Elisa Xu
Immigration remains one of the most popular debates in the traditional immigrant-receiving countries such as Canada and the U.S. The newcomers usually feel pressured to learn new ways to think and behave so that they could attain membership in the host society. (Lee & Chen, 2000) This is a normal phenomenon not only for adults, but also for children. Newly arrived children usually have some language problems as they cannot communicate with their peers or teachers at school, and most importantly, they need to adapt to the new environment, unfamiliar surroundings, and conditions.
Previous research suggested that the enthusiasm of the teacher for children’s cultural heritage can stimulate their learning motivation and self-esteem. (Yao, 1985) In this sense, being interested in target students’ heritage culture and heritage language can provoke their learning motivation, create a safe place for them, and reduce their depressed mood caused by “cultural shock”. Some scholars and teachers have already begun to challenge the one language-only policy and suggest including students’ whole linguistic repertoire–many having an L2, L3, even L4–in the classroom. An interview did by British Council in London had shown an example.
Considering the social landscape nowadays, the increase in immigration, the student mobility, the travel, and the globalization across the world have driven scholars and language teachers to pay attention to the linguistic diversity in their classroom. (Kubota, 2016; Piccardo, 2013)
I deeply believe that the translanguaging, the plurilingualism or the code-switching teachers use in the classroom can help immigrant children improve their language skills, build their multicultural identity in the new host society, as well as reduce their depression or anxiety in the unfamiliar environment.
REFERENCES
Lee, B. K., & Chen, L. (2000). Cultural communication competence and psychological adjustment: A study of Chinese immigrant children’s cross-cultural adaptation in Canada. Communication Research, 27(6), 764–792.
Yao, E. L. (1985). Adjustment needs of Asian immigrant children. Elementary School Guidance & Counseling, 19(3), 222-227.
García, O. & Kleifgen, J. A. (2019). Translanguaging and Literacies. Reading Research Quarterly, 0(0), 1-19.
Miller, E. R. & Kubota, R. (2013). Second language identity construction. In Herschensohn, E. & Young-Scholten, M. (Eds.) Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge University Press.
Galante et al. (2020). “English-Only Is Not the Way to Go”: Teachers’ Perceptions of Plurilingual
Hi Elisa,
I really like your point here. Actually, one of my friends has the similar experience when she immigrate here at the age of 13. She told me she was sent to a French school when she came and all the courses are taught in French and she barely understand even single words. She felt frustrated and awful at that time and had no idea but find a private French tutor to learn French. My friend’s situation was not that bad because she was able to get a private tutor, but not everyone has that opportunity. Thus, the target language learning for immigrant children is really important and teachers and schools need to find a way such as using translanguaging, code-switching and plurilingualism to help them instead of just leave it aside.
Heng Ding
Hi Elisa,
I totally agree that translanguaging teaching methods can help immigrant children improve their language skills. When teaching students a new language, we as teachers should pay more attention to making a connection between students’ L1 language and the new language. This will not only help them better grasp the new language but also help them build their self-identity and better adapt to the new society.
Jundong Ma
Hello Elisa,
I could not agree more for the integration of cultural pedagogy in teaching. Respecting our learners’ prior knowledge experience and cultural experience would truly enhance the teaching-learning process. When you mentioned about heritage language and the plight among immigrant-children, I remember what Oakes and Peled (2017:94) note that the recognition of heritage language, (languages of our students, aside from English and French), “not only aids communications; it also constitutes an act of goodwill or kindness on the part of the host society (Canada or Montreal, for example) that can encourage integration, even if there is technically no legal duty to provide such recognition.” There is always the so-called humanitarian element. Your last paragraph on flourishing the multicultural identity of learners resonates with the mission of the Gouvernment du Quebec 1978:85 that” The government should take appropriate measures so that immigrants can have access in their heritage language to information related to public services, in particular in the areas of healthcare and education.” Relevant topic, indeed!
Regards,
Albert
Reference
Oakes, L., & Peled, Y. (2017). Chapter 4: Linguistic citizenship: identity, integration and interculturalism. In L. Oakes & Y. Peled (Authors), Normative language policy: ethics, politics, principles. Cambridge University Press. https://mcgill.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1013889112
Hi Elisa,
I totally agree with what you said. Plurilingualism can be helpful for immigrants to negotiate their identities in the new host society, and I also feel that it is helpful to keep and learn the culture of the country where they are from. It always happens that immigrants first suffer from getting integrated into western society, and then they gradually lose their Chinese identities. When they go back to China, they feel that they cannot integrate either. So plurilingualism is both good for integrating into the new environment and also maintain their previous identities.
Yurun