L1 vs L2: Policies and Practices around the World

• Daniela Coelho, Higher College of Technology, United Arab Emirates • Sunny Man Chu Lau, Bishop’s University • Jim Howden, McGill University/ University of Quebec in Montreal • Stephane Lacroix, College and University of Quebec in A-T / CASLT

Humor:

Can you imagine the context ?

Theoretical Foundations

• • • Cook (2001) states that for over 100 years most of the reviewed literature suggests a systematic ban of the L1 in L2 classrooms SLA literature emphasizes exclusive or optimal use of the TL when teaching (Duff and Polio 1990; Guthrie, 1987; MELS , 2006; MELS, 2007; Turnbull, 1998; Papaefthymiou-Lytra, 1987; Polio and Duff, 1994; Rolin-Ianziti and Brownlie, Wing, 1987; etc.)

But does this vary from one country to another? And is there a gap between policy and practice?

Daniela Coelho English Faculty Higher Colleges of Technology United Arab Emirates

Living languages: 7,106 Institutional: 560 Developing: 1,563 Dying: 915* Living languages: 285 Institutional: 72 Developing: 65 Dying: 50* *Lewis, Simons & Fennig (eds.). 2014. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Seventeenth edition. Texas: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com

.

5

Living languages: 285

Major official

languages: see map.

*Lewis, Simons & Fennig (eds.). 2014. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Seventeenth edition. Texas: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com

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• • • • •

PORTUGAL (2010)*

• Immigrants – 445,262 / +- 4%

90 different nationalities

• Brazil – 26.81% • Ukraine – 11.12% • Cape Verde – 9.88% • Romania – 8,27% Angola – 5.28% Guiné-Bissau – 4.45% UK – 3.86% China – 3.53% Moldavia – 3.51%

*Observatório da Imigração do Alto Comissariado para a Imigração e Diálogo Intercultural

( http://www.oi.acidi.gov.pt/index.php

).

Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras

10.21% of the 445,262 foreign citizens living in Portugal are between 0 and 14 years old

Languages present in schools:

• Brazilian Portuguese • African Portuguese (dialects from African ex-colonies: cape-verdian, crioulo, quimbundo, etc…) • Ukrainian • Romanian • Mandarin • English • French • Hindi, etc… 7

Kindergarten Elementary School Middle School High School Learning a Foreign Language (FL) is optional (encouraged)* At least one (FL) – not compulsory in all countries One Foreign Language (FL) Two/Three FLs *European Comission (2012) 8

English French Spanish German • 54% of European citizens can speak ONE Foreign Language • 25% of European citizens can speak TWO Foreign Languages • 10% of European citizens can speak THREE Foreign Languages

European Union encourages its citizens to learn at least two foreign languages.

9 *European Comission (2012) -Eurobarometer

“Le plurilinguisme comme ‘manière

d’être en Europe” (Beacco, 2005) – Council of Europe “Language use, embracing language learning, comprises the actions performed by persons who as individuals and as social agents develop a range of competences, both general and in particular

communicative language competences.” (Council of Europe, 2001)- CEFRL Listening, Reading, Spoken Interaction, Spoken Production, Writing

*European Comission (2012) -Eurobarometer Plurilingual and Pluricultural Competence Coste, Moore & Zarate (2009); Beacco; Byram; Coste; Fleming & Cavalli (2009) • The use of previous knowledge, including L1 or other FLs, is welcome in language learning settings in Europe; • Comparing and contrasting languages is important and seen as a way of facilitating the learning process; • Translation from L1 to L2 and vice-versa.

(cf. Council of Europe, 2001: 145) 10

Approaches: “ -by a combination of presentations, explanations, (drill) exercises and exploitation activities, but with L1 as the language of

classroom management,

explanation, etc.; - by some combination of the above [activity starting with L1 as the language of explanation and comparison,] but progressively reducing the use of L1 and including more tasks and authentic texts, spoken and written, and an increasing self study component” (Council of Europe, 2001: 143 – Chapter 6 – Language Learning and Teaching) Plurilingual and Pluricultural Competence Coste, Moore & Zarate (2009); Beacco; Byram; Coste; Fleming & Cavalli (2009) 11

English French Spanish German

Elementary Kindergarten

Grade 3 – English is compulsory FLs are optional Most KG schools teach English

12

English

Kindergarten

French Playful and fun classes Focus on Oral skills (oral comprehension) Listening and Speaking Intercultural domain

L1 is used for teaching and learning

Children are not forced to use L2*

Elementary

Playful and fun classes Focus on Oral skills Listening, Speaking , Reading and Writing Intercultural domain

L1 is used for teaching and learning

Children are not forced to use L2* 13 * Portuguese Ministry of Education (2014); Council of Europe (2012); European Comission (2011)

http://carap.ecml.at/Keyconcepts/Pluralisticapproachestolanguagesandcultures/tabid/2683/language/ en-GB/Default.aspx

14

Portuguese Spanish English Italian French • P/I- the teacher (me) • B… - children • V – KG teacher

864

865

866

867

868

869

870

871 872 873 874

875

876

877

878 852 853

854

855

856

857 858 859

860

861

862

863

B5

P/I

B5

P/I

B6

P/I

B6

P/I B6 V P/I

B6

P/I

B6

P/I B3 P/I

B6

P/I

B6

P/I B1 P/I

B7

P/I

B7

P/I Adiós Adiós come here give me a hug

But Daniela I wanted to learn more

But Daniela I wanted to learn more languages with you

B1 Goodbye Goodbye ! Well, you said goodbye , you said adios, what else?

I know one

So you can say it, B7

* Arriberdeci

Well done!

Arriverdeci .

Come here to give me a big hug/ (…) B1 you love French do you want to say something in French?

I want to say…

Go ahead

Voir

Au revoir // bye bye

But look I wanted to learn more with you

Good!

Do you…

I want to say something in French too

So go ahead you can say it Uhm uhm uhm She forgot Gone/ au revoir?

Au revoir

Well done!

I wanted to learn more with you

Ok I can always come another day and teach some more 15

43 3

43 4

43 5

43 6

43 7

43 8

P/I

B3

P/I

B3

P/I

B7

Frog, well done! And this one?

Bird

Bird or ...

* papagaiaou

Papagayo . And in Italian is papagalo

They have the dog

Portuguese Spanish English Italian

Use of L1 and L2 in one sentence

• P/I- the teacher (me) • B… - children

An increased Communicative Competence

16

English

Middle School High School

French Spanish German Listening, Speaking , Reading, Writing and Grammar Intercultural domain

L1 is used for teaching and learning

Students are not forced to use L2* L2 is only required in official assessments CEFRL Listening, Speaking , Reading, Writing and Grammar Intercultural domain

L1 is used for teaching and learning Students are highly encouraged to

use L2/3 more and more* * Portuguese Ministry of Education (2013); Council of Europe (2012)

Portugal Spain France Germany 26% (English)

19% (English) 32% (English) 36.5% (English)

England

15% (French)

12% (French)

4% (French) 14% (Spanish) 13% (French) 4% (German) Between 15-34 years old

19

Language policy in Hong Kong: Battles over English- & Chinese medium of instruction Dr. Sunny Man Chu Lau Bishop’s University [email protected]

Medium of Instruction (MOI)

• • •

Use of L2 as the medium of instruction (MOI):

French immersion in Canada (Johnson & Swain, 1997) Dual language education (Lindholm-Leary 2001) English L2 as MOI in the Outer Circle  Kenya, Nigeria, Malaysia & Hong Kong (Evans, 2008)

Hong Kong (HK)

1898 • • British colony 99-year lease 1997 • • • HK was returned to China “1 Country 2 Systems” HK Special Administrative Region (HKSAR)

Medium of Instruction

Before 1978 • • • ( elitist education ) Primary: mother-tongue instruction Secondary: English-medium & Chinese-medium schools After 1978 • • • • • ( 9-year compulsory education ) Secondary: 86% English-medium; 14 % Chinese-medium Mixed code  Johnson (1983) – T in Eng schools used 43% English, 48% Cantonese; 9% mixed-code Shek, Johnson & Law (1991) – 96% of the 193 Chinese schools used English textbooks for one or more subjects

Medium of Instruction

1997 2010 • • • • streaming policy  114 schools were allowed to be English-medium schools “Fine-tuning” the language policy Remove the EMI & CMI labels Allow individual schools to adopt diversified arrangements based on certain criteria, e.g., T & S English abilities, support systems, etc.

HK Education System

• • Highly competitive; exam-oriented English proficiency – indispensable for higher education, jobs, & social mobility

Use of L1 & L2 – in principle

• • Strict enforcement of English-only policy in English classrooms & content subject classrooms School-wide English environment – using English during assemblies; encourage teachers to interact with students in English outside classroom, etc.

USE of L1 & L2– in reality

Use of Cantonese in a English science class: 1. To provide the Chinese meaning of difficult or technical terms; 2. To explain difficult concepts; 3. To give clear instructions; 4. To establish rapport with the students (e.g. telling jokes) and 5. To allow students to raise or answer questions when they had difficulty.

(Chan, 2014)

Use of L1 in ESL/FLS context

• • • • • • • • • • Pennington’s (1995) study in Hong Kong shows that teachers use L1 to: Explain aspect of L2 Translate words/sentences Give instructions Check understanding 1. Compensatory or strategic uses Elicit language Focus class attention Talk about learning 2. Interpersonal uses Give feedback Discipline and control Talk informally, to relate to students

Fewer interactions

Computer Teacher :

Findings

In the past, there were more interactions for the students [in the weaker classes]. They thought that they knew many things about the computer and they were eager to express their opinion. Now, they don’t know how to do it.

(Chan, 2014, p. 468)

Findings

Rote memory rather than higher order

thinking:

We also learnt it in this way in the past. . . mechanical memorisation. . . After memorising the structures, it’s easier for them to write it in the future. Though I think this is not good, I have no other ways.

(Chan, 2014, p. 469)

Findings

Resorting to a teacher-centred approach

Head of Science Department: . . .deep in their mind, the teachers believe that they cannot do activities with the students. Not only do they think that the students cannot speak, the teachers might think that they can’t speak spontaneously as well. To avoid trouble, they simply don’t do it. That’s what I see.

(Chan, 2014, p. 472)

Conclusions

• • • Deep-seated monolingual bias; English cherished for its esteemed linguistic capital Bilinguals are often viewed as “two monolinguals in one person” (Cook, 2002; Grosjean, 2008) Exclusive use of L2  still accepted as the best practice (Turnbull & Dailey-O'Cain, 2009).

Stephane Lacroix

• Teacher in TESL at College and University of Quebec (in Abitibi-Temiscamingue) • On Board of Directors, Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers • [email protected]

Target Language Policies in Canada

Bilingual?

Bilingual FSL+ESL: 100%. Core FSL: As much as possible FSL: 100% FSL: 100% ESL: L1+L2 ESL: 100% FSL: 100% ESL: 100% FSL: 100% Acknowledgement: Thanks to CASLT people!

Application of Target Language Policies in Canada

Rationale

• • Even if most parts of Canada have clear policies regarding exclusive use of the L2, most sources mentioned that this was not always respected. Examples of such TL variations were also reported: – – From 10 % to 100 % of L2 (Polio and Duff, 1994) From 24 to 72 % of L2 in Toronto (Turnbull, 1998) – From 28 % to 100 % of L2 in northern Quebec (Lacroix, 2002) – …

Position for Quebec and Most Areas in Canada

• • • A communicative second language environment should be made up of natural situations, as for the learning of a native language The critical period hypothesis suggests that the younger the learners use the L2, the better they should be able to speak it without an L1 accent or oral L1 interference (Krashen) The new language does not constitute a threat for children (Ref.: Low affective filter, Krashen)

• • • • • •

Position for Quebec and Most Areas in Canada

If the students do not hear their teachers speak the TL they certainly will not be inclined to speak the language Fillmore (1985) demonstrated that native language and target language should never be mixed. For her, this is the key to proficiency and it has been shown to lead to great improvement in SLA The L1 restricts the amount of time for the L2 input L2 input is also limited outside the classroom Teachers provide live and authoritative models

The higher the frequency of the input, the better and faster the language learning (Brown, 2006; Larsen Freeman, 2001; Lightbown and Spada, 2000; Nunan, 1999; Selinger, 1983)

Position for Quebec and Most Areas in Canada

• • • Teacher input is of utmost importance since, for many students this will be the only source of English they will hear More specifically, Turnbull (2001) found a positive connection between teachers who spoke the L2 most frequently and general proficiency measures and achievement tests of learners. Turnbull (2001) also listed four other studies that highlight a similar connection… Furthermore, Cook (2001) adds the L2 should not

just be studied; it should represent the means of communication for the teacher and the learners

Position for Quebec and Most Areas in Canada

• • Most (if not all) actors (teachers themselves, researchers, L2 departments, school boards, professional associations, etc.) believe teachers do not use a sufficient quantity of L2 when teaching (Franklin, 1990; Pratte, 1999; Société Radio-Canada, 2006; Turnbull, 2001;…)

Even if there are some advantages to using the L1 in class, the disadvantages outweigh them in a huge way… Communication in the TL is definitely part of the solution.

Wrap-up Summary Conclusion

L1 vs L2: Policies and Practices

• • • • Not every area has an L2 usage policy When there are policies in countries, they vary a lot from place to place Even when there are policies, they are not always applied… but they can have an impact on practice …

Question and Discussion Period

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