Language Medium in Early School Years for Minority Language Groups

1975 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 283-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Lee Engle
Keyword(s):  
Minority Language ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Early School

scholarly journals The development of English grammar and reading comprehension by majority and minority language children in a bilingual primary school

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 419-442
Author(s):  
Anja K. Steinlen
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Primary School ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Language Background ◽  
English Grammar ◽  
Language Groups

Both for the first language (L1) and for all additional languages (L2 or L3), grammatical knowledge plays a vital role in understanding texts (e.g., Grabe, 2005). However, little is known about the development and interaction of grammar and reading comprehension in beginning foreign language learning, especially with respect to children with a minority language background. This longitudinal study, therefore, examined minority and majority language children’s English grammar and reading comprehension skills. The children attended a German-English partial immersion primary school and were tested at the end of Grades 3 and 4. As expected, we found grammar to affect reading comprehension but also reverse effects. Most importantly, the results did not reveal any differences between the two language groups, irrespective of the test. Therefore, immersion primary school programs seem to be suitable for minority language children, and these children do not automatically represent an at-risk group for foreign language learning.

Immersion education: applicability for nonvernacular teaching to vernacular speakers

1981 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Merrill Swain
Keyword(s):  
First Language ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
Second Languages ◽  
Background Structure ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Immersion Education ◽  
Immersion Programs

The characteristics of “immersion” education as it is practised in Canadian contexts are described in this paper. Immersion programs are outlined in terms of their background, structure, methodology, and outcomes. It is suggested that to achieve the outcomes of immersion education found for majority language groups, some minority language groups may require a program in which initial education is in the first language, and which continues in both the first and second languages.

Mapping Early Speech: Prescriptive Developmental Profiles for Very Remote Aboriginal Students in the First Two Years of School

2011 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. 40-47
Author(s):  
Lawrence Kenny
Keyword(s):  
Oral Language ◽  
Department Of Education ◽  
Aboriginal Education ◽  
Linguistic Context ◽  
Aboriginal Students ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Early School ◽  
Australian English ◽  
Language Profiles ◽  
And Training

This article examines the issues surrounding the mapping of the oral language development of Standard Australian English (SAE) in the early school years of remote and very remote Aboriginal education in the Northern Territory (NT). Currently, teachers in this context have 2 mandated documents as guides that chart the development of SAE oracy. However, a close inspection of both documents demonstrates an incomplete view of English oracy for this unique education and linguistic context within the broader Australian social milieu. A detailed profile of emerging English oracy is not captured by current profiles that do not recognise the influences of homeland Aboriginal language groups on the acquisition of SAE. A more detailed emergent SAE oral profile can be constructed from existing oral SAE language samples. These samples have been collected by the NT Department of Education and Training (NT DET) from 6-year-old children participating in the Indigenous Language Speaking Student (ILSS) program. The development of an emergent oral SAE profile will be an extremely useful adjunct for the 2 existing documents. This article is a preliminary mapping of the issues with current SAE oral language profiles for remote and very remote Aboriginal school children.

Informal bilingual teachers’ language practices and the consequences on pupils’ language choices in a situation of unequal bilingualism: The case of an Upper Sorbian education system

Multilingua ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-191
Author(s):  
Nicole Dołowy-Rybińska
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
German Language ◽  
Bilingual Teachers ◽  
Speech Community ◽  
Language Practices ◽  
Language Choices ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
The Right

AbstractThis paper investigates how bilingual Upper Sorbian-German teachers who belong to the Sorbian speech community (Lusatia, Germany) introduce the minority language during German language lessons in an Upper Sorbian school. In Lusatia, as well as in Sorbian schools, bilingualism is not of equal character; minority language speakers are all bilingual while the German language speakers are not encouraged to speak Sorbian. The language policy of Upper Lusatia gives Sorbs the right to use their language in public life in principle but due to the strained Sorbian-German relations, language ideologies, and hostile attitudes towards the use of minority language in the presence of Germans Sorbs do not benefit from it in practice. The school language policy divides Sorbian-speakers from pupils of German-speaking families and keeps the teaching of Sorbian separate for both groups. Only during the last two years of school are all language groups mixed. Based on participant observation of and in-depth interviews with bilingual teachers during lessons with students of the 11th grade in one Upper Sorbian school this article discusses how teachers negotiate top-down language policy in their classrooms and, introduce bilingualism; and how their language choices affect students’ language practices.

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