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Support for talking to parents about bilingualism.

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Bilingual Families: A Practical Language Planning Guide

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Bilingual Families: A Practical Language Planning Guide [Crisfield, Eowyn] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Bilingual Families: A Practical Language Planning Guide

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Explore at least two of these resources to prepare for our conversation on Feb, 23.

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Explore at least two of these resources to prepare for our conversation on Feb, 23.

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Just press the little plus button below and post any questions of wonderings you have. We can explore these questions together during our upcoming session. -Amber

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Just press the little plus button below and post any questions of wonderings you have. We can explore these questions together during our upcoming session. -Amber

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Dr. Crisfield explains translanguaging.

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Translanguaging - should we all be doing it? - Article

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Translanguaging - should we all be doing it? - Article

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Translanguaging - should we all be doing it?

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Translanguaging is becoming a hot topic in education, especially in international schools, where linguistically diverse classes are the norm. However, the topic also generates confusion and concern for many educators, due to the fluid nature of the definition and conflicting/concurrent definitions such as code-switching, code-meshing, interlingual teaching and so on.

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Dr. Crisfield explains process for planning for translanguaging.

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Theorizing Translanguaging for Educators - Article

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Theorizing Translanguaging for Educators - Article

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Q&A Article by Dr. Ofelia Garcia

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Dr. Ofelia Garcia on Translanguaging - Lecture

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Dr. Ofelia Garcia on Translanguaging - Lecture

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Jim Cummins on Language Identity - Video

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Jim Cummins on Language Identity - Video

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Linguist Jim Cummins Explains the importance of embracing all languages in our classrooms.

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In Prof. Ofelia García's video, she speaks about how "all bilingual communities translanguage ... it's just the schools that don't allow them to do it." Might you have any examples of successful case studies (other international schools) that have moved from a model where there is only one language of instruction and social interaction, to one that actively promotes and embraces a plurality of languages being used for both learning and social engagement?

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I really like the way Harvard's Project Zero makes metacognitive practices visible and easily acquirable so that students can add all of these thinking routines to their metacognitive repertoire and - most importantly - be cognisant that they are doing so. What are some heuristics, tools, frameworks, resources, etc. that teachers and students can use to explicitly practice translanguaging?

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Are there any case studies of translanguaging between Japanese and English? (The articles mainly mention Spanish, French, and Welsh alongside English.) -Kelly

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Are there any case studies of translanguaging between Japanese and English? (The articles mainly mention Spanish, French, and Welsh alongside English.) -Kelly

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What are some recommendations for our international school in Japan that support the English language development of EAL students (our majority) while continuing to challenge the language development of native English-speakers? -Kelly

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What are some recommendations for our international school in Japan that support the English language development of EAL students (our majority) while continuing to challenge the language development of native English-speakers? -Kelly

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In Montessori classrooms, especially for the 3-6 classrooms, we emphasize the importance of order as children are highly sensitive to it - including order in how they relate to others via language. I’ve seen many schools who have “bilingual classrooms” but they almost all have each teacher use only their “dominant” language. Since translanguaging in the classroom is about trying by to get rid of this thinking that there is a dominant language and trying to instead accept and utilize all of a child’s language repertoire, should that also be extended to the teachers if they are able to communicate in other languages? Or should there still be consistency for the child’s sense of order and language development that, although the children amongst themselves can use their many languages, a teacher mainly utilizes only one language?

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According to the studies that show the effectiveness of translanguaging, what were the durations of those studies and what were the metrics used to measure effectiveness?  And have there been any comparative studies with the various immersion strategies? -Wind

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Can you point us to some of your favorite links where translanguaging techniques are inventoried? -Wind

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Translanguaging for Emergent Biliguals - Fu, Hadjioannou, Zhou

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Translanguaging for Emergent Biliguals - Fu, Hadjioannou, Zhou

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Translanguaging for Emergent Bilinguals: Inclusive Teaching in the Linguistically Diverse Classroom (Language and Literacy Series)

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Translanguaging for Emergent Bilinguals: Inclusive Teaching in the Linguistically Diverse Classroom (Language and Literacy Series) [Fu, Danling, Hadjioannou, Xenia, Zhou, Xiaodi, Genishi, Celia, Alvermann, Donna E., García, Ofelia] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Translanguaging for Emergent Bilinguals: Inclusive Teaching in the Linguistically Diverse Classroom (Language and Literacy Series)

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The Translanguaging Classroom - Garcia, Ibarra Johnson, Seltzer

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The Translanguaging Classroom - Garcia, Ibarra Johnson, Seltzer

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The Translanguaging Classroom: Leveraging Student Bilingualism for Learning

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The Translanguaging Classroom: Leveraging Student Bilingualism for Learning [Garcia, Ofelia, Johnson, Susana Ibarra, Seltzer, Kate, Valdes, Guadalupe] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Translanguaging Classroom: Leveraging Student Bilingualism for Learning

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Article with lenses for planning for translanguaging

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François Grosjean

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François Grosjean
University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland

A number of myths about bilingualism are discussed in my new book, Bilingual: Life and Reality (Harvard University Press, 2010). They are summarized here.

Bilingualism is a rare phenomenon. WRONG. It has been estimated that more than half the world's population is bilingual, that is lives with two or more languages. Bilingualism is found in all parts of the world, at all levels of society, in all age groups. Even in countries with many monolinguals, the percentage of bilinguals is high. For example, one can estimate that there are as many as 50 million bilinguals in the United States today.

Bilinguals acquire their two or more languages in childhood. WRONG. One can become bilingual in childhood, but also in adolescence and in adulthood. In fact, many adults become bilingual because they move from one country (or region) to another and have to acquire a second language. With time, they can become just as bilingual as children who acquire their languages in their early years (minus the native speaker accent). In general, people become bilingual because life requires the use of two or more languages. This can be due to immigration, education, intermarriage, contact with other linguistic groups within a country, and so on.

Bilinguals have equal and perfect knowledge of their languages. WRONG. This is a myth that has had a long life! In fact, bilinguals know their languages to the level that they need them. Some bilinguals are dominant in one language, others do not know how to read and write one of their languages, others have only passive knowledge of a language and, finally, a very small minority, have equal and perfect fluency in their languages. What is important to keep in mind is that bilinguals are very diverse, as are monolinguals.

Real bilinguals have no accent in their different languages. WRONG. Having an accent or not in a language does not make you more or less bilingual. It depends on when you acquired your languages. In fact, some extremely fluent and balanced bilinguals have an accent in the one, or the other, language; other, less fluent, bilinguals may have no accent at all.

Bilinguals are born translators. WRONG. Even though bilinguals can translate simple things from one language to another, they often have difficulties with more specialized domains. The reaction people have is almost always, "But I thought you were bilingual!". In fact, bilinguals use their languages in different situations, with different people, in different domains of life (this is called the complementarity principle). Unless they learned their languages formally (in school, for example), or have trained to be translators, they often do not have translations equivalents in the other language.

Mixing languages is a sign of laziness in bilinguals. WRONG. Mixing languages such as code-switching and borrowing is a very common behavior in bilinguals speaking to other bilinguals. It is a bit like having coffee with milk instead of just straight black. The two language repertoires are available in bilingual situations and can be used at will. Many expressions and words are better said in the one or the other language; mixing permits to use the right one without having recourse to translation which simply may not do justice to what one wants to express. This said, in other situations, bilinguals know that they cannot mix their languages (e.g. when speaking to monolinguals) and they then stick to just one language.

Bilinguals are also bicultural. WRONG. Even though many bilinguals are also bicultural (they interact with two cultures and they combine aspects of each), many others are monocultural (e.g. the inhabitants in the German speaking part of Switzerland who often acquire three or four languages during their youth). Thus one can be bilingual without being bicultural just as one can be monolingual and bicultural (e.g. the British who live in the USA).

Bilinguals have double or split personalities. WRONG. Bilinguals, like monolinguals, adapt their behavior to different situations and people. This often leads to a change of language in bilinguals (e.g. a Japanese-English bilingual speaking Japanese to her grandmother and English to her sister). This change of language has led to the idea that bilinguals are "different" when speaking the one, or the other, language. But like monolinguals, it is the situation or the person one is speaking to which induces slight changes in behavior, opinions, feelings, etc., not the fact that one is bilingual.

Bilinguals express their emotions in their first language. WRONG. Some bilinguals have grown up learning two languages simultaneously and hence have two first languages with which they will express their emotions. And for the majority of bilinguals who have acquired their languages successively-first one language and then, some years later, another-the pattern is not clear. Emotions and bilingualism produce a very complicated but also very personal reality that has no set rules. Some bilinguals prefer to use one language, some the other, and some use both of them to express their feelings and emotions.

Bilingualism will delay language acquisition in children. WRONG. This is a myth that was popular back in the middle of the 20th Century. Since then much research has shown that bilingual children are not delayed in their language acquisition. This said, one should keep in mind that bilingual children, because they have to deal with two or more languages, are different in some ways from monolingual children, but definitely not on rate of language acquisition. As for bilingual children with language challenges (e.g. dyslexia), they are not proportionally more numerous than monolingual children with the same challenges.

The language spoken in the home will have a negative effect on the acquisition of the school language, when the latter is different. WRONG. In fact, the home language can be used as a linguistic base for acquiring aspects of the other language. It also gives children a known language to communicate in (with parents, caretakers, and, perhaps, teachers) while acquiring the other.

If parents want their children to grow up bilingual, they should use the one person - one language approach. WRONG. There are many ways of making sure a child grows up bilingual: caretaker 1 speaks one language and caretaker 2 speaks the other; one language is used in the home and the other outside the home; the child acquires his/her second language at school, etc. The critical factor is NEED. The child must come to realize, most of the time unconsciously, that he/she needs two or more languages in everyday life. This is where the one person - one language approach often breaks down as the bilingual child quickly realizes that the weaker (often minority) language is not really needed (the caretakers or other family members often speak the other, stronger language, to one another, so why keep up the weaker language?). A better approach is that all family members use the weaker language at home, if at all possible, so as to increase the child's exposure to it and mark the language's "main" territory.

Children raised bilingual will always mix their languages. WRONG. If bilingual children interact in both bilingual and monolingual situations, then they learn to mix languages at certain times only. When they are with monolinguals (e.g. Grandma who doesn't speak any English), they quickly learn to speak just the one language (communication breaks down otherwise). It is important though that the situation be truly monolingual (and not a "pretend situation" in which a bilingual parent pretends not to know the other language); children will make an effort to speak only one language if they feel it is vital for communication. Thus, caretakers will want to create natural monolingual environments where children will need, and hence use, just one language.

For further reading click on the following links:

1. François Grosjean's new book Bilingual: Life and Reality (Harvard University Press, 2010)

2. A short text, "What parents want to know about bilingualism", by François Grosjean

3. An interview of François Grosjean on bilingualism

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Francois Grosjean - Myths about bilingualism bilingualism

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Francois Grosjean, François Grosjean, Grosjean, psycholinguistics, language processing, bilingualism, biculturalism, sign language, aphasia, applied linguistics, BIMOLA, language processing in aphasics, prosodic structures, second language grammar checking, Life with two languages, Bilingualism: Language and Cognition

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Centre for Educators of Bilingual and Multilingual Learners

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Centre for Educators of Bilingual and Multilingual Learners

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Excellent blog with ideas for honoring all languages.

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A UK-based social enterprise that focuses on equipping international schools with multilingualism and bilingualism best practices. Read Blog

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-How am I already fostering flexible use of languages?
-What ideas am I interested in trying?

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Consider an upcoming learning experience or potential learning opportunity. Use this process to consider the role of translanguaging to plan.

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It is very nice way that children think in their own language and understand first what they are working on. Then discuss together in English with other people. This is going on in our classroom everyday naturally. I just wonder that each child could reach a native speaker level for both languages as same as the child who uses only one language?  Or, does it depend on that child's language skills?  Naoko

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EKC

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Now I know...
Next I will...

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In the 12-15 environment a major focus is forming a community and capitalizing on adolescents' desire to build relationships with their peers. Supporting TL practices in academic work is relatively straightforward but we see cliques forming in our community because of comfort level with English. How do you support authentic communication and forming bonds when there isn't a shared language of expression? Teens can also be extremely self-conscious about practicing a language that is new to them and can be very risk averse, how do you encourage those students who are new to English or Japanese to step out of their comfort zone while respecting their identity as a Japanese speaker? -Emily

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In our environment, the adolescent community, all languages are welcome: English, Japanese, Italian, Fiipino, Chinese, Spanish...). In addition, we aid the working development by offering chances to use their mother tongue during any of the stages of a project: input-process-output. Then my question is: What else can we do to support translanguaging? Arigato!

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In Upper El, we let the students research in any language and then bring it back to English with the presentation and the writing. This is most likely to occur in history where Japanese books are more plentiful than English books. During Learning From Home, we saw the research taking place in French and Italian, too. Google Translate has been useful for typing stories and reports for students arriving from Italy and Spain during their first months in Japan because it helps those students identify cognates and sentences patterns.

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In Upper El, we let the students research in any language and then bring it back to English with the presentation and the writing. This is most likely to occur in history where Japanese books are more plentiful than English books. During Learning From Home, we saw the research taking place in French and Italian, too. Google Translate has been useful for typing stories and reports for students arriving from Italy and Spain during their first months in Japan because it helps those students identify cognates and sentences patterns.

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In our environment, the adolescent community, all languages are welcome (English, Japanese, Italian, Filipino, Spanish...). In addition, we aid the working process by offering chances to use their mother tongue during the input, process, and output stages of a project. What else can we do to embrace translanguaging?

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The language that is most difficult for a person to learn depends on their native tongue and on how closely their native language is related to the one they are trying to learn.

For instance, while the Japanese language has been touted as one of the most difficult languages for Americans to master, it is not so for Chinese speakers.

The reason Japanese is so hard for native English speakers, according to Richard Brecht, director at the Center for Advanced Study of Language at the University of Maryland, has to do with the complex writing systems of Japanese, which are completely different from the A-to-Z alphabet. Japanese has three different alphabets kanji, which is made up of about 15,000 characters, kata-kana that's used for emphasis, and hira-gana for spelling suffixes and grammar. [ 10 Weird Things People Do Every Day (and Why )]

Japanese is ranked by the U.S. Foreign Services Institute as the most difficult language for native English speakers to learn. The institute uses the time it takes to learn a language to determine its difficulty 23-24 weeks for the easiest and 88 weeks for the hardest.

Languages included in the institute's easiest category are Danish, French, Italian, Spanish and Swedish.

And languages in the hardest category are Arabic, Cantonese, Japanese, Korean and Mandarin Chinese.

Native Japanese speakers, on the other hand, have considerable difficulty learning the English language. Several linguists have pointed out that Japanese speakers have trouble distinguishing between the l and r sounds in English, because the Japanese language doesn't differentiate these two sounds.
Got a question? Email it to Life's Little Mysteries and we'll try to answer it. Due to the volume of questions, we unfortunately can't reply individually, but we will publish answers to the most intriguing questions, so check back soon.

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The language that is most difficult for a person to learn depends on their native tongue and on how closely their native language is related to the one they are trying to learn. For instance, while the Japanese language has been touted as one of the most difficult languages for Americans to master, it is not so for Chinese speakers.

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In your past experience have you ever witnessed a child that has dyslexia but excel in a different language compared to their native tongue?

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Now I know

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Now I know the importance of honoring and supporting the development of other students languages

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Now I know the importance of honoring and supporting the development of other students languages

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That it can be very useful to use a main language to help build writing in a new language.

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That translanguaging is a pedagogy, not a programme, and that MST is already embracing some of this pedagogy. I think there are strong connections between translanguaging and our school core values.  Next I will..... continue the conversation! There is lots more to discuss about how translanguaging may be helpful in explaining our language model to parents, and helping us create a more cohesive language model going forward - that supports both English and Japanese acquisition, and is also respectful of other languages.

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Now I know that

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Think about how to make a multi-lingual book that students read in any language they want.

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Collect Student Samples and Evidence and Post here...

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Collect Student Samples and Evidence and Post here...

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Montessori School of Tokyo - Tranlanguaging (Feb. 2021) (1)

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In our toddler community, there is not much exchange of language going on, the adult is a big part to take initiative or using language.  We can reflect on today’s session and think about what we can apply to our environment.  We definitely agree with the core values of this pedagogy, and we believe that language is not only just a tool for communication but also it is a big part of constructing one’s identity, personality, dignity, etc.. and the way that the children perceive this ability will make a big impact on how they develop for sure.  We really appreciated the session and will think about how we put it into practice for our level.

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In our toddler community, there is not much exchange of language going on, the adult is a big part to take initiative or using language.  We can reflect on today’s session and think about what we can apply to our environment.  We definitely agree with the core values of this pedagogy, and we believe that language is not only just a tool for communication but also it is a big part of constructing one’s identity, personality, dignity, etc.. and the way that the children perceive this ability will make a big impact on how they develop for sure.  We really appreciated the session and will think about how we put it into practice for our level.

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As Montessorians we know about Sensitive Periods of brain development. As international school teachers, we feel a push from parents (and formerly admin) to have our class learning to speak English. Merging these two is a unique task at MST.