Let’s Talk

Discussing and Developing Bilingual Children’s Oral

Language

Amanda Duncan
Katherine Chumacero
CABE Fall Conference
October 14, 2010
 Objectives
 Dialogue about: academic and social
language, semilingualism and academic
achievement, code-switching.
 Understand what you personally believe about
oral language in bilingual students.
 Learn what research says about these terms.
 Reflect on our classroom practice.
 Advocate for our bilingual students.
 Academic vs. Social Language
Based on what you believe, use each group
of terms to form a sentence.

 Academic language, social language, difficult

 Academic language, social language, context

 Academic language, social language, critical

thinking
 Academic and Social Language
Research says:

“Surely there is a specific character to the way language is used in many

academic contexts, and it is reasonable to suspect that the use of this
academic register…will co-occur with success at school and mastery of
academic content. A serious problem arises, however, when we construe
this domain of language use as ‘more complex’ or ‘developmentally
superior’ to the language children use natively at home or on the street, and
consequently assess school language as indicative of ‘higher language
proficiency’.” (MacSwan, Rolstad & Glass, 2002, 399)

All people must learn many different registers or discourses in order to navigate
through life (conversational, academic, technology, math, literature, fashion,
sports, surfing, etc.) No one discourse is more valid than any other.
(Rolstad, 2005)

Higher order thinking can occur in any type of language. Consider a child on
the playground who says, “Wow, Mary’s got a good kick! If we get her on
our team, we’ll win for sure!” (Rolstad, 2005)
 Academic and Social Language

Socio-cultural Instructional Practices

Awareness

Remember, Practice transfer from social to academic.

communication is the Sequencing a novela storyline, transfers to relating a
goal of language. It is historical sequence of causally linked events.
also important to learn Arguing why a student should be allowed to play
to express ourselves in basketball after school could transfer to comparing
different ways and contrasting or using language of cause and effect.
according to the
context.
Set language objectives related to the task and pre-
teach language structures so children learn to use
academic language, but assume the ability to THINK
is there, no matter what terms are initially used to
present the thinking.
 Semilingualism and
academic achievement

What do you think people mean when they say:

“Juanito can’t speak either language very well.”

“I can’t ask my students deep comprehension

questions—they don’t speak enough English to
participate and they would be left out.”
 Semilingualism and
academic achievement
Research says:

“Semilingualism is the idea that children are nonverbal in both English and their
native language.” (McSwan, Rolstad and Glass, 2002)

“Research tells us that all normal children acquire the language of their speech
community effortlessly and flawlessly.” (Pinker, 1994)

“Any language can be a suitable vehicle for thought and learning, and any
normal child who speaks a language already has all that is needed in order
to achieve full academic development.” (Rolstad, 2005, 1994)

“There is an extensive body of research documenting that both majority and

minority teachers have been taught in teacher education programs to
believe that minority children come to school with deficits in background and
experience that must be corrected by the school in order for these children
to achieve.” (Escamilla 2006, 2330)
 Semilingualism and
academic achievement
Socio-cultural Awareness
Remember bilingual development may
spread across two languages. Some
terms may be learned in one but not
both languages, in particular
depending on the language(s) used at
school. The potential for learning in
both languages is always there.
Remember that learning and deep
thinking can occur in any language or
dialect.
Be aware of how you judge students’
speech in both languages.
Instructional Practices
DO NOT lower your academic
expectations simply because students
don’t yet produce standard language!
Plan for multiple readings of texts,
explanation of target vocabulary,
opportunities for rich discussion and
deep thinking.
Model standard language, validate
non-standard, and explain when each
might be appropriate. Give children a
chance to practice.
 Code-switching

Finish these sentences:

 Children code-switch because…

 Adults code-switch because…
 Code-switching is (good/bad) because…
 Code-switching
Research says:

“It is by now well-established among researchers in linguistics that

intra-sentential code-switching is not a random mixture of two
flawed systems; rather it is rule-governed and systematic,
demonstrating the operation of underlying grammatical
restrictions.” (Toribio 2004, 137)

“Contrary to common assumptions, code-switching patterns may be

used as a measure of bilingual ability, rather than deficit.” (Toribio,
2004, 138)

“Code-switching can be used for dramatic effect, to accommodate

other participants’ language competencies, or to organize
conversational tasks such as turn-taking, emphasis marking, and
clarification.” (Becker 2001, 112)
 Code-switching

Socio-cultural Awareness Instructional Practices

Code-switching does not necessarily Create bilingual spaces for bilingual
reflect a deficit in either language. people.
My Action Research

Began with this “problem”: My students don’t say much

during picture walks. They don’t speak intelligibly.
They don’t speak in complete sentences. They lack
so much vocabulary.

Reflected: What factors can I control?

Developed my research question: What happens to

children’s oral language development when I focus
on my questioning strategies during picture walks?
 Improving my questions
Goal: To deepen my questioning strategies.
 Initial questions: “What is this? Who is that? Where
are they? What are they doing?”
 Generated a list question frames: “Tell me about a time
something similar happened to you. If you could
pick one thing from the book, which would you
choose? Why? What do you think will happen next?
What makes you think that? How do you know? How
are these things alike/different?” *
 Valued all student talk , looked for books that
encouraged discussion and storytelling, moved away
from using levels as a guide for book choice.

*Adapted from Kagan Smart Card (1999)Thinking questions

Video of “Raúl”
 Reflections

“Children in social environments that

provide them with more communicative
interaction, particularly with an
engaging and responsive
communicative partner, and more adult-
produced, child-directed speech,
particularly speech that uses a rich
vocabulary and complex structure—
acquire language more rapidly than
children in social environments that
provide less of these supports.”
(Hoff, 2006, 72)
 “It is my teaching, not the kids’ ability,
that determines the level of their responses.”
(Keene, 2008, 78)
I am the sum total of my language. (Charles Sanders
Peirce)

¿Y si soy mas de uno, Peirce?

¿Y si soy dos,
o tres
o - como diría David-
un millón?
¿En qué momento, en qué participio del mundo
se convierte tu suma en mi resta, Peirce?
(Gustavo Pérez Firat)
References
Becker, R. (2001) Spanish-English Code-switching in a Bilingual Academic Context. Reading
Horizons, 42:2, p. 99-115.
Coleman, R. & Goldenburg, C. (2010) What Does Research Say About Effective Practices for
English Language Learners? Part Two: Academic Language. Kappa Delta Pi Record, 46:
2, Winter, p. 60-65.
Escamilla, K. (2006) Semilingualism Applied to the Literacy Behaviors of Spanish-speaking
Emerging Bilinguals: Bi-illiteracy or Emerging Biliteracy? Teachers College Record,
108:11, p.2329-2353.
Hoff, E. (2006) How Social Contexts Support and Shape Language Development.
Developmental Review, 26, p. 55-88.
Keene, E. (2008) To Understand. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
MacSwan, J., Rolstad, K. & Glass, G., (2002) Do Some School-age Children Have No
Language? Some Problems of Construct Validity in the Pre-LAS espanol. Bilingual
Research Journal, 6:2, p.395-420.
Pinker, S. (1994) The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Languages. New York:
William More and Company.
Rolstad, K. (2005) Rethinking Academic Language in Second Language Instruction.
Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Bilingualism, ed. James Cohen, Kara T.
McAlister, Kellie Rolstad, and Jeff MacSwan, 1993-1999. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla
Press.
Toribio, A. (2004) Spanish/English Speech Practices: Bringing Chaos to Order. International
Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. 7:2-3, p. 133-154.