Language, Learning and social Integration in the Schooling of Recently Arrived Migrant Children in England

Author(s):

Michael Evans(presenting / submitting)Yongcan Liu

Conference:

ECER 2014

Network:

07. Social Justice and Intercultural Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

07 SES 07 B, Languages, Teaching and Diversity

Paper Session

Time:

2014-09-03

17:15-18:45

Room:

B005 Anfiteatro

Chair:

Carolyn Shields

Contribution

Research Questions:

How does language impact on the learning and social integration of newly arrived migrant students whose first language is other than English?

How do teachers, students and parents construe the role of multilingualism in the students’ social and academic development?

The presentation will be based on findings from the first of two externally funded research projects examining the relationship between language development, academic attainment and social integration of newly arrived migrant children in the East of England. The overall objective of the study was to investigate school approaches and practices in supporting the education of non-English speaking youth in England by identifying the contribution that primary and secondary schools make to the process of addressing the linguistic and non-linguistic needs of EAL children. The project aimed to explore how schools conceptualised and addressed the linguistic, academic and social needs of such youth.

The focus of this presentation will be on a discussion of how the construct of ‘language’ was perceived and employed by the different stakeholders in the community. The analysis applies the theoretical frameworks of ‘language ideologies’ (‘the situated, partial and interested character of conceptions and usage of language’ (Errington 2001)) and ‘language socialisation’ (‘how language practices organize the life span process of becoming an active, competent participant in one or more communities’ (Ochs 1999). Our study applies these frameworks to the specific sociocultural context of second language education in relation to the experiences of socially disadvantaged, newly arrived migrant students in mainstream schools in England.

Method

The study, a University of Cambridge and Anglia Ruskin University collaborative research project, adopted a qualitative case study design in order to elicit data relating to initial assessment, pedagogical practice, language attitudes and social relationships. The target sample of participants consisted of EAL students from disadvantaged backgrounds who had recently arrived at the schools from the European Union A8 countries; namely, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. The data consist of semi-structured interviews with headteachers, EAL co-ordinators, EAL teaching assistants, subject teachers, EAL students and non-EAL peers, parents, governors and local authority EAL service providers. Documentary information was also gathered regarding EAL-related procedures and achievement statistics at the two schools. Interpreters and translators were used where language used was in the EAL or parents’ first language. The interview transcripts were analysed using inductive coding using NVivo 10. The second ongoing study in the sequence of funded projects is gathering survey-based regional information on school provision of EAL support and assessment, as well as longitudinal tracking language and subject attainment in two case study secondary maintained schools. The aim is to investigate connections between these assessments findings and social integration factors.

Expected Outcomes

The results of the first project indicate that, in the context of the current changing demographic profile of the region and of the impact of national educational policy-making, the increased autonomy given to schools has led to challenges as they seek to adapt to the growing multilingual identity of their community. The findings indicate that stakeholders’ views were mixed, ranging from a perception that English should be the exclusive language of communication in the classroom to the idea that school multilingualism is beneficial to all and that teachers gain from some knowledge of their students’ first language. An emerging theme from a subject perspective was a need for greater systematic understanding of pedagogical and learning challenges posed by language in the context of different school subject disciplines. While the case study schools questioned the need for an explicit school-wide language policy there was evidence that staff can be more receptive to the development of a more implicit collective understanding. The diversity of views indicates the complexity of language ideology and practice in school and has implications for understanding key multilingual use and language socialisation in schools.

References

Errington, J. (2000) Ideology. In A. Duranti (ed.) Key Terms in Language and Culture, pp. 110-112. Malden, MA: Blackwell. Ochs, E. (1999) 'Socialization', Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, 9 (1-2), pp. 230 - 233.

Author Information

Michael Evans (presenting / submitting)

University of Cambridge

Education

Cambridge

Yongcan Liu

University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

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