Comments on: Can ESL teachers play a role in helping maintain the home language?

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By: Roxxan

Roxxan — Sat, 28 Oct 2017 11:52:00 +0000

Thank you Agnes for the post relates to the daily life. As we notice that there is an increasing number of immigrants settle down in Australian, most of them speak a foreign language and learn English as a second language. In this case, the children from these kind of families may be confused that what they learn in school and what they need to use at home is different. As Australian is a English speaking country, most of primary education institutions are English dominating, while children spend most of their time in schools where require English communication instead of their mother tough. As a result, children may be getting used to speak English rather than their family language. For example, a child learns how express himself in school, teachers may ask him using ‘English mode’, while he express the same willing at home, his parents may not be familiar with this, they may ask the child to switch the ‘language mode’ into mother tough. As a consequence, those immigrant children may gradually lose the proficiency of mother language and become native English speaker.

By: Nancy

Nancy — Wed, 18 Oct 2017 04:42:00 +0000

It is common sense to learn the language of the country where we stay. However, the preservation of home language also needs to be made prominent because of the advantages bilingualism bring to migrant children. Being bilingual not only broadens people horizon in many aspects of life but improves the competitiveness in the job market and opens up career opportunities. Thus, it is crucial to raise teachers’ awareness on the importance of bilingualism and promote the maintenance of mother tongue.

By: Gin Parrish

Gin Parrish — Thu, 12 Oct 2017 04:02:00 +0000

Thank you for shedding light on a very interesting aspect of bilingualism.

An idea I would like to contribute to this subject of study is that language is often associated with identities, and many studies of ‘multiple identities’ have shown that when switching from their first language to English, the learners often view themselves as a different ‘self’, compared with the ‘self’ they use when speaking their first language. Therefore, I think it’s important for the teachers to encourage students’ recognition and development of different selves, as it is essential for them to engage and socialise in various communities including at home with their parents and relatives, and at school with local and international friends.

By: Long leg

Long leg — Fri, 06 Oct 2017 00:33:00 +0000

Home language maintenance could be seen in many Vietnamese families who have lived in exotic countries for a long time. As my experience, I met many Vietnamese people who were born in Australia, America or other countries normally communicate by English in their daily life, at school or in their worksite, and they, of course, can read and write English naturally as a normal native one. However, their Vietnamese ability has be seen as very low level. They may understand Vietnamese, but couldn’t speak fluently and unable to read or write Vietnamese due to lack of formal instruction. However, I can’t deny the advantages they can get from their bilingual ability. They can easily emerge into both these languages communities. In my opinion, ESL teachers, instead of advising learners and their parents to change their home language to English only, should encourage their learners maintain their home language alongside English learning at school.

By: Rąwąn Alħąlwąni

Rąwąn Alħąlwąni — Sun, 01 Oct 2017 16:41:00 +0000

It is an interesting topic actually that I have come across an article that tackle the same issue. As the Census 2016 data showed, more than 500,000 homes spoke only English which indicate that Australian students are stopping learning a second language (Theodosiou, 2017). The article that I came across, Preparing Bicultural, Bilingual Children to Succeed in School, advices families to concentrate on enhancing the child’s literacy by speaking the mother language more at home and pay less attention to English as the child will pick it up faster than the mother language. In addition, parents recently worry about their children’s academic performance and stress the importance of learning perfect English as they need it more to succeed in their life. Nevertheless, these parents forgot to look at the benefits their children can have with two or more languages for their future careers.

References:

Osborn, H. (2012). Preparing Bicultural, Bilingual Children to Succeed in School written. BILINGUAL, BICULTURAL CHILDREN. Retrieved from http://www.ChildCareExchange.com

Theodosiou, P. (2017). Census 2016: Second-language learning in Australia ‘needs urgent attention.’ SBS. Retrieved from http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/06/27/census-2016-second-language-learning-australia-needs-urgent-attention

By: MonyCRole

MonyCRole — Thu, 14 Sep 2017 14:39:00 +0000

It is true that children who knows both languages in their home country and the country they migrate to could be more outstanding in future competitive situations, such as competitions, job hunting and research conducting, because their capacity of understanding bilingual literacies would grant them the ability to process complex work more thoroughly. For instance, in China’s job market, candidates with bilingual or even multilingual capability will receive privilege in job interviews and could be prioritized in employment.

Furthermore, the significance of mother tongue cannot be underestimated. The first language provides the speakers with logic of the language by building the frame of the language and the culture it represents so that the speakers could have access to the language system and form the idea of what a language suggests, offering a rudiment for further learning of other languages.

By: Bindu pokhrel

Bindu pokhrel — Fri, 08 Sep 2017 07:53:00 +0000

Language is always at the center of a communication process. It works as a tool for exchanging our ideas and thoughts, to understand others and express ourselves so being acquainted with the language of the place where we live in is substantially crucial. In the present global context students are exposed to other languages along with their local dialects or heritage languages. Different studies have shown that students who are good in their native language can perform well in other languages too and also the bilingualism benefits them in various ways. Many psychologists believe that multilingual children are faster, smarter and possess higher cognitive skills. ESL teachers can play a vital role to inculcate the supreme virtues of attaining their first language among the learners. If English teaching is made flexible with the distinct contextual concepts since the same formula or principle may not imply across the globe, professional ESL teachers have to be able to help the students enhance their English language skills as well as motivate them to learn their native language at the same time. Being bilingual or multilingual is a privilege and learning mother tongue can also be seen through a cultural perspective. Every culture is important and so is every dialect.

By: Jo.

Jo. — Wed, 06 Sep 2017 10:31:00 +0000

I agree that teachers should be the grassroots activists in promoting the values of multilingualism. Teaching as a profession, on the background of larger institutional pressure, requires us to deploy most efficient strategies to get the highest accomplishment out of our students in the shortest time. Efficiency and quick results, however, are not always sustainable. Sometimes we just forget that what we do within the school can have a long-term impact on the studens’ lives. By requesting parents to forgo their own language for the sake of their children doing well at school, we unconsciously teach our students that there is only one right way of looking at life, and only one language to help them achieve goals. In the long run, such an “economical” mindset would undermine personal growth because it doesn’t support open-mindedness.

By: Agnes Bodis

Agnes Bodis — Wed, 06 Sep 2017 05:09:00 +0000

In reply to Gloria Christabel. Thank you, Gloria! How interesting that the prestige of the English language works in a similar way in a country where English is not actually an official language - even though it's emerging to become at least a de facto official language.

By: Agnes Bodis

Agnes Bodis — Wed, 06 Sep 2017 02:00:00 +0000

In reply to Yeongju Lee. Thank you! I think you are talking about a different group of students: adults, whose L1 would be quite established by the time they arrive in Australia. My post is about children who move to Australia and for whom English becomes a dominant language in a short period of time while their L1 becomes less significant or they might even lose proficiency of it. It is important that adult learners of English engage with the language outside of the classroom but that can happen in many ways, not only living with speakers of other languages.

By: Agnes Bodis

Agnes Bodis — Wed, 06 Sep 2017 01:54:00 +0000

In reply to HANIFA RAHMAWATI. Hi Hanifa, thanks for your comment! Regarding your question, the internet can work as a great out-of-class medium to practice English in EFL contexts. Just like I wouldn't encourage parents to switch to English when they move to Australia, I wouldn't want them to do so in other countries either.

By: Agnes Bodis

Agnes Bodis — Wed, 06 Sep 2017 01:49:00 +0000

In reply to Flora Launay. Thank you, Flora! As you say, using L1 can function as a tool to empower students and their identities as bilinguals in the classroom. Little things like 'teach me these words in your won languages' when you are covering vocabulary in French can make a difference.

By: Ha Pham

Ha Pham — Mon, 04 Sep 2017 11:25:00 +0000

A new language opens a new horizon. Clearly, being bilingual offers people with greater chances of knowing new things, new cultures, and new people. As shown above, those who speaks 2 languages can get better jobs and achieve more success than their monolingual counterparts. So why do people try to forget their home language just to learn new one? it is better to maintain the 2 languages in a more balanced way, isnt it?

By: Binisha Sharma

Binisha Sharma — Mon, 04 Sep 2017 04:36:00 +0000

For me personally, learning the language of the country where we stay is very essential. Yet, the mother tongue should not be forgotten.
Probably, the first generations of immigrants speak English at school as well as other places and at home, they may perhaps speak the mother tongue which may to some extent preserve the language. However, for the next generations, English will be the language for both learning as well as communication. As a result, mother tongue disappears. The advantage of bilingualism is directly associated with demand for language skills which expands employment opportunities too. Thus, opportunities to learn mother tongue formally, proficient teachers, necessary planning are required to encourage bilingualism and preserve mother tongue.