Reframing the Debate: The Roles of Native Languages in English-Only Programs for Language Minority Students

Abstract

The use of languages other than English in schooling is a subject of great controversy in the U.S., pitting those who hold assimilationist views (favoring English-only) against those who hold cultural pluralist view (favoring inclusion of the native language) (Secada & Lightfoot, 1993). A study of nine exemplary K-12 programs for language minority students in which English was the primary language of instruction showed that the incorporation of students' native languages in instruction need not be an all-or-nothing phenomenon. The use of the native language appears so compelling that it emerges even when policies and assumptions mitigate against it. Teachers who are monolingual English speakers or who do not speak the languages of all their students can incorporate students' native languages into instruction in many ways to serve a variety of educationally desirable functions. This article explores the complexities of the uses of students' native languages in schooling, describes and illustrates various ways these languages were used in the Englishbased but multilingual programs, and argues that programs for language minority students should be reconceptualized to move beyond the emotional and politically heated debate that opposes Englishonly instruction to native language instruction.We have been trapped in the past in an endless and often fruitless debate over the best language of instruction. I hope that this reauthorization [of federal education programs for English L2 students] can rise above this tired issue, so that we can turn our attention to more substantive problems-how to provide language minority students with an equal opportunity to learn challenging content and high level skills. (Hakuta, 1993)

T(w)o and fro: using the L1 as a language teaching tool in the CLIL classroom

“…García (2009: 298) advocates an approach in bilingual settings which involves 'flexible multiplicity' practices which include: responsible codeswitching both ways; preview/view/review; translanguaging; co-languaging; and crosslinguistic contrastive analysis. Others have also identified ways in which this shifting between languages, so typical of the discourses of bilinguals, can be done in both the language and the language immersion classroom (Butzkamm 2003;Cook 2001;Cummins 2007;Lucas & Katz 1994).…”

Being and Becoming American: Triangulating Habitus, Field, and Literacy Instruction in a Multilingual Classroom

“…E. García, 2000;Jiménez, Garcia, & Pearson, 1996;Moll, Sáez, & Dworin, 2001;Reyes, 1992;Saville-Troike, 1994;Skutnabb-Kangas & Toukomaa, 1976; Van den Branden, 2000;Verhoeven, 1994;Weber & Longhi-Chirlin, 2001), as is the relatively poor academic achievement of students served in transitional bilingual education and pull-out English as a Second Language (ESL) programs (Thomas & Collier, 1997). Furthermore, research on classroom communication and instruction in all-English settings illustrates the ways in which multilingual students are often shortchanged (Harklau, 1994;Kleifgen & Saville-Troike, 1992;Lucas & Katz, 1994;Moll, Estrada, Diaz, & Lopes, 1980;Tsai & García, 2000;Willett, 1995). For instance, teachers may be unfamiliar with students' cultural practices or discourse styles or make false assumptions regarding students' abilities and needs, resulting in watered down instruction and low expectations.…”

Examinando a relação L1-L2 na pedagogia de ensino de ESL

“…Alguns foram desenvolvidos em contextos de imersão do tipo canadense -crianças falantes de inglês como L1 e escolarizadas em francês (L2) (LAMBERT & TUCKER, 1972;PHILIPS, 1972;TUCKER, 1980;GENESEE, 1987) -ou em contextos de imersão do tipo americano -crianças falantes de português como L1 sendo escolarizadas por meio do inglês (L2) (MELLO, 2002) e outros envolvem o par inglês-espanhol (MEJÍA, 1994); outros relatam situações de minorias lingüísticas -crianças falantes de uma L1 diferente do inglês e escolarizadas em programas bilíngües ou não-bilíngües em contextos de imigração ou de minorias nativas (SKUTNABB-KANGAS & TOUKAMAA, 1976;EDELSKY, 1982;CUMMINS, 1981CUMMINS, , 1992LUCAS & KATZ, 1994;GARCIA, 1991;AUERBACH, 1993). Outros, ainda, focalizam a aquisição do inglês como segunda língua em contextos não-nativos, isto é, em locais onde o inglês é uma segunda língua ou uma língua estrangeira (CANAGARAJAH, 1993(CANAGARAJAH, , 1995(CANAGARAJAH, , 1999GARRET et al, 1994;MERRIT et al, 1992).…”

“…Além disso, a L1 serve de apoio, uma espécie de alavanca que impulsiona o desenvolvimento da L2, como evidenciam os estudos de Olmedo-Williams (1979), Zentela (1981, Atkinson (1987), Collingham (1988), Huerta-Macías & Quintero (1992), Horneberger (1990), Lucas & Katz (1994), Mejía (1994), Canagarajah (1995Canagarajah ( , 1999, Swain (2000), Mello (2002), para citar apenas alguns.…”

“…A expressão English-Only tem sido usada por Auerbach (1993), Lucas & Katz (1994), Wiley & Lukes (1996), Phillipson & SkutnabbKangas (1996), entre outros, para qualificar as situações de ensino nas quais o inglês é usado como único meio de instrução. Essa expressão faz alusão ao nome do movimento norte-americano English-Only Movement, criado com o objetivo de lutar por uma política hegemônica de uso e reconhecimento, no nível constitucional, do inglês como a língua oficial dos Estados Unidos a ser usada em todo o território nacional (PIATT, 1990;CRAWFORD, 2000).…”