https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3881-7695
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Abstract
Many educators in immersion contexts support a policy of strict separation of languages in the classroom as the ideal model for second language acquisition and are reluctant to make connections between the dominant language, the target language and pupils’ home languages. This can result in missed opportunities for drawing on pupils’ entire linguistic repertoires to foster their learning The present study considers teachers’ discourses surrounding the place and role of the dominant language (French), the target language (English) and home languages from the perspective of classroom teachers at one French primary school with a school-wide English immersion program participating in a collaborative research project. Since the program’s inception in 2011, the one teacher/one language model has been adopted and approximately half the day is spent in each language. The analysis of the data comprising semi-structured interviews, filmed observations, stimulated video recall and focus group sessions revealed a shift in teachers’ language awareness concerning the use of students’ L1 as resources and their willingness to experiment with new pedagogies drawing on students’ entire linguistic repertoires. The data highlighted challenges which emerged during the implementation of more flexible multilingual pedagogies as well as teachers’ need for learning and long-term continued professional development.
ABSTRACT (FRENCH)
De nombreux professionnels de l’éducation enseignant en contextes scolaires d‘immersion inscrivent leurs choix pédagogiques dans une politique de stricte séparation des langues comme modèle idéal pour l‘acquisition d‘une langue seconde. De fait, ils sont réticents à établir des liens entre la langue dominante, la langue cible et les langues d‘origine des élèves. La présente étude examine les discours d’enseignants du primaire d’une école en France sur la place et le rôle de la langue dominante (le français), de la langue cible (l‘anglais) et de la langue parlée à la maison. Ces enseignants sont en poste dans une école ayant un programme d‘immersion en anglais. Depuis la création du programme en 2011, le modèle un enseignant/une langue domine et environ la moitié de la journée est consacrée à chaque langue. Depuis 2018, l’école participe à un projet de recherche collaborative. L'analyse des données, comprenant des entretiens semi-directifs, des observations filmées, des auto-confrontations et des sessions de focus groups, a révélé un changement dans la conscience linguistique des enseignants concernant l‘utilisation de la L1 des élèves comme ressources. L’analyse montre également la volonté des enseignants d‘expérimenter de nouvelles pédagogies faisant appel à l‘ensemble des répertoires linguistiques des élèves. Lors de la mise en œuvre de pédagogies multilingues plus flexibles de nouveaux défis sont apparus, ainsi que le besoin des enseignants de bénéficier d‘un accompagnement au développement professionnel à long terme.
PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY
Many teachers working in bilingual classrooms and schools believe that the best model for learning the lesser spoken target language is one in which only one of the school languages is spoken at a time in the classroom. When this is the case, teachers miss opportunities to make connections between the languages of schooling as well as between the languages of schooling and the other languages spoken at home by the pupils and their families. In this study we looked at the teaching practices in a school where this was initially the case. We worked closely and collaboratively with the teaching staff to explore the different ways of drawing on the languages present in the school. We did this through the reading and discussing of scientific articles, by watching examples of classroom practices and through group discussions. The study showed that the teachers’ awareness of the benefits of drawing on both of the languages of schooling increased. Some of the teachers also began to implement projects where both languages were used in the same classroom. The study also showed that implementing such pedagogies presented some challenges for the teachers and required more long-term professional support.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
2 The school head teacher reported 23 different languages other than French spoken in the families (Albanian, Arabic, Armenian, Bambara (Mali), Breton, Chinese, Creole, English, German, Greek, Italian, Kurdish, Portuguese, Kabyle, Lingala, Macedonian, Romanian, Serbian, Spanish, Thai, Tibetan, Turkish, Wolof) the most represented language being Arabic.