Pedagogies of Powerful Communication in CLIL and Bilingual Education

Jim Cummins

The University of Toronto

Conference on “Evidence-Based Strategies to support Bilingual Education in Spain and the US”

University of Salamanca, January 28, 2017

Section 1. Map of the presentation and some preliminaries

We need to consider not only pedagogical goals relating to teaching of English within CLIL

but also our overall pedagogical goals with respect to developing students’ ability to think critically and creatively about broader social issues.

Bilingual programs give us more pedagogical opportunities than monolingual programs but only if we focus on implementing pedagogies of powerful communication.

This issue relates to how we define our identities as educators – do we see our goal as simply transmitting the curriculum effectively or do we have a broader conception of what it means to educate our students?

Major Points 1. Development of L1/L2 Academic Language Proficiency

The goal of our instruction in CLIL/bilingual education programs should be to enable students to do powerful things with both their languages.

When students use language in powerful ways, it amplifies and enhances their identities – their sense of self. The develop what US researcher, Patrick Manyak, has called identities of competence.

Identities of competence fuel further engagement with language and literacy.

The presentation will discuss the instructional, research, and theoretical basis for these claims.

The starting point for generating knowledge is not research or theory but rather practice – what teachers do in their classrooms.

Instructional practice, research, and theory are in constant dialogue with each other (e.g., Nadeen Ruiz’ OLE project).

Major Points 2. Development of Educated Citizens Who Can Think Critically

and Analyze Social Issues

Nested Pedagogical Orientations

Transmission-oriented pedagogy is represented in the inner circle with the narrowest focus. The goal is to transmit information and skills articulated in the curriculum directly to students.

Social constructivist pedagogy, occupying the middle pedagogical space, incorporates the curriculum focus of transmitting information and skills but broadens it to include the development among students of higher-order thinking abilities based on teachers and students co-constructing knowledge and understanding (e.g. UK/Spain CLIL Columbus project presented by Ramiro Durán Martínez and Fernando Beltrán Llavador on Friday).

Finally, transformative approaches to pedagogy broaden the focus still further by emphasizing the relevance not only of transmitting the curriculum and constructing knowledge but also of enabling students to gain a broader critical insight into social realities and power relations (critical literacy).

(Challenge sanitized curricula)

Locating Myself—Where Are the Ideas that I’m Going to Discuss Coming From?

Irish immersion in grade 1 (80% Irish, 20% English) – became reasonably fluent within one school year;

10 years of learning Irish as a school subject after that resulted in good exam outcomes but minimal fluency;

Later insights: (a) use of L2 as medium of instruction far more effective than teaching it as a subject; (b) there are big differences between social and academic uses of language.

Went to Canada for graduate studies in 1971; French immersion programs spreading rapidly across the country; carried out my dissertation in French/English bilingual primary schools that had both French L1 and English L1 students.

The outcomes of my dissertation and later research in both Ireland and Canada strongly suggested enhanced metalinguistic awareness as a result of bilingual experiences.

Section 2. Critical analysis of French Immersion outcomes

French immersion has ‘underachieved’ because it continues to hold onto problematic (evidence-free) theoretical assumptions about pedagogy.

L2 outcomes could be significantly improved if evidence-based pedagogical

approaches were implemented.

These pedagogical approaches involve teaching for cross-linguistic transfer and challenging the monolingual ‘two solitudes’ approach to bilingual education.

Wallace Lambert’s Monolingual Instructional Principle

“No bilingual skills are required of the teacher, who plays the role of a monolingual in the target language ... and who never switches languages, reviews materials in the other language, or otherwise uses the child’s native language in teacher-pupil interactions. In immersion programs, therefore, bilingualism is developed through two separate monolingual instructional routes” (1984, p. 13).

Three inter-related and overlapping assumptions:

Instruction should be carried out exclusively in French without recourse

to students’ L1;

No translation between L1 and L2 is appropriate in French immersion programs;

Within immersion and bilingual programs, the two languages should be kept completely separate.

General Outcomes of French Immersion Programs

Teaching through L2 results in significantly better L2 performance at no cost to L1 academic development;

L2 immersion is not a panacea – students’ L2 performance frequently ‘fossilizes’ (stops developing) and grammatical errors become ingrained;

Vocabulary knowledge and grammatical range is very much restricted in comparison to native speakers.

Why Are the Outcomes of French Immersion Programs So Uneven?

How Can Students’ French Proficiency Be Improved?

Pedagogy operates with an evidence-free ‘two solitudes’ assumption; French and English should be kept separate so that they don’t ‘corrupt’ each other; No use of L1

No translation

No contact between languages

No teaching for transfer

The research on literacy engagement as the most powerful predictor of literacy development (L1 and L2 contexts) has been ignored;

Identity issues have been ignored. Instruction should be focused on getting students across the threshold where they can take ownership of the language. Doing powerful things with the language affirms students’ personal and academic identities.

Directions for Improving Outcomes in CLIL and L2 Immersion and Bilingual Education Generally

We can improve outcomes of CLIL/bilingual/immersion programs by: (a) Teaching for L1/L2 transfer by means of bilingual instructional

strategies; (b) promoting literacy engagement actively (both reading and writing); (c) showcasing students’ creative work in both languages -- enabling

students to develop identities of competence through dual language project work and writing of bilingual texts.

Teaching for L1/L2 transfer by means of bilingual instructional strategies

Understanding English

Conversational and academic language are very different;

The English we use in conversational situations derives predominantly from Anglo-Saxon (Germanic) sources while academic English found predominantly in text and formal contexts derives from Latin and Greek sources (like Spanish!);

Everyday conversational language is supported by interpersonal face-to-face cues (gestures, eye contact, facial expressions etc.) while the meaning of academic language is supported by cues found in the text itself (as well as students’ background knowledge);

Social Studies Vocabulary (grade 5)

amend

annexation

bombarded

boundary

colonist

cavalry

compromise

commerce

constitution

consultation

convention

convince

declaration

dissolved

dynasty

independence

induced

inference

perpetual

petition

preamble

ratify

rebellion

representatives

resolution

revolt

revolution

sentiments

siege

skirmish

statement

surveyor

sustain

traditions

treaty

tyrants

The Cognate Connection

speed velocidad velocity sick enfermo infirm meet encontrar encounter

Common Underlying Proficiency Model

Transfer of concepts (e.g. understanding the concept of photosynthesis);

Transfer of cognitive and linguistic strategies (e.g. strategies of visualizing, use of graphic organizers, mnemonic devices, vocabulary acquisition strategies, etc.);

Transfer of specific linguistic elements such as cognates (e.g., knowledge of the meaning of photo in photosynthesis);

Transfer of phonological awareness (e.g. in early reading instruction);

Transfer of written discourse conventions (e.g., conventions for paragraph formation in English and Spanish; discipline-specific writing genres and writing frames).

Types of Cross-Lingual Transfer

Integrating Transformational Pedagogy and Teaching for Transfer in Bilingual Instructional Contexts

In a unit on any topic or issue (e.g., Christopher Columbus and subsequent European settlement of the Americas), coordinate Spanish (L1) and English (L2) teaching. Students could carry out in-depth research in L1 with teams of students looking at the issues from either the point of view of Europeans or the point of view of the Indigenous peoples. Then students could write up their findings in debate form focusing on particular issues (e.g., Was enslavement justified? Was enforced religious conversion justified? Etc.).

These ‘debates’ could then be translated into English (L2) and published in hard-copy or web-published format.

The process could be enhanced through carrying out these projects with partner classes (e.g. Spanish/English bilingual classes in California).

Section 3. There is overwhelming evidence supporting the positive impact of literacy engagement in both L1 and L2

contexts

This research also reflects Condition #8 in Nadeen Ruiz’ OLE project presented on Friday:

Immersion in Language and Print The classroom is saturated with different print forms and functions, even at the very beginning stages of L2 development. There are opportunities to understand and use language for a wide range of purposes. All teachers act upon their charge to teach language integrated with content across the curriculum.

Understanding Literacy Development in Multilingual School Contexts: What the Research Is Saying

Literacy Achievement

↑ Print Access/Literacy Engagement

↑

Scaffold Meaning

(input and output)

Affirm identity

Extend language ↔ ↔ ↔

Connect to students’ lives (activate prior knowledge)

Extending the Literacy Engagement Framework to L2 Teaching More Generally

Target Language Attainment ↑

Active Engagement with the Target Language (input and output – listening, viewing, reading + speaking, emailing,

texting, and writing) ↑

Scaffold Meaning

(input and output)

Affirm identity

Extend language

↔ ↔ ↔

Connect to students’ lives by activating background knowledge (‘roots’) and expanding horizons (‘wings’)

The Case for Literacy Engagement as a Key Determinant of Literacy Attainment

Logic:

Academic language is found primarily in printed text rather than in everyday conversation. Thus, students’ opportunities to broaden their vocabulary knowledge and develop strong reading comprehension skills are likely to be greatly enhanced when they have abundant access to printed texts and engage actively with these texts.

Research:

The empirical case derives from numerous research studies carried out over the past 30 years (reviewed by Krashen, 2004; Lindsay, 2010, and many others) together with findings produced by the OECD’s PISA studies which have consistently found that reading engagement is a stronger predictor of reading achievement than SES.

Research in the US has demonstrated repeatedly that low-SES students have less access to print in their homes, neighborhoods, and schools than is the case with higher-SES students.

The PISA research involving hundreds of thousands of students demonstrate that we could ‘push back’ the negative effects of low SES by getting low-SES students actively engaged with literacy from an early stage of schooling.

An Example of Literacy Engagement and Teaching for Cross-Linguistic Transfer

Nadeen’s example yesterday of students creating bilingual texts for wordless picture books also illustrates how easy it is to bring the two languages into productive contact

Section 4. Implementing Pedagogies of Powerful Communication in the Teaching of Emergent Bilingual Students

Kanta’s Perspective

And how it helped me was when I came here in grade 4 the teachers didn’t know what I was capable of. I was given a pack of crayons and a coloring book and told to get on coloring with it. And after I felt so bad about that--I’m capable of doing much more than just that. I have my own inner skills to show the world than just coloring and I felt that those skills of mine are important also. So when we started writing the book [The New Country], I could actually show the world that I am something instead of just coloring. And that's how it helped me and it made me so proud of myself that I am actually capable of doing something, and here today [at the Ontario TESL conference] I am actually doing something. I’m not just a coloring person—I can show you that I am something.

Identity Texts: Showcasing bilingual accomplishments

Identity texts refer to artifacts that students produce. Students take ownership of these artifacts as a result of having invested their identities in them.

Once produced, these texts (written, spoken, visual, musical, or

combinations in multimodal form) hold a mirror up to the student in which his or her identity is reflected back in a positive light.

Students invest their identities in these texts which then become

ambassadors of students’ identities. When students share identity texts with multiple audiences (peers, teachers, parents, grandparents, sister classes, the media, etc.) they are likely to receive positive feedback and affirmation of self in interaction with these audiences.

Partner Class Connections DiaLogos: Focus on Language

(from Vasilia Kourtis Kazoullis)

[Student from Canada]

Katerina – I didn’t have much of a Christmas this year because I was moviong and we didn’t put up a tree and stuff like that but it was fun moving and stuff.

On Christmas eve we went to my aunt’s house and had

a big feast and me and cousin Maria were chilling out.

On New Years eve we went to my moms friends house

and clebrated it there and we brought in 1999 we [with]

a really big bang!!

BYE FOR NOW KATERINA!!!!!!!!! *********** Expressions in the letters from Canadian students such as stuff like that, and stuff, chilling out, with a really big bang, we had a blast and whaz up, fueled the students’ curiosity and resulted in critical analysis of language forms.

DiaLogos: Focus on Use

Students collaboratively completed a short story begun by Evgenios Trivizas (a well-known Greek children’s writer) called The Dance of the Ostriches;

80 different stories were written. 59 stories were written by the students in Greece (35 stories in Greek and 24 in English) and 21 stories were written by students in Canada (9 in Greek and 12 in English). Some texts included both languages, reflecting students’ attempt to use the target language.

Project Fresa: An Outstanding Example of Transformative Pedagogy

This cross-age project was initiated in 1999 by third-grade teacher Amanda Irma Pérez and fifth-grade teacher Michelle Singer in Mar Vista Elementary School in Oxnard, California. The school is surrounded by strawberry fields and a large majority of students (45 out of 50) had family members who worked picking strawberries.

The two classes met on a weekly basis to pursue the project. Students initially brainstormed about what they knew and would like to know about strawberries. The students generated questions to ask their parents such as “I wonder why the seeds are on the outside” and “I wonder why the people who pick the strawberries wear scarves across their noses and mouths”.

Project FRESA (continued)

Cummins Brown and Sayers (2007) summarized some of the students’ findings as follows:

They saw how long people had worked in the fields and how it had affected their health.

“My dad used to work in the fields but he can’t work now because of his back,” one child said. “Really?” said another.

“That same thing happened to my grandfather.”

Many of the most disturbing answers mentioned fertilizantes, the Spanish word the parents used for pesticides. “Why do you have so many headaches?” the children had asked their parents. “Por los fertilizantes” (because of the “fertilizers,” one father said). Another child responded, “No wonder my mom always has a headache. I didn’t know that was why.” (p. 133)

Project FRESA (continued)

As the project continued over the course of the school year, students engaged in inquiry that ranged right across the curriculum (science, social studies, math, language arts).

They tracked the life-span of strawberries from seeds to export markets.

In addition to interviewing parents and other family members, students used the Internet for additional research and invited community experts (from the Environmental Defense League and the California Rural Assistance League) to speak to their class. The teachers created a web site that contained students’ poetry, artwork, graphs, and the results from their community investigations.

Students also engaged in dialogue on local economics and profit analysis as part of their math curriculum.

Project FRESA (continued)

The students also examined the websites of the major strawberry companies that operated in the Oxnard area. On the basis of their research, they wrote letters to several of these companies, asking questions such as “How often do the workers receive breaks?” and “Are there clean bathrooms on site?”

They also decided to write letters to California’s Governor, Gray Davis, to express their concerns about the use of pesticides and the working conditions their family members were experiencing in the fields. Throughout the project, each student wrote in their “FRESA Journal” and the response received from the governor’s office that encouraged them to continue “to take an active role in public policy development” was photocopied for inclusion in each student’s journal (although many students were skeptical about the sincerity of the governor’s promise to investigate their concerns).

Project FRESA (continued)

The pedagogy incorporated within Project FRESA addressed all of the instructional components of the Literacy Engagement framework.

Literacy engagement was pursued across the curriculum and the language forms and discourse conventions necessary for effective academic communication were taught in the context of students’ use of language to effect social change.

They engaged with real social issues related to discrimination and social justice that were directly connected to their own lives.

Students’ identities as competent, engaged and intellectually powerful individuals were affirmed as were their bilingual abilities which enabled them to discuss immediately relevant social issues with their family members and peers in Latin American countries.

Selected References

Cummins, J., Brown, K., & Sayers, D. (2007). Literacy, technology, and diversity: Teaching for success in changing times. Boston: Pearson Education. (Projecto FRESA)

Cummins, J., & Early, M. (2011). Identity texts: The collaborative creation of power in multilingual schools. Stoke-on-Trent, England: Trentham Books.

Cummins, J. (2013). Rethinking pedagogical assumptions in Canadian French immersion programs. Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Education, 2(1), 3-22.

Cummins, J. (2013, February). Bilingual education and content and language integrated learning (CLIL): Research and its classroom implications. Padres y Maestros, No. 349, 6-10.

Skourtou, E., Kourtis-Kazoullis, V., & Cummins, J. (2006). Designing virtual learning environments for academic language development. In J. Weiss, J. Nolan, J. Hunsinger,. & P. Trifonas, (Eds.) The international handbook of virtual learning environments (pp. 441-467). New York: Springer. (Dialogos project)