Teachers’ beliefs about multilingual students and their language choice: exploring the effect of language hierarchies

The paper explores student teachers' perceptions on the use of learners' home languages in mathematics teaching and learning. Interview data from sixty student teachers from a university in South Africa was collected. Students' perceptions varied enormously. The supportive respondents argued that the use of home language not only supported mathematics epistemic access, but also promoted cultural identity and lifted home languages to a position of prominence and prestige. Those who were against argued that the use of home languages proffered disadvantaged learners with inferior education. In this group, other respondents were of the view that the education system was logistically not ready for it. Yet still, some argued that use of home languages in education promoted tribalism and worked against national cohesion. Recommendations include calling for the deployment of resources to promote the teaching and learning of mathematics in home languages.

This paper addresses the potential value of language-related criteria for use in identifying ethnic minorities in the Netherlands. A description of the way the Dutch government defines ethnic minority groups is followed by a comparative outline of the use of language-related criteria in countries with a longer tradition of immigration (Australia, Canada, the United States, Great Britain, and Sweden). A study carried out in 1991 in the Netherlands explored both the feasibility.of collecting data on home language use of school children (a survey study) and the value of home language-related criteria as possible determinants of ethnicity (a validation study). The survey study yielded questionnaire data on the ethnicity of 5,788 primary school students. Subject groups were identified as Mediterranean (Moroccan and Turkish children) and ex-colonial (Surinamese, Antillean, and Moloccuan children) for the validation study, in which they were interviewed in Turkish, Arabic, or Berber and were given a bilingual receptive vocabulary test. The results of the survey support the usefulness of five criteria (home language use, language proficiency, language choice, language dominance, and language preference) in the identification of children belonging to different ethnic groups. The validation study showed a high stability and consistency of home language use, language proficiency, and language choice. (Contains 24 references.) (JP) ********************************************************************* * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** YYlot.: c...,0L ci ALA. NitluAL...-oto t c3(3-1 LANGUAGE-RELATED CRITERIA AS DETERMINANTS OF ETHNICITY. GOALS AND RESULTS OF A FEASIBILITY STUDY IN THE NETHERLANDS Peter Broeder, Guus Extra and Roeland van Hout Research Group on Language and Minorities Tilburg University The Netherlands 1. Introducdon The concept of ethnic minorities commonly refers to group-hound characteristics in terms of language, culture or religion. For identifying ethnic minorities in the Netherlands language-related criteria are not applied in official statistics. In this contribution we want to discuss the potential value of language-related criteria. We start out with a description of the way the Dutch government defmes ethnic minority groups (Section 2), followed by a comparative outline of the use of language-related criteria in countries with a longer tradition of immigration (Section 3). In Section 4, the design of a feasibility study we have carried out in the Dutch town of Den Bosch is presented. The main aim of this home language survey (HLS) was twofold: (a) to investigate the feasibility of collecting data on home language use in an efficient way with a minimal burden on children and teachers at schools; (b) to investigate whether the collected data are reliable and useful, that is, to establish the (surplus) value of language-related criteria as possible determivants of ethnicity. The results are reported in Section 5. The main conclusions are summarized and discussed in Section 6. 2. Ethnic minority groups in the Netherlands In Dutch governmental policy, a strong reluctance can in fact be observed to dcfme ethnic minority groups. Traditionally, these groups have been listed rather than defmed. Since the Minderhedennota (1983) of the Ministry of the Interior, the following groups have officially been taken into account Moluccans; Surinamese and Antilleans; foreign workers and their families from Greece, Italy, former Yugoslavia, Cape Verdeans, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Tunesia, or Turkey; gipsies; refugees. A decisive factor in this list is socio-economic status. The Chinese community is explicitly excluded with the argument that it has not been shown that the Chinese have a comparably iow socio-economic status. The focus on socio-economic status in determining ethnic minorities has led to an obvious underestimation of relevant ethnic parameters like language and culture. In spite 'PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC). U II DEPAATMENT OP EDUCATION Onc a Educanonsi Fleamleth ono Impeovvnenr E DUCA TIONAL Fh....)URCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) Ns (10Cucint 1,011 Wan r*Of0OuCed an oloCenlIO Mu, the person Or 0,01...tabon (wnst(ng .1 r Mtnor cnanges neva Moen mule to (rnprone ralPoductoon otnoty Poffits of vow or oornona mated (nuns Om, nttnf do not nrwmanno rOrsent OntOtAI OERI posthon 0. nottd 2 1 of the rhetorics on the Netherlands as a multicultural and multilingual society, minority policy is in fact equalized to a policy on disadvantages and deficits. The above-mentioned list of ethnic minority groups is not based on ethno-cultural norms or values, nor does it take into account intergenerational processes that affect these norms and values. Moreover, the list may change, depending on particular areas of governmental policy. For example, in the field of primary education, home language instruction can be offered to the following target groups: children who have at least one parent of Moluccan origin; children of foreign workers from the Mediterranean countries mentioned above; children of refugees. However, Antillean and Surinamese children (the official language in their country of origin being Dutch) and Chinese children are excluded from horne language instruction. Moreover, instruction is limited to children whose parents came from abroad. Apart from the definition of ethnic minority groups, their identification is a problematic areaas well. On a yearly basis, official statistics are collected on those ethnic minority groups in the Netherlands which are the target groups of govenunental policy. The trend studies carried out by the Rotterdam Institute of Socio-Economic Research and the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) include information on size, composition and spread. The traditional criteria applied are nationality and country of birth. However, there is growing evidence (cf. Roelandt et al. 1991) that there are serious problems with the applicability of these criteria in the identification of ethnic minorities. Firstly, nationality is not a useful criterion for those groups which possess the Dutch nationality due to the Dutch colonial past (e.g., Antilleans and part of the Surinamese) or due to processes of naturalization (e.g., part of the Moroccans and Turks). Secondly, country of birth is obviously no longer a useful criterion for descendants of immigrants who were born in the Netherlands. Confronted with an increasing erosion of basic statistics, the Ministry of the Interior made a proposal for municipal data collection on ethnic minority groups based on the following list of questions (cf. Fernandes Mendes 1991): la Wat is uw nationaliteit? (What is your nationality?) lb Was dit ook uw nationaliteit op I januari van dit jaar? (Was this also your nationality on January 1 of this year?') 2 In welk land bent u geboren? (In which country were you born?') 3 In welk land is uw vader geboren? (In which country was your father born?') 4 In welk land is uw moeder geboren? (In which country was your mother bom?') 5 Tot welke bevolkingsgroep rekent u zich? (To which population group do you consider yourself to belong?') Question 1 relates to a purely legally based type of identification. In combination, questions 2-4 would lead to identification of first and second generation immigrants, whereas question 5 would lead to identification based on self-defmition. The latter question, however, met with serious objections from a variety of majority and minority organizations in the Netherlands, due to its subjective loading, the possibility of multiple self-categorization, and the potential misuse of the collected data.

While classrooms in the United States serve an increasingly multilingual student population, the de facto medium-of-instruction policy in most schools is English immersion. Additionally, although evidence suggests that student discussion is crucial to conceptual understanding in mathematics learning, multilingual students and classified English learners in particular tend to rarely engage in meaningful, academically-oriented discussion throughout their school day. In order to promote discussions wherein multilingual peers engage in collaborative mathematical meaning-making, it is critical to understand exactly how home language practices may function as students leverage multilingual learning opportunities in English-medium classrooms. This study drew on quantitative and qualitative data collected in the classrooms of 23 middle school mathematics teachers in a predominantly Spanish-speaking community to investigate how students productively used their home language in mathematics class—including the use of Spanish to deeply process mathematical concepts. Findings suggest that students used Spanish in mathematics learning for two distinct purposes—input-output and processing—and that these separate practices worked together to promote deep engagement with mathematical content and concepts. Results further indicate the value of home language use for processing mathematical meanings in particular and point to the importance of multilingual instructional practices in multilingual classrooms.

Once severely rejected, first language (L1) use is no more considered to be inherently detrimental in foreign language pedagogy. Recent research within sociocultural framework has come up with numerous facilitative roles for L1 use (Anton and DiCamilla, 1999; Swain and Lapkin, 2000; Storch and Wigglesworth, 2003). Also, studies from humanistic perspectives that deal with the teachers’ and learners’ attitudes about L1 use report generally positive attitudes from both groups (Duff and Polio, 1990; Macaro, 2001). However, contrary to this bulk of theoretical and empirical support, there seems to have been an evident animosity towards L1 use in the Iranian private English language institutes. The present research was therefore designed to delve deeper into the apparent discrepancy between theory and practice in this regard by identifying some contextual constraints on the teachers’ language choice. After preliminary exploratory interviews and a small-scale pilot study to make sure of the reliability and validity of the instruments, two separate sets of questionnaires for young learners’ parents (243 participants) and teachers (31 participants) were designed and administered. The results of the analyses showed that both parents and teachers held significantly negative attitudes towards L1 use. The findings also indicated that parents reflect their negative attitudes to the institutes so as to hamper L1 use by talking directly to the teachers, threatening to change institutes in the case of dissatisfaction, and influencing the institute principals’ policies about L1 use.

Previous research examining the reading achievement of children speaking languages other than English at home has often grouped such children into one broad category at kindergarten entry—English learners (ELs). EL categorization and placement, however, can considerably underestimate the heterogeneity present among language minority children in terms of their language proficiency and needed English skills. The purpose of our study is twofold: (i) to compare the early elementary (K-3) reading growth patterns among four language background groups of children according to parents’ reported home language use and (ii) to examine the association between student family demographics and home learning environments and students’ growth trajectories. We utilized a “known group” analytic approach—multiple-group latent growth analysis, and an “unknown-group” approach—growth mixture analysis to investigate the heterogeneity in multilingual students’ reading growth trajectories. The known groups consisted of four language backgrounds based primarily on parents’ self-reported home language. Results indicated a sizable gap between LEP children and the other language background groups, albeit with the LEP group demonstrating significant greater growth during first grade than the others. The unknown-group approach identified four emergent reading profiles with different kindergarten entry skills and growth rates. We found English bilingual students were overrepresented in the medium-high and high achieving groups. Further, family socioeconomic status and home literacy practices were robust predictors of children’s reading achievement progress throughout the study, a finding diverging from the known-group approach. We discuss ways the study extends previous research examining language minority students.

Between the Grammar Translation Method favouring L1 use and Communicative Language Teaching refraining from it, language teachers have a range of options for the use of L1 and L2. While it is accepted that the target language should dominate instruction, this does not have to be the same in assessment. It is interesting to examine how teachers approach L1 and translation in testing, and how their socially rooted perceptions about testing coincide with their testing practices. The present study investigates the effect of teachers’ culture on their attitudes towards home language use in language assessment by a semi-closed questionnaire examining opinions of Polish, Georgian and Brazilian teachers. The undertaken research showed differences in testing habits across cultures; however, at the same time, the effect of globalized teaching methodology is also visible.

Inclusion of home languages during early childhood instructional conversations

This study investigated the relationship among home language use, parents’ beliefs about dual language development, and Spanish-speaking children's vocabulary knowledge. Parents (n = 162) completed a questionnaire about their home language use and beliefs about dual language development, and elementary-age children (N = 190) – Kindergarten (M age = 5.71, SD = .56), second grade (M age = 7.52, SD = .31), and fourth grade (M age = 9.35, SD = .45) – completed conceptually-scored vocabulary assessments. Principal component analyses revealed that Spanish-speaking parents’ beliefs about dual language development are heterogeneous. Further, parents’ beliefs can be characterized differently according to their children's English proficiency designations and grade levels. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that the Bilingual Facility parental belief factor was associated with home language use practices, which in turn were associated with children's vocabulary. However, this association only applied to limited English proficient students and their parents. These results underscore the importance of attending to Spanish-speaking parents’ beliefs, as they appear to relate to home language use practices and, importantly, they also relate to their children's vocabulary achievement.

Science education researchers argue for encouraging multilingual students’ use of different linguistic and multimodal resources to make meaning of scientific practices. However, multilingual students need to internalize beliefs that they can freely draw on these asset forms of resources, so that they can consistently adopt sustainable multilingual and multimodal practices. Complementing the recent research efforts on measuring teachers’ beliefs about epistemic use of languages in science, we reported a study that develop and validate a Likert-scale instrument that measures students’ beliefs about equitable and epistemic use of languages in learning science. The instrument was initially piloted to 191 junior secondary students, and then was revised and administered to 981 junior secondary students in Hong Kong. Supported by exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, the instrument inherited four dimensions: beliefs about constitutive role of language in scientific practices, beliefs about multiple modalities in science learning, heteroglossic beliefs about language use in learning science and inclusive beliefs about use of multiple languages in collaborative discussion. The instrument inherited satisfactory content and construct validity, while we also provided evidence that such an instrument was sensitive to different linguistic contexts. Hence, we argue that the instrument can potentially measure the outcome of translanguaging-based science education intervention and comparing students’ beliefs under a range of linguistic contexts worldwide.

In European bi- and trilingual education, content-based language teaching is often used to promote minority and/or additional language use. Within this context, there is growing interest in translanguaging practices. However, little is known about how these languages are used in bi- and trilingual education and how these practices relate to students’ language development. This case study explores teachers’ and students’ language use inside the trilingual classroom at the end of Frisian trilingual primary school. Quantitative data were collected by event sampling observations of 42 content-based lessons in Dutch, Frisian, and English (six schools, 148 students). Taking a dynamic systems perspective, relationships between teachers’ and students’ language use and students’ vocabulary and reading comprehension in the three target languages were tested. Data analyses show different teacher and student language use patterns between classes and target language lessons. Analyses of covariance demonstrate that higher Dutch Vocabulary Development scores were related to both exclusive teacher target language use, and students’ home language use in peer interaction. Similarly, higher Reading Comprehension Development scores were related to home language use in student-student interaction. These findings address the importance of developing teacher awareness of language use, and also future research and policy making in multilingual education.

This paper reports on the findings of a 12-month project within a broader research programme that looks at a group of East European students with English as an Additional Language (EAL) in England. The data are derived from interviews with the students and teachers in two schools. The findings show that EAL students had a keen interest in English. This attitude contrasted with their reluctance to use and talk about their home language, as a result of language loss and fear of being bullied. Teachers’ attitudes towards languages were also mixed, ranging from support for ‘free use of languages’, to ‘restricted use of home language’, and to ‘use of English only’. The paper further argues that multilingualism can be theorised as legitimate shared repertoires of school communities of practice. Practical implications are drawn which suggest that students’ and teachers’ voices should be acted upon and translated into school language policies.

Research on translanguaging is expanding, yet student voices are still largely missing. This study focuses on the voices of students in primary newcomer education. We interviewed twelve students (age 9–12), six from Syria and six from Iraq, who spoke Arabic and Kurmanci at home respectively and had been attending a Dutch reception class for less than a year. We asked them about their experiences with the use of home languages at school. Using a lens of multivoicedness, we coded five to seven voices per student. This multivoicedness lens, illustrated with the students’ quotes, emphasizes that each individual student has multiple voices on translanguaging which are rooted in different contexts, including the educational setting, social relations with others, personal histories, and future wishes and intentions. Therefore, we recommend a contextualized approach to newcomer translanguaging practices, sometimes explicitly encouraging the use of home languages, and sometimes encouraging use of the language of instruction. This respects both students’ desire and need to employ home languages and their wish to learn the language of instruction. We suggest a developmental perspective in which the balance between languages changes over time as students advance in both content knowledge and proficiency in all of their languages.

One of the major challenges for designers of academic literacy programmes is to accommodate culturally and linguistically diverse student groups. This longitudinal study was conducted with pre-service teachers at Stellenbosch University to determine their understanding of the importance of good writing and ways in which they can use translanguaging to assist them in their writing. This study has also been viewed against the backdrop of multilingualism in South Africa, with the notion of socio-cognitive processes and its influence on the students’ ability to write. The aim of this study was to explore what students regard as good writing and to identify the kinds of strategies that multilingual students use when they write extended texts. When pondering on the holistic view of the findings, this study endorses the use of home languages in the educational practice of academic writing, but with particular caveats. The findings reveal that academic writing entails more than mere grammatical correctness on a surface level, but also involves taking cognisance of the second language learners’ background and way of implementing mental structures derived from their home language.

The growing linguistic diversity in European classrooms, shaped by migration, presents both opportunities and challenges for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) education. This study examines how migration-based multilingualism can serve as a pedagogical resource rather than a deficit. Based on a six-month qualitative study in a linguistically diverse European region, it explores three themes: cognitive benefits of multilingualism in EFL learning, the relationship between language attitudes and student identity, and policy approaches to inclusive education. Data from multilingual students and monolingual EFL teachers—collected through interviews, classroom observations, and policy analysis—reveal a tension: while students employ cross-linguistic strategies, classroom practices often discourage home language use, reinforcing stigma and limiting benefits. Teachers acknowledge the value of multilingualism but lack training to integrate it. Drawing on successful models, the study recommends translanguaging pedagogy, multilingual assessment frameworks, and community initiatives, concluding that systemic reform is essential to achieve linguistic equity and inclusion.

The influence of home language use differing from the dominant language used in schools on children's school adaptation remains inconclusive. Therefore, the current study aims to explore the structural relationships among the support for the foreign mother’s home language in Korean multicultural families, mother-child communication, mother’s parental efficacy, mother-child relationships, and child’s school adaptation, utilizing data from Korea’s 2021 National Survey of Multicultural Families. The results of the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) are as follows: The relationship between the mother’s home language supportive home environment and the school adaptation of adolescent children was mediated by the mother-child relationship and mother’s parental efficacy but was not mediated by the communication between a mother and a child. Furthermore, the dual mediating effects between the support for a mother’s home language and a child’s school adaptation in two pathways were all statistically significant. The more supportive the family is of the foreign mother’s use of her home language, the more it leads to mother’s improved parental efficacy or frequent mother-child communication, which in turn fosters a positive parent-child relationship, ultimately contributing to the child’s better school adaptation, including academic achievement. In a context where findings on the influence of non-dominant language use in immigrant families on children's school adaptation had yielded mixed results, this study holds significance by not only supporting the positive influence of foreign mothers’home language use but also by identifying the pathways through which the mother’s home language use contributes to the child’s school adaptation.