Transcript Challenges for Teaching Literacy in Gaelic

“Challenges for Teaching Literacy
in Gaelic-Medium Primary
Classrooms”
Irene Pollock
University of Edinburgh
Language Policy and Planning Series
22 November 2006
Overview of Presentation
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PhD Research Methodology
Gaelic-medium/Immersion Education
Minority Language Revitalisation
Bilingualism
Literacy
Classroom Resources
Teaching Techniques
Oracy and the School Environment
Challenges
PhD: The Acquisition of Literacy in Gaelicmedium Primary Classrooms in Scotland
• Fieldwork-based analysis of literacy
• Case-study details
– Classroom observation in 2004-2005
– 7 P1-P3 classrooms in 6 schools (10% of
total: Central, Daliburgh, Meadowburn, Salen,
Sleat, Stornoway)
– 8 observation sessions per classroom (130
hours total)
– 104 P1-P3 pupils (11% of total)
PhD: The Acquisition of Literacy in Gaelicmedium Primary Classrooms in Scotland (2)
• Teacher questionnaires: initial (35 - 43%) and
follow-up (18 – 86%)
• Teacher interviews (15)
• Parent questionnaires: initial (75 – 72%) and
follow-up (15 – 36%)
• Other interviews:
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Headteachers
Staff at University of Strathclyde/Jordanhill
Staff at Stòrlann
Education officers
Researchers
Existing Literature
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Johnstone et al. (1994; 1999)
MacKinnon (e.g. 1977; 1992; 2004; 2006)
Murray & Morrison (1984)
Stradling & MacNeil (e.g. 1995; 1996;
2000)
• 2001 census results
Reasons for Research
• General paucity of research on Gaelic and
Gaelic-medium education
• Literacy often unacknowledged
• Fieldwork-based studies rare
• Update of existing material
Gaelic-medium Education
• National Guidelines for Gaelic 5-14 (1993;
revision forthcoming): the purpose of GME is to
provide pupils with “broadly equal competence in Gaelic
and English, in all the skills, by the end of P7” (p.6)
• Immersion methodology (cf. Canada,
Wales)
• Involves both first and second-language
speakers
Statistics on Gaelic-medium
Education
• Comparison of Gaelic-medium Units
across Authorities
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Number of Gaelic-medium Units
1985-2005
Authority
Units
% Units
Pupils
% Pupils
Aberdeen City
1
1.6%
45
2.2%
80
Angus
1
1.6%
16
0.7%
60
Argyll & Bute
6
9.8%
157
7.6%
40
East Ayrshire
1
1.6%
30
1.5%
20
East
Dunbartonshire
1
1.6%
46
2.2%
Edinburgh City
1
1.6%
90
4.4%
Eilean Siar
25
41.0%
492
23.8%
Glasgow City
1
1.6%
195
9.4%
Highland
19
31.1%
710
34.3%
Inverclyde
1
1.6%
24
1.2%
2500
North
Lanarkshire
1
1.6%
105
5.1%
2000
Perth & Kinross
1
1.6%
5
0.2%
1000
South
Lanarkshire
1
1.6%
84
4.1%
500
Stirling
1
1.6%
69
3.3%
0
1985
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1988
1991
1994
1997
2000
2003
Numbers of Pupils in Gaelic-medium
Units 1985-2005
1500
0
1985
1988
1991
1994
1997
2000
2003
Minority Language Revitalisation
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Worldwide language loss
“Revival” v. “revitalisation”
Bilingual and diglossic societies
Intergenerational transmission
Language planning
– Status
– Corpus
– Acquisition
Bilingualism
• Changing attitudes: detrimental, neutral, and
additive effects
• Transfer and interference
• “Balanced” bilingualism
• Cognitive and social advantages
• Acquisition
• Dichotomies:
– Simultaneous v. successive
– Compound v. coordinate
– Additive v. subtractive
Literacy and Biliteracy: Acquisition
• Learning to read and learning through reading
• Predictors of success
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Exposure to print and books in the home
Attitude
Oral skills
Phonological awareness
Vocabulary
• Order of introduction
• “Rich get richer” phenomenon
Literacy and Biliteracy: Theories
• Types of literacy:
– Functional
– Critical
– Cultural
• Decoding and encoding
• Constructing meaning and decoding
meaning
• Contributions to language development
Literacy and Biliteracy: Teaching
• Teaching methods:
– Phonics
– Whole Language
– Language Experience Approach
• Oral reading
• Shared and paired reading
• Assessment:
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Oral fluency
Comprehension
Cloze testing
Miscue analysis
Literacy and Biliteracy: Resources
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Importance of resources
Translation
Reading schemes
20-25 books outside of curriculum per year
(Honig (2001))
Literacy and Biliteracy: Mechanics
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Sound-symbol correspondence
Top-down v. bottom-up processing
Print awareness
Role of writing
Letter names v. sounds
Repetition, rhyme, and rhythm
Fieldwork Results:
Classroom Resources
• Books, worksheets, posters, tapes/CDs,
videos/DVDs, computer programs
• Schemes:
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Reading (Storyworlds)
Phonics (Facal is Fuaim)
Maths (Matamataig Heinemann Alba)
Reading for Information/Science (Discovery Worlds)
• Environmental Print
• Paste-overs
• Libraries
Analysis of Library Books in Case-study Classrooms
Classroom
Total Books
Different
Books
Change Over Paste-overs
Year
Central P1
217
170
+3
121 (71%)
Central P2-3
304
202
+27
123 (61%)
Daliburgh
P3-4
270
55
+4
0 (0%)
Meadowburn
P1-2
79
68
+30
1 (2%)
Salen P1-3
310
112
+70
12 (11%)
Sleat P1-2
162
132
+43
69 (52%)
Stornoway
P1-2
465
148
+7
30 (20%)
Fieldwork Results:
Teaching Techniques
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Learning letters
Learning key words
Word attack skills: segmenting and blending
Use of context
Metalanguage of literacy
Reading groups
Reading aloud:
– Choral v. individual
– Pointing
– Prompting
Fieldwork Results:
Teaching Techniques (2)
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Concurrent development of writing
Handwriting and letter formation
Copying and scribing
Reference use:
– Spelling
– Dictionaries
– Punctuation
– Diacritics
Fieldwork Results:
Teacher Responsibilities
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Marking progress
Assessment
Diagnosing learning disorders
Supporting language development
Fieldwork Results:
Oracy
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Development of fluency
Immersion v. bilingual methods
Code-switching and calquing
Songs and rhymes
Linguistic creativity
Fieldwork Results:
The School Environment
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Integration v. isolation
Size of unit
Specialists
“Buddy” systems
Gaelic outside the classroom
Challenges: Policies
• Little practical guidance
• Variable at different levels:
– National
– Authority
– Unit
– Teacher
Challenges: Pupils’ Language
Background
• 17% with Gaelic language background (cf.
Fraser’s (1989) 59%)
• 3 of 104 case-study pupils monolingual Gaelic in
the home
• 20% had 2 Gaelic-speaking parents; 57% one
Gaelic-speaking parent (native speakers less
than half)
• Two-thirds had Gaelic-speaking siblings
• 59% learned Gaelic before age 3
• 25% considered native speakers
• 90% attended sgoil àraich
Challenges: Resources at Home
• Over half read aloud to regularly
• Most children prefer to read and be read to
in English
• Children’s books:
fewer than 5
5 to 10
10 to 15
15 to 20
more than 20
Parental Satisfaction with Gaelic Books
• Parental satisfaction:
80%
60%
Satisfied
40%
Dissatisfied
20%
0%
availability
expense
appeal
Challenges: Resources at School
• Multimedia and audiovisual
• Satisfaction: most teachers satisfied with
quantity; 2/3 with quality; half with range
• Storyworlds
• Translation
• Standardisation
• Size of libraries
Challenges: Techniques
• Vocabulary:
– Flashcards
– Key words
– Pronunciation
– Definition
• Spontaneous speech
• Assessment of progress in reading
• Encouraging extra-curricular reading
Challenges: Education
• Teacher recruitment and retention
• Teacher training: qualification and inservice
• Teacher language ability
• Specialists
• Registers of Gaelic: the language outside
of the classroom
“Challenges for Teaching Literacy
in Gaelic-medium Units”
Irene Pollock
[email protected]