‘I didn't speak for the first year’: Silence, Self-Study and Student Stories of English Language Learning in Mainstream Education

Safford, Kimberly; Costley, Tracey

doi:10.1080/17501220802158875

Cited by 7 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…In an English-medium educational system, which insists on a monolingual perspective in curriculum, pedagogy and assessment (e.g., Cross 2009;Hammond, 2012;Macqueen et al 2019), such complex language resources, curiosities, and literacy practices of multilingual students too often go unrecognized. This omission can leave students with little or no alternatives to build their confidence, as shown in Elizabeth's shrugging, silence and cutting school in moments of intense power dynamics and language difficulties (see also Safford and Costley (2008) on EAL students' silence in schools).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These multimodal methods allow us to explore numerous aspects of learner as well as educator experiences. However, in looking at identity texts to explore the complexity and vibrancy of learners' linguistic repertoires, Dutton et al (2018, p. 31) argue that when students are not able to understand and recognize their own linguistic resources, they 'may internalize deficit views of their own skills' (see also Gutiérrez & Rogoff, 2003;Safford & Costley, 2008). While each of these multimodal methods allows for exploration of different aspects of the language learning experience as well as the language learner, we employ the use of language trajectory grids to explore the linguistic journeys of learners and to understand the discourses that have led them to their current disposition towards languages education: a sociohistorical perspective designed to deepen our understanding of how educators can work towards transformative goals with their students.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Challenging discourses of deficit: Understanding the vibrancy and complexity of multilingualism through language trajectory grids

Choi

Slaughter

2020

Language Teaching Research

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The ‘multilingual turn’ has opened up a variety of creative, participatory methods for researchers and educators to explore language learners’ linguistic repertoires, language practices and resources, and linguistic experiences. In this article, we draw on data from the English as an additional language (EAL) secondary school classroom context where we use what we call ‘language trajectory grids’ to make visible EAL students’ English language learning experiences. The grid activity involves plotting learners’ emotions, practices, relationships, and life circumstances with their resources, practices and historical events onto a chronological grid. Using a narrative structure to make sense of learners’ grids and the ‘small stories’ (Barkhuizen, 2009) participants shared during the activity, we discuss the affordances of such devices in opening up space for teachers and learners to critically reflect on the complexities and vibrancy of contemporary multilingual language journeys; to recognize situational factors that influence dispositions towards language, language learning and identity; and as a powerful starting point for students and teachers to engage in ‘collaborative relations of power’.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenging discourses of deficit: Understanding the vibrancy and complexity of multilingualism through language trajectory grids

Choi

Slaughter

2020

Language Teaching Research

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“…Attitudes and approaches towards L1 use in schools differ widely across contexts, ranging from prohibition to tacit acceptance. Among high school students in the UK, Safford and Costley (2008) found that pupils' multilingual resources were ignored and/or discounted. Pupils in Dakin's (2017) study received minimal L1 support: L1 use in school was 'neither encouraged nor discouraged but relied on the attitudes of individual teachers to promote and value it' (432).…”

Section: Practices and Policies On Home Language Use In Schoolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Arguments for the inclusion of the L1 in the learning process for migrant children, and allowing them access to their multilingual resources (Safford and Costley 2008), abound. Liu et al (2017) demonstrate that the explicit use of the L1 for new arrivals who are new to English is an aspect of productive pedagogy in multilingual classrooms.…”

Section: Extract 10 Interview With Mother 03/11/2016mentioning

confidence: 99%

A monolingual approach in an English primary school: practices and implications

Gundarina

Simpson

2021

Language and Education

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This paper investigates a monolingual approach to the teaching of linguistic minority pupils in an English primary school at Key Stage Two (7-11 years old). The work is based on a longitudinal case study of one Russian-speaking migrant pupil and her schooled experience. The analysis and discussion explicate the prohibition of the first or home language (Russian) in the school, and reveal how denying a seven-year-old migrant child permission to use her L1 is detrimental to her learning experience and her well-being. The focal data derive from participant-observation fieldnotes, visual artefacts and interviews with the child, her mother, and a class teacher over a 7-month period. Through an analysis of the participants' stancetaking, we show how the pupil's voice is inaudible in her struggle against a monolingual attitude towards her bilingualism and multicompetence. Our contribution therefore builds on work in critical migrant language education, to identify the importance of enabling the presence of the L1 in learning for migrant pupils.

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“…The evidence of this phenomenon is the growing body of research in English as a second or an additional foreign language. The foci of these researchers have been on policy issues, best practices, teacher education, and learner needs (Oliver, Grote, Rochecoute, & Exell, 2013;Park & Slater, 2014;Safford & Costley, 2008).…”

Section: English Learning In Native English-speaking Countriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Language Needs of Francophone Students in an English as a Second Language Context

Borti

2021

Ghana J. Ling.

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In this study, I examined the English language needs of 73 Francophone students who enrolled to pursue their undergraduate degree in an English as a Second Language context. The setting for this case study was a private university in Ghana. The focus of this study addresses an important gap in the literature on meeting the needs of francophone undergraduate students. The participants in this study were French-speaking students who mostly lived and learned in French-speaking countries prior to their arrival in Ghana; thus, their language needs differed from those of Ghanaian students who typically learn in English over the course of their educational careers. Due to the disjuncture of these Francophone participants’ previous educational and lived experiences with the English language, I investigated the relevance of the available English language courses to their academic and career needs. Data collection took the form of a questionnaire and interviews, for the purpose of eliciting information about participants’ demography, language skills, and tasks relevant to their academics and future careers. In addition, the participants provided interview responses describing their reasons for learning in an English medium university. Findings indicate that Francophone ESL undergraduate students ascribe varying degrees of relevance and importance to English courses, and these reported differences in perceived relevance cohere with participants’ varying academic and career goals and needs.

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‘I didn't speak for the first year’: Silence, Self-Study and Student Stories of English Language Learning in Mainstream Education

Cited by 7 publications

References 15 publications

Challenging discourses of deficit: Understanding the vibrancy and complexity of multilingualism through language trajectory grids

Challenging discourses of deficit: Understanding the vibrancy and complexity of multilingualism through language trajectory grids

A monolingual approach in an English primary school: practices and implications

Language Needs of Francophone Students in an English as a Second Language Context

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