Plurilingual School Students* Learning Languages at School: experiences, perceptions and implications.

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Plurilingual School Students Learning Languages
at School experiences, perceptions and
implications.

• Promoting Linguistic and Cultural Diversity.
• Non EU lauguages.

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• Most of the time I dont know what theyre
  saying anyway. They all speak in some other
  language, Urdu or something. I dont know what it
  is..
• Lots of our children speak other languages. You
  do, dont you dear? Urdu or Hindu sic or
  something, is it? Were very proud of them.

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1. Preliminary research

• Inequality of languages in our education system
• unequal status in the NC
• and in the names used
• heritage languages are typically taught outside
  class time and rarely offered as MFLs
• heritage language teachers lack status
• formal accreditation is very patchy

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• Language use in schools
• pupils reluctant to use heritage languages in
  schools
• research points to the importance of using
  heritage languages for learning
• and for the development of self-image and identity

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• Heritage languages are invisible in schools
• EAL a deficit model which renders
  plurilingualism invisible
• Bilingualism is seen as a weakness evaluated
  only in terms of competence in English
• non-British cultures stereotyped and falsely
  homogenised
• pupils experience alienation as a result of these
  inequalities

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Key areas of enquiry

• What effect do the following aspects of MFL
  lessons have on bilingual pupils
• the promotion of languages other than English
• pride in language learning
• teaching about cultures
• the linguistic aspects of language teaching

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2. My research

• qualitative research investigating the
  perceptions, experiences and feelings of pupils,
  as they express them in their own words
• self-selected friendship groups
• prompts to promote discussion
• 30 plurilingual school students (18 girls and 12
  boys) in a language college Y7 Y10 12
  languages represented

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Examples of prompts for discussion in the groups

• ordering and sorting (eg. lists of school
  subjects)
• completing sentences (eg. The good thing about
  being able to speak Arabic is.. At school,
  the place where I am most likely to speak
  Taiwanese is..)
• direct questions (eg. In your French lesson,
  have you ever noticed..?)

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4. Key findings from my research

• Note The students talked willingly and
  enthusiastically about heritage languages, making
  very full and considered contributions. Prompts
  about heritage languages always gave rise to
  lively and genuine engagement. I was delighted by
  the richness of debate and depth of interest.

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• The students were confident about using heritage
  languages at school, although for most this was
  about the person they were talking to, rather
  than the place
• a minority thought that they were more likely to
  use heritage language in the MFL classrooms, Cos
  thats where you learn languages (Y7 boy)
• however, they did not feel that their MFL
  teachers were particularly interested in their
  heritage languages

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• There were many instances of direct comparison of
  languages (15 out of 22 clear answers to the
  question), with a high level of sophistication
  and more enthusiasm from the students. In all
  groups, there were lengthy discussions with
  little or no intervention from me.
• There were comparisons of semantics, phonetics
  and syntax

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• put the um noun before the um adjective in um
  French and Spanish and do the same in Urdu as
  well (Y7 girl)
• Kurdish is not masculine or feminine but in
  Arabic it is, so its sort of. when it came up I
  was like Oh, the same thing (Y8 girl)
• In English - if its not same in English how
  theyre putting sentences together - its
  different in our lang- yeah like the language we
  speak at home, its same like that (Y8 girl)

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• Yeah you know because um the accent sometimes
  you use it from the throat example given and
  its similar to um French (Y7 girl)
• Yeah, sometimes, when you say like si, its
  like it can be Mandarin, Cantonese, French and
  Spanish.... (Y10 girl)

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• However, students reported relatively few
  instances of their MFL teachers directly showing
  an interest in heritage languages, and seemed
  surprised to think that they might

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• Students strongly indicated positive feelings
  about their own bilingualism. They reported
  pride, a sense of achievement, a sense of having
  something extra, and a sense of identity.
• It makes me happy.... Cos Im proud of it (Y7
  boy)
• I like speaking in my language cos it reminds me
  I know where I came from... I am proud of what I
  am (Y8 girl)

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• It makes me feel proud because its like.... You
  know so many languages and ... Other people dont
  so you... It just makes you feel proud (Y8 girl)
• (it makes me feel) more talented (Y10 girl)

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• In addition, students displayed very positive
  attitudes towards language learning in general
• I think its good to learn all sorts of
  languages because you need them in life (Y7
  girl)
• Well, I always want to speak in different
  languages, not just my own, in something totally
  different (Y8 girl)

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• Students also showed that they were able to
  compare lifestyles and customs, and again their
  comments were perceptive and mature, sensitive to
  the co-existence of similarities and differences.
  
• In many of these comments there was a clear
  implication that learning about cultural aspects
  of French or Spanish life had made them reflect
  on their families and/ or communities

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• The importance of heritage languages was one of
  the strongest themes running through the
  interviews a very stong impression that
  languages are a central part of their lives.
• They talk about languages frequently,
  enthusiastically and with wonderful ease.
• Their ability to compare, discuss, give opinions
  and describe languages and language use was
  inspiring.

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• I put you know a Punjabi word into it... cos I
  speak it mixed at home, and then when Im
  speaking to someone very proper Urdu, Im just
  not very.... I change a word. (Y8 girl)
• Were all speaking Punjabi, in our languages,and
  then X says something to me and though she
  doesnt say anything in Bengali, then we get to
  wondering what Y (a Bengali speaker) would
  say....) (Y7 girl)

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Conclusions

• Plurilingual students are hugely influenced by
  their language abilities.
• There is a need for schools and the British
  Education System to find a way to build on these
  strengths
• Foreign language teachers are in a key position
  to lead on this.

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Promoting linguistic and cultural diversity
through MFL.

• the MFL classroom is different, because
• MFL teachers are linguists
• MFL teachers value plurilingualism highly
• MFL lessons welcome the use of languages other
  than English
• MFL teachers understand and promote different
  cultural expressions

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• 5. MFL teachers already promote and teach
  language-awareness and language skills
• 6. The teaching style of the FL classroom
  (contextualisation, use of visuals and props,
  support for speakign activities, multi-skill
  activities, corrective feedback) supports all
  learners to show their competences and skills

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Tips for MFL teachers

1. Be a linguist! Find out the names of languages in
   your school. Learn how to say hello and goodbye.
   Devise bilingual vocab lists.
2. Show genuine interest in other languages. Ask
   questions and allow students to contribute.
   Demonstrate that you are a linguist.
3. Investigate cultural expressions and use them to
   contribute to your teaching. Search for
   similarities (there are more than differences)
   and exploit them. Promote Citizenship.

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• 4. Show your interest after extended (or other)
  trips abroad.
• 5. Demonstrate your understanding of translating
  at Parents Evenings.
• 6. Challenge the assumption that any culture is
  monolithic. Teach the cultures of the target
  language country, and demonstrate that all
  European countries are multicultural and
  multilingual.
• 7. Make links with heritage language teachers.
• 8. Promote heritage language teaching as part of
  the MFL department.