Pieper/Thürmann/Vollmer - Council of Europe

[pic] |[pic] | | The linguistic and educational integration of children and adolescents from
migrant backgrounds Studies and Resources
N° 2
Language(s) of Schooling: Focusing on vulnerable learners Eike Thürmann, Helmut Vollmer and Irene Pieper Document prepared for the Policy Forum 'The right of learners to quality
and equity
in education - The role of linguistic and intercultural competences' Geneva, Switzerland, 2-4 November 2010 Language Policy Division Directorate of Education and Languages, DGIV
Council of Europe, Strasbourg
www.coe.int/lang
List of studies and resources accompanying the concept paper on
The linguistic and educational integration of children and adolescents from
migrant backgrounds 1. Language diagnostics in multilingual settings with respect to
continuous assessment procedures as accompaniment of learning and
teaching - Drorit Lengyel
2. Languages of schooling: focusing on vulnerable learners - Eike
Thürmann, Helmut Vollmer and Irene Pieper
3. Migrant pupils and formal mastery of the language of schooling:
variations and representations - Marie-Madeleine Bertucci
4. Capitalising on, activating and developing plurilingual and
pluricultural repertoires for better school integration - Véronique
Castellotti and Danièle Moore
5. Professional development for staff working in multilingual schools -
Jim Anderson, Christine Hélot, Joanna McPake and Vicky Obied
6. Co-operation, management and networking: effective ways to promote
the linguistic and educational integration of children and adolescents
from migrant backgrounds - Christiane Bainski, Tanja Kaseric, Ute
Michel, Joanna McPake and Amy Thompson © Council of Europe, September 2010 The opinions expressed in this work are those of the authors and do not
necessarily reflect the official policy of the Council of Europe. All correspondence concerning this publication or the reproduction or
translation of all or part of the document should be addressed to the
Director of Education and Languages of the Council of Europe (Language
Policy Division) (F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex or decs-lang@coe.int). The reproduction of extracts is authorised, except for commercial purposes,
on condition that the source is quoted.
...educators have begun to realize that the mastery
of academic subjects is the mastery of their
specialized patterns of language use, and that
language is the dominant medium through which these
subjects are taught and students' mastery of them
tested. Jay L. Lemke (1989)
Table of contents
Introduction 5
1. The language factor of school achievement 5
2. Language and literacy education and the multilingual school 7 2.1 Language diversity in schools 7
2.2 School language domains 8
2.3 Language and literacy education and the role of school subjects
9 3. Language for education in non-language subjects 16 3.1 General features of classroom language use 16
3.2 Analytical, task-based approaches 19
3.3 Types of discourse/genres 22
3.4 Basic language or discourse functions 23 4. Strategies and techniques for supporting the language development of
vulnerable learners 27 4.1 Specify measurable objectives and monitor language learning
progress and needs 27
4.2 Foster language awareness and knowledge about language and
communication 28
4.3 Increase word power 29
4.4 Encourage language transfer 30
4.5 Support learner autonomy 31
4.6 Improve delivery features and teachers´ classroom management
skills 32
4.7 Develop writing 33
4.8 Scaffold cognitive-language activities in non-language subjects
34 5 Strategies for school development and school-support systems 37 5.1 On the level of the individual school 37
5.2 On the level of curriculum development and quality control 38
5.3 On the level of in-service training 38
5.4 On the level of pre-service teacher training 38
5.5 On the level of publishers of textbooks and other learning
materials 38 References 39 Introduction In the Concept Paper of the Council of Europe "Linguistic and educational
integration of children and adolescents from migrant backgrounds" (2010)
the distinction between conversational and academic language has been
briefly discussed (in section 2), pointing out that in order to achieve
educational success pupils from migrant backgrounds must be more than
conversationally fluent in the language of schooling: they must also master
the varieties of academic language that constitute the fabric of the
different curriculum subjects. All pupils face this challenge, whatever their linguistic background.
However, research has established that learners from socially and
economically disadvantaged backgrounds tend to find the challenge
particularly difficult to overcome. Because knowledge is virtually
inseparable from the language that embodies it, the project "Languages in
Education - Languages for Education" (LE) of the Council of Europe takes
the view that all teachers must be language teachers in the sense that they
are aware of the specific language demands of their subject(s) and of
appropriate strategies for language support. The following study elaborates
on this theme, extending the arguments above and suggesting some of the
ways in which schools, teachers and learners can meet the challenges of
language across the curriculum, especially focusing on the needs and
perspectives of vulnerable learners. The fact that this paper is mainly concerned with the development of
competences in the dominant language of schooling, especially of bi-
/plurilingual students with a migrant background, does not question at all
the value of linguistic and cultural diversity for inclusive mainstream
education. We acknowledge explicitly that those languages young people
bring to school - even when they are not necessarily part of the curriculum
- fulfil valuable functions not only for the individual learner, for
his/her cognitive growth and his/her positioning in a complex socio-
cultural setting, but also for their monolingual peers who can experience
the opportunities and challenges of cultural and linguistic diversity
through informal interaction and also through the reflection on language
encounters in the classroom and in interdisciplinary projects. Inclusive education has to provide for all the different groups of migrant
learners, whose situation can differ enormously. For example, special
attention has to be paid to the needs of learners who have newly arrived in
a receiving country and who have no or only very little knowledge of the
dominant language. This group of vulnerable learners definitely needs
specific professional attention and support helping them to "survive" and
to stabilize themselves and to acquire the basic means of everyday
communication quickly. This must go hand in hand with the presentation of
age-appropriate cognitive concepts in subject-matter learning (if possible
supported by teaching in their home language) and the acquisition of basic
elements of the school-specific register. These introductory remarks are intended to make the reader aware that the
following discussion of the specifics of the language of schooling should
be embedded in a comprehensive approach to education which values all
cognitive, language and cultural assets young people bring to school.
1. The language factor of school achievement The world of education is challenged by the fact that a large proportion of
children and young people perform below their potential in school, i.e.
their achievements do not match their natural abilities. This affects all
aspects of their future lives and limits their potential to participate
actively in public life and to compete successfully for employment. There
is a serious achievement gap in most of the educational systems across
Europe, the United States and other parts of the world, and this gap
continues to exist despite sustained and large-scale efforts to close it. Some causal factors have been identified which predict low achievement and
school failure. They originate either in the individual learner (e.g.
motivation, self-concept, task/goal orientation), or in the specific
social/family background (e.g. expectations, values and attitudes towards
education, family cohesion, family support), or in the school context
itself (e.g. teacher expectations, teacher motivation, teaching styles,
peer relationships). However, there are general patterns underlying these
factors and they threaten social cohesion, since socioeconomic status,
ethnicity, language and cultural background strongly intervene in formal
education. Large-scale assessment studies such as TIMS, PISA, DESI,
PIRLS/IGLU have proven beyond doubt that children from marginalised and
hence from vulnerable groups perform at a significantly lower level than
students from the autochthonous majority. The personal, economic, and social costs of academic underachievement
are high and growing. Each year, increasing numbers of students enter
school with circumstances