Bilingual Learners Research Articles

Fine-tuning language discrimination: Bilingual and monolingual infants' detection of language switching.

The ability to differentiate between two languages sets the stage for bilingual learning. Infants can discriminate languages when hearing long passages, but language switches often occur on short time scales with few cues to language identity. As bilingual infants begin learning sequences of sounds and words, how do they detect the dynamics of two languages? In two studies using the head-turn preference procedure, we investigated whether infants (n=44) can discriminate languages at the level of individual words. In Study 1, bilingual and monolingual 8- to 12-month-olds were tested on their detection of single-word language switching in lists of words (e.g., "dog… lait [fr. milk]"). In Study 2, they were tested on language switching within sentences (e.g., "Do you like the lait?"). We found that infants were unable to detect language switching in lists of words, but the results were inconclusive about infants' ability to detect language switching within sentences. No differences were observed between bilinguals and monolinguals. Given that bilingual proficiency eventually requires detection of sound sequences across two languages, more research will be needed to conclusively understand when and how this skill emerges. Materials, data, and analysis scripts are available at https://osf.io/9dtwn/.

VOT production, writing skills, and general proficiency in multilingual learners of French: approaching the intertwinement of different linguistic levels

Abstract We investigate the interrelations between pronunciation and writing skills in French as a foreign language produced by two groups of bilingual learners (German-Russian; German-Turkish) and a monolingually raised German control group (each n = 10). As an indicator of the learners’ pronunciation skills, we refer to a perceptually relevant acoustic feature of stop production, “Voice Onset Time” (VOT). Our aim is to explore whether the learners’ proficiency at the level of pronunciation is mirrored in (1) their global language competencies and (2) their writing skills. We applied an extreme-cases approach based on the learners’ VOT productions in L3 French. Both positive and negative deviations from the French target pronunciation were found in all groups. In orthography, bilinguals showed lower correctness scores as compared to monolinguals. The VOT measurements yielded more target-like results for the bilinguals. For the monolinguals, the results reveal no correlation between pronunciation and general language proficiency as well as writing skills. In the bilinguals the investigated phenomena were more interrelated. Our analysis of semi-focused interviews conducted with all participants revealed that more target-like VOT productions correlate with a greater degree of phonological and multilingual awareness. This suggests that phonological and cross-linguistic awareness should be fostered in today’s multilingual classrooms.

Application of Bilingual Classroom Learning to English Language Skills at SD Muhammadiyah 1 Gempol Elementary School Students

This study aims to determine the history of the bilingual class and the application of bilingual class learning at SD Muhammadiyah 1 Gempol. The research process uses data collection methods with interviews and observations. The subject of this research is the Principal of SD Muhammadiyah 1 Gempol. The focus in this research is how the history or the beginning of the bilingual class and how the implementation of bilingual class learning. Based on the results of the research, the bilingual class at SD Muhammadiyah 1 Gempol is a class that uses 2 languages in its delivery, namely Indonesian and English which were initiated by the principal at the SD and as a different brand than other schools in the Gempol area. The application of bilingual classroom learning uses 3 additional lessons using books with Cambridge Curriculum Singapore. Read, write, and count selections are made for students who will enter the bilingual class. There is a change in the requirements for bilingual classes that are carried out so that their implementation can be carried out properly.

Bilingual learning strategies to support Chinese EAL business students

PurposeThis study aims to examine the effectiveness of bilingual learning strategies designed to support Chinese undergraduate business students facing significant learning challenges in an Australian university capstone curriculum delivered at their Chinese university. These challenges include the students’ difficulty understanding discipline-specific English terminology, using this terminology to discuss disciplinary concepts with their instructors and stress caused by an abnormally high study load.Design/methodology/approachIn response to these challenges, the project team implemented a suite of bilingual strategies to reduce cognitive load and enhance learning, which included Chinese-English glossaries to build disciplinary-specific vocabularies; a bilingual teaching assistant to enable students to communicate in their language of choice; the use of WeChat to connect students to staff and to provide translanguaging opportunities; and bilateral managerial and academic support for strengthening the institutional cross-cultural relationship through staff exchange and language learning programs. A series of surveys were administered to measure the impact of these strategies on students’ learning, and WeChat logs were analysed to determine students’ linguistic preferences during discussions with staff and students.FindingsThe results of this project show strong support for each bilingual strategy, high academic performance amongst the student cohort, the positive contribution to learning and connection provided by social media technology, students’ language of choice preferences and chosen translanguaging styles and the important role of teaching staff in supporting international students’ intercultural learning and adaptation to a foreign university learning system.Originality/valueThis original evidence-based study helps to address the gap in bilingual education in Australian higher education demonstrating a successful strategy for dealing with language and discipline-specific challenges confronting EAL students.

Strategizing assessment to support emerging bilingual students: a focus on the home language

Abstract Both educators and students in the United States feel the continuous pressure to improve achievement scores as a form of validation for their work and success. However, emerging bilingual (EBs) learners encounter barriers within assessments that break the assumptions of validity, reliability, and fairness and prevent them from demonstrating their true knowledge. This is worsened when assumptions about EBs' academic capacity are extracted from those assessment results. This paper focuses on the use of assessment for and as learning for emerging bilingual (EB) students. Specific attention is given to the use of the students' home language as a resource in evaluating their knowledge and how teachers may address some of the inequitable practices to prepare EBs not only to be successful academically, but to demonstrate it in today's assessment world.

Language Shift Effect on Memory Generalization of Chinese-English Bilinguals

Language shift occurs when people learn information in one language but recall it in another language. This mismatch between encoding and retrieval language is found to impair memory accuracy when memory is tested immediately after learning. However, does the observed language shift effect still exist after a certain period of delay? Would it influence other aspects of memory, especially memory generalization? To address these two questions, we performed a memory experiment among unbalanced Chinese-English bilinguals. In the experiment, participants were required to read two stories (one in English, one in Chinese) and to retell the stories in Chinese from their memories afterward. Delay interval was manipulated in the experiment where participants either took memory recall tests immediately after story-reading or after 24 hours' delay. To analyze memory generalization, we coded the generalized words participants used to retell the stories. The results suggest that language shift (encoding in English and retrieving in Chinese) leads to a more generalized description in a memory recall task. However, the observed language shift effect disappears after 24 hours' delay. It can be concluded that language shift impacts bilingual learners' memory generalization in immediate recall tests, but such effect disappears after 24 hours' delay, which indicates the key role of delay interval in modulating language shift effect.

Transmodalising pedagogy: Developing STEM disciplinary literacy for young emergent bilingual learners

ABSTRACT This paper explores how transmodalising pedagogy contributes to equitable STEM literacy education for emergent bilingual learners (EBLs). Attending to the urgent call for serving linguistically and culturally diverse learners in STEM classrooms and informed by the supporting theories and practices of transmodalising pedagogy, this paper provides a repertoire of transmodalising pedagogy to support elementary school EBLs’ STEM disciplinary content and literacy learning. Particularly, this paper shares two elementary teachers’ lessons in mathematics and science classrooms to showcase how transmodalising disciplinary literacy instruction for young EBLs can afford equitable access to STEM curriculum while engaging EBLs in disciplinary discourse practices.

Rejecting abyssal thinking in the language and education of racialized bilinguals: A manifesto

ABSTRACT Following Boaventura de Sousa Santos, the authors of this article reject the type of “abyssal thinking” that erases the existence of counter-hegemonic knowledges and lifeways, adopting instead the “from the inside out” perspective that is required for thinking constructively about the language and education of racialized bilinguals. On the basis of deep personal experience and extensive field-work research, we challenge prevailing assumptions about language, bilingualism, and education that are based on raciolinguistic ideologies with roots in colonialism. Adopting a translanguaging perspective that rejects rigid colonial boundaries of named languages, we argue that racialized bilingual learners, like all students, draw from linguistic-semiotic, cultural, and historical repertoires. The decolonial approach that guides our work reveals these students making a world by means of cultural and linguistic practices derived from their own knowledge systems. We propose that in order to attain justice and success, a decolonial education must center non-hegemonic modes of “otherwise thinking” by attending to racialized bilinguals’ knowledges and abilities that have always existed yet have continually been distorted and erased through abyssal thinking.

Exploring the Relationship Between Multilingual Learning Experience, Metalinguistic Knowledge, and Metalinguistic Awareness

The last two decades have witnessed a considerable increase in interest in Third or Additional Language Acquisition (TLA). The positive effects of bilingualism in TLA have related the advantages evident in bilingual learners to the influence of bilingualism on cognitive development and, specifically, Metalinguistic Awareness (MLA). The paper aims, first, at providing a comprehensive portrait of what MLA is, considering the complexity of this factor, its linguistic and cognitive nature along the implicit - explicit continuum. Second, it disentangles the intricate relationship between TLA on one hand, and the development of MLA and other mediating factors on the other, including level of bilingualism, literacy, age of acquisition of the L2, language use, and language knowledge. Third, the work focuses on a factor that has been the object of an intense debate in psycholinguistics, i.e. the role of awareness in the language learning process, to shed light on the different aspects distinguishing Metalinguistic Knowledge (MLK) and Metalinguistic Awareness (MLA) of the language. A comprehensive analysis of the most influential literature in the field, comparing contrasting perspectives of study, will be propounded to offer a comprehensive overview of the discussed phenomena to better understand the impact they have on multilingual education.

Beyond Language and Academics: Investigating Teachers’ Preparation to Promote the Social-Emotional Well-Being of Emergent Bilingual Learners

In recent years, institutions have responded to changing school populations by preparing teachers for the growing number of emergent bilingual learners (EBLs). But this preparation largely focuses on supporting students’ academic learning and language development, despite enhanced attention to social-emotional well-being in wider educational circles. This comparative case study seeks to understand whether and how teachers are prepared to facilitate this integral component of student learning in five schools with linguistically diverse populations and varied program models to serve EBLs. We first probe how teachers draw from various facets of their preparation to support EBLs’ social-emotional well-being, including teacher education, professional development, collaboration with colleagues, and personal experiences. We then consider teachers’ and students’ perspectives on the requisite expertise to facilitate well-being in classrooms. Findings provide insight for university, district, and school stakeholders seeking to enhance teacher preparation as a means to improve the educational experiences of EBLs.

English L3 acquisition in heritage contexts: Modelling a path through the bilingualism controversy

Abstract The current study adds to research investigating the influence of bilingualism on third language (L3) acquisition, more specifically the assumption that the two previously acquired languages enhance the acquisition of an additional language. We here rely on data from 1,409 bilingual (Russian-/Turkish-German) and monolingual (German) students of grades seven and nine, sampled in schools across Germany. The relevant literature yields mixed and controversial results regarding bilingual advantages, yet it also suggests that L3 acquisition is a multidimensional process potentially affected by various linguistic and extra-linguistic factors. Thus, we examine the relationship between English proficiency (L2 or L3), reading comprehension in German and the heritage languages Turkish and Russian along with cognitive ability and socio-economic status by using several multi-group path analyses, a type of structural equation modelling. The proposed structural equation model of English proficiency can be successfully fitted for all participants investigated, i.e. for both the monolingual and bilingual learners, with the exception of the Turkish-German group when analyzed separately. Overall, the results do not suggest any obvious bilingual facilitation effects or general differences across the learner groups, yet minor differences between the monolingual and bilingual groups in various componential relationships are detected.

From compliance to resistance: administrator perspectives on implementing structured English immersion and dual language bilingual education programs

ABSTRACT This qualitative case study explored the perspectives of school administrators on implementing structured English immersion (SEI) and dual-language bilingual education (DLBE) programs serving emergent bilingual learners at one urban Arizona elementary school. Using a sociocultural policy perspective, I analyzed findings from a series of interviews examining the ways the participating administrators navigated and implemented restrictive language policies, while simultaneously providing pathways to DLBE opportunities for emergent bilingual learners. I found there was ongoing tension between compliance and resistance to state-mandated policies. In addition, there were differences in how the administrators positioned emergent bilingual learners as a good or bad fit for the DLBE program at the focal school site. The results and discussion underscore both the continued challenges of SEI policy in Arizona and the role of educational leaders in fostering spaces for biliteracy development.

Inclusive Practices in Special Education: Language and Literacies

With a growing population of emergent bilingual learners in the United States, we are seeing more emergent bilinguals qualifying for special education services. Special education teachers must be prepared to meet the linguistic needs of their students in addition to disability related needs. One way of doing so involves adopting Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy to sustain students’ varied linguistic practices in the classroom. The present article outlines five considerations that may help special educators, including monolingual educators, invite students to draw upon their full linguistic repertoires. Considerations include: providing opportunities for students to use their multiple languages in the classroom, making explicit connections across languages, thinking expansively about literacy, modeling the use of multiple languages and literacies, and being critical of texts used in practice.

Развитие на професионални и комуникативни умения на студенти в инженерни дисциплини

The article presents a study designed to develop professional and communication skills of students in the subject "Chemical Engineering" with German language teaching at the University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy. During the application of the experimental model, the COVID crisis required switching to hybrid teaching. This brought a new focus on the teaching design in the 2019/2020 academic year. The research is based on self-regulated learning strategies. The collected data offer a tool for developing professional and foreign language skills. It aims to optimize the educational process in engineering disciplines, as well as to enhance the foreign language knowledge acquisition: bilingual learning materials for improving the specialized foreign language learning.

Critical Language Testing: Factors Influencing Students’ Decisions to (Not) Pursue the Seal of Biliteracy

In this investigation, Kristin J. Davin analyzes current and former emergent bilingual learners’ decisions to take or not take a language proficiency assessment in a home language to pursue a Seal of Biliteracy (SoBL). The SoBL is a policy adopted in forty states to counteract English-only ideologies by recognizing students who graduate high school bilingual and biliterate. Considering the power of assessments and the complexity of the decision to take a test of proficiency in one’s home language, this study uses the history-in-person framework to understand the factors that shape students’ decisions to take, or not take, the “seals test.” Davin’s findings point toward considerations and changes necessary to SoBL implementation to ensure that the policy meets the needs of the emergent bilingual learners it was intended to benefit.

PENGEMBANGAN KECERDASAN LINGUSTIK AUD DI KELOMPOK AWAL MELALUI PEMBELAJARAN BILINGUAL DI TK FAWWAZ GLOBAL ISLAMIC SCHOOL

This study describes linguistic development education using bilingual learning in TK Fawwaz Global Islamic School or the Global Islamic School located in Yogyakarta. Based on the research that the researchers did, bilingual learning was used to support linguistic development in children. This TK Fawwaz accepts students who are motivated by Islam, both NU and Muhammadiyah. This TK Fawwaz was established because of the background of the anxiety that there was no international standard Islamic school. The class observed is the Star class (TK A) which has 13 students, consisting of 1 female student with special needs, 6 female students and 6 male students. Bilingual learning is held in TK Fawwaz which aims to prepare students to face the ever increasing development of the times. This study was written descriptively and departed from the qualitative research that the author did, based on observations in the Star class (TK A) and structured interviews with the Principal, Deputy Principal of the Curriculum Field and 2 teachers at TK A, precisely in Class Star.

Speech-Language Pathologists’ Knowledge of Spanish-Influenced English and Dialectical Differences: A Survey

The purpose of this study was to assess the competence of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in serving bilingual or English-language learning children. Specifically, are SLPs able to identify acceptable English productions of a native Spanish speaker when described and/or given in context? Data were collected through an anonymous 28-question, web-based survey designed for practicing SLPs who worked with children. A total of 99 completed responses were received. The majority of SLPs demonstrated a basic understanding of aspects of Spanish-Influenced English (SIE) and dialectal features associated with native speakers of Spanish; however, SLPs were better able to identify errors in context than features of SIE. To ensure best practice in service provision for children who are English-language learners, SLPs need an understanding of the features of SIE and other English variants. Training programs should therefore provide education on the specific contrasts between languages/dialects while encouraging critical thinking and self-study.

Am I bilingual? Reporting on the self-reflections of Japanese EFL learners

Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: Through use of a written questionnaire, this article examines the personal opinions of tertiary-level Japanese intermediate EFL students regarding the definition and process of becoming bilingual. Design/methodology/approach: This article takes a critical applied linguistic approach to examining the perspectives of emergent bilingual Japanese EFL learners regarding their own status as bilingual speakers in Japan. Data and analysis: This study employed a questionnaire involving both Likert and open perspective questions. The subsequent data analysis involved quantitative analysis of the Likert questions and qualitative analysis of the open-ended questions, according to emerging themes. Findings/conclusions: The results suggest that most of the Japanese emergent bilingual participants did not view themselves as being bilingual, and instead considered the notion of bilingualism to be an out-of-reach goal at their current level. This article suggests the need to educate foreign language (FL) learners of their emergent bilingual status so they may dismiss the idea of attaining native-like competence and embrace their status as competent emergent bilinguals. Originality: Whereas many studies examine (emergent) bilingualism from the perspective of minorities learning a majority language, this article has expanded upon the current body of bilingualism literature by investigating the perspectives of bilingualism from speakers of a majority language learning a minority language, as is the case in all FL education environments. Significance/implications: This article provides an insight into the issue of FL learners’ lack of recognition of their own emergent bilingualism. It brings attention to the need for FL teachers to inform students of their emergent bilingual status to leverage their bilingual languaging strategies so that they can make meaning, express themselves, and learn in their ever-increasing bilingual worlds.

The impact of lexical skills and executive functioning on L1 and L2 phonological awareness in bilingual kindergarten

This study investigated the role of lexical skills and executive functioning on L1 Dutch and L2 English phonological awareness in children enrolled in bilingual Dutch/English kindergarten in The Netherlands (n = 95) and monolingual Dutch kindergarten (n = 83). Participants had an average age of 5 years and 10 months and completed tasks on phonological awareness, lexical skills (vocabulary and lexical specificity), and executive functioning (sustained visual and auditory attention, behavioural self-regulation, and verbal short-term memory) in the L1 Dutch and the L2 English. Dutch phonological awareness was predicted by self-regulation and verbal short-term memory. English phonological awareness was directly predicted by Dutch phonological awareness and visual sustained attention. The results highlight the importance of executive functioning such as sustained attention, behavioural self-regulation and short-term memory in first and second language learning in kindergarten, and support cross-language transfer effects from L1 to L2 phonological awareness among bilingual learners.

Bilingual learning environment as a resource for the development of creative abilities and socio-psychological adaptation of hearing-impaired children

Introduction. The article addresses the problem of bilingualism of deaf children in the educational process with the main focus on enhancing their creative abilities and socio-psychological adjustment. The purpose of the research is to study and describe the resource for the development of creative abilities and socio-psychological adaptation of children with hearing impairment. Materials and Methods. In this paper the authors provide a review of Russian and international studies into the role of bilingualism in deaf education. The evaluation of creative abilities and socialization of children with hearing impairment was conducted using the following projective methods: ‘Measurement of creative thinking’ (E. Torrance’s Incomplete figure test), N. V. Shaidurova’s measurement of older preschoolers’ creativity, ‘A picture of the family’ by T. G. Khomentauskas (adaptated by O. Y. Piskun and R. O. Agavelyan) as well as sets of survey methods including M. A. Panfilova’s “Sociometric questionnaire for children” and V. V. Tkacheva’s “Questionnaire for parents”. The sample consisted of 16 senior preschool age deaf children and their parents (n = 16). Results. Results. The authors identify the features of the development of creative abilities in children with hearing impairment: a slow formation of verbal speech, role-play interaction, and abstract thinking. The study reveals low socio-psychological adaptation, high parental deprivation and anxiety. In some cases, children are deprived of constructive interaction with their parents. It is emphasized that bilingual learning environment can be considered as a tool of deaf children’s social adjustment. The relevant learning environment can be created within the center of development and psychological and educational support for individuals with special education needs. Competent professionals (including those with disabilities) who use Russian sign language are motivated to communicate with deaf children and their parents for subsequent successful social integration and adjustment. Conclusions. The study concludes that within a personality-centered paradigm of a bilingual educational environment for creative development of children with hearing impairment and their socio-psychological adjustment, the leading factor is the bilingual approach to creating the center for psychological and educational support for families with the main focus on constructive interaction with deaf children.