Additive Bilingualism Research Articles

ADAPTATION PROBLEMS OF ETHNOLINGUISTIC MINORITIES FROM SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIETAL PERSPECTIVES

ABSTRACT: Aim: The aim of this article is to present adaptation problems faced by bilingual representatives of ethnolinguistic minorities – from a socio-psychological perspective. Methods: This text is a review of literature on the subject matter under discussion. Results: Referring to the results of research conducted in the field, attention is paid to the most common adaptation problems from a socio-psychological perspective experienced by representatives of various ethnolinguistic minorities in bilingual education. The text also discusses issues related to the concept of bilingualism as well as its typology, outlining the differentia specifica existing between additive bilingualism and subtractive bilingualism. Conclusion: Bilingual education is an active, creative process that draws on linguistic, communicative and cognitive resources of the developing child (F. Genesee 2003). For that reason, quite a few studies have been carried out on simultaneous acquisition of two languages; equally interesting would be research results conducted among representatives of ethnolinguistic minorities in trilingual or quadrilingual language acquisition. Originality: The issues described are important for practical applications in the second language acquisition process. Keyword: bilingualism, immersion, submersion, biculturalism, ethnolinguistic minorities, adaptation problems

“A Privilege and a Weapon”: Saudi Undergraduate Students’ Beliefs About Bilingualism

Bilingualism has become the norm—not the exception—in today’s globalized world. The development of bilingual proficiency in English and other languages is increasing worldwide. Saudi Arabia is one of many countries within the expanding circle of nations in which English (although with no official status) enjoys a special position as the sole foreign language taught in public schools. This study examined Saudi university students’ beliefs about issues surrounding bilingualism, particularly about their first language (L1), second language (L2), and potential benefits of being bilingual. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and a focus group discussion with 15 university students. The findings showed that all students explicitly self-identified as bilingual based on their perceived linguistic repertoire and daily bilingual practices. Self-identification seems to have an empowering effect, which positively influences beliefs about bilingualism and language learning. As members of the dominant Arabic-speaking group, the students were able to achieve sequential additive bilingualism. Overall, the students saw bilingualism as an advantage and highlighted its perceived benefits, the instrumental importance of English, and the vital role of Arabic as a marker of their ethnoreligious identity.

The suitability of Irish immersion education for children with special educational needs

ABSTRACT Additive bilingualism has long been reported as a benefit of immersion education. Nevertheless, the suitability of this form of education and bilingualism for children with special educational needs (SEN) has been much debated. Recent studies show that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), specific speech and language disorder (SSLD), and dyslexia can acquire varying levels of proficiency in a second language. Nevertheless, research has highlighted the fact that many educational professionals, for example, educational psychologists and speech and language therapists, continue to recommend against bilingualism and immersion education for children with SEN. The present study will evaluate whether nine parents of children with ASD, SSLD, and dyslexia enrolled in Irish immersion schools and four parents of children with the same categories of SEN who withdrew their child from Irish immersion education (IME) due to their learning difficulties perceive that IME is suitable for their child. It will also investigate the opinions that they received from educational professionals regarding the suitability of this form of education for their child.

Decolonizing US Latinx Students’ Language: El Sur in the Schools of El Norte

Abstract This article considers how the racialized bilingual Latinx students in El Norte live in an epistemological Sur where their knowledge systems, which include their language and cultural practices are discounted. Centring the schooling experience of two US Latinas today, the article theorizes the differences between perceiving their language and bilingualism from the external perspective of dominant schooling institutions of the Global North, and from the inside perspective of racialized speakers. Bringing to bear thinking from an epistemological Sur (Santos 2009), revealed through a decolonizing sociolinguistic approach and Latinx decolonizing research sensibility, the article discusses how tools external to the Latinx experience—academic language and additive bilingualism—have contributed to the subjugation and failure of Latinx students. It ends by proposing translanguaging as a tool that has emerged from Latinx own experience and how its use in their education may open a decolonial option.

A Review of Translanguaging as a New Way of Redefining Bi/Multilingualism in South African Classrooms

South Africa is a multilingual and multicultural country, and the Language in Education Policy (1997) permits any of the 12 official languages to be used as the language of teaching and learning. The purpose of this paper is to examine secondary data about the use of translanguaging in South African multilingual classrooms for a better understanding of course content. Translanguaging is simply a pedagogical term used to describe the natural ways bilingual/multilingual individuals use their languages in their everyday lives. This paper is discussed qualitatively using a systematic literature review examining several studies that are relevant to the topic. Both international and national articles and books relating to the topic were identified and analysed. The result from this review shows that translanguaging goes beyond theory to critical pedagogical practice. Also, it shows that the language in education policy (additive bilingualism) has not been able to cater for multilingualism in South African classrooms. Therefore, there is a need to employ translanguaging strategy in the classroom to center the marginalised languages in South African classroom space. The implication of this review is that it offers a blueprint for teachers, education actors, and policymakers to re-imagine South Africa’s bi/multilingualism classrooms through the lens of translanguaging.

Iranian parents’ attitudes towards their children’s early additive bilingualism

ABSTRACT This study aimed to explore parents’ attitudes towards children's additive bilingualism in the underrepresented context of Iran. A second aim was to delve into the parents’ underlying reasons for their related decisions and choices. Results of a questionnaire submitted to 96 randomly chosen parents from a small town and follow-up interviews showed that the parents generally held a positive attitude towards additive bilingualism, although some were worried that the children may mix up the two languages, hence their preference for a later starting point for a foreign/second language (L2). Results also indicated that of the languages that they could choose as an additional language for their children, all preferred English and that they themselves were willing to improve their own English to use it at home. An examination of the parents’ responses revealed three main themes, namely immigration plans mixed with feelings of disappointment, obtaining an international image for the children, and career aspirations. We argue that family language policies (FLPs), at times planned implicitly and covertly, could run contrary to macropolicies and be under the influence of a wide range of factors ranging from sociopolitical, sociological, and sociocultural to language spread catalysts.

Pedagogical translanguaging: Examining the credibility of unitary versus crosslinguistic translanguaging theory

This article analyzes the credibility of two conceptions of pedagogical translanguaging theory, namely, unitary translanguaging theory (UTT) and crosslinguistic translanguaging theory (CTT). I argue that there is no difference in pedagogical implications between UTT and CTT, but there are significant differences in the way UTT and CTT pedagogies are framed theoretically. UTT claims that the bilingual’s linguistic system is unitary and undifferentiated and that languages have no cognitive or linguistic reality. Based on this claim, UTT rejects several theoretical concepts including the notion of academic language, additive (approaches to) bilingualism, the common underlying proficiency (CUP) and the pedagogical importance of teaching for transfer across languages. CTT, by contrast, affirms the legitimacy of these theoretical concepts, which are fully consistent with dynamic or heteroglossic orientations to bilingual cognitive processing. Within CTT, bilinguals actually do speak languages, involving multiple registers and fluid boundaries, and teaching for transfer across these boundaries is a prime function of pedagogical translanguaging.

Infants’ communicative ecologies and language policies in two contemporary Spanish families

This article examines linguistic socialisation and communicative practices in contemporary Spanish families during a child’s first two years of life. We focus on two families who worked towards additive bilingualism in their family communicative practices, with the goal of promoting the acquisition of more than one language early on in the children’s development. The two cases reflect non-conventional family projects, one family led by a single mother by choice and one by a lesbian couple. Our analysis focuses on three aspects: 1) the interactional and communicative ecologies that emerge as part of the linguistic decisions made by the mothers, focusing particularly on the maternal voicing of children’s ‘talk’; 2) how these ecologies develop over the first two years of children’s lives; 3) how these interactional dynamics intertwine with the linguistic and parenting ideologies of mothers. Our analysis contributes to unpacking how Family Language Policy operates during the early stages of children’s communicative development and shows how, in fact, family language planning practices and parental projects intertwine.

“It’s like the root of a tree that I grew up from….”: parents’ linguistic identity shaping family language policy in isolated circumstances

Abstract A key factor that has been found to be critical in shaping family language policy is parents’ linguistic identities, or “parents’ personal experiences with bilingualism, biculturalism or second language learning” (King, Kendall A. & Lyn Fogle. 2006. Bilingual parenting as good parenting: Parents’ perspectives on family language policy for additive bilingualism. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 9(6). 695–712, p. 703). In other words, parents’ experiences of languages will colour and influence both their aims for their children’s plurilingualism, and the practices that they bring to bear to that end. This proposition was explored in a paper by Sims, Margaret, Elizabeth M. Ellis & Vicki Knox. 2017. Parental plurilingual capital in a monolingual context: Investigating strengths to support young children in early childhood settings. Early Childhood Education Journal 45. 777–787 (p. 779), that “parents construct their own understandings of plurilingualism based on their own experiences with languages” meaning that the parents’ linguistic identity indeed provides the potential and the basis for bringing up their children as plurilinguals. This paper, based on an Australian ARC-funded study, reports on the link between parents’ linguistic identity and their family language policy, on their impact beliefs (De Houwer, Annick. 1999. Environmental factors in early bilingual development: The role of parental beliefs and attitudes. In G. Extra & L. Verhoeven (eds.), Bilingualism and migration, 75–95. Berlin, Germany: Mouton de Gruyter, p. 83), on the ways in which their aims for their children’s language development are articulated and put into practice, and on how they deal with their children’s emerging linguistic identity as plurilinguals, in a linguistically isolated context in regional New South Wales.

Not a First Language but One Repertoire: Translanguaging as a Decolonizing Project

Translanguaging has opened up spaces to recognize the dynamic multilingualism of students in classrooms taught in dominant languages, and problematized concepts such as ‘additive bilingualism’. This article aims to further explore two issues that remain little understood. First, translanguaging is often seen as simply the acknowledgement or use of multilingual students’ ‘first language’. This article clarifies that this is a misunderstanding, for the trans- in translanguaging connotes the transcendence of named languages, the going beyond named languages as have been socially constructed. Second, in going beyond named languages, translanguaging is also intended as a decolonizing project, revealing how bilinguals inhabit a world with different knowledge bases and linguistic/cultural practices. We use two bilingual students, in London and New York City respectively, to show how they are viewed and listened to by their teachers as bilinguals with two ‘incomplete’ linguistic systems because each element in their language/semiotic repertoire is seen as a separate entity. We then weave all the elements together to provide a fuller picture of these students. In doing so, we reject raciolinguistic ideologies that have enregistered them as deficient and instead regard them through a translanguaging lens. The article emphasizes the importance of understanding translanguaging as a unitary repertoire, as well as its decolonial potential in education as teachers abandon the focus on named standardized languages and engage fully with their students’ full repertoire of features and meanings.

Impact of Bilingual Attributes on Self-Identity of English Learners in Owerri, Nigeria

This study aimed to investigate the impact of bilingual attributes on self-identity of English learners among Igbo speaking senior secondary students in Owerri, Nigeria. The study sampled 540 students, randomly selected from some secondary schools in Owerri. The study used a questionnaire as means of data collection, and the data were analysed by using quantitative method of descriptive statistics. Results showed that the subtractive and additive attributes of bilingualism influenced the self-identity, and status of the L1 among respondents. Results also showed that high percentage of the respondents strongly agreed that the subtractive attribute has made them to acquire English more than Igbo, their mother language. However, high percentage of the respondents also agreed that the additive attribute of the bilingualism has enable them to acquire better the language and culture of Igbo as well as the English. From the findings in the study, it is important that there should be strong policy by government to emphasize adequately on the additive bilingualism, so as to protect Igbo language from going into extinction.

Investigating the Perceptions of Sindhi Parents Towards Additive and Subtractive Bilingualism and Bilingual Education in Sindh, Pakistan

Pakistan is linguistically and culturally diverse country where more than 70 languages are spoken. Primary education in mother tongue is a basic human right of every child and this right has been denied in private education sector of the country. The division of education among private and public sectors have further pulled the tensions and division among the masses. Language in education policies have been not been dealt with serious consideration in the entire history of Pakistan. Further proliferation of private schools in Pakistan has sidelined the role of indigenous languages in educational domain especially at primary schooling. Private schools are teaching through the subtractive bilingualism mode where one language is being preferred over other languages in teaching and learning context . This paper intends to explore perceptions of Sindhi parents towards additive and subtractive bilingualism in private schools at primary schooling and how this one language policy in schools is affecting their children. For this purpose, 16 semi-structured interviews have been conducted through maximum variation sampling. The data is collected from four districts of the Sindh; Dadu, Hyderabad and Qambar & Shahdadkot. The results showed that parents hold different perceptions about additive/subtractive bilingualism. Out of 16 participants, 6 supported additive bilingualism and rest supported subtractive bilingualism. Results showed that parents were curious that English rather than helping create confusion and frustration for children at this very young age. Therefore, additive bilingualism must be supported that it not only facilitates children but also helps them to grasp complex concepts easily. They demanded that Mother tongue teaching must be supported in private schools Keywords: additive bilingualism, subtractive bilingualism, mother tongue education, English language teaching, language in education policy DOI: 10.7176/JLLL/84-03 Publication date: December 31 st 2021

Countering Subtractive Bilingualism with Additive Bilingualism in the Albanian Language

The English language is the lingua franca of education, trade, and employment. However, with such a global influence, the English language sometimes interferes with the native languages via subtractive bilingualism. The aim of this essay is to explain the negative effects of subtractive bilingualism on a global scale in general, elaborate on its negative effects on the Albanian language in particular, and propose solutions to the problem. To achieve such an aim, research related to the macroscopic model of determinants of additive and subtractive bilingualism (MMDASB) was consulted. Based on the research findings, I conclude that the school milieu should lead by example in using additive bilingualism to counter subtractive bilingualism. In doing so, the school milieu would counter subtractive bilingualism on the sociological, socio-psychological, and psychological levels as predicted in the MMDASB (Landry & Allard, 1993) model. Following the conclusion, concrete proposals for promoting additive bilingualism by the higher education in the school milieu are recommended.

Students’ motivation for studying isiZulu first language modules at the University of KwaZulu-Natal

This article presents findings of a study conducted at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Department of African Languages on the motivation of isiZulu first language (L1) undergraduate students for studying isiZulu first language modules. In this paper, we postulate that students’ motivation for learning an African language in the South African context is a result of multiple variables that relate to relevance and socio cultural implications of the concerned language, and the effects of the pervasiveness of English in the social, cultural, economic and political spheres of life. Understanding student motivation for studying African languages as L1 is vital as an additional measure in transforming curricula in order to satisfy the multilingual needs of the global world by enforcing additive bilingualism that embraces African languages. Questionnaires were used, and the responses were analysed thematically to determine students’ motivation to enrol for isiZulu modules. The findings of the study reveal intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors, among them, the use of isiZulu for teaching and learning, cultural affi liation and identity, career trajectories, peer and/or family pressure and a poor selection, or a lack of course alternatives.

A mathematics teacher’s response to a dilemma: ‘I’m supposed to teach them in English but they don’t understand’

Background: English is the dominant language in South African schools although it is the home language for less than 10% of the population. Many schools have yet to embrace the Language in Education Policy’s advocacy of additive bilingualism. This has led to a majority of the country’s children learning and being assessed through a language in which they lack proficiency. Aim: This article draws on second language teaching and learning theory to make a case for more systematic support for learners’ second language development and for legitimation of use of home language in mathematics classrooms where a different language is the official medium. The article shares empirical data from a South African Grade 4 mathematics teacher’s classroom to illuminate arguments in favour of additive bilingualism. Setting: A non-fee-paying public school in Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Methods: Data were collected through lesson observations, teacher interviews and assessment data generated by a professional development project initiative. Results: The ‘illuminatory’ lesson data suggest that allowing learners to use their home language alongside English facilitated their mathematical sense-making. This suggestion is strengthened by assessment data from a larger development project mandated with exploring ways for improving the quality of primary mathematics teaching and learning. Conclusion: Insights from this article add to many other calls made for more sustained and serious consideration of the pedagogical and epistemological value of multilingual approaches for South African classrooms.

Learning content, language, and culture in concert: the academic achievement, aspirations and social experiences of bilingual students at the end of middle school

ABSTRACT The academic achievement, bilingual proficiency, and sociocultural competence of exiting middle school students was analyzed to provide dual-language program stakeholders with evaluative information for local control funding and accountability planning. Informed by equity as a guiding principle of additive bilingualism, researchers used descriptive analyses, ANOVA, ANCOVA and latent class analysis on survey data from students, family caregivers, and teachers. This study contributes a nuanced perspective of academic achievement in dual-language programs and accounts for: (a) students’ beliefs, attitudes, and self-efficacy, (b) how students distribute their time beyond school, and (c) family caregivers’ aspirations and expectations for students in high school and beyond. Findings suggest a correlation between students’ development of 21st Century learning outcomes and bilingualism and implications include the need to identify appropriate tools for measuring students’ sociocultural competence.

The Suitability of French Immersion for Allophone Students in Saskatchewan: Exploring Diverse Perspectives on Language Learning and Inclusion

French immersion programs in Saskatchewan have traditionally served to further the goals of additive bilingualism between Canada’s two official languages, French and English. Whereas these programs have historically consisted of predominantly Anglophone populations, recent trends in immigration have contributed to the increasingly diverse linguistic backgrounds of students throughout the province. The motivation, family support, and high academic achievement of allophone students learning French as an additional language have been documented extensively in Canada (Dagenais & Jacquet, 2000; Mady, 2013, 2014, 2015). Nevertheless, allophone students often do not benefit from the same access to second language education programs as their Anglophone and Francophone peers; indeed, such learners are sometimes excluded from French immersion programs on the basis of their lack of English language proficiency (Roy, 2015). Through Likert-scale surveys and semi-structured interviews, this mixed-methods research explored the perceived suitability of French immersion for allophone students by examining the perspectives of parents and educators in several schools in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. This study will share the triangulated findings of the research, discuss the suitability of French immersion programs for allophone students, and provide recommendations for the future of such programs in Saskatchewan.

Kenyan Curriculum Reforms and Mother Tongue Education: Issues, Challenges and Implementation Strategies

The implementation of mother tongue education (MTE) remains a challenge across Africa and Kenya in particular. This continues despite the fact that the maintenance and development of language and literacy skills in one’s mother tongue (MT) plays a critical role in facilitating second language (L2) learning, developing additive bilingualism and continuous cognitive development. Consequently, Kenya has had several education commissions in both colonial and post-colonial periods, which, together with the Constitution of Kenya have had a bearing on the language policy. However, the language policy has not been supported by a careful implementation strategy for MTE. Presently, Kenya is undergoing curriculum reforms from the ongoing 8-4-4 system, where learners study for eight years of basic (primary) education, four years of secondary education and four years of university education to a new system of 2-6-3-3-3. The 2-6-3-3-3 system comprises two years of pre-primary, six years of primary (three years lower and three years upper primary), six years of secondary (three years junior and three years senior) and three years of university education. While English has been given preponderant attention in the new curriculum, the role of MT has also been re-emphasised because it has not received as much attention as it deserves in the past. It is against this background and the ongoing debates on MTE that this paper attempts to examine the challenges that are likely to impede the implementation of MTE in the 2-6-3-3-3 curriculum reforms as outlined in the education policy. The paper further suggests some implementation strategies to avert the challenges. The study was conducted in Bungoma County in Kenya. Purposive sampling was used to identify key respondents from 10 schools which were used to pilot the new curriculum. The respondents included Grade 3 teachers, head teachers and quality assurance officers (QASOs). Focus group discussions (FGDs), unstructured interviews and document analysis were used to elicit data. The findings revealed that the implementation of MTE policy is likely to flop if it is not supported by careful implementation strategies that take care of teacher training, the production of teaching/learning materials and attempts to change the attitudes of parents towards indigenous languages. The paper advocates for implementation strategies such as greater resource allocation, teacher training on L1 methodologies, a change in attitude with regard to MTE, political will and clearer policy objectives to achieve the aims of an effective MTE system in Kenya.

A Quality Chinese-English Bilingual Education Program: Defining Success

This study aims to provide an in-depth case study of a Chinese-English bilingual program in the largest ISD of a Southwestern state, in the hope of shedding light on what makes a bilingual education program successful. Few research studies have systematically delved into an English-Chinese bilingual program as this one. The study illuminates that children in this immersion program have benefited from "additive bilingualism" in that they have learned a second language at no cost to their first language and also out-scored their non-immersion peers in state standardized exams. Employing qualitative methods, narrative inquiry in particular, this research study offers a compelling case that bilingual education does not hinder students’ English language acquisition. Instead, it accelerates students’ English proficiency development while promoting students’ second language acquisition, overall academic achievements, and sociocultural integration.

Bilingüismo con discapacidad intelectual

El tema sobre el bilingüismo en los estudiantes con discapacidad intelectual ha sido muy poco explorado, bien se trate de bilingüismo simultáneo o de bilingüismo secuencial; sin embargo, vivir en una sociedad marcada por fenómenos como la globalización, la intercomunicación y la movilidad internacional, en una sociedad diversa, lingüística y culturalmente, asistir a centros educativos donde lo habitual va siendo la introducción de un idioma extranjero como lengua vehicular para el aprendizaje junto a la evidencia empírica de los beneficios cognitivos derivados de un bilingüismo aditivo son motivos suficientes para interesarse sobre las posibilidades de este colectivo sobre el aprendizaje de un segundo idioma.Objetivo. Analizar las informaciones disponibles sobre la capacidad de las personas con discapacidad intelectual de adquirir más de un idioma (L2).Diseño. Investigación teórica. Revisión narrativa.Material. Se han revisado 11 artículos de investigación y se ha tenido acceso a distintos foros donde profesionales y familias relatan la capacidad de las personas con discapacidad intelectual para adquirir una L2.Resultados. El período estudiado abarca desde 1991 hasta 2016; de los once artículos, se han encontrado dos estudios empíricos, una revisión sistemática, una revisión narrativa y siete descripciones de casos.Conclusiones. Teniendo en cuenta la escasa representatividad de las informaciones encontradas, según se desprende de los resultados obtenidos se puede decir que: las personas con discapacidad intelectual pueden adquirir dos o más lenguas; que tendrán las correspondientes dificultades en lo que se refiere a varios componentes del lenguaje y exhibirán correspondientes retrasos en el desarrollo del aprendizaje de L2 y de L1; que el aprendizaje de una L2 no supone un retraso en la adquisición y desarrollo de su L1; que los niños bilingües con discapacidad intelectual utilizan su lengua dominante tan bien como los niños monolingües para un mismo nivel de desarrollo