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 context

Two primary schools in Tower Hamlets, East London Second/third generation British Bangladeshi children, mostly more fluent in English than Sylheti/Bengali (Bangla) Children also attend community classes in Bengali and/or Arabic Achieving highly at primary school

Sois bilingual learning in mainstream school relevant or necessary?

The childrens 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 class Plan bilingual tasks in literacy and numeracy for each group, relevant to mainstream curriculum, linking with community class learning Involve community and mainstream teachers in planning Children do task, watch video and comment (stimulated recall) Discuss data with teachers at end-of-term seminar Repeat 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 lullaby Teacher keen to work on comparative literature: compare with lullaby in English Involve parents to understand poem more deeply Use 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 Baby
Hush, little baby, dont say a word, Papas gonna buy you a mockingbird. And if that mockingbird dont sing, Papas gonna buy you a diamond ring. And if that diamond ring turns to brass, Papas gonna buy you a looking glass. And if that looking glass gets broke, Papas gonna buy you a billy goat. And if that billy goat wont pull, Papas gonna buy you a cart and bull. And if that cart and bull fall down, Youll still be the sweetest little baby in town.

Questions for parents

Comparison: Venn diagram

Reciprocal Reading
Sharing findings from parent interviews Each child took a role: (eg questioner, summariser) Children added to or amended information from interviews Clarified their understanding of the chora Took place entirely in English why?

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

The childrens poem

Fruits
We 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 language Not straightforward transfer of similar concept Clarification of complex ideas through discussion

Translation/interpretation
Transliteration as translation Gives children and teacher access to chora Enables children to express ideas in writing Bridge between Sylheti and Standard Bengali Interlingual and intralingual Translation between phonic systems

Linking with cultural worlds

Learning more about own culture Texts include different aspects of childrens experience: Bangla/school/popular culture Venn diagram highlights differences in cultural values / economic contexts Own poem combines knowledge from UK and Bangladesh

Learner identities
Children actively seeking connection to Bangladesh through culture and language Terms linking to home experience: chad mama Teacher perceiving children as bilingual learners Multiple identities can be expressed at school otherwise a monolingual space

Childrens 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 do We'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.