Constructing Meaning in a Bilingual Learning Environment

Download Report

Transcript Constructing Meaning in a Bilingual Learning Environment

Constructing Knowledge
in Bilingual/Multilingual
Learning Environments
Wong Bee Eng
email: [email protected]
Department of English
Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication
Universiti Putra Malaysia
Outline of Presentation
1. Introduction
2. Constructing Knowledge in Bilingual/Multilingual
Learning Environments
3. Two communities of Learning
a. Methodology
b. Data - Malaysian
Data - US
4. Conclusion
Wong Bee Eng
2
Introduction
 The philosophy of education can be defined as
the study of purposes, processes, nature and
ideals of education (Jordan et al., 2008: 6).
 In other words, the philosophy of a country
relates to the purposes, processes, nature and
ideals of education of that country.
Wong Bee Eng
3
Introduction
 And education attempts to develop
personality in a preferred direction where
development indicates growth and the
preferred direction indicates a specific
direction for that growth to occur (Jordan et
al., 2008: 7).
 Communities of learning are the product of
the process of education.
Wong Bee Eng
4
Communities of Learning
 A community of learning is when people come
together in shared histories of activity and
discourse associated with the learning
enterprise (Wenger, 1999).
 Central notion - the expert (teacher) teaches
the apprentice (learner) not only the specific
tasks associated with the primary activity of the
learning community, but also the pragmatic,
interpersonal conventions appropriate to
carrying out those tasks.
Wong Bee Eng
5
Constructing Knowledge in
Bilingual/Multilingual Learning Environments
Construction of knowledge is different in different
learning communities and particularly in different
bilingual/multilingual environments.
In relation to this we look at the notion of
‘constructivism’ since the data for this study is
analyzed from this perspective.
Constructivism is not one, but an amalgam of
theories that focus on meaning-making.
Wong Bee Eng
6
Constructivism
At least 3 perspectives are available:
 trivial constructivism and individual meaningmaking;
 social constructivism, which emphasises
collaborative meaning-making; and
 critical constructivism, which looks at the
construction of meaning as empowerment.
(Jordan et al., 2008)
Wong Bee Eng
7
Key ideas
 Knowledge is situated and constructed in social
contexts.
 The learner is an active agent in the interpretation of the
world.
 Constructivism focuses on meaning-making and the
understanding of knowledge.
 Other people are important in the formation and
modification of mental constructs (Jordan et al., 2008:
65).
Wong Bee Eng
8
Constructivism
 Thus, constructivism is based on the
fundamental assertion that knowledge cannot
exist outside our minds but rather it is
“constructed” in interaction with others.
 From the constructivist paradigm, a classroom
provides opportunities for knowledge to be coconstructed.
Wong Bee Eng
9
Constructivism
In this perspective, the teacher plays a number of
important roles in the knowledge construction
process.
1. As a facilitator who encourages and promotes active
interaction.
2. As a source of curriculum knowledge.
3. As the provider of meaningful activities in which
students are able to co-construct understanding.
(Wong & Kumar, 2009)
Wong Bee Eng
10
Two Communities of Learning:
a. Methodology
 A classroom research
 Objective: To show how learning is mediated in
face-to-face interactions in these
bilingual/multilingual environments and what can
be learnt from such an analysis.
Wong Bee Eng
11
Methodology
 Accounts of interaction in 2 bilingual/
multilingual learning environments
1st of a local situation (classrooms in 2 local
schools in the Klang Valley), and
2nd is located in a school in the US (see TorresGuzmán, 2009).
Wong Bee Eng
12
Methodology
Local context: classroom dialogues recorded by
teacher when s(he) was teaching year 4
Science or Mathematics in a national or
national type primary school.
Age group: 9 to 10 years
Wong Bee Eng
13
Methodology
 Interactions of the US data was collected during a
year-long study of Read Alouds in a 5th grade
classroom.
 Age group: 9 to 10 years, from language minority
groups
 Most of them - had been enrolled in dual language
schooling since they were 5, and they were learning
English as a L2 or L3.
 The researcher made observations once a week and
the Read Alouds were videotaped.
Wong Bee Eng
14
Methodology
 Read Alouds - a distinct instructional activity in
which the teacher reads a book to the whole
class;
most of the time the text read is beyond the
listeners’ ability to read on their own.
 Thus, the reading requires mediation at various
levels.
 The researcher and research assistant made
observations once a week and they videotaped
14 Read Alouds. (see Torres-Guzmán, 2009)
Wong Bee Eng
15
Methodology
 In both contexts, the recordings were transcribed and
the transcriptions were analyzed based on the
constructivist approach to better understand the
expectations of the teacher and the learners on what it
means to be a good learner.
 In order to understand the linguistic complexities in the
classroom, a micro-analysis of these classroom
dialogues were made.
 The study also attempted to identify strategy or
strategies that the teachers adopted and used in the
classroom in order to bring about learning.
Wong Bee Eng
16
Methodology
The following table summarizes the details of schools and
participants in the study.
Wong Bee Eng
17
School
National School
Malay
National type
Chinese school
US Primary school
Medium of
instruction
Malay
Chinese
English
Class / students
Mathematics Year 4 Science Year 4 –
– both gender,
both gender, all
mainly Malay
Chinese
Read aloud Year 5both gender, from
language minority
groups
Maths and Science
Taught only in
English
Taught in Mandarin
& English
-
Teacher
Ethnic Malay
(female)
Ethnic Chinese
(female)
Hispanic American
Teacher’s own
schooling
Malay
Chinese and Malay
American / Spanish
Initial teacher
training
Malay
Mandarin Chinese
Primary
English medium
training at the point
of data collection
3-week intensive
course
3-week intensive
Wong
Bee Eng
course
18
Malaysian Data
 The following are the transcripts of the
dialogues.
 The 1st set (extracts 1-3) are from the Malay
classroom where the teacher taught
Mathematics in English. (see Wong and Kumar,
2009)
Wong Bee Eng
19
Extract #1
 01 T Today, I want to continue errr, the lesson, ok? Open your textbook,
page one hundred and forty-three, ok? Open your textbook page
one hundred and forty- two, er three. Are you ready? Are you
ready? One hundred and forty-three, ok? ok, divide unit of land,
ok? How to divide? Same, same with another past lesson yang kita
pernah belajar yang dulu-dulu. that we had learned the last time.
Cuma only the difference is unit, ok? Errr the last lesson divide for
what unit, for time kan? right? ok, now continue with land, ok,
look at example number one, ok? Forty-two millimeters divide ok?,
forty-two millimeters divide, ok?/ I want to show, I don’t want to
show you how to divide it because the step how to divide. The difrence is unit, selalu awak buat tak ada unit atau unit masa kan?
normally do you have unit or timeunit, right? ok, unit unit land, tetapi
but the step cara dia tak [sa] sama, the method is not the same ok?
I want to, ok F, come here! ok, don’t forget ah, if you get any question, you must do, ok, I want you to do / I want you to try, do in
your textbook.
Wong Bee Eng
20
The following extract occurred a few minutes later, after the
teacher had been trying to elicit whether a smaller number
can be divided by a larger:
Extract #2
 01 T
 02 Ss
 03 T






04
05
07
06
08
09
Ss
T
T
Ss
Ss
T
 10 Ss
So, four cannot divide by
By six
Ok, if cannot divide, so you take two number.
Forty?
Two
Forty-two, ok? Forty-two divide by?
Ok, can or not? Forty-two divide by six?
Six
Can
Why can, Hanif? Why can? Why forty-two can
divide by six?
Wong Bee Eng
21
((silence))
Extract #3:
01 T
Cikgu pernah ajarkan macammana? Teacher has taught you how?
Mana satu nak darab, mana satu nak bahagi? Which number to
multiply, which number to divide? Which number to multiply?
Which number to divide? Ok what you have, Amirah?
02 Ss
03 T
04 Ss
05 T
06 Ss
07 T
08 Ss
09 T
(xxx)
Ok, Hamid /// Right or wrong?
Right
Right or wrong?
Right
Right or wrong?
Right
Who said right? Please put up your hand! Who said right? Ok,
who said right? Please put up your hand! ok, who said wrong?
Ok, never mind. Ah, Salima, do the correction/// Ikut kawan,
kawan cakap salah, awak pun angkat salah. Follow friend, friend said
the wrong thing, you also raised your hand wrongly. Buat sini sini
sini. Do it here, here here.Jangan padam Don’t erase, no no, kenapa?
Why? Semua dah lupa huh? All forgotten, huh? Cuti lama tak ingat?
After long holidays, can’t remember?
Wong Bee Eng
22
This next set of data (extracts 4-7) is taken from a recording of a
science lesson conducted in a year four national type primary
Chinese classroom. (see Wong and Kumar, 2009)
Extract #4





01
02
03
04
05
S?
Ss
T
Ss
T
 06
 07
Ss
T
Class stand /
Good morning teacher
Ok, sit down
Thank you, teacher
Ok, good morning to you all, ok, erm, / how are you
feeling today?
(xxx)
Fine, ok, I would like to see everyone is happy. Ok,
now, teacher is going to teach you about, objects
are materials made of different. Objects are made
of different materials. Now you turn to your text
book / to page seventy-six, ok? Alright? Properties
of material. Have you found the page, seventy-six?
Wong Bee Eng
23
Results
The following segment occurs only a few minutes after
extract #4.
The teacher and the students are clicking pictures on
computer screens as they go through the lesson:
Wong Bee Eng
24
Extract #5
01 T
We want to know what are the properties of the materials,
ok? Next, click on the picture and try to find out. Would you
like to find out?
02 Ss Yes//
03 Tape These objects are made of metal. Metal is shiny. It can be
bent but cannot be stretched easily.
04 T
Ok, now you see these objects, the spoons and the forks,
are made of //
05 Ss Metal
06 T
Ok, metal is //
07 S?
Shiny
08 Ss <in chorus> Shiny]
09 T
What are] the properties of metal? One more time//
10 Ss Shiny
11 T
Yes, Metal’s / one more time / Metal is shiny]…
Wong Bee Eng
25
Extract #6
01 T
02 Ss
03 T
04 Ss
05 T
06 Ss
07 T
08 Ss
09 T
10 Ss
11 T
12 Ss
Ok, You can see there are so many kind of material here.
Can you name it?
(xxx)
No, the material is… Metal] louder]….
Metal / Metal
Rubber]
Rubber, plastic, glass, wood, cloth, leather
Ok, now you see, what are the properties of metal? Can you
tell teacher?
Shiny// can be bent
Ok, good, and what about rubber? Rubber is //
Tough / Can be stretched
Good, rubber is tough but it can be stretched. What about
this one?
Light / Plastic]
Wong Bee Eng
26
The following extract, which occurred about 15 minutes
later, closed the lesson.
Extract #7
01T We have some, activity for you to do, at home, you
see plastic, leather, and cloth. You group the,
object, ok? You group the object according to the
material they are made of. And you written /
what are the properties of the materials use. Ok?
Teacher will distribute some of the work sheet for
you all, you take it, you you bring it back to, at
home, do it at home. ok? And you pass it
tomorrow. Ok? And / That’s the end for today’s
lesson and I hope all of you all enjoy the
lesson. Do you enjoy the lesson?
02Ss Yes
03T Thank you very much.
04Ss Thank you teacher.
Wong Bee Eng
27
The following set of data (extracts 8-10) is from a science lesson where the medium of
instruction is Mandarin Chinese (collected by Wong (2009).
Extract #8 (Science Year 3 National Type Chinese School)
 S1
 SS
:行礼,吴老师早安。
:Bow, good morning, teacher.
:吴老师早安。
:Good morning, teacher.
 T
 SS
 T
 SS
 T
 SS
 T
:同学们早安,请坐下。
:Good morning, students. Please sit down.
:谢谢,吴老师。
:Thank you, teacher.
:同学们,大家好不好?
:Students, how are you?
:好。:Fine.
:那么呢,在我们还没有上课之前呢,我们来玩一下游戏,好不好
:So, before we start our class today, let us play games, ok?
:好。:Good.
:那么我就…那位同学想出来,请举手。
:So, I will…who would like to come up here, please raise your
Wong Bee Eng
呢?
hand.
28
Extract #9 (Science Year 3 National Type Chinese School)
:好,来,同学们,今天呢,磁铁,谁可以告诉我,告诉老师啊,磁铁在 我
们的 日常生活中,有带来好处吗?有还是没有?
:Good, come, everyone, today, magnet, who can tell me, tell me, is
magnet very useful to our daily lives? Yes or no?
 SS :有。
:Yes.
 T
:有。那么呢,谁可以告诉我,哪些东西呢,它是利用磁铁来操作的?
好,来, 啊,家定。
:Yes. So, is there anyone who can tell me, what are the things which can
function with the help of a magnet? Ok, come, ah, (a student’s name).
 S3 :啊,指南针。
:Ah, compass.
 T
:指南针。很好。来接下去。 好,来,(学生名字)。
:Compass. Very good. Let’s get to the next one. Ok, Come, (a student’s
name).
 S4 :冰橱。
:Refrigerator.
 T
:冰橱。冰橱还有另外一个名字叫什么?
:Refrigerator. Is there another name for it?
 SS :冰箱。
:Refrigerator.
 T
:冰箱。好,来,好,国俊。还有呢?
Wong Bee Eng
29
:Refrigerator. Ok, come, ok, (a student’s name). Anything else?
 T
Extract #10 (Science Year 3 National Type Chinese
School)
: 还有呢?啊,好,来。还有什么?
:What else? Ah, good, come. What else?
 T
: 那个叫什么?留言便条的吸盘,对了。还有吗?好,来,
啊,来,你。
:What is it called? Notes magnet, that’s correct. Anything
else? Ok, come, ah, come, you.
 T
: 手表没有,手表没有。好,来,好,家定。
:A watch does not have a magnet, a watch does not have a
magnet. Ok, come, ok, (a student’s name).
 S38 : 那个煮东西的…
: That thing which we can use it to cook….
 T
: 没有。那个火炉没有。
:No, a cooker does not have a magnet in it.
 T
Wong Bee Eng
30
Extract #10 (Science Year 3 National Type Chinese School)
 S39 : 收音机。
:Radio.
 T
: 对了,收音机。好,来,请坐下。好,那个有冰箱,铅笔盒,指南
针,那个留言便条的吸盘,电视机,收音机,还有音乐盒。啊,这个我
们没有,剩下的没有。Ok, 好,来。今天我们学了指南针啊,磁铁呢带
给我们什么?
:That’s right, radio. Ok, come, please sit down. Ok, they are
refrigerator, pencil case, compass, the Notes magnet, television, radio,
and musical box. Ah, this one we don’t have, the rest have no magnets
in them. Ok, good, come. Today we learnt about compass, what can a
magnet give us?
 S40 : 好处。
:Benefits.
 T
: 啊,带给我们很多好处。所以,磁铁是我们生活中的好夥伴。好,
来,今天我们的课就到此为止了。来,起立。
:Ah, it gives us a lot of benefits. So, magnet is our good companion.
Ok, come, our class ends here. Come, rise.
 S41 : 起立。行礼。谢谢吴老师。
:Rise. Bow. Thank you teacher.
 SS : 谢谢吴老师。
:Thank you teacher.
Wong Bee Eng
31
Malaysian Data - Discussion
The micro-analysis of the data suggest the
following (see Wong and Kumar, 2009):
The teacher is an authority
Wong Bee Eng
32
Discussion
The teacher is in authority
Wong Bee Eng
33
Discussion
The role of silence
Wong Bee Eng
34
Discussion
Code switching – a simplification strategy
Wong Bee Eng
35
b. US Data
 The social interactions selected for analysis occurred during
the 2nd semester of the academic year, when the teacher
and, especially, the children were familiar with each other’s
ways. (see Torres-Guzmán, 2009)
 During the interactions, the teacher was reading William H.
Armstrong’s book, Sounder, an historical fiction chapter
book about sharecropping that was beyond the students’
reading level, providing the students a bit of a challenge.
 The following extracts (1 – 3) are taken from Torres-Guzmán,
(2009).
Wong Bee Eng
36
Extract #1
01 T
02 Ce
03 T
04 Ma
05 T
06
07
08
09
Ju
T
Ed
T
10
11
12
13
Ge
T
Ge
T
Let’s share some of your thought but I want you to explain a little
bit. Don’t worry about raising your hands. I’ll hop around a bit.
Cecilia, what did you say?
Sadness because you’re taken away from your family.
OK, sadness because of that…{Teacher signals to student 2}
They were unhappy because they were in jail getting whipped
and they couldn’t even get time to sleep.
Unhappiness because they want to do what other people can do
but they’re tied down.
They don’t have enough things so they can play.
They have nothing. They only have what the master would give them.
A prisoner. It’s like a prison. . .
Over here, I’m reminded, Gerardo and Jaime, of a word they found today
when they were reading about Harriet Tubman.
And what was that word?
Neglected
Neglected. And what does that mean?
They ignored him.
Wong Bee Eng
37
Yeah they’re totally ignored, they
don’t care about you.
Extract #2
01 T
You have to imagine a large place like that. Now we know that a
lot of what they planted was cotton, tobacco. Now in those
times, were there any machines to pick up this stuff? ((Students
shake their heads)) So, that meant that humans had to be used.
Why didn’t they hire a lot of people and pay them? Why did
they go out of their way to buy slaves to work in these giant
plantations? Why didn’t they? Why didn’t they?
02 Ju They didn’t want to hire people because they thought they’d be
wasting their money. They’re greedy, selfish.
03 Xa They didn’t do it on the White people because that was from
their people.
04 T
And they would have to pay them, right?
05 Lu Blacks were the kind that they needed so they could pick up the
cotton and plant stuff and they wouldn’t have to pay them.
06 T
Right, so basically the slaves became the machines that they
would use.
Wong Bee Eng
38
Extract # 2 (cont.)
07Ed Those people thought in those times that black people
were animals but that was wrong (xxx) different colors.
08T So you’re saying that in those times blacks were
considered different from Whites so they could be
treated as animals but you consider that to be wrong.
09An They didn’t want to lose the money. They didn’t want to
pay anybody because they had so {student hand
motions indicate and emphasize amount] much cotton.
That means that they would have to pay a lot of people
to do the work for them. And since they didn’t want to
pay, they wouldn’t be able to afford that type of pay
without having to get frustrated of wasting so much
money. They just went to Africa and dragged the people,
the African Americans and make them work with no
pay.
Wong Bee Eng
39
Extract #2 (cont.)
10T
OK, I want to clear something up. A lot of you use
the word waste for spending money. Esto es
porque en español, ustedes usan una palabra
como gastar This is because in Spanish you use
the word waste/spend. Gastar, waste. In English,
waste means that you’re just throwing your
money away {teacher makes hand movement of
throwing something away}. OK, when you waste
your money. In English, the word to use is spend.
They didn’t want to spend their money in that kind
of way. So, remember that from now on. Now,
Angel hit on a point. The plantation owners wanted
to make money and they knew that paying a lot of
people would be very expensive. So, it wasn’t only
that they were greedy. It’s just that they thought of
the expense, that it was going to be too much
Eng
money so they ended Wong
upBeewith
slaves.
40
US Data
 4 chapters later and just before the reading of the 5th




chapter of Sounder, the teacher set the students up for
what they might encounter.
She does so with a focused question that required the
students to think about the character of the boy in the
story.
The boy had no name yet.
The teacher asked the students to tell her how the boy
might have been feeling at the end of the fourth chapter.
Students report on their pair share discussion.
Wong Bee Eng
41
Extract #3:
 01
Ja
 02
 03
T
Ja
 04
T
 05
 06
Ss
T
It also said that the boy was hungry but once the man
was squishing the cake, he didn’t feel like eating it.
Yeah, why?
Because, he felt kind of scared of the man and he felt
like the man was just doing it for fun, without respect.
So he felt he was disrespected right? The boy, there
were so many things going on in the experience he was
having. Let me ask you this, do you think this kind of
experience is going to affect him?
Yes!
Yes, as a matter of fact, he’s already thinking revenge.
He’s already thinking revenge. I’m going to take 2 more
comments and then we’re going to begin reading
because I do want to read all of Chapter 5 today
because it’s a very important chapter.
Wong Bee Eng
42
Discussion
 Recall that the theoretical underpinning of constructivism is that
knowledge is “constructed” through interaction with others (Hendry,
Frommer & Walker, 1999).
 During this process of interaction, knowledge is co-constructed.
 In order for knowledge to be co-constructed, conversation exchanges
have to be highly interactive and collaborative (Sonnenmeier, 1993).
i.e. a high degree of interpersonal connection between the
individuals working in the process (Goldstein, 1999: 648) is also
expected.
 Besides this, the process of co-construction also takes place through
inferencing (Sonnenmeier, 1993).
Wong Bee Eng
43
Discussion
 The US data clearly suggest that meaning and
knowledge are verbally co-constructed through
the ‘active inferencing’ (Sonnenmeier, 1993),
and interpersonal connection (Goldstein, 1999)
between the teacher and students.
 The construction of knowledge is a two-way
communication.
Wong Bee Eng
44
US Data - Discussion
Co-construction of knowledge
 The US students responded to the teacher’s questions without






inhibition, for example in Extract#1, there was an alternation of
teacher and student talk throughout.
This is also evident in Extracts #2 and #3.
Questions were used (e.g. extract #1 09, 11).
There are only two instances of extended teacher talk.
The first occurred in extract #2 where the teacher explained
the scenario of the big plantations in the south of the U.S. and
where a lot of labour was required to work these plantations
(extract #2 01).
In the closing of extract #2, the teacher’s turn was extended as
she went on to explain the English words spend/waste versus
the word gastar in Spanish.
Students respond individually without being prompted most of
the time.
Wong Bee Eng
45
Discussion
Teacher is not in authority
Wong Bee Eng
46
Discussion
 In the U.S. classroom, the teacher does not
come across as authoritarian like the
Malaysian teachers; instead she is seen as a
point of reference for the subject matter, an
authority for the subject matter but not in
authority like the Malaysian teachers.
Wong Bee Eng
47
Discussion
Code-switching
 The data shows that in both sets of data, the teachers used the
strategy of code-switching in an effort to bring about learning.
However, it is more prevalent in the Malaysian Malay set of data
while there is only one instance of this strategy in the US data.
 This occurs in the closing of extract #2.
 Code-switching is necessary here to explain the difference in the
use of the words spend/waste in English and gastar in Spanish.
 In this respect, the objective of using this strategy is similar to
teachers in Malaysian primary classroom where code-switching is
used to facilitate students’ understanding of the content of the
lesson.
 The difference is that in the US data, it is to explain a particular
aspect of the language whereas in the Malaysian data, it is used to
explain content concepts.
Wong Bee Eng
48
Discussion
 Another motivation on the part of Malaysian teachers for
using this strategy is that they and the learners are not
competent in English while this not the case in the US
data.
 The US learners generally do not have a linguistic deficit
in English although the TL was their L2 or even L3, a
characteristic shared with Malaysian learners.
 The fluency and proficiency of the U.S. learners is
perhaps not surprising since English is used as a
medium of instruction across the curriculum, and not
merely in one or two subjects.
 Thus code-switching seems to be used to compensate
for linguistic deficiency in the Malaysian data, while in
the American classroom it seems to be used for
linguistic enrichment.
Wong Bee Eng
49
Conclusion
 Although both sets of learners were learning English as a
L2 or L3, it is extremely interesting to note that all the U.S.
students participate actively in the classroom interaction.
 In fact, the data clearly indicates that this is a student-
centred class.
 In addition, the teacher plays the role of a facilitator who
encourages and promotes the learners’ active participation
in the learning process.
 The fact that they do not wait for the teacher to invite them
to talk is probably based on the notion that they have both
content and linguistic knowledge of the subject that is
being discussed – and the freedom to express their views
and developing understanding.
Wong Bee Eng
50
Conclusion





In an effort to explain what is happening to the Malaysian
Chinese classroom, i.e. to explain the behaviour of the
teachers and learners, we refer to their cultural and
religious norms.
It is perhaps useful to contrast the ‘western’ constructivist
approach with 1st the Chinese schema of education.
Basically the philosophy behind Chinese culture is
grounded in Confucian teaching (see e.g. Hui, 2005).
Based on this Confucian philosophy, teaching
encompasses moral cultivation as this is seen as the
ultimate means to mould learners to become appropriate
members of an established society.
And teachers are regarded as transmitters of moral
virtues and harmony. As such, teachers command a high
degree of respect. In fact, generic honorifics are used to
Wong Bee Eng
51
show respect to the teacher.
Conclusion
 As a result of this, students “are not supposed to
interact freely with teachers on the basis of equal
status” (Hui, 2005: 22).
 Cultural schema for learning (Hui, 2005) in this case,
added to the implications of changing language
policies, hinder a Western type of learning experiences
and construction of knowledge in these bilingual
classrooms.
 It may be said that both sides have reached mutual
understanding of what it means to be a good learner
based on their common cultural background.
Wong Bee Eng
52
Conclusion
 The Malay schema of education, on the other hand, is




strongly shaped by religious norms in Islamic teaching.
Islamic teachings encourage learners to seek knowledge
as it is believed that “one will earn God’s pleasure when
one seeks knowledge” (Mohd-Asraf, 2005: 117).
A good learner from the Islamic perspective is one who
has a positive attitude towards learning and is able to
associate the learning with “race, religion and nation”
(Washima et al., 1996: 233).
From the Islamic point of view, the teacher is considered
to be a person of equal standing as parents.
As such, a good student is one who is receptive of the
teacher’s knowledge and wisdom.
Wong Bee Eng
53
Conclusion
These are the traditional ways known in the Chinese
culture and Islamic Malay communities, which hold
teachers in high regard as dispensers of knowledge and
wisdom.
For the former, this notion is transmitted from generation to
generation and this is evident in the philosophy of the
Chinese diaspora, particularly descendants of
immigrants.
The Islamic Malay community regards the teaching
profession as a noble one due to their religious belief.
Thus it is obvious that culture and religion pervades the
construction of what it means to be a good teacher, as
well as a good learner, in the Malaysian primary
classroom.
Wong Bee Eng
54
Conclusion
 From the American point of view, democracy
which is the system of government prevails in
their schema of education as well.
Wong Bee Eng
55
Conclusion
 The micro-analysis of the teacher-student interactions
reveal that different ideological practices seem to be at
play in the 2 diverse bilingual/multilingual learning
environments.
 Such studies are enlightening in that they are able to
generate a better understanding of how learning is
effected in different communities of learning, i.e. the
findings provide us a understanding of the interplay
between language used, the culture practised and thus the
ideological practices adopted by each of the learning
communities studied.
Wong Bee Eng
56
Thank you
Wong Bee Eng
57