Language Learning and Intercultural Understanding in the Primary School

A Practical and Integrated Approach

Wendy Cobb, Virginia Bower

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• eBook ISBN: 9781000467680
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Language Learning and Intercultural Understanding in the Primary School shows how to deliver a progressive and holistic embedded language curriculum. It provides guidance on inclusive approaches for students with English as an additional language, including native speakers in the target language as well as language awareness activities that maximise links with learning in English.

Practical and accessible, it contains classroom examples, plans, resources and pedagogical approaches all underpinned by theory, research and practice. Each chapter examines specific themes relating to language, culture, identity and wellbeing, providing rich discussions and a range of perspectives. Case studies 'bring to life' the examples provided, and reflection points offer the reader the opportunity to pause and consider an idea, resource, or challenging concept before moving on.

Presenting a lived narrative of shared voices, the authors invite readers to learn about their own cultural and linguistic identities and how these relate to their practice. This is a must-read for teachers, language specialists and school leaders who wish for a clear rationale for the role of language, culture, identity and wellbeing within and beyond the curriculum.

1 Language awareness

DOI: 10.4324/9781003129738-2

Language: ‘The systematic, conventional use of sounds, signs or written symbols in a human society for communication and self-expression’.

(David Crystal, 1995, p. 454)

Introduction

With a book such as this, where there are notionally so many essential themes and ideas to be discussed, it is difficult to decide on an order of chapters, as there is no single chapter more important than another; and yet, the hierarchy of 1, 2, 3 … would seem to suggest this! Such a choice must be made however, and we opted to begin by focusing on the idea of language awareness, to raise the status of this topic from the very start, enabling us then to move in different directions – all closely interwoven but examining key themes from a range of perspectives. Something that determined the choice was the word awareness, as we believe that this needs to underpin all our work as educators. Awareness of difference. Awareness of diversity. Awareness of others’ perspectives, feelings, beliefs, emotions. And so many of these aspects are influenced by language. A deep, secure knowledge and understanding of language strengthens our ability to empathise, collaborate, develop long-lasting relationships and communicate across social, cultural and linguistic boundaries.

The sections in this chapter have emerged from specific words and phrases in two definitions of language awareness, that we found particularly useful. In the first, Zaidi (2020, p. 270) refers to language awareness as, ‘an understanding of the human faculty of language and its role in thinking, learning, and social life.’ We appreciated the emphasis on human here and the subsequent link to the inherent sociability of the human race, as without an understanding of the importance of language to support the development of relationships, community ties and familial connections, life is a struggle. Zaidi also includes a reference to thinking and learning and how language awareness has a significant role in these aspects of being human, all of which underpin the ideas in this chapter and throughout the book.

Alongside this, we have borrowed from the Association for Language Awareness (ALA) (2020, no page) this definition which, although different, demonstrates parallel ideas: ‘explicit knowledge about language, and conscious perception and sensitivity in language learning, language teaching and language use.’

There is much to ponder in this definition, including an emphasis on knowing about language but also the ways it can be used. The words perception and sensitivity are powerful, particularly with an emphasis on the preceding word conscious, which elevates the responsibility level for those of us working with young learners, to ensure that this consciousness is raised and maintained.

The themes which have emerged, therefore, and within which ideas will be explored alongside practical suggestions, are as follows:

• Conscious perception: building on early awareness;
• Knowledge about language;
• Language use: a shift in focus;
• The role of the teacher.

Throughout the chapter, we provide practical examples of how to build language awareness across the curriculum and explain how this awareness can also support progress in English and other languages, for both native speakers of English and those learners with English as an additional language.

Conscious perception: building on early awareness

A realisation that language is power generally emerges at a very young age. Babies soon understand that a particular sound they make elicits a specific response and that their carers are in their power! In this way, they learn from the people around them, the contexts and settings which form part of their lives and the degrees of interaction they are exposed to (Bower, 2017). This awareness – arguably both innate and learnt – continues to affect our lives – relationship forming, learning, acquiring goods, achieving goals – as we move through childhood, teenage years and into adulthood. However, the extent to which these abilities are capitalised on in school life is variable, and we would argue that a more systematic, overt and celebratory approach to language awareness – across languages and cultures – would benefit all children and enable them to utilise language for communication and self-expression in a way that enriches their lives and the lives of those to whom they are connected.

Raising awareness about language in schools can start at a very early age; indeed, evidence would suggest the earlier the better in terms of taking a plurilingual approach, which exposes very young learners to different languages and cultures. Nicholas and Lightbown (2008, p. 39, cited in Corcoll, 2013) write that ‘the period between 2 and 7 years of age is a time during which children’s knowledge about language and about the language(s) they hear around them develops rapidly and, to a very large extent, without instruction or intention’. This would suggest that anything we can do to provide an environment that nurtures this development will be of great value.

Research undertaken by Coelho, Andrade, and Portugal (2018) adopted the Awakening to Languages (AtL) approach with pre-school children in Portugal. With AtL, the focus is on a wide range of languages, underpinned by the idea that a plurilingual approach can lead to better academic performance, specifically in terms of:

• Building more complex sentences and improvement in writing competence;
• Phonological awareness and reading comprehension;
• Improved perception, concentration and selective attention;
• A tendency to learn other languages more easily alongside ‘communicative sensitivity’ (ibid., p. 201); and
• An ability to adapt speech to suit the needs of the listener.

Interestingly, there is also evidence to suggest plurilinguals have higher-paid careers as they move through life (uoguelph.ca, no date). With all this potential in mind, Coelho, Andrade, and Portugal (2018) wanted to explore the benefits of the AtL approach with pre-school children in terms of their communicative competence. They asked the children which other languages they would like to learn in addition to their native Portuguese, and the children opted for Spanish, Italian, French and English. Activities were carried out in these different languages, including listening to and re-telling stories, watching videos, practising tongue twisters and playing games. Assessment of progress focused on oral production, oral comprehension and oral interaction, and the key findings were that children enjoyed the activities and were very keen to discuss linguistic diversity and offer their opinions. They were also eager to learn about other languages and cultures and to discuss differences, and it was felt that an enriched linguistic environment emerged within the school.

Another study, conducted by Karagiannaki and Stamou (2018) in a Greek school with six- and seven-year-olds, used fairy tales to develop children’s critical language awareness. The idea was to use alternative versions of fairy tales to promote an examination of the world through different lenses. Other aims were to support the children with making connections between ideas and working out the authors’ intentions by recognising implied messages in the texts. One of the key strategies was role play, as it allowed the children to be active learners, to reconstruct the tales and represent them in their own ways, to ‘become’ other people. Although not a plurilingual approach, the questio...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• Acknowledgements
• Foreword
• Introduction
• 1 Language awareness
• 2 Inclusive approaches to language learning
• 3 Language, culture and identity
• 4 Language and wellbeing
• 5 Language and gender
• 6 Languages across the curriculum
• 7 Progression in language learning
• 8 Assessing progress in language learning
• 9 Leadership of languages – a whole-school approach to planning and implementing a language-focused curriculum
• 10 Concluding thoughts
• Index