Teaching Content and Language in the Multilingual Classroom

International Research on Policy, Perspectives, Preparation and Practice

Svenja Hammer, Kara Mitchell Viesca, Nancy L. Commins, Svenja Hammer, Kara Mitchell Viesca, Nancy L. Commins

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781138849310
• eBook ISBN: 9780429860720
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

This book brings together research from six different countries across three continents where teacher educators and policy makers are addressing the under-preparation of content teachers to work effectively with multilingual learners. By highlighting this relatively young field of research at an international level, the book advances the research-based knowledge of the field and promotes international research relationships and partnerships to better support the education of multilingual learners and their teachers.

The chapters represent high-quality empirical qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods studies about pre-service and in-service teachers. Comprising four sections, each represents a critical aspect of the equitable teaching of multilingual learners. All the research was conducted in countries that belong to OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) and the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) enabling the reader to compare contexts and outcomes.

This book will be of particular interest to academics, researchers, and post-graduate students in the fields of language education, teacher education, and education for multilingual learners. It will be of great value to anyone concerned with equity and social justice for multilingual learners whose languages, cultural practices, and resources are often overlooked and/or marginalized in the schools they attend.

Part 1

Policy

Historical and contemporary policies around language, education, race, immigration, etc., have important implications for the opportunities and challenges that multilingual students and their teachers face in classrooms around the world. Whether these polices are de jure (explicit or overt) or de facto (implicit and implied), they have a deep impact on the practices and experiences of teachers and students. Due to the widespread adherence to assimilation as a desirable outcome of schooling (e.g. “monolingual habitus”; Gogolin, 1994) as well as the reality of demographic change expanding into contexts where such change is unfamiliar, historically and contemporarily, policies have not typically been responsive to the reality of diversity in culture and language in schools. Even in countries like the United States that has a long history of immigration, multiculturalism, and multilingualism, policies at varying levels rarely affirm that diversity or create the context for pluralism and diverse excellence. There are exceptions, however, as evidenced by the chapter from Finland in this section. Yet, when policy does not attend to cultural and linguistic diversity, great challenges are created for students, families, and teachers as they work in systems that were not constructed for, nor have meaningfully adapted to, multilingual students who are still learning the language of instruction. Despite this reality, research increasingly points to the value of acculturation over assimilation (Suarez-Orozco, Abo-Zena & Marks, 2015), embracing diversity over tolerating it (Nieto & Bode, 2012) and creating the spaces to critically examine, as well as deconstruct, the race, class, and linguistic-based hierarchies (Teemant & Hausman, 2013) that exist across varying national contexts.

Some of the particular ways that policies (both formal and informal) can impact content classroom with multilingual students include decisions about which classes students have access to (Kanno & Kangas, 2014), what languages are mandated or allowed in instruction (Wright, 2005), perceptions of students’ proficiency in the language of instruction (Mitchell, 2012), and overall access to opportunities to learn that are deemed important for student academic performance (Abedi & Herman, 2010). Research has also illustrated the complex relationship teachers can have with policy such as when Pease-Alvarez, Samway, and Cifka-Herrera (2010) found that the majority of teachers had a negative perspective of a mandated reading curriculum that policy demanded they use. Similarly, Battey et al. (2013) found that where teachers had implemented more language-focused math strategies, these practices were not taken into account in a new policy that mandated the tracking and separation of English language instruction from content instruction for multilingual learners. As a result, the new policy ended up having minimal impact on instructional practices.

While there are many complexities as well as a variety of histories around the globe in terms of content teaching for multilingual students, one thing is certain: policy does matter. Policy makers and education stakeholders across contexts must be able to embrace the complexities and implications (both intended and unintended) of policy creation, implementation, and revision. The research presented in this section illustrates important aspects how policy matters in two separate contexts (Northern Ireland and Finland) across different time spans with different approaches and outcomes. Together, this research illustrates the importance of attending to policy in teaching content and language in the multilingual classroom, particularly for the opportunity toward systemic change for excellence and equity. The cases of Northern Ireland and Finland each demonstrate how language policies grounded in historical realities affect the instruction of multilingual learners in classrooms.

References

1. Abedi, J., & Herman, J. (2010). Assessing English language learners’ opportunity to learn mathematics: Issues and limitations. Teachers College Record, 112(3), 723–746.
2. Battey, D., & Llamas-Flores, S., Burke, M., Guerra, P., Kang, H. J., & Kim, S. H. (2013). ELL policy and mathematics professional development colliding: Placing teacher experimentation within a sociopolitical context. Teachers College Record, 115(6), 1–44.
3. Gogolin, I. (1994). Der monolinguale Habitus der multilingualen Schule. Münster u.a.: Waxmann.
4. Kanno, Y., & Kangas, S. E. N. (2014). “I’m not going to be, like, for the AP”: English language learners’ limited access to advanced college-preparatory courses in high school. American Educational Research Journal, 51(5), 848–878. doi:10.3102/0002831214544716
5. Mitchell, K. (2012). English is not ALL that matters in the education of secondary multilingual learners and their teachers. International Journal of Multicultural Education, 14(1), 1–21.
6. Nieto, S., & Bode, P. (2012). Affirming diversity: The sociopolitical context of multicultural Education (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.
7. Pease-Alvarez, L., Samway, K. D., & Cifka-Herrera, C. (2010). Working within the system: Teachers of English learners negotiating a literacy instruction mandate. Language Policy, 9(4), 313–334. doi:10.1007/s10993-010-9180-5
8. Suarez-Orozco, C. Abo-Zena, M. A., & Marks, A. K. (Eds.). (2015). Transitions: The development of children of immigrants. New York: New York University Press.
9. Teemant, A., & Hausman, C. S. (2013). The relationship of teacher use of critical sociocultural practices with student achievement. Critical Education, 4(4), 1–20.
10. Wright, W. (2005). English language learners left behind in Arizona: The nullification of accommodations in the intersection of federal and state policies. Bilingual Research Journal, 29(1), 1–29.

1 Multilingualism and diversity in Northern Ireland schools and teacher education

Eugene McKendry and Mairéad McKendry

Context

The context for language teaching and multilingualism in Northern Ireland has traditionally been shaped by a historical conflict leading to disagreement and dispute about the role and place of the Irish language in education and society. More recently, however, significant numbers of immigrant or newcomer pupils have enrolled in schools following the expansion in 2004 of the European Union (EU) which allows for freedom of movement of citizens across the 28 countries of the Union.

Northern Ireland was created in 1921, when the island of Ireland was partitioned between six counties in the Northeast which remained a constituent part of the United Kingdom (UK) of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the other 26 counties which became the Irish Free State, later in 1949 the Republic of Ireland. The Unionist (mostly Protestant) majority are descendants of 17th-century colonists from the neighboring island of Great Britain who wish to remain within the UK. Unionist political parties governed in Northern Ireland from 1921 until 1998. The Nationalist (mostly Catholic) minority population, who generally consider themselves as Irish, have however been increasing. The census of 2011 returned a total population of 1,810,863, with a 2016 estimate of 1,866,000 (CSO/NISRA, 2014). In the 2011 census, 40.8% identified themselves as Catholic, 41.6% of the population as Protestants of various sects, and the remainder as none or other religion.

Under a process of devolution, varying levels of power were transferred from the central UK government in Westminster, London, to the constituent nations of the UK, creating a national Parliament in Scotland (1997), a national Assembly in Wales (1997), and a national Assembly in Northern Ireland (1998), but authority over the devolved institutions is retained in the UK Parliament itself. The Belfast Agreement of 1998 (commonly called the Good Friday Agreement (GFA)) set up a devolved administration in Northern Ireland whereby the local political parties agreed to share power (Good Friday Agreement, 1998).

The UK of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are both currently member states of the European Union (EU which is founded on “Unity in Diversity” – diversity of cultures, customs, beliefs, and languages, to quote from the European Commission’s 2005 Framework Strategy for Multilingualism. This document also maintains that “Language is the most direct expression of culture; it is what makes us human and what gives each of us a sense of identity” (European Commission, 2005, p. 2). Awareness of the importance of language and the value of multilingualism, both socially and economically, informs policy and practice in classrooms and in teacher education across Europe. In June 2016, however, the UK as a whole voted to leave the EU (although Northern Ireland and Scotland voted to remain). Under Brexit, as the withdrawal process is now known, the UK is due to leave the EU on March 29, 2019. Opposition to immigration from Eastern European countries was a defining issue in the decision to leave the EU (Migration Observatory, 2017). As yet, it is not known how the Brexit decision will eventually affect perceptions and practice on multilingualism and diversity in education and society.

Modern languages education in Northern Ireland

When one considers modern languages provisions in Ireland North and South, including Irish (Gaelic), and in Great Britain, many developments in policy and practice can be taken into account. But, in the words of the Languages Inquiry Report prepared by the highly influential Nuffield foundation, the UK is “doing badly” in terms of linguistic competence and diversity. Despite enthusiasm for languages being expressed in some quarters, “Educational provision is fragmented, achievement poorly measured, continuity not very evident. In the language of our time, there is a lack of joined-up thinking” (Nuffield, 2000, p. 5).

The Nuffield Report reflected on how languages were faring in schools and society following the Education Reform Act 1988 in England and Wales and the Education Reform (Northern Ireland) Order, 1989. Under education reform, a child’s compulsory education is divided into four Key Stages. Key Stages 1 and 2 cover the primary school phase up to age 11. Key Stages 3 and 4 follow on for ages 11–16 postprimary, when the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) examination is taken. Following on from compulsory education post-16, the General Certificate of Education Advanced Level (GCE A-Level) is taken at age 18, usually in three, sometimes in four subjects. Results at A-Level are used to determine entry to university.

The 1988 and 1989 reforms introduced for the first time a modern language into the curriculum as a compulsory area of study at Key Stages 3 and 4 (ages 11–16). The subject area is designated as “Modern Languages” in Northern Ireland to accommodate the presence of the indigenous (therefore not foreign) language, Irish. The term “Modern Foreign Languages” is used in Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales). In Northern Ireland, the new curriculum requirements for modern languages became obligatory for Form 1 postprimary from September 1992. All pupils had to study a language for five years, up to the end of Key Stage 4, age 16, which is the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) examination year. However, as a result of further curricular review in 2002 in Britain and the Education Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 in Northern Ireland, the compulsory language element at Key Stage 4 (ages 14–16) was dropped, precipitating a drift from languages in schools.

The formal state GCSE (age 16) and GCE Advanced Level (age 18) examinations are useful indicators of the state of languages in the school system. Since 2002, the Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research (CILT) based in London and later the Centre for Better Teaching (CfBT) and the British Council have carried out annual Language Trends Surveys which chart trends in language teaching and learning and the take-up of modern language examinations in England and Wales. While these surveys show that there has been an increase in the numbers of pupils taking Spanish, the overall picture indicates a decrease in numbers studying languages. The proportion of the total cohort sitting a GCSE in a language in England dropped from 76% in 2002 to 40% in 2011 (Board & Tinsley, 2017, p. 16). This increased to 49% in England in 2016 due to the introduction in 2012 of the English Baccalaureate option which included the compulsory study of a language. The English Baccalaureate is not available in Northern Ireland, but, as can be seen in Table 1.1, a trend similar to the rest of the UK can be discerned there, with an overall drop in modern languages’ uptake, while there has also been a marked increase in Spanish over the same period.

Table 1.1 gives the examination entry figures for the four curricular languages (French, German, Irish, Spanish) offered in Northern Ireland’s schools from 1996, when the first cohort of compulsory modern language pupils came through to the GCSE examination, up to 2016. Despite the marked increase in the popularity of Spanish, the overall figures for language entries show a drop of 37.5% at GCSE and 25% at A-Level. For a comparison of numbers, 22,102 pupils in Northern Ireland took the GCSE in English in 2016 and 24,827 took mathematics. Other than the Gaeilge or Irish-medium examinations, the language ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• List of contributors
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Part 1 Policy
• Part 2 Perspectives
• Part 3 Preparation
• Part 4 Practice
• Conclusion
• Index