Flexible bilingualism through multimodal practices: studying K-12 community languages online

Abstract

Community language schools are complementary schools set up and run by minority communities in Australia. They aim to assist in intergenerational language and identity transmission, but previous research has indicated that these schools position their students in monolingual ways that contradicts how bilingual speakers use their language in contemporary society. As a result, it has been proposed to teach these students through bilingual practices. Drawing on findings from research into the learning sciences, this study aims to explore how students construct their participation in a monolingual learning environment when taught online. Two students aged 14-16 taught in a blended mode (every second lesson online and every second lesson in a classroom) video recorded themselves during their online lessons. Data were analysed using multimodal interaction analysis. The results show how student agency increased outside of the learning environment where students repositioned themselves as peripheral learners and drew on scaffolding with humans and technology through bilingual practices to construct new knowledge.

The Development of English Writing in Bilingual Children Attending Weekend School in Japan During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Most children maintained their level of writing with online weekend school lessons. Although research on online learning in weekend school is sparse, existing studies and ours indicate that it facilitates learning (Nordstrom, 2015;Palladino & Guardado, 2018;Young & White, 2022). There was little disruption when weekend school transitioned online as teachers were already using educational technology before the pandemic.…”

“…Students were highly engaged in online tasks and learned independently by reading, practicing, and testing themselves online. Nordstrom (2015) observes that online synchronous weekend school lessons provided more writing opportunities because students communicated in group chats and other writing. They also utilized online translation tools and received scaffolding from their parents at home.…”

Emerging Bilingual Students and Digital Multimodal Composing: A Systematic Review of Research in Secondary Classrooms

“…Many studies attributed this finding to students being able to leverage their out-of-school digital literacies in the classroom (Ajayi, 2009;Pyo, 2015;Toohey, et al, 2015). Another reason posited for why multimodal projects were engaging for bi/multilingual students is because they were often made public, distributed widely, and designed for authentic purposes (Author 1, 2014;Nordstrom, 2015). Finally, multimodal projects typically allowed for students to make meaningful connections to their own lives and interests (Danzak, 2011;Honeyford, 2014;Smythe & Neufeld, 2010).…”

Moving Towards Legitimate Participation. A Venezuelan Girl Learning English in an Iowa City Elementary School

“…These studies have discussed fundamental aspects such as the home language maintenance, culture, identity, immigration and misconceptions about Latino people living and learning in the U.S. Research suggests that teachers need to foster students' home languages and their "Funds of Knowledge" to help them become biliterate (Cummins, 1996;Schwarzer, 2001;González, Moll & Amanti, 2005). Some other studies have highlighted the negotiation and reaffirmation of identity process through collaborative relations of power such as (Morita, 2004;Cummins, 1996) and some others have emphasized the development of second language acquisition and language identity through legitimate participation in communities of practice and the adjustment to new cultures (Back, 2011;González-Howard & McNeill, 2016;Han, 2009;Nordstrom, 2015). Bacon (2002) states that language proficiency develops when learners understand societal and academic rules, which in turn, allow them function within the culture.…”