Lecture 7

Question 1

Multilingualism

Answer 1

• not just a technical task to be described cognitively, it has to do with identity
• emotional, social and cultural significance

Question 2

3 dimensions for how people feel associated with a language

Answer 2

• expertise: degree of proficiency in a language
• affiliation: affective relationship with a language
  -inheritance: membership by birth of a family or community with a particular language tradition

Question 3

Cognitive types of Multilingualism

Answer 3

Simultaneous:
- T2 together with T1
- T1 and T2 at home naturally
- Level T1 and T2 maximal depending on SES and input

Successive:
- T2 after T1
- T1 home, T2 school/work
- level T1 maximal, T2 varies
- functional bilingual: yet one language is superior to the other, domain specific (speaking or reading only, content

Question 4

The role of home language in schools

Answer 4

• good skills in mother tongue help to learn another language
• children who are allowed to speak their mother tongue more at school: more emotionally connected to school, more self-confidence
• helps you to make links with existing knowledge in the brain, makes knowledge stronger and easier to exist

Question 5

Refugee children

Answer 5

• yes exposure to target language is important
• at home: preference for good different language rather than target language => linguistic transfer can take place
• if you are not very knowledgeable in target language, better to speak home language at home, especially if languages are similar?

Question 6

Transfer hypothesis

Answer 6

1. Knowledge transfer: all variants of knowledge transfer hypothesis, metalinguistic transfer, higher order skills, can be translated from 1st to second language (rewatch), if you have knowledge in first language then you can use it in your second language
2. Threshold hypothesis: knowledge threshold is needed for higher order skills to transfer (i.e. sufficient vocab from L2)
   - good L1 reader is a good L2 reader only when a certain threshold is reached in L2
3. Automaticity hypothesis: Orthography L1 needs to be comparable to L2, word recognition in L2 is required to be fast and automatic, past threshold, good command of L1 skills

Question 7

Van Gelderen et al

Answer 7

• which skills contribute to english reading skills for dutch as L1, and dutch as L2 (multilinguals)
• do skills transfer from L1 to L2 and when? do multilinguals benefit from the additional language (cognitive flexibility)?
• measured reading skills, metacognitive knowledge, linguistic knowledge, automaticity/speed tests
• did sentence verificiation
• low order skills: vocab, syntax, word recognition, no transfer expected
• high order skills: metacognition, i.e. where can i find important info in the paragraph, expected to transfer
• no evidence for automaticity theory, but yes for knowledge transfer from L1 and perhaps threshold-> no advantage for multilinguals in cognitive flexibility, yet command of dutch lower than L1 children
• provides support for preference for good different language over poor target language (linguistic transfer can occur)

Question 8

How to diagnose children with multilingualism and dyslexia - Cline

Answer 8

Aim: to provide fair assessments for everyone
- but most research has focused on monolinguals with dyslexia or multilinguals without dyslexia
- IQ measured in a second language lacks reliability and validity: still developing language
- IQ underestimated: leads to lower incidence of IQ achievement discrepancies: leads to underestimation, ALSO avoidance of IQ testing with bilingual pupils

Question 9

Teaching strategies for multilinguals with dyslexia

Answer 9

1. evaluate balance between needs as 2nd language learners and needs with dyslexia:
   a. language: reading for meaning
   b.: programme that addresses a deficit in phonological skills
   - with focus on b only: risk that the issues lie with lack of vocab and vice versa (rewatch)
   -

Question 10

Cultural differences in a school context

Answer 10

• social behaviour due to different values
• falling behind in language skills

Question 11

5 problem areas

Answer 11

1. non verbal communication
2. communication style
3. groups versus individual orientation
4. conflicting norms and values
5. structure

Question 12

Communication style

Answer 12

• implicit at home: confirm status in relationship (explicit arguments not necessary, listen to your parents)
• explicit communication at school, focus on content, arguments (why listen to parents?), feelings

Question 13

Non verbal communication

Answer 13

• ## other codes (i.e. eye contact)

Question 14

Groups versus individual orientation

Answer 14

• individualistic: focus on independence, individual is important
• collectivistic: focus on social control, focus on group cohesion

Question 15

Conflicting norms and values

Answer 15

• role/position is important VS responsibility/independence

Question 16

Structure

Answer 16

Home: strong and clear structure: know your status (older people)
School: malleable, structure yourself (question older teacher), express own values and critical thinking

Question 17

Social Skills training needed

Answer 17

• you dont have to assimilate to target culture
• you just have insufficient command of social situations, insufficient knowledge of codes, and sometimes you use incorrect codes
• so you need to learn additional codes -> integration, not assimilation

Question 18

School psychologist: be careful about assumptions

Answer 18

• is language a problem?
• respect input: be open to new information
• learn to know the client’s values and norms
• no generalisations: take individual differences into account!

Question 19

Acculturation

Answer 19

Unidimensional models: acculturation is a process of change in the direction of the mainstream culture

Bidimensional models: adaptation dimension (do i want to establish good relations with my host cultyre), cultural maintenance dimension (do i want to maintain good relations to my native culture)

Question 20

Integration

Answer 20

amounts to biculturalism, the combination
of both cultures

empirical studies consistently show a
preference for this strategy

Question 21

Separation

Answer 21

the original culture is maintained and
relationships with the host culture are not considered
important.

Question 22

Assimilation

Answer 22

aims at
complete absorption into the host culture and implies the
loss of the original culture

Question 23

Marginalization

Answer 23

the loss of the original culture without
establishing ties with the new culture. The most
infrequently observed strategy

Question 24

Hutnik

Answer 24

• focused on self categorization and identity
• where do i belong?
• A two-dimensional identity model of acculturation:
  combining two dimensions of identification: with the
  ethnic minority and with the majority group

Question 25

Hutnik acculturation

Answer 25

1. acculturative (a hyphenated identity) Integration 2. assimilative (a predominant majority identity) Assimilation 3. dissociative (an embedded minority identity) Separation 4. marginal (the individual is indifferent to minority as well as majority identities) Marginalisation

Question 26

Domain specificity is important

Answer 26

- Berry’s model assumes that acculturation strategies have trait characteristics; preferred strategy in all domains of life - Contextual acculturation model: acculturation orientations are simultaneously influenced by (often competing) pressure by migrant’s ethnic community and the host society -Public domain: the norms of the dominant group are most salient and influential -Private contexts: ethnic in-group norms are most salient and most easily enforced in private contexts

Question 27

Context dependence of acculturation strategies

Answer 27

-the alternation of ethnic culture maintenance in the private domain with cross-cultural adaptation in public domain - The acculturation profile of successful minority students, after controlling for family background and school composition, appeared to alternate between separation in the family context and integration in the school context

Question 28

Implications of the contextual model for assessment

Answer 28

- When multiple indicators are used to assess “modal” acculturation strategies across contexts the indicators should ideally be a balanced sample of behaviors and attitudes on both sides of the public–private divide - If interested in acculturation strategies within a specific context, e.g. in assessing school performance, work satisfaction, or marital problems, it seems most appropriate to measure acculturation attitudes, in particular attitudes towards adaptation, within the context of interest

Question 29

Multicultural assessment

Answer 29

- there are individual differences in cognitive, emotional and motivation determinants - assessment should go beyond group assessments of more or less acculturated minority groups -

Answer 30

- adjustment dimension more important than cultural maintenance - what is the position on the continuum of adjustment 1.Can this person be considered to belong to the population for which the test or scale has been developed? 2. Is this instrument suitable for this particular person to measure the intended construct? - Assessment outcomes have to be interpreted with the answers to these questions in mind - NOT assuming that all tests available can be used in minority groups but also NOT assuming that no test is valid for minority groups!

Question 31

Bias in multicultural assessment

Answer 31

- Psychological adjustment to the main culture: a continuum in-between the two end-points, no adjustment at all and complete adjustment - Extreme cases obvious - The instruments for the mainstreamers are inapplicable in the case of no adjustment at all (e.g. insufficient language) - Completely adjusted persons the instruments are appropriate - In practice: rates of adjustment in-between these extremes - Task of the psychologist to deal with this immense variety of degrees of acculturation and determine which instruments are appropriate!

Question 32

Solutions for bias

Answer 32

- consider how well acculturated is an individual?

Question 33

Stevens et al.