities-multiple identities, multiple

perspectives● Cultural Awareness, Tolerance toward diversity

Factors

SES shapes children’s opportunities and access to language and bilingual development

Bilingual from low SES,may not have opportunities for development of bilingualism and find themselves in a subtractive environment

Dominance and Power Dominant versus subordinate groups; Dominant control; Bilingualism is option for dominant groups (additive or enrichment) and obligatory for non-dominant, subtractive

Factors

High status language versus low--ASL ( no written form) as compared to high status language such as English; oral/written versus signed

Languages of higher prestige or status (high or low) are more likely to be acquired

Speakers of hIgh prestige languages have less inclination to develop bilingual competency