Within prevailing teaching practices in many mainstream educational teaching settings, additional language learners experience serious challenges in achieving high literacy levels and literacy engagement (Cummins, 2000). This... [ view full abstract ]
Within prevailing teaching practices in many mainstream educational teaching settings, additional language learners experience serious challenges in achieving high literacy levels and literacy engagement (Cummins, 2000). This is despite the fact that successive empirical studies over the past century have found that literacy development in two or more languages provides not only linguistic benefits, but also cognitive and social advantages for bilingual/multilingual students (e.g. García et al., 2007); that achievement in first language literacy can be a key indicator of success in academic literacy in the second language, and that home language maintenance supports second language and academic development (e.g. van Gelderen et al, 2004). These research findings have had little influence on the monolingual curricula, assessment and pedagogical frameworks that dominate English as an Additional Language (EAL) education in Australia. However, small but important changes are underway in the Australian education landscape. This paper reports on research into the collaborative multilingual pedagogical strategies employed between an EAL teacher who does not speak the language of her students, and a multicultural education aide (MEA) and translator in co-constructing an understanding of EAL students’ social, emotional and academic needs. We report on the co-construction of pedagogical approaches and curriculum development and how this collaborative process is reflected in the classroom practices, particularly on the perceived role of intentional and judicious use of first language in the second language classroom in scaffolding English language learning.
Cummins, J. (2000). Language, Power and Pedagogy: Bilingual Children in the Crossfire. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
García,O., Bartlett, L., & Kleifgen, J.A. (2007).“From biliteracy to pluriliteracies,” in P. Auer & L. Wei (Eds.) Handbook of Applied Linguistics (pp. 207-228). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
van Gelderen, A.; et al. (2004). Linguistic knowledge, processing speed, and metacognitive knowledge in first- and second-language reading comprehension: A Componential Analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 96(1), 19-30.
