Bilingual Teaching Methods - Bangor University

BilingualTeachingMethodsBased on world-wideresearch, this bookletprovides a wealth ofclassroom possibilities,and teachers can chosewhat fits their owncontext and preferencesColin Bakera quickreferenceguide foreducatorsEnlli Môn ThomasDafydd ApolloniNia Mererid Parry

IntroductionThe aim of this booklet is to provide a brief overviewof the international literature relating to teachingand pedagogical methods in the context of bilingualeducation and bilingual classrooms, relating thosepractices to the education context here in Wales.It is hoped that this booklet will be auseful reference resource for teachers asthey go about planning their lessons witha view to enriching and/or developingthe Welsh language skills of children, bethey ready Welsh-speakers or learnersat different stages of the journey.This booklet is intended for use by teachersdesigning strategies for teaching in Welshmedium schools, in bilingual schools, andfor bringing pupils into contact with Welshin English-medium schools in Wales.These strategies will take us a stepcloser towards fulfilling one particularaspect of the Welsh Government’svision, namely to secure a generationof teachers who are aware of the keysteps required in realizing Cymraeg:2050, and who are research-informed: the effectiveness of any[bilingual teaching] methodor approach is less influentialthan the skill and competenceof the teacher delivering itFitzpatrick et al., 2018, p.59.2050

Content List1.Main bilingual learning/teaching models04.2.Methods of interaction06.A.Language correction:Targeting the appropriate use of Welsh07.B.Discourse strategies08.C.Teacher input - child output:ensuring opportunities to createextended language10.3.Translanguaging16.4.Cymraeg Bob Dydd20.5.Native speaker models24.6.Content Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)26.7.Task-based Learning30.8.Bibliography34.Important termsThroughout this booklet your will see thefollowing terms. Please take a momentto familairse yourself with them.L1first languageL2second language 2018Enlli Môn ThomasDafydd ApolloniNia Mererid ParryISBN: 978-1-84220-171-8

Main Bilingual Learning/Teaching Models1. Monolingual ModelsThere is a general tendencyto divide bilingual teachingmodels into one of twotypes: the type that followsa monolingual approach,on the one hand, and thetype that follows a bilingualapproach on the other.2. Bilingual ModelsThe first of these is based on the deliberateseparation of the learner’s two languages within theschool and classroom context in general - a practicewhich (if we ignore the minor translations that occurin order to increase learners’ understanding) is stillto be found in classrooms across Wales (Lewis etal., 2013) as well as in Canada (Byrd Clark, 2012)– “despite Wales having a progressive tradition inbilingual education, it is the case that, especially atthe secondary school classroom level, there tendsto be some degree of language separation ratherthan a considered approach to translanguaging”(Jones, 2017, p.213). In such situations, the languageof teaching is often different from that of the child’sfirst language, and opportunities to take advantageof and use their full linguistic repertoire are rare.Such models are often implemented for the purposeof language preservation; in that regard, it couldbe argued that such strategies are essentiallyintended to encourage pupils’ development in thetarget language (such as in the immersion method),rather than representing a specific educationalmethodology per se (Ó Duibhir, 2018). Amongstthe models that encourage language separationare what the formal academic literature refer toas the direct method, the audiolingual approach,and some aspects of CLIL models (Content andLanguage Integrated Learning) (Paradowski, 2017),along with some extreme versions of immersioneducation.

05.The idea that the target language has to be isolatedfrom other languages in the learners’ repertoire hasold roots in the direct and audio-lingual methodsCenoz & Gorter, 2017, p. 310Currently in Wales, as in many othercountries of the world, there is anincreasing awareness of the bilingualspeaker’s unique linguistic profile(Grosjean, 1985) - the multi-competencethat arises from learning and beingable to communicate in more thanone language (Cook, 1992).The notion that bilingual speakers function as two monolingualsis incorrect, and drawing comparisons between, or to have thesame expectations of second language speakers and native firstlanguage or monolingual speakers is inappropriate. By now, ourrecognition and understanding that bilingual speakers have twolanguages that not only influence each other in different ways(e.g. by transferring grammatical structures and vocabularyfrom one language to the other; by promoting, enriching andsometimes slowing down the development and understandingof forms in one language or the other - see Cook, 1992), but alsohave a more universal effect on the individual’s cognitive system(see Thomas & Webb-Davies, 2017), forms a core part of thethinking that underpins effective language pedagogy.the key – and indeeddefining – featurethat distinguishes thelearning/acquisition ofa foreign/second/thirdetc. tongue from firstlanguage acquisition.is the presence of at leastone other linguistic systemin the speaker’s mindParadowski, 2017, p. 3In that respect, learning a language is very similar to learninganything else: when coming across new information, the brainis able to relate that piece of information to existing informationand expand knowledge – accommodating and assimilatinginformation as Piaget would put it. When learning a secondlanguage or developing two languages simultaneously, thebilingual can benefit from his/her ability to compare andcontrast - across their two languages - different words, phrases,sounds and structures, and discover differences in meaningsattached to those forms. This develops an awareness of thevast extent of languages - “what languages are, how theywork, how they are used and can be learnt” (Paradowski,2017, p. 141) – referred to in the literature as metalinguisticskills - skills that influence strongly the child’s later linguisticsuccesses (Carlisle, Beeman, Davis & Spharim, 1999).There is, therefore, an increasing emphasis on the secondtype of bilingual teaching model, suggesting that practiceshave moved away from strict language separation andtowards approaches and models that allow, promote andencourage a mix of languages in the classroom (Lewis etal., 2012), reflecting more accurately the learner’s real-lifeexperiences. This does not mean that there is no key role forWelsh-medium education! On the contrary, ‘immersing’ childrenin Welsh is essential, and ensuring frequent opportunities tosee, hear, process and use the language naturally is crucial ifthe language is to thrive. In such contexts, bilingual teachingmethods serve to enrich pupils’ experience of being educatedprimarily through a minority language, with the ultimate goalsof ensuring that learners become confident bilinguals.Those models that tend towards bilingualism vary, andinclude a wide range of practices that can be more, or less,formal, structured or spontaneous, derive from deliberateplanning on the part of the teacher or depend on pupils’chosen language, some of which will feature in this booklet.This booklet will therefore focus onthe second model type - pedagogicalapproaches and strategies that allowaccess to and awareness of thelearner’s linguistic experience andbackground, whilst helping them developinto confident bilingual speakers.

Methods of InteractionTeaching knowledge or a subject (the ‘content’) throughthe medium of a language that is new to a child (thelinguistic medium) is challenging, and the linguisticinteraction between the teacher and the child is key, notonly for the purpose of identifying the child’s achievementslinguistically and intellectually, but also in terms ofencouraging the child’s continued use of the language.Teachers in immersion schools act as bothcontent teachers and language teachers andthey attempt to create naturalistic conditionssimilar to those in which L1 learning takes placeÓ Duibhir, 2018, p. 55The informal context of the early yearsclassrooms lends itself well to naturalisticspeech and interaction amongst children.However, at this early age, many of thechildren lack sufficient conversational abilitiesin Welsh which means that for those who arelacking exposure to Welsh outside school, theonly way to converse fully with another child(and also with the teacher) is in EnglishThomas, Lewis & Apolloni, 2012, p. 255

07.Language correction:Targeting appropriate use of WelshIf a child’s utterance is ungrammatical in Welsh, if they use an incorrect word for a particularmeaning, or if they over-use (or are over- or totally dependent on) another language, it isgood practice to respond by discussing the correct meaning or the appropriate form byresorting to one of the following (Lyster & Rannta, 1997 - from Ó Duihbir, 2018, p 43):Explicit correctionCorrecting the utteranceRecastsThe teacher recasts the utterance without repeating the ‘error’.Clarification requestsCommunicate to the child that the utterance is not comprehensible to the teacher or thatthe utterance is poorly formed and that it is necessary to re-present or reconstruct it.MetalinguisticfeedbackDiscuss by questioning, commenting or sharing information relating to theappropriateness of the utterance without presenting the target form.Elicitation ofanother responseThis may involve asking the child directly to re-present the utterance; re-presenting partof the utterance to the child and encouraging him/her to complete the utterance; askingthe child directly which form is most appropriate for the utterance, etc.RepetitionRepeating and drawing specific attention to thedivergence from the target form/meaning.Lyster et al. (e.g., Lyster & Rannta, 1997; Lyster & Mori, 2006),found that recasts were the most frequent feedback usedby teachers. Recasts were considered to be effective as itencourages the pupil to concentrate on form. However, this typeof approach is likely to be more effective with older rather thanyounger children - children who have a relatively good grasp ofat least one language system - and there is plenty of evidencethat correcting the utterance of very young children, even byencouraging them to imitate the exact same sentences whencorrected, is difficult (see example from McNeill, 1966).Child:Nobody don’t like me.Mother:No, say ‘nobody likes me’.Child:Nobody don’t like me.this interchange repeated eight times!Mother:Child:No, now listen carefully;say ‘nobody likes me’.Oh! Nobody don’t likes me.McNeill, 1966When to ‘correct’?It is not possible to ‘correct’ everydivergence from the target form byevery pupil in every lesson. Doing sowould not only reduce the time forfocusing on lesson content and thechild’s conceptual understanding ofthe subject, but would also destroythe pupil’s self-confidence.Correcting a child (individually, or in front of others)directly can also have a negative effect on their selfconfidence, by sending a clear message that his/herWelsh, despite their best efforts, is not good enough.This is why it is important to discuss the utterancewith the child in a constructive manner, and todo so after receiving the child’s utterance andhis/her attempt to communicate in Welsh.The utterance the child produced can be discussedin a sensitive and more constructive manner bycomparing and contrasting other utterance formsthat carry the same target meaning, therebynurturing those critical metalinguistic skills that willcontribute to further language skills in due course.