Bilingual literacy is a term used to describe the literacy, particularly literacy development, of second language speakers and learners. It is difficult to separate the literacy component from the larger issue of multiple language learning and speaking. The following summarises fragmented, personal research in the topic of bilingualism and bilingual literacy.
Literacy describes the ability to read and write in a range of different contexts, the ability to use and understanding written language and is connected to speaking, listening and critically analysing information (Krause, 2010). Literacy is a sociocognitive activity, in that literacy and the learning of literacy takes place in a sociocultural setting, which influence the meanings and purpose of words in language (Langer, 1990).
Where different societies within a country speak different languages, there exists majority language and a minority language, where majority and minority refer to societal power of those that speak the language (Hornberger, 1998). The minority language speakers, literate in their own language, are forced to learn and become literate in the majority language. For this reason, Hornberger (1998) states that Indigenous and immigrant languages in danger across the world as they are “subjected to seemingly irresistible social, political, and economic pressures” (p. 439).
In education, the minority language speakers are taught the majority language as they are learning the language. Grant and Wong (2003) estimate that in the United States of America “30–40% of school-age English language learners fail to reach acceptable levels of English reading [based on State-wide, standardised testing] by the end of their elementary schooling” (p. 387). They believe that English reading specialist teachers are not trained adequately for teaching language minority students and that there had been little research about English literacy development for minority language speakers. However the nature of standardised testing means that they most likely expected the same English reading level as first language English students.
Understanding how bilingual speakers construct meaning from text is an important consideration in bilingual education. A small study by Langer (1990) found, in their group of Mexican-American students, that it was the strategies employed for meaning construction in Spanish (the first language), rather than English fluency, which had the greatest effect on English reading ability. Additionally, greater understanding of difficult passages of English text was achieved when they were mentally processed in Spanish. The literacy context was also found to be important, as the students had greater understanding of the story genre when written in English than the Spanish written factual report. These observations indicate that the first language of the speakers has a clear role in second language education.
When studying the Oyster-Adams Bilingual School (Washington DC, USA), Freeman (as cited by Hornberger, 1998) found that while the school embed English-Spanish bilingual education in the school curriculum, teaching pedagogy and social relations, the languages were not used equally. Examples given for this inequality were English code switching in Spanish classes and English written school district tests, however the degree which the school controls district tests is questionable. It was found that the school created an environment in which minority language learners could speak and learn in their language and promoted their rights, while teaching the majority language learners a second language and acceptance of minority language speakers. At this school the majority language learners were taught the second language in a method that treated the language as a resource for students, in this case a resource for learning, which is an approach Hornberger (1998) advocates for teaching languages to majority language speakers.
The future of bilingual education requires that bilingualism is built into all aspects of education, so that students are taught “how to transfer knowledge and strategies acquired in one language to another language” (García, 2000). By giving bilingual language and biliteracy equal time with content, the languages will be a resource that students will draw upon in their education. Future personal research will seek to establish a better picture of bilingualism and bilingual literacy and techniques to use in a classroom to develop bilingualism and bilingual literacy.
References
García, G.E. (2000). How will bilingual/ESL programs in literacy change in the next millennium? Reading Research Quarterly, 35(4), 521-522. Retrieved from Education Research Complete database
Grant, R. & Wong, S. (2003). Barriers to literacy for language-minority learners: An argument for change in the literacy education profession. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 46(5), 386. Retrieved from Education Research Complete database.
Hornberger, N.H. (1998). Language policy, language education, language rights: Indigenous, immigrant, and international perspectives. Language in Society, 27(04), 439-458. doi: 10.1017/S0047404598004011
Krause, K.-L., Bochner, S., Duchesne, S., & McMaugh, A. (2010). Educational psychology: For teaching and learning (3rd ed.). South Melbourne, Australia: Cengage Learning
Langer, J. A. (1990) Meaning construction in school literacy tasks: A study of bilingual students. American Educational Research Journal, 27(3), 427. doi: 10.3102/00028312027003427
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