Bilingual Context Research Articles

Opening minds to translanguaging pedagogies

Translanguaging pedagogies promise to capitalise on students’ language backgrounds, improve their academic achievements and address social inequalities. While research studies in monolingual, bilingual and multilingual contexts testify to the benefits of translanguaging for learning, well-being and identity-building few studies focus on early childhood education and the use of more than two languages. Furthermore, little is known about the implementation of translanguaging pedagogies and the challenges faced by professionals.This article is based on a longitudinal research project which offered a professional development course to develop multilingual pedagogies in early childhood education in Luxembourg, where 63.7% of the 4-year-olds do not speak Luxembourgish as their home language. The article presents challenges which three practitioners faced when implementing a translanguaging pedagogy in their preschool classes as well as the ways in which they overcame them. They changed their negative stance to multilingual education, developed a social-constructivist leaning environment and monitored their language use. The findings shed light on the complexities of the implementation process and the support needed for professional learning.

What I know Best: Assessing Indonesian Student’s Structural Knowledge through Student-Generated Topics

<p style="text-align:justify">Developing Indonesian English as a foreign language (EFL) students’ structural knowledge presents a number of complexities especially in the bilingual context. This study aimed to determine how the structural knowledge patterns of Indonesian EFL students is, and it specifically explored various aspects that make structural knowledge representation difficult. The research also aimed to formulate an accommodative assessment model for the development of students' structural knowledge. Using a case study design, this study involved 120 English literature students (N=120) taking the Psycholinguistics class at one of the tertiary institutions in Malang, Indonesia. The research instruments included essay tests and questionnaires. The research findings showed that students in bilingual contexts have certain diversity and patterns in their structural knowledge. Second, students’ structural knowledge could be influenced by a number of aspects such as topic mastery and the flow of thought. Furthermore, students’ structural knowledge can be accommodated in an adequate evaluation model that measures structural knowledge and critical thinking skills. Further research in the area of content and language assessment will complete the study of the significance of structural knowledge in a bilingual context.</p>

The role of bilingual interactional contexts in predicting interindividual variability in executive functions: A latent variable analysis.

Despite a growing number of studies on bilingual advantages in executive functions (EF), their findings have been inconsistent. To shed light on this issue, we aimed to address both the conceptual and methodological limitations that have prevailed in the literature: failure to consider diverse bilingual experiences when assessing bilingual advantages or to address the task impurity problems that can arise with EF tasks. Drawing on the adaptive control hypothesis and control process model of code-switching, we adopted theory-driven and latent variable approaches to examine the relations between bilingual interactional contexts and EF. By administering 9 EF tasks to 175 bilingual participants over multiple sessions, we found that bilinguals' dual-language context significantly predicted the latent variable of task-switching, while a dense code-switching context significantly predicted 2 latent variables of inhibitory control and goal maintenance. These findings remained robust after controlling for potential confounds of demographics, socioeconomic status, nonverbal intelligence, and unintended language-switching tendency. Our study suggests that bilingual interactional context is a key language experience that modulates bilingual advantages in EF. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Effects of theta burst stimulation over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex on language switching – A behavioral and ERP study

This study investigated the role of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in language switching using theta burst stimulation (TBS) and electroencephalography in late bilinguals. After a sham-controlled baseline, participants received either excitatory or inhibitory TBS over the left DLPFC before conducting picture naming tasks in pure language blocks and a language switching block, as well as a nonverbal switching task. On the behavioral level, we found no effect of TBS. However, the ERP-analysis revealed an effect of Stimulation for the picture naming tasks, characterized by alterations in the left DLPFC at 20–72 ms, and in networks associated with conflict resolution and self-monitoring at 533–600 ms. As we did not find an interaction between Stimulation and Block (switching vs non-switching), prefrontal stimulation did not specifically modulate interlanguage control. The left DLPFC might rather be involved in enhancingmaintenance of task demands and self-monitoring during language production in both mono- and bilingual contexts.

Interlingual Malapropism in a Bilingual Context: Insights from Icheoku and Masquerade

This paper investigates the linguistic defect of malapropism in two Nigerian media comedies, Icheoku and Masquerade . Using mainly qualitative content/textual analysis, the paper demonstrates that malapropism in a second-language bilingual context is a consequence not only of inadequate mastery of the vocabulary in a language (as in a monolingual’s malapropism) but also of interference from the subordinate bilingual’s first language or mother tongue with the target second language (and vice versa). In contrast with the classical pattern where lexical items in the same language are confused, in interlingual malapropism the confusion is between lexical items in two (and possibly more) languages which share some phonological affinity. The artistic element in this linguistic phenomenon as exemplified by the two series is also examined. Thus, it is demonstrated that malapropism is a (socio-)linguistic problem that is satirized in fictional terms in the two works. The findings here complement and expand the classical notion of malapropism by taking cognisance of the incompetent bilingual in a multilingual setting. Keywords: malapropism, interlingual malapropism, perceptive malapropism, art, parody, Icheoku, Masquerade DOI: 10.7176/JLLL/65-04 Publication date: February 29 th 2020

Transforming Education Through Instructional Coaching in the Mayan Highlands of Guatemala

Significant efforts have been made to improve the educational system in the Western Highlands of Guatemala to foster economic growth and social development in the country. However, given the country’s linguistic and cultural diversity, challenges in terms of coverage and quality of education persist. Inadequate teacher preparation training, and the absence of an induction and pedagogical coaching system for new teachers are some of the impeding factors. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has executed targeted educational projects to support the National Ministry of Education in strengthening the human capital in education. A transformative pedagogical leadership and coaching model was developed that focuses efforts from an oversight system to a mentoring system that strengthens leadership and the capacities of teachers in the application of innovative methodologies that contribute to educational improvement. This model allows for a continuous cycle of improvement to teaching by providing new teachers with feedback on teaching practices in the classroom and opportunities for teachers to self-reflect and be empowered in their own learning process and professional growth. This approach has shown positive effects with respect to teaching practices at the school-level; however, additional measures are required to gain the support of stakeholders to expand its implementation to bilingual and multicultural contexts to maximize the country’s potential to improve the quality of education.

“Yeah, Things are Rough in Mexico. Remember We Talked About Hard Times?” Process Drama and a Teachers Role in Critically Engaging Students to Dialogue About Social Inequities in a Dual Language Classroom

The majority of dual language education programs in the U.S. context include children coming together with the long-term goal of becoming bilingual, bicultural, and biliterate (Christian in Two-way bilingual education: students learning through two languages. Educational Practice Report: 12, 1994; Howard et al. in Trends in two-way immersion education: a review of the literature. Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk (CRESPAR), Report 63, 2003). It is urgent that practitioners and scholars who see the value of the TWDL model continue to explore methods that address social inequities that arise in highly contested contexts such as an urban public school classroom. Drawing from a critical consciousness (Freire in Harv Educ Rev 40:499–521. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.40.3.h76250x720j43175 , 1998) framework and discourse analysis methods this paper explores how one dual language teacher critically engaged students to dialogue about undocumented immigration through the implementation of process drama. Findings indicate that students will engage about social inequities when teachers facilitate discussions by pushing students for further inquiry, to provide contextual information, giving students a voice, or affirming their responses. The urgency to raise critical consciousness in two-way bilingual education contexts also emerged as these dual language programs continue to be gentrified across the nation (Palmer et al. in Theory Pract. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2019.1569376 , 2019; Valdes in Harv Educ Rev 67(3):391–429, 1997; Valdez et al. in Urban Rev 48(4):601–627, 2016).

Práticas inclusivas no curso de Licenciatura em Educação do Campo na Universidade Federal de Viçosa: atuação multidisciplinar de um Projeto de Letramento voltado à formação de uma discente Surda

O presente trabalho propõe, a partir dos saberes acerca dos letramentos bilíngue e científico, discutir as demandas educacionais e linguísticas de uma estudante Surda da Licenciatura em Educação do Campo, atendida por uma equipe multidisciplinar que desenvolveu ações estratégicas no sentido da inclusão. Para tanto, utilizou-se uma abordagem qualitativa caracterizada como pesquisa-ação-crítica, que contou com a observação participante para descrever o histórico e as necessidades que levaram a criação de um Projeto de Letramento e da composição da equipe em questão. Os resultados das ações apontaram a pertinência e viabilidade de se considerar a participação efetiva da discente Surda como agente orientador de todo o processo educacional, visto que a articulação da equipe só foi possível a partir das considerações e apontamentos dados pela discente. Os achados revelam a necessidade de busca por intervenções de caráter inclusivo e bilíngue na Educação Superior, especificamente na formação inicial para docência em Ciências da Natureza, de modo a efetivar a presença da Língua Brasileira de Sinais (Libras) nesse contexto. E, assim, assegurar a formação educacional da estudante Surda e a capacitação continuada dos integrantes da equipe, por meio de uma efetiva avaliação crítica desse processo formativo.
 Palavras-chave: Educação do Campo, Inclusão de Surdos(as), Língua Brasileira de Sinais, Letramento, Multidisciplinaridade.
 
 Inclusive practices in Rural Teacher Bachelor Course at Federal University of Viçosa (Brazil): multidisciplinary actions of the Literacy Project that was addressed to one deaf in the pre-service teacher process
 ABSTRACT. This article discusses the educational and linguistic demands presented by a deaf person in the Bachelor of Rural Teachers, attended by a multidisciplinary team to develop strategic actions for the educational inclusion of the deaf. Knowledge of bilingual and scientific literacy practices was considered. For that, we used a qualitative approach characterized as action-critical research, including participant observation to describe the history and demands that led to the creation of this Literacy Project and the composition of the team that participated in the inclusion and literacy process. The results of educational actions pointed out the pertinence and need of considering the participation of this pre-service teacher deaf of the Rural Bachelor course as the guiding agent of the entire process. Since the team's articulation was only possible based on the considerations and notes given for this deaf referred. The results reveal the importance to articulate interventions about inclusive and bilingual approach in the University. Specifically, in the pre-service Science teacher courses, in order to discuss the presence of Brazilian Sign Language in inclusive or bilingual contexts, ensure the professional development of the deaf and the technical capacitation of the team members, through an effective evaluation of the educational process.
 Keywords: Rural Teacher Bachelor, Inclusion of Deaf people, Brazilian Sign Language, Literacy, Multidisciplinarity.
 
 Prácticas inclusivas en el curso de Licenciatura en Educación del Campo en la Universidad Federal de Viçosa: desempeño multidisciplinario de un Proyecto de Literacidad dirigido a capacitar a una estudiante Sorda
 RESUMEN. Esto trabajo propone, basado en las literacidades bilingüe y científica, articular las necesidades educativas y lingüísticas de una estudiante Sorda del curso de Educación del Campo, atendida un equipo multidisciplinario que desarrolló acciones estratégicas hacia la inclusión. Para eso, utilizamos un enfoque cualitativo caracterizado como investigación-acción-crítica, que se basó en la observación participante para describir los antecedentes y las necesidades que llevaron a la creación de un proyecto de Literacidad y de la composición del equipo. Los resultados de las acciones apuntan a la pertinencia y viabilidad de considerar la participación efectiva de la estudiante Sorda como el agente orientador de todo el proceso educativo, ya que la articulación del equipo solo fue posible en función de las consideraciones y notas dadas por la estudiante. Los resultados revelan la necesidad de crear intervenciones de carácter inclusivo y bilingüe en la Educación Superior, específicamente en la formación inicial para la enseñanza de las Ciencias Naturales, a fin de lograr la presencia de la Lengua de Señas Brasileña en este contexto, para garantizar la formación educativa de la estudiante Sorda y la capacitación de miembros del equipo, a través de una continua evaluación crítica del proceso formativo.
 Palabras-clave: Educación del Campo, Inclusión de Sordos(as), Lengua de Señas Brasileña, Literacidad, Multidisciplinariedad.

Диагностика уровней профессионального становления будущих учителей литературы в условиях регионального билингвизма

Диагностика уровней профессионального становления будущих учителей литературы в условиях регионального билингвизма

«Внутренняя» интерференция как причина коммуникативных неудач в условиях дагестанского двуязычия

«Внутренняя» интерференция как причина коммуникативных неудач в условиях дагестанского двуязычия

Multilingual Texts as a Reflection of Code-Switching in Medieval England: Sermons and Beyond

The multilingualism of medieval England especially in the Middle English period, has for long been the subject of research in historical linguistics, literature, and medieval studies, to name but a few. It is particularly visible in the monolingual texts in the different medieval languages of literacy (Latin and Old English in the Old English period, and French, Latin and English in the Middle English period), where it has left traces in the lexicon and grammar of English. More recently, the numerous multilingual texts from medieval England have attracted increased attention, not least because they can be seen as written evidence for code-switching, a well-known discourse strategy in multilingual societies. Multilingual sermons are among the best-known text types showing this mixing of languages, and they are found from the Old English period onwards, though they are particularly well attested from the later Middle English period. The present paper will look at the main types of multilingual sermons from medieval England, both from the Old English and the Middle English periods. It will, however, go beyond this and place such sermons in the context of other medieval multilingual text types. Based on the analysis of a range of medieval multilingual texts, we will show that multilingual sermons, especially the so-called »macaronic sermons«, are not as unique as sometimes claimed in sermon studies. After a critical discussion of the traditional criteria for defining »macaronic« texts, we will argue that such texts can be better accounted for on the basis of functional classifications as provided by modern code-switching theories. Such an approach in no way reduces the special nature of »macaronic sermons«, but it firmly places them in the wider bilingual context of medieval England and the multilingual strategies regularly used by its speakers and writers in a variety of text types. The contextualisation of multilingual sermons in this wider context of written multilingual texts will hopefully lead to a better understanding of multilingual sermons from medieval England and possibly also those from other European countries.

Textural Measure for Medical Words Characterization Applied to Script Identification in Bilingual Context

The objective of this work is to contribute to the analysis and understanding of medical documents taken from health institutions in Saudi Arabia. The project aimed to use intelligent technologies and image processing tools to the automation of processing the medical documents. This consists particularly to assist medical staff to the treatment of the different medical forms in order to facilitate the storage of the important information and their centralization. As we worked on bilingual context, we proposed a system for identifying Arabic and Latin texts whether taped or manuscripted. In this way, we can identify the extracted blocks from different regions of interest and distribute them to different OCR systems to recognize them. We used SGLD as a texture measure of the image writing shapes. Then, we calculated Haralick descriptors that characterize them. The resulting recognition ratios were very efficient and promising.

Word search sequences in teacher-student interaction in an English as medium of instruction context

ABSTRACT This study explores the ways students in a higher education setting engage in word searches. The investigation draws on 30-hour video recordings of content classes in an English as a medium of instruction university in Turkey. Using conversation analysis, the study focuses on the interactionally accomplished functions of vocal and visual practices deployed by the students in the course of a word search. We revealed that word searches are constructed through publicly visible resources (i.e. gaze, body orientation, gestures) and explicit formulaic expressions (i.e. how can I say it?), and accomplished via bilingual resources. It was also observed that the teacher does not orient to word searches when there is a need to interactionally monitor and manage the repairable content (i.e. pedagogical content, subject-specific word), thus prioritizing content over second language (i.e. English) use in the current content-oriented setting. The study contributes to our understanding of how the participants’ situated roles as a student and teacher are contingently negotiated in the ongoing word search in bilingual classroom contexts.

Corrective Feedback and Learner Uptake in a Young Children Bilingual Classroom

Most research on corrective feedback and learner uptake inspired by Lyster and Ranta (1997) has been conducted with students belonging to various age groups. This study was undertaken to investigate the occurrence of corrective feedback and uptake in young children bilingual context whose age ranged from 5 to 6 or children in bilingual kindergarten in Indonesia. Transcripts of 100 minutes of lessons in Blossoms class of Satya Wacana Children Centre, Salatiga, were analyzed to answer these two research questions: (1) What types of learner errors lead to what types of corrective feedback in young children bilingual classroom? and (2) what is the uptake rate of each type of feedback and the relationship between learner errors, feedback, and learner uptake? The results revealed that the majority feedback provided for grammatical errors was repetition. The majority feedback given on phonological errors was recast. Then, explicit correction was the most frequent feedback for lexical errors. This study also found that elicitation and repetition led to the highest uptake rate. Although recast in this study did not lead to a high uptake rate compared with other types of feedback, in the case of phonological errors, recast did lead to a high uptake and repair rate. This study also provided an integrated picture about the relationship between learner errors, feedback, and learner uptake. Overall, there were differences in the patterns of feedback and uptake between this study and previous studies, which were interpreted with the reference to the unique characteristics of the instructional context.Keywords: Corrective feedback, uptake, bilingual young children

Preaching in Bilingual and Multicultural Contexts

Preaching in Bilingual and Multicultural Contexts

ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНАЯ КОММУНИКАЦИЯ В БИЛИНГВАЛЬНОЙ ОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬНОЙ СРЕДЕ: ПРИНЦИПЫ И СТРАТЕГИИ

Introduction. The internationalization of education is a key tendency in the modern global world. Within this tendency arises the problem of managing cultural and language differences in multiple-codes educational systems. That poses a demand for specialists that are capable of: a) functioning in diverse educational environment, b) harmonzing cognitive patterns and pragmatic interpretations of cultural identities, c) adapting verbal codes and communicative styles to the parameters of bilingual contexts. In this perspective it is important to work out methodological tools of teaching professional communication across cultures. The purpose of the article is to model principles and strategies of professional communication congruent to the parameters of the biligual environment. Methods. The methodology of the study is based on findings in the fields of teaching foreign languages, cognitive psychology and linguistics, cross-cultural communication, strategic organization of professional communication.The integrated approach is in line with the interdisciplinary domain of bilingual education. Results. The proposed model differentiates three factors – Parameters, principles and strategies – as constituents of the framework of professional communication in bilingual educational environment. The three factors are integrated into the perspective of enhancing the process of teaching professional communication through negotiating cultural, verbal and non-verbal codes. The dynamics of the framework allows for the variability of methods and practices aimed at developing professional and communicative skills by using instrumental resources of bilingual education. Conclusions. This study was aimed at modelling principles and strategies of professional communication within the framework of bilingual education. The study contributes to the methodological field of teaching professional communucation across cultures by elaborating a cluster of factors framing the process of negotiating cultural patterns and communicative styles in the perspective of achieving the target results. The proposed Parameters–principles–strategies model shapes the range of interpersonal interactions in professional bilingual contexts and sets guiding lines for adapting goals, contents and practices of teaching professional communication to the parameters of the bilingual educational environment.

A disponibilidade léxica dos estudantes de educação secundária de valência

This research focuses on another research conducted in a bilingual educational context between Spanish and Valencian, with secondary school students, as is the case in the city of Valencia. In this context, the influence of the Valencian language is not as strong as in other areas of the Valencian Community, due to the presence of second and third generation speakers from Spanish-speaking contexts. In this way, we aim to check if the modality of schooling, carried out by students at the beginning and end of the secondary stage, between the Teaching Program in Valencian and the Progressive Incorporation Program, has some influence on their vocabulary available in Spanish.

Language Control in Diglossic and Bilingual Contexts: An Event-Related fMRI Study Using Picture Naming Tasks.

The diglossic socio-linguistic situation in Arabic refers to the use of two language varieties in everyday life. Spoken Arabic (SA) is acquired first and used for everyday informal communication, while Literary Arabic (LA) is acquired at school and used for reading, writing and formal functions. Accordingly, the question whether LA functions as a second language had repeatedly been raised. In this study participants performed picture naming in SA in: (i) a simple naming context (SNc); (ii) a first language selection diglossic context mixing SA and LA (fLSc) and (iii) a second language selection bilingual context mixing SA and Hebrew (sLSc). Behavioral and event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) responses were analyzed to examine whether the comparison of picture naming in SA in different contexts will reveal differences related to control processes. Behavioral measures indicated that SA naming in SNc was easier than in fLSc and sLSc, while analysis of fMRI data revealed a significant effect of context. Region of interest analysis in six areas that were activated during the task exhibited two distinct patterns of differences in activation between fLSc and sLSc on the one hand, and SNc on the other. These results are explained in terms of the differential engagement of cognitive control modules and discussed in the light of current views suggesting that domain-general executive modules are adaptively recruited depending on the demands of the interactional context.

Cognitive restructuring in the bilingual mind: motion event construal in early Cantonese–English bilinguals

abstractLanguages differ typologically in motion event encoding (Talmy, 2000). Furthermore, the cross-linguistic variations in lexicalization modulate cognition in a dynamic and task-dependent manner (Slobin, 1996a). This study aims to investigate whether early Cantonese–English bilinguals behave differently from monolinguals in each language when lexicalizing and categorizing voluntary motion in different language contexts. Specifically, monolinguals were instructed and narrated in their native languages. We assigned bilinguals to a monolingual and a bilingual context by manipulating immediate language use in their oral descriptions. Results from monolinguals suggested an effect of language on event conceptualization. However, results from bilinguals showed that their performances patterned with English monolinguals in both event lexicalization and conceptualization regardless of the language context. These findings indicate that early exposure to a second language has motivated speakers to converge to a single lexicalization pattern compatible for both languages. And the degree of convergence is modulated by the amount of language contact with each language. The study demonstrates that participants draw on their linguistic knowledge during the non-verbal task and provides evidence for L2-biased cognitive restructuring within the framework of thinking-for-speaking.

Supplemental Material for The Role of Bilingual Interactional Contexts in Predicting Interindividual Variability in Executive Functions: A Latent Variable Analysis

Supplemental Material for The Role of Bilingual Interactional Contexts in Predicting Interindividual Variability in Executive Functions: A Latent Variable Analysis