Second Language Students in English-Medium Classrooms

A Guide for Teachers in International Schools

Coreen Sears

• Verlag: Multilingual Matters
• Jahr: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781783093304
• Thema: Education
• Thema: Multicultural Education

Second Language Students in English-Medium Classrooms offers a real-life practical guide to teachers that will enable them to serve students from many linguistic and cultural backgrounds effectively. Written in an accessible manner it includes numerous exemplary strategies and resources as well as practical references to the latest uses of embedded technology. All of these are designed to reflect contemporary practice in international schools. The book also tackles the controversial and politically-charged issues of the potentially overwhelming impact of English in global contexts and the use of students' mother-tongues in English-medium classrooms. Written by an author and researcher with over 35 years' experience, this book is an essential resource for all teachers, administrators and parents of children in international schools.

Part 1

The World of International Education

1 Introducing International Schools

Chapter 1 is devoted to introducing the world of international schools. It sets out some of the distinctive characteristics of an international school and provides a brief historical overview of the ways in which the international school sector has expanded and developed. It looks at the different groups of families that international schools serve and it describes the process of teacher recruitment. Finally, it briefly considers the elements that make a school truly international.

The sequence of Chapter 1 is as follows:

• Introduction: international schools and international education.

• Introducing international schools.

• What do international schools offer the families they serve?

• International schools that cater for the children of globally mobile families.

• International schools that largely serve the children of local families.

• Teachers in international schools.

• What makes an international school international?

Text Box 1.1 Terms and ideas introduced in this chapter

English-medium school: This is a school where all classes except for foreign language classes are taught in English. In many schools of this type, English is also used for communicating with parents and other stakeholders in the school community.

Language of instruction, medium of instruction: Terms used to describe the language or languages through which the curriculum is delivered.

Bilingual school: Most lay people apply the term ‘bilingual’ to any school that functions in two or more languages, regardless of the balance between the languages used in the classroom or the make-up of the student body. In the body of literature relating to bilingual education, however, a significant distinction is made between ‘strong’ forms of bilingual education and ‘weak’ forms, with ‘strong’ forms being regarded as essential for effective outcomes. Effective outcomes for bilingual education are viewed as ‘bilingualism, biliteracy and biculturalism’ (Baker, 2011).

Emergent bilingual students: A continuing subject of discussion is what to call students in international schools who are not monolingual speakers of English. The term ‘second language students’ which was used in an earlier Handbook (Sears, 1998) now seems inappropriate in the face of the multilingual repertoires of many students as well as carrying overtones of disempowerment. The term adopted in this Handbook is ‘emergent bilingual’ since it retains the idea of bilingual students using different languages for different aspects of their lives.

Global mobility: This term describes the lives of the increasing numbers of families worldwide who move around the globe to take up new career assignments and employment opportunities.

Local community, local language(s), local students, local families, local hires: These terms relate to the location in which an international school is situated, also known in the world of international education as the host country. In some cases this location will itself be a multilingual, multicultural environment.

National education system: This term refers to government-sponsored or mandated education systems which are to be found in state schools (or public schools in the US).

‘Western-style’ education: This is a portmanteau term to describe the sort of education that is generally found in international schools. It relates to the curricula and programmes that derive from English-speaking countries and which are found in many international schools or at least in the English-medium element of a school. It is often characterised by people new to international schools (and who may come from quite different educational backgrounds) as being child-centred, individualistic, encouraging, and ‘more informal’ than many state education systems.

English-speaking countries, English-speaking students: Describing a group of nations and nationals in these terms is difficult territory since today this terminology is linked with postcolonial theories of dominance and privilege. Nevertheless, this is a term used on many websites relating to international education. What is meant are those countries and peoples who have historically used English as their primary language. It is a fact that many international schools are linked specifically (now if only by name) to those countries, and that many schools still draw on teachers from those countries to teach the English-medium element of their curricula and programmes.

Mother tongue, primary language, first language, home language, etc.: Over the years many terms have emerged to describe the language that seems foundational in an individual's language repertoire. Perhaps the need to define such a thing derives from a monolingual view of language use. The fact is that the majority of people in the world conduct different parts of their lives via different languages rather than through a single language. It is often difficult for a family to single out one language which is their primary language, especially among the families who send their children to international schools. The term ‘mother tongue’ has remained in use in English-medium international schools to describe the primary language in a child's life outside school.

Note: Students’ primary languages are described by the IBO (www.ibo.org) as Language A. This term is often used alongside the other terms in schools that have adopted the IB programmes.

World English, World Englishes: Any discussion relating to the varieties of English that are developing around the world tends to draw upon the historic fact of colonialism. Describing a regionally based variety of English as a World English is an attempt to move away from the view, still prevalent, that standard American or British Englishes are inherently more prestigious. What may change this view is the use of their own variety of English by individuals in fast-developing populous regions such as the Indian subcontinent.

International-mindedness: This term lies at the heart of the IB programmes and has been taken up more widely throughout the international school sector. Its definition has taken different forms over the years. At present, ‘international-mindedness’ is being characterised as the concept that unites all types of international schools and even some schools in national systems that aim to promote a specific world-view.

Overseas hires: This term denotes teachers and other staff who are hired by the school from overseas. Typically they are trained and experienced in the type of curricula and programmes that are taught in international schools.

Introduction: International Schools and International Education

What does a school that started life in a disused textile factory in Beijing, China, have in common with a purpose-built, fully equipped school situated on a new campus in the Arabian Gulf or with another based in a pink-washed stucco building in a South American capital city? The answer is that all these schools describe themselves as offering an international education to the students they serve.

The diversity of geographical location, the differences in the history and development of each school and the range of facilities on offer to students are typical of international schools as a whole. However, alongside this variety among individual schools, there are also many features which schools that describe themselves as international have in common. The aim of this chapter is to provide a basic understanding of the sector as a whole, introducing some of the general features of an international education while acknowledging the tremendous diversity to be found across the schools themselves.

The content of the chapter

Section 1.1 is devoted to a broad outline of the history and development of international schools and to describing the ways in which international schools may differ from schools in national systems. Section 1.2 is concerned with the special features that are to be found in the majority of international schools and which make them attractive to the families they serve. Sections 1.3 and 1.4 describe two types of international schools: those that serve the children of globally mobile families and those that largely cater for local families. Section 1.5 introduces the topic of teacher recruitment in the international school sector and Section 1.6 asks a question that continues to occupy the minds of international educators: ‘What makes an international school international?’.

1.1 Introducing International Schools

International schools are to be found in locations worldwide where there is a sizeable expatriate community or a pool of local families that perceive the benefits of an international education for their children. Increasingly, there are clusters of international schools in certain locations. This is the case with cities such as Geneva, Brussels, London and New York where there are large populations of international civil servants or of expatriate personnel working in corporate headquarters and global finance. It is also true of locations in countries with fast-developing economies such as China and India and in the countries of the Arabian Gulf. Alongside the founding of this type of school, individual international schools spring up in answer to the needs of families in more far-flung situations where parents work for large companies or provide expertise to the local community. The majority of international schools are independent and fee-paying, the financial aspect being one of the reasons for the numbers of smaller and larger schools in any given location.

Note: For an immediate impression of the size and variety of the international school sector, readers might like to search the internet under a heading such as ‘international schools in Singapore’. Most major cities have websites setting out the range of schools available to the expatriate population in the location. Such lists give an instant snapshot of the types of schools available, the programmes they offer and the students they serve.

1.1.1 The early days in the life of an international school

Many schools are founded in response to the arrival of a group of expatriate families in locations where there are few or no schools to cater for their children's needs. In this situation, it is common for international schools to start their lives in small, sometimes makeshift premises. Often newly founded schools are situated in large old houses, in empty industrial buildings or in a series of prefabricated huts. There may be very little outside space for play or for sport and they may have few facilities in the way of media centres, technological gadgetry or art and music rooms. In contrast to the rather basic nature of the facilities, newly founded schools of this type frequently have a strong sense of community, with teachers and parents working together to improve the school and its facilities. Stories abound of school communities joining together to fundraise for new sports equipment or to help in the overall refurbishment of the school. Many teachers, parents and students who have experienced the early days of a new school speak with great affection of the communal sense of purpose and cooperative spirit that pervades a school at this stage of its development.

1.1.2 Changes in the make-up of the student population as the school grows

The pattern of student recruitment and the growth of the student population in a newly founded international school generally follow one of two paths. In the first case, a school will open in a location in answer to an immediate need for international, English-speaking education on the part of a small number of recently arrived expatriate families. Where this happens, the student population can comprise a range of ages, with the small numbers leading to mixed-age classes. In the second case, newly founded schools have more time and space to arrange a planned increase in student numbers. This generally happens when a school has sufficient financial or other backing to build up the school by starting with classes for only the very youngest students. In this case, new classes are opened at the bottom of the school as each year group moves upward un...