ljouwert/leeuwarden may 2011 we know, but do they listen...?

JARMO LAINIO

PROFESSORMÄLARDALEN UNIVERSITY &

STOCKHOLM UNIVERSITY, SWEDEN

23-04-19Jarmo Lainio, Mälardalen & Stockholm University

Ljouwert/LeeuwardenMay 2011

We know, but do they listen...?

Main parts of the presentation

First reflection: our argumentation is targeting the change of values, that are seen as logical and natural, and are normative and transmitted/heritage;

And, we want to promote a new normative way of valuing things….

What do we know about bilingualism/bilingual education?

What is language used for?

What is the role of language?

How are they learned?

23-04-19Jarmo Lainio, Mälardalen University

Additional issues of the presentation

+ What is the role of the school?We wish to affect Monolingual Habitus (I.

Gogolin)And affect/convince different levels,

political and administrative: International National Regional Local Schools, leadership, teachers, parents


One type of conclusions will be that…One type of conclusions will be that…

If that is nots enough, there are new challengesIf that is nots enough, there are new challenges

Some will not be convinced, never will, about the role of language for learning

Our task is never-ending, recurrent restarts needed

But there are bits of impact and good examples to be found

…and we have to add and include new knowledge into our argumentation, e.g.:

Impact of social constructuvism, or,

”set of linguistic resources” pro ”language”

Conclusive part


What do we – language scientists – know about language and languages


Thinking The main way to learn and

produce learning outcomes

Political load Social marker Social and human capital

Symbolic value Ethnicity - group Nation

Language as such is ”innocent”

Communication, interaction and structure

Socially construed

Structured/systematic at different levels

Treated as rigid and homogenous, socially, educationally, and through print, but studied as variable and dynamic in context

Language learning and acquisition


How are languages acquired and learned by young children and adolescents?

And how are bi-/multilingual children considered in this?

Is language only acuired by imitation?

At least four factors are needed to explain how it takes place: Biological predisposition Interaction Imitation

Cognitive development – language development are interrelated

Consequences for schooling and literacy?

Some beliefs and stereotypical views on bilingualism and bilingual education


Against (selection…)

Bilinguals mix languages and thus are seen as more stupid

”It is too expensive” ”If Chinese in Kiruna do

not receive instruction in the MT, then you Finns should not have it in Botkyrka”

”The children will be isolated, the key to integration is the language, Swedish”

They already know Finnish/ X

The more Swedish they get, the faster they learn

”In Sweden we speak Swedish”

For (selection…)

Bilingualism may have additional positive effects

It may cost more now, but we will have it in return later on

Identical treatment is not equity

The children may not become bilinguals, but they need a break from the assimilation pressure (iD)

Bilingualism gives access to several worlds

They learn Swedish and other Ls better if they first learn their MT

No, we don’t only speak Swedish


Paradoxes from Germany

Hartmut Esser (2006) – report and other research (against?) bilingualism (AKI = Arbeitsstelle Interkulturelle Konflikte und gesellschaftliche Integration, Berlin): Migration, Sprache und Integration (2006)

No effects of bilingualism on labour market merits, + for niches and English

There is no statistical evidence for positive or negative effects of L1 on educational achievement, except in cases where bilingualism is achieved, which correlates positively with educational results

c Jarmo Lainio, FinSKC, MDH


Esser (2)

The factors that seem to correlate positively with bilingualism and thus educational progression Age of migration (= high level of L1) Educational level of parents Ethnic context Concentration of children with migrant background

to same schools and classes

23-04-19

Comments to Esser

There is no clue to the understanding of the writer of language-connected issues in the report (Critical age-threshold, Interdependence Hypothesis are discussed and part of the analysis)

The fact that there are no positive or negative statistical effects of L1 + L2 learning, but one learns two languages, is not discussed

Research results are highly contextually interpreted – Germany


Language Cognitive developmentMonolinguals

Relation between language and cognition


Language Cognitive developmentBi-/multilinguals, when language shift takes place

(


Relation between language and cognition

(2-3 years for fluency, 5-8 years for age level achievements in L2)

23-04-19

Initial reactions

…which are repeated for later groups

NN came from Finland at the age of 14. He was directly placed in a Swedish class, where he redrew from interaction and became apatethic. He seldom came to school. At the age of 15 a decision was taken that NN should be relieved from compulsory schooling, since he by the school psychologist was understood to have poor marks and suffering from severe psychological problems and delinqient behaviour” (my translation, JL, 1967)

-> Who had the problems…?


Wayne P. Thomas & Virginia P. Collier, 1997

Strong support for bilingual education for both minority and majority language background children.


Dual or two-way bilingual education


To catch up:

Language development Cognitive development Subject matter, i.e.

academic content

= Grade and age level acquisition/learning and development

Wayne Thomas & Virginia Collier (1997, 2002)

Results:

Evaluations – when, what (5-8 years)?

Time perspective Positive for both languages Positive for subject matter Dicreased social and

ethnic distance Sociocultural support

needed Sizeable groups needed Supports findings from

other research (also Immersion programmes)

Supports CLIL-perspective


23-04-19

Language Cognitive development Bi-/multilinguals when bilingual development takes place

Relation language and cognition

(Jim Cummins; Ellen Bialystok)

23-04-19

Bilinguals’ proficiency

Jim Cummins & Merril Swain (1986)



What is the task of the school?

Secondary socialisationOffer equity and adapted teaching as well

as promotion of knowledge for educational careers

Present equal demands on pupils, irrespective of background

Develop language beyond the family’s capacity

Increase language awareness in all subjects of schooling, for higher levels of language skills, orally and in writing/reading (EUCIM-TE -project)

Support pupils’ well-being – holistic views and treatment

23-04-19 Jarmo Lainio, FinSKC, MDH

http://www.nesse.fr/nesse/activities/reports

Network of Experts in social sciences of education and training

Friedrich Heckmann (2008) Education and Integration of Migrants (NESSE Analytical Report 1 for EU Commission DG Education and Culture). www.efms.de (University of Bamberg)

16 recommendations(NB: Most of which have

been described as typical for immersion programmes and well functioning schools in general)


NESSE reports



Rec’s abbreviated from Heckmann’s report on

”integration”

1) Effective pre-school and day-care system needed2) Later selection of specialisation needed3) Integrate elements and symbols of the culture or the immigrant country; consultations4) Improve the general quality of school

1) Effective pre-school and day-care system needed2) Later selection of specialisation needed3) Integrate elements and symbols of the culture or the immigrant country; consultations4) Improve the general quality of school

4) Jarmo Lainio, FinSKC, MDH

5) Desegregate schools6) Special attention for

special education for migrant children

7) Teacher training should be adapted to migrant children; assistants, home work centres

8) Additional funding, as investment, not extra costs


…from Heckmann’s report (2)

9) Teachers should have high expectations10) More migrant background children into teacher education11) Liaison officers of schools (same background as parents) involve parents12) Ethnic mentoring by outsiders in school (parents, assoc.)

9) Teachers should have high expectations10) More migrant background children into teacher education11) Liaison officers of schools (same background as parents) involve parents12) Ethnic mentoring by outsiders in school (parents, assoc.)

13) Involve families in early childhood language learning programmes

14) Authorities should set up goals and monitor them (rates of school leaving cert’s, migrant background teachers etc.)

16) Develop programmes for highly talented migrant pupils23-04-19 Jarmo Lainio, FinSKC, MDH

Heckmann continued

Lack of understanding of how learning and language connect


15) ”Migrant children should come to a full demand of the lingua franca of the immigration country as early as possible. Language training should be a central part of pre-school education. Priority should be given to the common language of the immigration country, since full command of the first language does not seem to be a necessary condition for learning the lingua franca of the immigration country. The lingua franca should be the language of instruction from the beginning of schooling. Since multlingualism is of high value the first language should be further developed in general language learning in school. ”


Research on language and school


Joana Duarte (2009; incl. in EUCIM-TE project) dual bilingual education, Portuguese and German in Hamburg

Joana Duarte (2009; incl. in EUCIM-TE project) dual bilingual education, Portuguese and German in Hamburg

Summary of results “It can thus be concluded that school

achievement seems to be related to certain aspects of a cognitive academic linguistic style and not to a language proficiency related to colloquial everyday speech. In this study, the students showing a high use of certain linguistic structures representative of this style, presented better results in reading comprehension. In the promotion of this school language, the importance of the students’ first language, in the form of a two-way bilingual education model, seems to be beyond dispute; after six years of two-way bilingual education in German and Portuguese, the students with different language presuppositions cannot be statistically distinguished from each other.”


So why do we not provide bilingual education based

on L1 + L2?

Jarmo Lainio, Mälardalen & Stockholm University

23-04-19

-PROJECT- OR SHORT-TERM SOLUTIONS, -NON-PRIORITIZED,

-NOT EASILY ACCESSIBLE, -FLUID,

-INCONVENIENT

Inconvenient in relation to other teaching,

Inconvenient for the planning of pupils’ school days,

Inconvenient from the ideological point of view of assimilation/”integration”/ mainstreaming, the Monolingual habitus,

Inconvenient or impossible for involved teachers of L1

To understand the situation of multilingual children and improve study results

To understand the situation of multilingual children and improve study results

Two paradoxesTwo paradoxes

Three parts: Survey to all primary

schools (n=1201; 75 % answered)

Interviews with 13 schools in 4 municipalities

Statistical data and knowledge from a longitudinal study, grades 3-9 (GU)

Paradox 1: Very little provision of L1

instruction makes a difference, even if MTI is randomized, pushed out of the school context,

Paradox 2: Multilingual schools are better

equipped to deal with the issue, but parents want their children to leave exactly these schools

National Agency of Education, Swe, 2008


What was foundWhat was found What is neededWhat is needed

Great variation between schools, leadership/principals and teachers crucial

Proportion of migrant children crucial +

Lack of equity in educationMother tongue instruction

correlates with better school results

L2 instruction =compensatory

Similar to earlier studies, and partly overlapping with Heckmann’s study, but also Cummins (2010), Little (2010), Gogolin s( 2009):

NAE: Some main results


NAE: what is needed x 9…

Clear formulations in legal frameworkClear division of labour between municipals and

schoolsCooperation between L1 teachers and other teachersLong-term perspective and reflection on the needs of

multilingual childrenIntegration of language and subject matterSee multilingualism as a resource, not a burdenManifold activities maybe better than big leapsNeed for awareness and knowledge in school

leadership, further training of teachersInvolve all staff and teachers


NAE 2008

More about the results…

In all subgroups as well as in main results, children with (several years of) MTI scored better on the Merit rating for secondary education (access to sec. edu.)

Other factors may contribute: motivation and educational background of parents/children choosing L1 instruction

Only L2 instruction at the other end of the continuum: lowest scores

No differences boys - girls


It seems however, that the pupils who participate, may be more motivated in what takes place in school – but surely this is the task of school, to create motivation?

A recent study by The National Board of Education, states that mother tongue instruction makes a difference, by resulting in higher ratings for marks, for entrance to secondary school (age 15-16;

With another mother tongue, 2009. Rapport 321, English summary; www.skolverket.se


To sum up, mother tongue tuition appears in the study on the one hand to have possible importance for the students’ general knowledge developmentand, on the other hand, to be an activity that for the most part takes place outside of other school activities and that can almost be described as marginalised.Thus far, the possible effect of participation in mother tongue tuition, apparent in the generally higher merit ratings, appears almost to be a frontalcollision with the image of the the tuition’s marginalised position in Swedish compulsory school. (Eva Wirén, 2009)

23-04-19Jarmo Lainio, Mälardalen University23-04-19 Jarmo Lainio, FinSKC, MDH

On the other hand…. -What does ”teaching” and conditions of learning look like today?

• Is the desk left?• Teacher left?• Child left?• Children collectively, individually or in

interaction?• Classroom left?• Other people involved?• Role of all teachers evaluated?

• Evaluations increasingly difficult to generalize

New understanding and analytical toolsNew understanding and analytical tools

Old practice and science ideological argumentationOld practice and science ideological argumentation

Social constructivism and superdiversity

Language, heritage, identities, culture -> ”sets of linguistic resources”

Differential understanding among subjects and in-depth analyses of practices

Nevertheless, there are people, infrastructures, decision-makers and studies which contest the contesting new views…

The new knowledge needs to be transformed to accessible arguments (see also Blackledge & Creese 2008)

What about the challenges?


TIME IS RUNNING OUT, FOR MULTILINGUAL OR POTENTIALLY MULTILINGUAL CHILDREN IN

EUROPE…LANGAUGES DISAPPEAR AND THE UNIQUE WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY IS CLOSED FOR MANY CHILDREN

Like for me…

Jarmo Lainio, Mälardalen University 23-04-19

ljouwert/leeuwarden may 2011 we know, but do they listen...?

Documents

mlardalen universitywhat

contextjarmo lainio

role of language

mlardalen universitymain

language scientists

equitythe children

botkyrkathe children

young children