English Language Acquisition in a Multilingual Primary School in London - Essay Example

Proposed Dissertation - working English Language acquisition in a Multilingual primary school in London. Broad area of research Language acquisitions of multilingual children. Aims and Objectives Three key questions, which I you would intend to answer by the end of my project are: a) Do children who learn two or more languages get confused It is normal for children to misjudge and transfer some of the inappropriate features of one language to the other language they are speaking. It can be anything, like the accent of speaking or voice modulations etc. So in the same classroom one can hear a variety of ways of spoken English. This situation instills a feeling of dilemma on the pupils as to which is the correct way. Also the second language students have a habit of attaching more frills to the language. They misuse these frills and create their own rules while acquiring the English language. So children who learn more than one language get confused and make mistakes with their second language - English in this case. They speak English using the tone of their first language. Most affected is their pronunciation as they get confused which way to pronounce the words. Their teachers pronounce in one way (usually the correct one) and their parents pronounce the other way (usually with their native language accent). Blake and Moorhead (1993, p. 93) excellently observes " This situation exists in England among the children of immigrants, particularly those immigrants who have a strong sense of community and want to maintain their culture even though they live in a 'foreign' environment." b) Does being bilingual affect the way children perform in school Research has shown that students who know two languages are more competent in acquiring the third language in comparison to students who know only one. This attribute affects their performance in school too. In fact bilingual children are better in studies. Mercer and Swann (1996, p.254) state, " mother tongue and second language teaching came closer together, influencing each others' practice in interesting ways, especially in a new emphasis on literacy and wider educational outcomes for bilingual learners of English." It has been proved by studies that those who can speak a second language have a deeper understanding of the cultures of others and they have a greater control, grasp and sense of their own identity. Remarkable results have been achieved by the research devoted to the effects of early second language acquisition. According to the website of 'Secrets d' enfance' - a bilingual school, " the learning of a second language turns the child's mind to the world and other cultures which will enrich him throughout his life." It has been proved that those who have knowledge of second language, experience a positive development in all the activities related to studies. Students, who know more than one language score statistically higher on standardized tests, have stronger problem solving capabilities and have better overall academic performance than those who are monolingual. So benefits of speaking a second language outnumber the benefits of speaking a single language in all spheres of a student's life. c) How do parents and teachers contribute to the early language development of multilingual children The teachers play a major role in language acquisition. Besides the use of words the teachers have the option of using non-verbal communication in sending the message across - like facial expression, gestures, proximity to the listener and eye contact. They make use of accent, volume, stress and intonation patterns. Being in close proximity with pupils help in getting the feedback instantaneously. If needed they repeat instructions again and again or rephrase the words for better understanding. In the beginning the pupils might feel very conscious to speak in front of the class but the teacher creates a very warm and friendly atmosphere and make pupils know that most of their classmates are going through the same phase. The instructions directed towards all the second language students are made child centered. A congenial atmosphere is created by talking about personal things like the country one belongs to or food eaten at home etc. The children start communicating freely this way and the whole class gets the opportunity to learn about different cultures too. The teachers make use of children's' existing competencies and knowledge that they already possess and thus create a strong stepping-stone to acquire advanced language skills. The established skills and experiences are reassuring to the students and it enables them to reach new heights with ease. Teachers have both direct influences (by giving lectures, directions, making criticisms etc.) as well indirect influence (like offering praise, encouragement, accepting or using students' ideas etc.) over children. Therefore they contribute to the fullest of their abilities to help their pupils who come from a multicultural background, to acquire English language well. In order to help in English language acquisition in primary school the parents begin training their children to become fully conversant in their home language because researchers have found that children who develop their home language skills completely in their preschool years show better development in acquisition of English language in primary schools. Parents who can speak English can make a major difference in English language capabilities than what a child would acquire on his own. They should not think that the situation is an awful one. Instead they should know that acquiring English and one's mother tongue is same because in both the languages, the child has to interact with others to become competent and in both the situations the child has to grasp how the written language works. Not only the teachers' but even parents' praise make children confident. Parents of those children, who know English, carry out their day-to-day conversations in English and read out storybooks etc. in English. This way the students start understanding the nuances of the language in an enjoyable way. Project Outline a) Living in a place like London gives an edge in learning this language. But English language acquisition in a multilingual primary school in London requires lots of time and effort on the part of the students. I will elaborate on the difficulties faced by them b) The project would cover the difficulties of teachers, as unlike parents they do not have the option of making students understand the instructions in their mother tongue as the mother tongue of all the students varies. This is a very complex situation. In the absence of a common language, it becomes challenging to make the pupils understand certain things. c) It would be discussed whether the school authorities are giving special trainings to such teachers and making them go through some specific research findings to have a grip of the situation or not. d) Portante suggests that "Research in early literacy and in emerging literacy in a multilingual context needs to explore home and school settings so that we can develop more knowledge and understanding of the contributions of different backgrounds children bring to school, knowing that the languages used at home do not match the languages used at school. All the languages that children bring to school have to be taken in account. In this sense, the research should investigate how learning at school can be linked with children's experiences in their home settings. This investigation can hardly be separated from the study of language uses in the sense of social practices to be analyzed as an integral part of the contexts in which they occur." So along with the teachers the parents role will be discussed too. e) According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia some researchers argue "language learning results only from general cognitive abilities and the interaction between learners and their surrounding communities." So apart from the parents and teachers influence, the influence of peer groups wil be discussed. f) Listening plays a very important role in language learning. For the acquisition of this language in a multilingual setting it is important to be a very attentive listener. Goh and Taib (2006, p. 222) states that " Listening can be a stressful activity for beginning and intermediate language learners, who are often unable to process information quickly enough to make sense what is saidLanguage teachers have the challenging task of helping learners improve in a skill which involves processes that are unobservable." So the project would focus on this aspect too. g) Since the school in question is a multilingual one there are bound to be monolingual children also (children whose native language is English and who don't know any other language other than that.) The stand of the school authority regarding equal treatment to all will be discussed. It would be seen whether the competencies of the bilingual children are being compared to the competency of monolingual children in order to decide their learning speed of English. Identification of where these issues are located within my programme i.e. the theories and academic debates --- How this project develops from the modules in my programme; reference to specific module(s). This project develops from a module in my course titled 'Children and Languages'. Methods that I intend to use in this project To gather information for successful completion of my project I will contact a few primary schools in London that have multilingual students to get an insight on how they learn English. I would also interview a few of the teachers and parents of these children or ask them to fill a questionnaire. I would try to take permission from different school authorities to observe these children in their classrooms, playground etc. I would ask parents to let me spend time with them at their homes so that I can observe what is the contribution of parents in the English language acquisition of multilingual children. Conducting interviews of parents at their home when their children are around would be a good idea. I would ask the teachers to show me the children's report cards so that I can get an insight of their performance in school. Observing them in class will also be helpful in knowing this. Various books and journals would also form a major part of my research. Ethical considerations I will not indulge in any kind of plagiarism and duly mention the names of those writers or researchers whose work I will cite. While speaking to the teachers about their students' performances I would give them a written statement that I will not let anybody know if they make any personal comments about their students'. While observing and speaking to children I will assure them that I will not let their inner fears or nervousness known to others. I will assure both the parties that if they want I will not mention their names in the project. Description of the institutions/individuals with whom I would wish to work a) Primary schools that have multilingual students b) Teachers of those schools c) Parents of multilingual children d) Multilingual children studying in a primary school of London Skills, knowledge and experience to be used I like to talk to children and I think I have skills to understand them completely. My knowledge and experience of interacting with children will help me a lot in this project. Skills, knowledge and experience to be developed I think I have to extensively read whatever materials I get hold of related to the subject - children and language. Since this research not only focuses on linguistic issues but also involves social, cognitive and academic dimension to present an integrated approach to education; I will have to develop knowledge in all the sub fields of education. As this project involves interviews, I have to brush up my questionnaire preparation and interviewing skills too. I will even have to get some access to the subject, Psychology especially children's psychology to be able to derive conclusions my interviewees responses and from my observations. Other comments concerning the proposed project English has emerged as the most popular language of the world. Emphasis is laid in all parts of the world to get proficiency in this language. Children who belong to an English speaking family naturally pick up the language since birth. The challenge is for those children who belong to non-English speaking families. The category of children, I intend to study in my project has been described by Genesee (1994, p.1) very well. He describes them in the following way: " children who are approximately 4 and 12 years of age who have learned the language or languages other than English during their preschool years, who are living in predominantly English-speaking communities or countries and who are being educated primarily through EnglishWhat is important that these children are in their formative, preadolescent years, and for them learning English is a necessity not only for becoming socially integrated into the life of the school and the community at large but also for academic success in school and ultimately for economic survival and well being in adulthood." I intend to do full justice to my project by focusing on all aspects of my research topic. Bibliography Blake, N.F. and Moorhead, J., 1993. Introduction To English Language. London: Macmillan Press Ltd. Rost, M., Listening. In Carter, R. and Nunan, D. ed. The Cambridge Guide to Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. UK: Cambridge University Press, 2001. Mercer, N. and Swann, J., 1996. Learning English: development and diversity. London: Routledge. Packard, N., Tips for Second Language Students. In Packard, N. and Race, P. ed. 2000 Tips For Teachers. London: Kogan Page Limited, 2000. Genesee, F., Introduction. In Genesee, F. ed., Educating Second Language Children: The whole child, the whole curriculum, the whole community. USA: Cambridge University Press, 1994. Goh, C. and Taib, Y., 2006. Metacognitive instruction in listening for young learners. ELT Journal, 60 (3), pp.222. Markowitz, A., 2006. Language law: bill for billions. ELGazette, March. Pp. 1. Bilingual Montessori School: 'Secrets d'enfance'. 2005. Bilinguism. [online]. Available from : http://www.secretsdenfance.com/en-3.html [cited 5 December 2006]. Portante, D., 2004. Developing Multilingual Literacy in a Complex Setting. [online]. Available from : http://www.readingonline.org/international/edinburgh/portante/ [cited 5 December 2006]. Wikipedia: The free encyclopedia. 2006. Language acquisition. [online]. Available from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_acquisition [cited 7 December 2006]. . Read More