Fair trade: two-way bilingual education

One approach to bilingual education that has gained increasing support from parents, educators, and researchers in the United States is one in which English language learners and English proficient students share a classroom and receive instruction in both English and the dominant language of the English language learners. In most such two-way bilingual education programs, the stated goal is for both groups of students to learn each other’s language. In this paper, I briefly review the background to this approach.Following this, I present a case study of one such two-way bilingual program in which the student population came from Latino and African-American backgroundsSome of the Latino students were Spanishdominant while others knew little Spanish. The African-American students knew little or no Spanish when they arrived at school and, furthermore, many had limited experience with the variety of Standard American English spoken in the classroom. Students in the two-way bilingual education program did as well as or better than their peers who were being educated either in English-only classes or in transitional bilingual education classes. For students in the two-way program, Spanish reading ability for Spanish speakers developed at a faster rate than English reading ability for English speakers, and Spanish-dominant students did better in English than Englishdominant students did in Spanish. Data from classroom observation show that the formal assessment procedures were not able to capture much of the learning that took place in the classrooms. Nevertheless, the findings add to the evidence found in previous research that two-way bilingual education is an effective approach for both English proficient students and English language learners.Un enfoque empleado para la enseñanza bilingüe que viene recibiendo un respaldo cada vez mayor por parte de padres, educadores e investigadores de los EE.UU. consiste en la integración de aprendices de inglés y de usuarios nativos de la lengua, los cuales comparten aula y reciben enseñanza tanto en inglés como en la lengua dominante de los aprendices de inglés (español). En la mayoría de estos planes de enseñanza bilingüe de doble vía, el objetivo explícito es que cada grupo aprenda la lengua del otro. En este trabajo hago un breve repaso de los antecedentes de este enfoque y luego presento un estudio de caso que se basa en un plan bilingüe de doble vía en el cual el alumnado proviene de las comunidades latino y afroestadounidense. Algunos de los alumnos latinos tenían el español como lengua dominante mientras que otros sólo tenían conocimientos básicos de la lengua. Los alumnos afroestadounidenses tenían conocimientos básicos o nulos de español al inicio del plan; además, muchos tenían poca experiencia con la variedad de inglés estadounidense estándar que se usaba en el aula. Los alumnos del plan bilingüe de doble vía obtuvieron resultados iguales o superiores a los de sus compañeros que recibían clases impartidas bien sólo en inglés o de enseñanza bilingüe transitoria. En el caso de los alumnos del plan de doble vía, la destreza de lectura en español para los hispanohablantes se desarrolló con mayor rapidez que la destreza de lectura en inglés para los anglohablantes; además, los alumnos que tenían el español como lengua dominante obtuvieron mejores resultados en inglés que aquellos obtenidos en español por los alumnos que tenían el inglés como lengua dominante. Los datos de las observaciones de clase muestran que los procedimientos formales de evaluación no fueron capaces de captar una buena parte del aprendizaje que tenía lugar en el aula. Sin embargo, los resultados se suman a las pruebas provenientes de investigaciones previas que indican que la enseñanza bilingüe de doble vía es un enfoque eficaz tanto para usuarios nativos como para aprendices del inglés

Designing interactive and collaborative learning tasks in a 3-D virtual environment

This is an electronic version of the paper presented at the CALL: Using, Learning, Knowing, EUROCALL Conference, held in Gothenburg on 2012The aim of our study is to explore several possibilities to use virtual worlds (VWs) and game-applications with learners of the A1 level (CEFR) of German as a foreign language. Our interest focuses especially on designing those learning tools which increase firstly, learner motivation towards online-learning and secondly, enhance autonomous learning through a highly interactive environment. Interaction is here seen as a multidirectional process, in which learners are asked to interact with different virtual environments as well as other learners in order to resolve a variety of tasks successfully. By interacting and collaborating in different tasks’ performance, students are encouraged to learn from each other, in order to foster and widen their individual knowledge. For our research study we have designed a VW-platform, called VirtUAM (Virtual Worlds at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid). This platform permits us to store and record a huge amount of data related to users’ behaviour and in world interactions. Furthermore the platform has been employed to build several virtual spaces, which implement different game levels. The virtual spaces themselves are used to give students basic training in different language skills (listening, reading and writing) related to German as a foreign language. In order to obtain data regarding the game’s impact on student learning, we designed a general questionaire, which was only filled out after the game and which aimed at getting personal feedback from the participants.This work has been partially funded by the Consejería de Innovación under the project “Actuaciones Avaladas para la Mejora Docente 2011/12” (AAA_53: El empleo de los videojuegos para el apoyo al aprendizaje de lenguas extranjeras aplicado al alemán) as well as by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation under the Project ABANT (TIN2010-19872/TSI). We would also like to thank the game developer team Francisco Rodríguez (UAM) and Raúl Goméz (UCA)

Developing second language oral ability in foreign language classrooms: the role of the length and focus of instruction and individual differences

The current study aimed to examine how instruction can impact the global, segmental, prosodic, and temporal qualities of second language (L2) oral ability in foreign language (FL) settings (i.e., a few hours of target language input per week). Spontaneous speech was elicited via a timed picture description task from 56 Japanese freshman college students who had studied English through FL instruction from Grades 7 to 12 without any experience abroad. The tokens were rated for global accentedness and then submitted to segmental, prosodic, and temporal analyses. According to statistical analyses, (a) the participants' oral performance widely varied in relation to the length and focus of FL instruction, the frequency of their conversations in the L2, and aptitude; and (b) their diverse proficiency levels were predicted in particular by the amount of extra FL activities inside (i.e., pronunciation training) and outside (i.e., cram school) of high school (but not junior high) classrooms. The results in turn suggest that whereas extensive FL instruction (>875 hr) itself does make some difference in L2 oral ability development, its pedagogical potential can be increased by how students optimize their most immediate FL experience beyond the regular syllabus

Communicative focus on form and second language suprasegmental learning: teaching Cantonese learners to perceive mandarin tones

The current study examined how form-focused instruction (FFI) with and without corrective feedback (CF) as output enhancement can facilitate L2 perception of Mandarin tones at both the phonetic and phonological levels in 41 Cantonese learners of Mandarin. Two experimental groups, FFI-only and FFI-CF, received a 90-minute FFI treatment designed to encourage them to notice and practice the categorical distinctions of Mandarin tones through a range of communicative input and output activities. During these activities, the instructors provided CF only to students in the FFI-CF group by recasting and pushing them to repair their mispronunciations of the target features (i.e., output enhancement). The control group received comparable meaning-oriented instruction without any FFI. The effectiveness of FFI was assessed via a forced-choice identification task with both trained and untrained items for a variety of tonal contrasts in Mandarin (high level Tone 1 vs. mid-rising Tone 2 vs. high falling Tone 4). According to statistical comparisons, the FFI-only group attained significant improvement in all lexical and tonal contexts, and such effectiveness was evident particularly in the acquisition of Tone 1 and Tone 4—supposedly the most difficult instances due to their identical phonological status in the learners’ L1, Cantonese. The FFI-CF group, however, demonstrated marginally significant gains only under the trained lexical conditions. The results in turn suggest that FFI promotes learners’ attentional shift from vocabulary to sound learning (generalizable gains in trained and untrained items) and facilitates their access to new phonetic and phonological categories. Yet, the relative advantage of adding CF to FFI as output enhancement remains unclear, especially with respect to the less experienced L2 learners in the current study

Purism, Variation, Change and ‘Authenticity’: Ideological Challenges to Language Revitalisation

This paper is based on recent research into the small, highly endangered language Giernesiei 1 (Guernsey, Channel Islands). 2 Language documentation has found unexpectedly rich variation and change in Giernesiei usage, not all of which can be accounted for by regional and age-related factors. At the same time, our research into language ideologies and efforts to maintain and revitalise Giernesiei has revealed deep-seated purist or ‘traditionalist’ language attitudes that resist and deny language change. This nostalgic view of language and culture can hyper-valorise ‘authentic’ traditions (arguably reinvented 3 ) and can lead to reluctance to share Giernesiei effectively with younger generations who might ‘change the language’, despite an overt desire to maintain it. This mismatch between ideologies and practices can be seen at language festivals, in lessons for children, and in the experiences of adult learners who were interviewed as part of a British Academy-funded project. I present a taxonomy of reactions to variation in Giernesiei, which confirms and extends the findings of Jaffe 4 in Corsica. I also discuss recent revitalisation efforts that try to bring together older and ‘new’ speakers and promote the role of adult learners and ‘re-activate’ semi-speakers. The findings support the view that full evaluation of language vitality should include documenting the processes and ideologies of language revitalisation. 5 ,

Facilitative effects of learner-directed codeswitching : Evidence from Chinese learners of English

This study examines the interaction between learner-oriented codeswitching (CS) practices and the degree to which intermediate Chinese L2 learners of English engage in classroom interaction. The guiding questions are whether the teacher's CS use facilitates classroom interaction at moderate L2 proficiency, and if so, at which specific stages of the lesson, and to what extent. A systematic comparison of two classroom types was carried out in the same Chinese secondary school, with English-only instruction versus with English–Chinese CS. A combination of quantitative and qualitative analyses was based on class observations (two classes per type) and subsequent teacher interviews. CS behaviour was analysed in relation to the particular teaching focus of the task at hand. Interviews included a stimulated recall technique using selected CS extracts to enrich insights from the teachers' perspective. The results showed a higher student response frequency as well as a longer mean utterance length in CS classes. Overall, codeswitches were systematically distributed across lesson stages and were closely related to changes in the teaching focus. These findings call for an optimal use of CS in instructed environments so as to maximise its benefits via a sensitive adjustment to specific pedagogic aims

Cystic Fibrosis isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa retain iron-regulated antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus through the action of multiple alkylquinolones

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a hereditary disease that predisposes individuals to pulmonary dysfunction and chronic infections. Early infection of the CF lung with Staphylococcus aureus is common, while Pseudomonas aeruginosa becomes dominant as disease progresses. Emergence of P. aeruginosa likely depends on the action of multiple 2-alkyl-4-(1H)-quinolones (AQ) secreted by this organism. We recently showed that antimicrobial activity against S. aureus is enhanced by iron depletion and is dependent upon multiple AQ metabolites. Two of these AQs, the Pseudomonas quinolone signal [PQS; 2-heptyl-3-hydroxy-4(1H)-quinolone] and 2-heptyl-4-hydroxyquinoline (HHQ), are quorum sensing molecules that activate the expression of multiple microbicidal factors. Here we show for the first time that HHQ also exhibits innate antimicrobial activity against S. aureus. We further show that iron depletion potentiates the antistaphylococcal activity of HHQ, as well as 2-heptyl-4-hydroxyquinoline-N-oxide (HQNO), another AQ that functions as a cytochrome B inhibitor. Notably, we found that deletion of the genes for the terminal biosynthetic steps for either PQS or HQNO results in overproduction of the HHQ intermediate, likely maintaining the ability of these mutants to mediate antimicrobial activity. Compensatory increases in HHQ were also observed in PQS-deficient CF isolates, which also retained the ability to mediate iron-regulated antimicrobial activity against S. aureus. These studies demonstrate that iron-regulated antimicrobial activity of P. aeruginosa against S. aureus is due to the cumulative effects of multiple AQ metabolites, both the production and activity of which are modulated by environmental iron levels

Foreign language educators’ exposure to research: reported experiences, exposure via citations, and a proposal for action

This article reports on 2 connected studies that provide data about the flow of research to foreign language (FL) educators in majority Anglophone contexts. The first study investigated exposure to research among FL educators in the United Kingdom using 2 surveys (n = 391; n = 183). The data showed (a) some limited exposure to research via professional association publications and events, (b) negligible direct exposure to publications in the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI), (c) barriers to exposure caused by poor physical and conceptual access, despite generally positive perceptions of research, and (d) the importance of university‐based teacher educators for research–practice interfaces. The second study investigated the potential for indirect exposure to research from 7 professional publications over 5 years in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. We systematically reviewed the extent to which these professional publications referenced 29 SSCI journals that aim to publish pedagogy‐relevant research. In our corpus of 8,516 references in 284 articles in professional journals, the mean proportion of references to all 29 SSCI journals, combined, was 12.43% per professional article. The overall mean number of references to each SSCI journal was 0.17 per professional article. The emerging picture is rather bleak, and we propose action from academic journals and researchers to promote a more international, systematic, and sustainable flow of research

Early language learning: the impact of teaching and teacher factors

This study examined the progress in lexical and grammatical knowledge among 252 learners of French in England across the last two years of primary education and into the first year of secondary school in relation to teaching and teacher factors. It compared linguistic outcomes from two different teaching approaches, one placing emphasis on oracy, the other combining literacy with attention to oracy development. It also explored the relationship between linguistic outcomes and other teaching/teacher factors: teaching time, teacher level of French proficiency, and teacher level of training in language instruction. Learners completed a sentence repetition and a photo description task, making relatively small but statistically significant progress in both grammatical and lexical knowledge between test points. While teaching approach had little impact on such progress, other teaching and teacher factors did, particularly the French proficiency level of the primary school teacher and the amount of teaching time devoted to French

FAIR TRADE: TWO-WAY BILINGUAL EDUCATION

AbstractOne approach to bilingual education that has gained increasing support from parents, educators, and researchers in the United States is one in which English language learners and English proficient students share a classroom and receive instruction in both English and the dominant language of the English language learners. In most such two-way bilingual education programs, the stated goal is for both groups of students to learn each other’s language. In this paper, I briefly review the background to this approach.Following this, I present a case study of one such two-way bilingual program in which the student population came from Latino and African-American backgroundsSome of the Latino students were Spanishdominant while others knew little Spanish. The African-American students knew little or no Spanish when they arrived at school and, furthermore, many had limited experience with the variety of Standard American English spoken in the classroom. Students in the two-way bilingual education program did as well as or better than their peers who were being educated either in English-only classes or in transitional bilingual education classes. For students in the two-way program, Spanish reading ability for Spanish speakers developed at a faster rate than English reading ability for English speakers, and Spanish-dominant students did better in English than Englishdominant students did in Spanish. Data from classroom observation show that the formal assessment procedures were not able to capture much of the learning that took place in the classrooms. Nevertheless, the findings add to the evidence found in previous research that two-way bilingual education is an effective approach for both English proficient students and English language learners.ResumenUn enfoque empleado para la enseñanza bilingüe que viene recibiendo un respaldo cada vez mayor por parte de padres, educadores e investigadores de los EE.UU. consiste en la integración de aprendices de inglés y de usuarios nativos de la lengua, los cuales comparten aula y reciben enseñanza tanto en inglés como en la lengua dominante de los aprendices de inglés (español). En la mayoría de estos planes de enseñanza bilingüe de doble vía, el objetivo explícito es que cada grupo aprenda la lengua del otro. En este trabajo hago un breve repaso de los antecedentes de este enfoque y luego presento un estudio de caso que se basa en un plan bilingüe de doble vía en el cual el alumnado proviene de las comunidades latino y afroestadounidense. Algunos de los alumnos latinos tenían el español como lengua dominante mientras que otros sólo tenían conocimientos básicos de la lengua. Los alumnos afroestadounidenses tenían conocimientos básicos o nulos de español al inicio del plan; además, muchos tenían poca experiencia con la variedad de inglés estadounidense estándar que se usaba en el aula. Los alumnos del plan bilingüe de doble vía obtuvieron resultados iguales o superiores a los de sus compañeros que recibían clases impartidas bien sólo en inglés o de enseñanza bilingüe transitoria. En el caso de los alumnos del plan de doble vía, la destreza de lectura en español para los hispanohablantes se desarrolló con mayor rapidez que la destreza de lectura en inglés para los anglohablantes; además, los alumnos que tenían el español como lengua dominante obtuvieron mejores resultados en inglés que aquellos obtenidos en español por los alumnos que tenían el inglés como lengua dominante. Los datos de las observaciones de clase muestran que los procedimientos formales de evaluación no fueron capaces de captar una buena parte del aprendizaje que tenía lugar en el aula. Sin embargo, los resultados se suman a las pruebas provenientes de investigaciones previas que indican que la enseñanza bilingüe de doble vía es un enfoque eficaz tanto para usuarios nativos como para aprendices del inglés