Multilingualism Flashcards
How many dual language learning factors are there?
6: Amount of Experience, Context for each use, Family Values, Community Issues, Transfer, and Motivation
Amount of Experience is…
the most key part of success
how much and what kind of experience learners have in each language
Context for use of each language:
-If individual is exposed to one register at home- modality is going to be very verbal, register is very relaxed environment, topics are general
-Necessary to consider in what context language learners are experiencing both languages (school, home, only with grandparents, etc.)
Family values are…
-What does the family want and prioritize in their language use and goals for the family
Community Issues (local and nationwide)
-Very little support in Cville for learning any other languages but English
-Signs, environmental print, conversations
-Bigger cities have more language diversity
Transfer means…
-As a learner acquires skills in one language, that is likely to influence the acquisition of skills in the other language
-If you have the concepts and mental representations in one language, that will then serve as the blueprint for learning the same concept
a greater level of MOTIVATION = _____________________
More likely to learn the language
All factors that fall under dual language learning impact motivation
4 Considerations of Multi-Lingual Language Learning
Dual Language learning factors, Simultaneous Acquisition, Successive Acquisition, School aged factors
3 parts of simultaneous acquisition
Timing, Quality and Quantity of Input, and Rate of Development
Timing includes…
- Experiencing and learning more than 1 language since infancy/birth
-Bilingual- not just strictly applicable to only 2 languages, could be multi.
Rate of Development is important because
There are a lot of false claims and research out there that supports incorrect findings about how children develop more than one language.
These ideas are rooted in ethnocentrism and is based on the false assumption that language learners are only capable of learning one language.
It is more common for kids to be learning more than one language across the globe, and research supports that both languages will develop at the same rate when equal amount of input is given from both languages
What theory is related to successive acquisition?
Owens’ Stages (3)
In Owens’ stages, how does language become acquired?
Learns one language, then sometime after infancy/toddlerhood, they learn another language
What are Owen’s 3 stages?
Social relations, “Messenger”, and Focus on Structure
Social relations explain….
How as you acquire a second language, the first aspects you learn will be parts of language assoc with social activities.
This includes: words, syntax activities, pragmatics associated with basic ADLs
The messenger stage is
Where the speaker is focusing on the message, so they use whatever words and structures across both languages to get the message across.
This stage lasts for a while!
Focus on structure happens when?
Grammar is the LAST part of acquiring language (this fits with everything else we have been talking about!)
School aged factors include….
Different types of language skills that recognize knowing how to count and name colors is not necessarily a functional skill
School aged factors can be broken into 2 types:
Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS)
& Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP)
BICS explains how a child who is learning English as a 2nd language acquires _____________ first in English
language associated with basic interactions first (supporting interactions during recess, out in community, etc. )
Children can quickly get to a level of BICS that allows ________________
Them to blend in with the English as 1st lang children, and flow along into the school day.
Once a child has MASTERED BICS, they can ________________
Easily disappear amongst the crowd of EL1 students- however we cannot let them fly under the radar. BICS only can get a student so far.
In BICS, functional language skill is tied to ____________________
Basic interactions that are repeatedly experienced throughout the day
In CALP, it is important to have ____________
A level of language that will support academic achievement
The level of language used in CALP includes _______________
Syntax, Morphology, Vocabulary- which allows you to dive into a variety of academic topics (science, social studies, algebra, reading, writing, etc.)
Screening for CALP
Screening a child for language dominance is not sufficient, it is important to screen for both BICS and CALP to dive deeper
Modified brain organization effects language how?
Individuals who speak more than one language have different brain organization than those who speak only 1 language (brain pathways are created from experience)
Bilingual cognitive superiority proves what?
Bilingualism aids itself to success in a variety of categories
In what categories is Bilingualism beneficial?
Classifying objects
Creativity
Concept formation
Metalinguistic awareness
problem solving
social and linguistic sensitivity
Understanding complex instructions
Bilingual cognitive superiority research findings
Being questioned,
meta-level awareness is needed.
Publication bias in Bilingual cognitive superiority research
-Priority of publishing meaningful stuff since publications have been around. For many years, there is a priority placed on finding differences.
*Studies that find a difference are more likely to be published, rather than studies that do not find a difference
*It is possible that some of these studies may be in literature because only studies that show a difference have been published
> A disproportionate number of students are conducted with college students as participants. This is not a bad thing, but college students are highly intelligent and not an accurate representative sample of society. Most studied due to easy access by professors.
> Always take evidence with a grain of salt, you are the consumer so take that evidence and see what it really means
Memory in bilingual speakers
Some memories seem to be more accessible in one language than the other
We are just barely beginning to understand the brain of bilingual speakers!
