Developing bilingual learning strategies in

mainstream and community contexts

(ESRC-funded study 2006-07)

Charmian Kenner, Salman Al-Azami, Eve Gregory, Mahera Ruby

Department of Educational Studies, Goldsmiths College

London

Bilingual learning: aspects to investigate

Transfer of concepts (Cummins, 1984)

Translation/interpretation (Creese, 2004) Linking with cultural worlds (Martin-Jones & Saxena, 2003)

Increasing knowledge about how language works (Bialystok, 2001)

Learner identities (Cummins, 1996; Creese, Bhatt, Bhojani & Martin, 2006)

The research contextTwo primary schools in Tower Hamlets, East LondonSecond/third generation British Bangladeshi children, mostly more fluent in English than Sylheti/Bengali (Bangla)Children also attend community classes in Bengali and/or ArabicAchieving highly at primary school

So…is bilingual learning in mainstream school relevant or necessary?

The children’s views

Participant children

School A

Year 2 (age 7) 4 children

Year 4 (age 9)5 children

School B

Year 2 (age 7)4 children

Year 6 (age 11)4 children

Methodology: action research

Observe children in community classPlan bilingual tasks in literacy and numeracy for each group, relevant to mainstream curriculum, linking with community class learningInvolve community and mainstream teachers in planningChildren do task, watch video and comment (stimulated recall)Discuss data with teachers at end-of-term seminarRepeat process in second term

Year 6 studying a chora (Bengali poem)

Aspects of learning

Bengali literary heritage – poem contains metaphor and imagery, also known to children as lullabyTeacher keen to work on comparative literature: compare with lullaby in EnglishInvolve parents to understand poem more deeplyUse Reciprocal Reading strategy to share findings in group

The chora: transliterated and translated Aai aai chad mama Come come uncle moon

  aai aai chad mama tip die ja 

Come come uncle moon and touch the forehead chader kopale chad tip die ja

Moon come and touch the forehead of the moon  dhan banle kuro debo

When the rice is made will give you the husk mach katle muro debo

When the fish is cut will give you the head kalo gaer dudh debo

Will give you the milk of the black cow dudh khabar bati debo

Will give you the bowl for the milk chader kopale chad tip die ja

Moon come and touch the forehead of the moon 

Lullaby in English

Hush, Little BabyHush, little baby, don’t say a word,Papa’s gonna buy you a mockingbird.And if that mockingbird don’t sing,Papa’s gonna buy you a diamond ring.And if that diamond ring turns to brass,Papa’s gonna buy you a looking glass.And if that looking glass gets broke,Papa’s gonna buy you a billy goat.And if that billy goat won’t pull,Papa’s gonna buy you a cart and bull.And if that cart and bull fall down,You’ll still be the sweetest little baby in town.

Questions for parents

Comparison: Venn diagram

Reciprocal Reading

Sharing findings from parent interviewsEach child took a role: (eg questioner, summariser)Children added to or amended information from interviewsClarified their understanding of the choraTook place entirely in English – why?

Further development

Rhythm of poems, using drumsWriting own poem with support from Nasima (Teaching Assistant)Creating bilingual display for school foyer

The children’s poem

FruitsWe get mangoes and jackfruits in

summer

White berries, black berries,

Black grapes, green grapes,

Yellow-coloured ripe bananas,

Green-coloured tender bananas,

Sour berries, sweet berries,

Taste very sweet.

Conceptual transfer

Understanding metaphor and imagery through working in more than one languageNot straightforward transfer of ‘similar concept’ Clarification of complex ideas through discussion

Translation/interpretation

Transliteration as translationGives children and teacher access to choraEnables children to express ideas in writingBridge between Sylheti and Standard BengaliInterlingual and intralingualTranslation between phonic systems

Linking with cultural worlds

Learning more about ‘own culture’Texts include different aspects of children’s experience: Bangla/school/popular cultureVenn diagram highlights differences in cultural values / economic contextsOwn poem combines knowledge from UK and Bangladesh

Learner identities

Children actively seeking connection to Bangladesh through culture and languageTerms linking to home experience: chad mamaTeacher perceiving children as bilingual learnersMultiple identities can be expressed at school – otherwise a ‘monolingual space’

Children’s comments on doing maths in Bangla

You understand more (if you use both languages) It was different – in English you know what you have to doWe'd like to know more about Bangla numbers and operations....how to say it Just liked it because it was different, liked it, liked it  You can learn in two different ways And it's our mother tongue and we don't know much about it

The crucial role of the mainstream school in supporting language

maintenance

2nd and 3rd generation children in Miami are losing their Spanish competence unless they are schooled in Spanish – despite living in a substantial Latino community where Spanish is regularly used in the business and social infrastructure(Eilers, Pearson and Cobo-Lewis, 2006)

References

Cummins, J. (1984) Language proficiency, bilingualism and academic achievement. Chapter 6 in Bilingualism and Special Education. Clevedon, Avon: Multilingual Matters.Creese, A. (2004) Bilingual teachers in mainstream secondary classrooms: using Turkish for curriculum learning. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 7 (2), 189-203.Martin-Jones, M. and Saxena, M. (2003) Bilingual resources and ‘funds of knowledge’ for teaching and learning in multi-ethnic classrooms in Britain. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 6 (3), 267-282.Bialystok, E. (2001) Bilingualism in Development: Language, Literacy and Cognition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Cummins, J. (1996) Negotiating Identities: Education for Empowerment in a Diverse Society. Ontario, CA: California Association for Bilingual Education.Creese, A., Bhatt, A., Bhojani, N. and Martin, P. (2006) Multicultural, heritage and learner identities in complementary schools. Language and Education 20 (1), 23-43.