Session Information
31 SES 06 C, Inclusion Through Literacy: From the community to the screen
Paper Session
Contribution
Underlining causes of poor academic achievement in education continue to be widely discussed particularly in countries with a high influx of newcomer students. Recently, this influx has forced school stakeholders to conceptualize pedagogical change to better serve these communities (Heineke et al., 2012). However, questions are still pending with regard to how to address the gap between the students’ prior funds of knowledge and the school aims, practices and curriculum in the host countries (Benson, 2010; Cummins, 2012).
To fill in this gap, the last decade has seen the bourgeoning of translingual pedagogies that capitalize on the students’ repertoire. Translingual pedagogies bring several advantages to content courses. Students may achieve deeper levels of understanding and knowledge processing and develop literacy and academic language in both languages (Lewis, Jones & Baker, 2012). However, despite scientific evidence, teachers may still be reluctant to implement these pedagogies sustainably as they feel that they lack resources and confidence to address the language paradigm.
Our case-study reports on the implementation of a web-based multilingual learning tool labelled “Binogi” among 73 grade 6 students in a primary school of which 52 are English language learners in Toronto. This web-based multilingual tool allows content to be delivered in different languages simultaneously, using video and audio presentations in the L1 of the students and in the school language and captions in the same languages. It enables access to both the school and the first languages of the students. This webtool makes content in the school language accessible to all students, facilitating integration of different language levels. This tool also supports teachers in discovering how the languages of the students can be integrated in functional ways in the benefit of the students´ learning, developing a co-languaging pedagogy (Lewis, Jones & Baker, 2012). In essence, the online platformcreates a plurilingual access to content knowledge aligned to the local curriculum, and in doing so responds to an emerging need of both teachers and language learners, in particular in light of the current context of increased flux of language learning students (e.g. Volante et al. 2017; Herzog-Punzenberger, Le Pichon & Siarova, 2017). This platform was introduced in an elementary school in the region of Toronto, Canada, for a period of 9 months between October 2018 and June 2019. Our research aimed to understand how the students experienced the use of the online platform; how their teachers integrated the use of the online platform to their lessons; and what the relation was between the students’ language biography and their language choices within this the platform.
Method
The online platform collected data per participant automatically. Data concerned the use of the tool (e.g. frequency, duration, language preference) as well as performance metrics, for each individual participant (n=73). Results include the frequency of use, length of task and language selected for each exercise as well as average duration of time spent on the online platform and language use. Quantitative data collected through the software were used to obtain usage characteristics such as average duration of time spent of the online platform and language use. Additionally, individual semi-directed interviews were conducted with six teachers and the principal of the school during the course of the trial period. Their experiences and perspectives with the tool were gathered. The teachers organized focus groups with their students and the students answered questions related to their appreciation of the resource and how it may be improved. They answered questions related to their language biographies and to their level of engagement with math. In addition, answers to the focus group and interviews were analyzed based on the Transformative Multiliteracies Pedagogy developed by Cummins and his colleagues (Cummins, Hu, Marcus & Montero, 2015). This included a thematic analysis of focus-group and interviews (closed and open-ended questions), a discourse analysis of interviews, plus conversation analysis of the focus-group interaction.
Expected Outcomes
Preliminary results showed how Binogi allows the teachers to scaffold meaning in mathematics and science and encourages the students to engage with literacy in English as well as in their own language (Cummins et al., 2015). The students affirmed that they were more motivated and engaged with learning. They appreciated the game-like presentation of the content as well as the possibility to switch between the languages. The platform also constituted an eye-opener for the teachers who discovered the potentials of their students in content- related subjects when their students had access to content knowledge in their own language. In this presentation, we will discuss how this digital multilingual tool may support the teachers in implementing strategies of co-languaging in their classrooms and how it may enhance the students’ agency taking into account the complexity of their plurilingualism and the history of their school background. Our presentation will also explore the theoretical implications of students' use of multiple languages and modalities for emerging constructs such as translanguaging and plurilingual pedagogies.
References
Benson, C. (2010). How multilingual African contexts are pushing educational research and practice in new directions. Language and Education, 24(4), 323-336. Cummins, J. (2012). The intersection of cognitive and sociocultural factors in the development of reading comprehension among immigrant students, Reading and writing, 25 (8), 1973-1990. Cummins, J., Hu, S., Markus, P., & Montero, M. K. (2015). Identity texts and academic achievement: Connecting the dots in multilingual school contexts. TESOL Quarterly, 49(3), 555-581. Cummins, J. (2017). Teaching Minoritized Students: Are Additive Approaches Legitimate? Harvard Educational Review, 87(3), 403-425. Heineke, A., Coleman, E., Ferrell, E. & Kersemeier, C. (2012). Opening doors for bilingual students: Recommendations for building linguistically responsive schools, Improving schools. 15(2) 130-147. Herzog-Punzenberger, B., Le Pichon, E., & Siarova, H. (2017). Multilingual education in the light of diversity: Lessons learned. NESET II report, Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2017. doi: 10.2766/71255. Lewis, G., Jones, B., & Baker, C. (2012). Translanguaging: Origins and development from school to street and beyond. Educational Research and Evaluation: An International Journal on Theory and Practice, 18(7), 37-41. Volante, L., Klinger, D., Bilgili, Ö., & Siegel, M. (2017). Making sense of the performance (dis)advantage for immigrant students across Canada. Canadian Journal of Education/Revue canadienne de l’éducation, 40(3), 229-361.
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