a trilingual teaching model for developing academic literacy skills in

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A Trilingual Teaching Model for A Trilingual Teaching Model for Developing Academic Literacy Skills Developing Academic Literacy Skills in in Classical Arabic (L1), Hebrew (L2) Classical Arabic (L1), Hebrew (L2) and and English (FL) in Southern Israel English (FL) in Southern Israel Dr. Sara Hauptman Literacy and Literature Dept., Achva Academic College of, Education, Be’er Tuvia 6 May 2010 Dr. Rachel Tal Hubert Humphrey Fellow, 2006- 2007 Head of English Studies, Amal Network

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A Trilingual Teaching Model for Developing Academic Literacy Skills in Classical Arabic (L1), Hebrew (L2) and English (FL) in Southern Israel Dr. Sara Hauptman Literacy and Literature Dept., Achva Academic College of, - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Page 1: A Trilingual Teaching Model for Developing Academic Literacy Skills in

A Trilingual Teaching Model forA Trilingual Teaching Model forDeveloping Academic Literacy Skills inDeveloping Academic Literacy Skills inClassical Arabic (L1), Hebrew (L2) andClassical Arabic (L1), Hebrew (L2) and

English (FL) in Southern IsraelEnglish (FL) in Southern Israel

Dr. Sara HauptmanLiteracy and Literature Dept., Achva Academic College of, Education, Be’er Tuvia

6 May 2010

Dr. Rachel TalHubert Humphrey Fellow, 2006-2007

Head of English Studies, Amal Network

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Today’s AgendaToday’s Agenda Overview of Trilingual Literacy Overview of Trilingual Literacy

Brief Literature ReviewBrief Literature Review

Trilingual Literacy Teaching ModelTrilingual Literacy Teaching Model

Research PopulationResearch Population

Research ToolsResearch Tools

Research FindingsResearch Findings

This presentation is based on a study written by Dr. Sara Hauptman, Dr. Fuaz This presentation is based on a study written by Dr. Sara Hauptman, Dr. Fuaz Mansur and Dr. Rachel Tal, entitled “A Trilingual Teaching Model for Developing Mansur and Dr. Rachel Tal, entitled “A Trilingual Teaching Model for Developing Academic Literacy Skills in Classical Arabic (L1), Hebrew (L2) and English (FL) in Academic Literacy Skills in Classical Arabic (L1), Hebrew (L2) and English (FL) in Southern Israel” which appeared in the Southern Israel” which appeared in the Journal of Multilingual and Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural DevelopmentMulticultural Development, Vol. 29, No. 3, 2008., Vol. 29, No. 3, 2008.

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Why Trilingual LiteracyWhy Trilingual Literacy

Many students in the Bedouin sector have similar problems in reading comprehension and writing in the three languages – Arabic, Hebrew and English

Sought strategies for advancing students’ skills in all three languages at the same time: Trigger transfer of strategies from one language to another Foster teamwork between teachers of the three different

languages

Make students appreciate the commonalities between languages and cultures

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OverviewOverview The trilingual teaching environment, in which English is

studied as a supplemental third language in addition to a mother tongue and a second language, is utilised for many student populations around the world

In Israel, Bedouin students need to succeed in matriculation exams in Classical Arabic (L1), Hebrew (L2) and English (FL) (Spolsky & Shohami, 1999)

This trilingual literacy teaching model was developed especially for 10th-grade Bedouin students in the south of Israel

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Overview (cont)Overview (cont) Model focused on academic literacy skills: developing and

promoting strategies for understanding texts of different genres and developing tools for writing short essays (Bravick, 1986; Flower, 1987; Flower & Hays, 1981; Hauptman, 1995; Tirney & Pearson, 1988) in each of the three languages.

These issues belong to the realm of Cognitive Academic Linguistic Proficiency (CALP) and constitute the academic aspects of the mastery of a language.

Due to brevity of the intervention, the study focused on specific aspects of CALP, primarily genre conventions and basic reading and writing strategies.

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Literature ReviewLiterature Review Research shows that the trilingual learning environment is

complex and multidimensional (Herdina & Jessner, 2000, 2002; Jessner & Cenoz, 2000a).

There is a positive cognitive influence of the level of performance and mastery in L1 and L2 on the level or performance and mastery of the third language (Cenoz, 2000).

The reciprocal influence of the three languages is not linear, but rather multidirectional and dynamic (Jessner & Cenoz, 2000a). Within this process there are interactions between various linguistic, social and personal factors. Each factor affects the entire process, which creates a global course of ‘language management skills’ (Jessner & Cenoz, 2000: 93). This assists the learner to make connections and distinctions between the languages.

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Literature Review (cont)Literature Review (cont) The study of English as a foreign language (EFL) influences

performance of the first language (Kecses & Papp, 2000a).

Herdina and Jessner (2000) argue that the process of learning three languages is unique and multidimensional, based on multilingual proficiency (2002) resulting from the interactions of multiple subsystems, including grapho-phonemic, syntactic, lexical, semantic and ‘textual’ or ‘genre’ systems; each subsystem in one language system interacting variously with other subsystems within the same language system (LS1) and the other language system (LS2).

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Trilingual Literacy Teaching Model – Theoretical BasisTrilingual Literacy Teaching Model – Theoretical Basis

This model is based on three assumptions in keeping with the research literature:

Transfer of cognitive and academic skills across languages:

Adult students learning two or three languages are able to recognize a pattern from one language system and transfer it to another. Kecses and Papp (2000b) believe there is a considerable transfer of cognitive and academic skills across languages.

McLaughlin’s (1990), research which followed the theory of Carroll (1967), found that students transfer linguistic knowledge regarding the cognitive mechanism for language acquisition. McLaughlin shows that expert students create their own schemas and strategies of reading comprehension that they generate from their experiences in reading texts in their mother tongue.

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Trilingual Literacy Teaching Model – Trilingual Literacy Teaching Model – Theoretical Basis (cont)Theoretical Basis (cont)

Common Conceptual Principles:

The second assumption is the perception concerning the essence of the academic literacy principles as universal cross-linguistic ones. This perception is based on the approach presented by Kecses and Papp (2000a) in their research where they coined the term Common Underlying Conceptual Based (CUCB) to denote that basic cross-linguistic conceptual principles underlie different types of texts the student is reading or writing.

Other researchers such as Biber (1986), Corson (1997), Gibbons and Lascar (1998) and Halliday and Hasan (1985) defined the various characteristics of the theoretical academic layer of texts as cross-linguistic and applicable to any language.

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Trilingual Literacy Teaching Model – Trilingual Literacy Teaching Model – Theoretical Basis (cont)Theoretical Basis (cont)

Cross-Lingual Interactions:

The third assumption is based on the perception that the trilingual learning environment allows cross-linguistic interactions (Cenoz & Genesee, 1998).

Eakle (2003) and Fitzgerald (1995) claim that after analyzing dozens of study programs designed to promote English as L2 or FL, most of the programs (except the cross-linguistic programs presented by Cummins, which account for 2.5% of all the programs) are programs where English is taught without relating to the multilingual system surrounding the learner. They argue that most of the programs are not based on a constructivist approach, where teachers assist the learners in utilizing their knowledge of other languages to improve the target language.

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Trilingual Literacy Teaching Model Trilingual Literacy Teaching Model

Unique trilingual learning environment that enabled dynamic interaction between languages.

This environment had two main features:

A trilingual textbook

Pedagogy of coordination between the three languages

Teachers assisted the learners in utilizing their knowledge of other languages to improve the target language.

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Trilingual Literacy Teaching Model – TextbookTrilingual Literacy Teaching Model – Textbook

Textbook had three sections –one for each language:

Part I Arabic (L1)

Part II Hebrew (L2)

Part III English

Each section contained a selection of literary and academic text genres, such as an informative text, an opinion piece, blurbs, a personal letter, a folktale, a fable and so forth.

Each genre was presented in a separate section and appeared in all three languages.

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Trilingual Literacy Teaching Model – Textbook (cont)Trilingual Literacy Teaching Model – Textbook (cont)

Each section contained 3-6 texts that demonstrated the genre. In addition, reading comprehension exercises which related both to the comprehension of the text in question and the analysis of the rhetorical, communicative and linguistic features of the genre were included. We also included a section with writing exercises related to the texts in question and the genre being studied.

For example, in the section on blurbs, the students were asked to write one or two paragraphs for a book cover for a story. This activity was repeated in every language.

Texts in each language were authentic and had not been translated from one language to another.

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Trilingual Literacy Teaching Model – Trilingual Literacy Teaching Model – Pedagogical CoordinationPedagogical Coordination

This model is based on pedagogical coordination between the three languages within the learning process:

Identical strategies of reading comprehension and writing skills taught simultaneously by the Arabic, Hebrew and English teachers to promote academic mastery in all three languages.

Teaching model promoted CALP in all three languages, using cross-linguistic teaching tools in trilingual learning environment.

Due to brevity of the intervention, the study focused on specific aspects of CALP, primarily genre conventions and basic reading and writing strategies.

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Trilingual Literacy Teaching Model – Trilingual Literacy Teaching Model – Pedagogical Coordination (cont)Pedagogical Coordination (cont)

The teachers of Arabic, Hebrew and English worked as one team after attending a joint in-service course where they learned the method and its principles and were familiarized with the study materials.

Together they decided:

In what order the different genres would be taught and what would be the specific reading and writing topics to be addressed in each genre.

How long it would take to teach each genre in all three languages in light of the reading and writing topics to be addressed and the expected difficulties in teaching the genres in each language.

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Trilingual Literacy Teaching Model – Pedagogical Trilingual Literacy Teaching Model – Pedagogical Coordination (cont)Coordination (cont)

The order and timing of the linking between the languages, in other words, whether a new topic should always be introduced first in Arabic (L1) or whether there were topics that would be better to present first in Hebrew (L2) or in English (FL).

Implementation of a trilingual bulletin board in each classroom where the written products of the program in each of the three languages could be posted. This bulletin board helped foster the educational atmosphere of the program.

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Trilingual Literacy Teaching Model – Trilingual Literacy Teaching Model – Methodology Methodology

Students were trained to create explicit and active transfer between the languages: from mother tongue (Arabic) to the second language (Hebrew) and from both of these to the third language (EFL).

The strategies and skills taught included the following: finding the main idea and supporting details, comparing and contrasting, sequencing, summarizing, using context skills, problem solving, guessing meaning of words from context, activating prior knowledge and predicting.

The model was based on the creation of a trilingual learning environment where universal principles create a bridge between the languages. The selected study materials and activities emphasized the cross-linguistic principles present in both reading comprehension and in writing. These principles were modeled and practiced in L1 (Arabic), L2 (Hebrew) and in English (FL).

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Trilingual Literacy Teaching Model – Trilingual Literacy Teaching Model – Methodology (cont) Methodology (cont)

The model attempted to develop academic literacy skills within a trilingual model, based on preplanned coordination between the topics studied in all three languages.

In the resulting trilingual learning environment, every reading or writing topic was worked on simultaneously in all three languages. For example, students were taught about blurbs in each language and then given blurbs in all three languages. They were then taught what conventions blurbs follow and were asked to find information such as the title of a book, the author, genre and the topic of the book.

Specific academic exercises were conducted in the same way in all three languages and enabled a constructivist transfer of literacy knowledge and allowed cross-linguistic interactions.

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Research QuestionsResearch Questions

1.Will this cross-linguistic program affect scores in Arabic (L1), Hebrew (L2) or in English (FL)? Which of the three languages will benefit the most?

2.Which areas of reading comprehension and/or writing skills will improve in terms of students’ scores after participating in the trilingual literacy program?

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Research Population – Bedouin SectorResearch Population – Bedouin Sector

Much of the Bedouin population in the south of Israel have difficult living conditions, and relatively low socioeconomic status (Abu-Saad, 1995, 1997).

The aggregate of cultural, social and geographical factors inpedes the successful education of the Bedouin population in the south of the country (Ben-David, 2004) The resulting deprivation directly or indirectly affects scholastic achievements in general and literacy achievements in particular.

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Research Population – Bedouin Sector (cont)Research Population – Bedouin Sector (cont)

The phenomenon of diglossia for all mother-tongue speakers of Arabic (Ferguson, 1959) presents an added challenge. Although they speak Arabic, they in effect need to be bilingual due to the diglossic nature of Arabic. The sharp variations in the informal language spoken in different Arabic-speaking countries make it necessary to use both forms of the language, formal (Classical Arabic) and informal (spoken). For this reason, this study focused on the Classical Arabic taught in school.

Bedouin students do not usually grow up in a literacy-rich environment; they are not typically surrounded by daily newspapers or reading books in any of the three languages. On this issue, Cummins (2000a), Cummins et al. (1987) and Diaz (2000) claim that the nature of society and socioeconomics of such an environment is a decisive factor in the progress towards academic literacy.

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Research Population – ParticipantsResearch Population – Participants

This study included 249 10th-grade students, aged 15-16, in lower level classes. (Lower level readers are students who do not meet grade level reading requirements, find reading difficult and who struggle with comprehension skills).

The students’ mother tongue was Arabic and they were exposed to Hebrew from the third grade (ages 8-9).

Students performed below level in reading comprehension in the three languages as determined by their scores on the national exam.

They attended high schools in the Negev area which were exclusively for Bedouin students.

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Research Population – Participants (cont) Research Population – Participants (cont)

The participants attended high schools in the Negev area which were exclusively for Bedouin students.

There were 191 students in the experimental group, 89 boys and 102 girls, and 58 in the control group, 27 boys and 31 girls.

The control group consisted of 10th-grade Bedouin students (ages 15-16) in the Negev. They also began Hebrew instruction in Grade 3 and English instruction in Grade 4. According to the results of the national exam, they were not proficient in the L1, L2 and FL.

The students in the control and experimental groups came from low socio-economic backgrounds, as well as parents with little schooling.

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Research ToolsResearch Tools

This study used three official State exams to test linguistics knowledge and literacy in each language, for students aged 15-16:

1. A test in Arabic as mother tongue and second official language of the country (AL1).

2. A test in Hebrew as the first/second language and first official language of the country. Here we used the scoring rubric for Hebrew as a second language (HL2).

3. A test in EFL.

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Research Tools (cont)Research Tools (cont)

The three exams have the same structure:

Part I: academic texts with exercises to ascertain linguistic knowledge and reading comprehension

Part II: a writing task to ascertain writing ability.

Each exam has a fixed official scoring rubric.

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Research Tools (cont)Research Tools (cont)To answer our research questions we analyzed the achievements of the research population in two ways:

Examination and analysis of the final global score for each examinee according to a frame of reference of 100% as determined in the rubric.

A comparison of achievements for identical items in reading comprehension and writing abilities for each examinee in each language. Here 100% was given for each item individually in order to evaluate specific differences between the languages as accurately as possible.

For reading comprehension, three key skills were evaluated: (a) understanding the main idea, (b) comprehension of key words and (c) comprehension of text structure.

For the writing task, three aspects were evaluated: (a) content, (b) structure and (c) language and style.

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Research ProceduresResearch Procedures

The students participating in the trilingual literacy experimental program were tested in three exams before the program started, and again after the program had ended.

Four months elapsed between the two sets of exams.

The control group also took these tests at the same time.

The exams were anonymous (each student had an identifying number used for all six exams) and were checked by the district counselors for the three languages.

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AcknowledgementsAcknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge the support of a grant from AmalNetwork, Tel Aviv, Israel.

We are also grateful to Prof. Elana Shohamy, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel, for her comments on the first version of the paper on this study.