Perspectives on languages
Translanguaging in the secondary international school Patricia Mertin looks at developing a second language alongside the mother tongue The present situation Many new second language students who join an international school at the secondary stage of education have been learning English as a foreign language in their previous schools. Their level of English may be good enough to hold a conversation, but it is generally not sufficient to follow mainstream content classes and this can lead to major problems. The level of cognitive academic language proficiency necessary to succeed steadily increases as children move through the secondary school and the language of the mainstream classrooms becomes increasingly challenging. Second language learners at the secondary level need to be taught English explicitly, but their academic learning cannot be put on hold while they learn English. It is necessary for the English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers to liaise with their colleagues from the content areas to help students to acquire the language needed to succeed academically – but often the time and opportunities for this liaison is limited. Spring
Autumm |
| 2017
Translanguaging In the past it was believed that the target language and the mother tongue must be kept separate in order to avoid interference. Cummins refers to this as the “two solitudes”. Research now shows that the mother tongue, or the student’s strongest language, can be a valuable support in understanding and learning not only a new language but also academic content in English. The interdependence hypothesis explains that:
Academic language proficiency transfers across languages such that students who have developed literacy in their L1 will tend to make stronger progress in acquiring literacy in L2. (Cummins, 2000: 173) Cummins compares this common proficiency transfer to an iceberg which has twin peaks on the surface which share a
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