Bilingualism/Multiculturalism: Critical Issues and practices

The course is meant as an introduction to the rapidly developing field of bilingualism, multilingualism and multiculturalism studies. It combines four perspectives: sociolinguistic, linguistic, psycholinguistic and educational, so the course is divided into four main parts.

Part 1 starts with defining the phenomena of societal bilingualism/multilingualism, a bilingual/multilingual speaker, and attitudes towards bilingualism/ multilingualism.

Part 2 investigates the linguistic manifestations of bilingual/multilingual language acquisition and the phenomena of crosslinguistic influences.

Part 3 dwells on the psycholinguistic issue of cross-language competition in the bilingual mind.

Part 4 presents the educational perspective on the issues of plurilingual language teaching and intercultural competence.

Selected activities

Defining monolingualism

Defining bilingualism:

- according to L2 proficiency

- according to L2 use

Discussing bilingual social settings and typologies

Discussing the notions of multilingualism vs. bilingualism

Discussing criteria of individual multilingualism

Discussing societal multilingualism

Defining multilingualism and plurilingualism

Discussing the monolingual bias and fractional view of bilingualism and multilingualism

Discussing prejudice against bilingualism and multilingualism in western tradition:

- early approaches to individual bilingualism

- changing attitudes to societal bilingualism and multilingualism

Discussing the current position of English in the world, EIL and ELF

Discussing attitudes towards the spread of English and identity issues

Discussing attitudes towards multilingualism in Poland:

- historical perspective until present,

- the role of English in Poland and in Central Europe

Defining language mixing

- Code switching and language transfer

- The notion of crosslinguistic influence

Discussing concepts related to studies of crosslinguistic influence

Factors in language transfer

Defining transferability Discussing the role of language typology and psychotypology in CLI

- Objective and perceived/ assumed crosslinguistic similarity

Crosslinguistic similarity-difference relations and the levels of transfer

- Overall transfer, item transfer and system transfer

- Conceptual transfer

Student presentation of classroom-oriented activities

A micro-teaching session

Discussing the activities with the whole class

Student presentation of classroom-oriented activities

A micro-teaching session

Discussing the activities with the whole class

Discussing models of the bilingual mental lexicon and methods of its study

- the revised Hierarchical Model

- the distributed features models

- The BIA+ Model

Explaining cognate advantage in bilingual processing

Discussing models of multilingual processing and acquisition

Discussing language acquisition in bilingual children

Explaining how bilingualism affects cognitive control and memory

The bilingual advantage across the lifespan

Discussing the advantages of cumulative language learning experience

- Bilinguals vs. monolinguals

- Bilinguals vs. multilinguals

Language awareness and, metalinguistic awareness

Strategic language learning behaviour in bilinguals and multilinguals

Defining the notion of language awareness

Components of teachers’ language awareness

Traditional components of teachers’ language awareness

Discussing the role of language knowledge in teacher’s awareness

Components of teachers’ plurilingual awareness

Defining culture

Defining intercultural competence

Presenting and discussing teacher training activities from LEA Project, ECML Graz

http://archive.ecml.at/mtp2/ Lea/results/Activities/fernando.pdf

Student presentation of classroom-oriented activities

A micro-teaching session

Discussing the activities with the whole class

Student presentation of classroom-oriented activities

A micro-teaching session

Discussing the activities with the whole class

Provided by the lecturer in electronic versions

Aronin, L., D. Singleton (2008) Multilingualism as a New Linguistic Dispensation. International Journal of Multilingualism 5(1): 1-16.

Bialystok, E., Craik, F. I. M., Green, D. W., and Gollan, T. H. (2009) Bilingual Minds. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 10(3), 89-129. (Only pp. 89-105 and 119-121)

Cook, V. J. (1997). Monolingual bias in second language acquisition research [Electronic version], available at: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/vivian.c/Writings/ Papers/MonolingualBias.htm

De Angelis, G, and Selinker, L. (2001). Interlanguage Transfer and Competing Linguistic Systems in the Multilingual Mind. In: Cross-linguistic influence in Third Language Acquisition: psycholinguistic perspectives, J. Cenoz., B. Hufeisen & U. Jessner (eds), Multilingual Matters. Chapter 3 (pp. 42-58).

De Angelis, G. (2007) Third or Additional Language Acquisition. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. (only Chapter 1pp.1-16

Edwards, J. (2013). Bilingualism and Multilingualism: Some Central Concepts.The Handbook of Bilingualism and Multilingualism, 5-25.

http://www.ecml.at/Resources/tabid/128/ language/en-GB/Default.aspx

Jessner, U. (2008) Teaching third languages: Findings, trends and challenges. Language Teaching 41: 15-56.

Komorowska, H. (2006). Intercultural competence in ELT syllabus and materials design. Scripta Neophilologica Posnaniensia, 8, 59-83.

Komorowska, H. (2014) Analyzing Linguistic Landscapes. A diachronic Study of Multilingualism in Poland. In: A. Otwinowska and G. De Angelis (eds.) Teaching and Learning in Multilingual Contexts: Sociolinguistic and Educational Perspectives. (pp.19-31) Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

Otwinowska, A. (2014). Does multilingualism influence plurilingual awareness of Polish teachers of English?. International Journal of Multilingualism, 11(1), 97-119.

Pavlenko, A. (2009). Conceptual representation in the bilingual lexicon and second language vocabulary learning. The bilingual mental lexicon: Interdisciplinary approaches, 125-160.

Pavlenko, A. (2003a) "I never knew I was a bilingual": reimagining teacher identities in TESOL. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 2, 4, 251-268.

Ringbom, H. (2007). Cross-linguistic Similarity in Foreign Language Learning. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Chapters: 2(pp.5-8), 4 (pp.19-26), 7 (pp.54-58).

Traxler, M. J. (2011) Introduction to psycholinguistics: Understanding language science. John Wiley and Sons.

Upon finishing the course, the participants will have gained the knowledge and skills listed below.

Knowledge

The participant will

- be able to distinguish between mono-, bi- and multilingualism;

- be able to identify myths connected with bilingualism and multilingualism,

- understand major critical approaches towards the phenomena of bilingualism, multilingualism and multiculturalism;

- understand the phenomena of the spread of English, English as a Lingua Franca and English as an international language.

- be acquainted with the current theoretical “state of the art” of research on cognitive and linguistic aspects of bilingualism and multilingualism;

- be acquainted with bilingualism in Polish and European context and know the UE’s recommendation concerning language education in the UE;

- understand the notion of plurilingual language competence and pluriculturalism;

- understand the notion of intercultural competence;

- understand the notion of language awareness and language teacher’s plurilingual awareness.

Skills

The participant can:

- differentiate between biased and unbiased views of bilingualism, multilingualism and multiculturalism;

- define a bilingual and a multilingual from various perspectives;

- review major empirical findings and theoretical issues in the area of crosslinguistic influences;

- review major empirical findings and theoretical issues in the area of the bilingual mental lexicon;

- define intercultural awareness;

- enumerate the components of teacher’s plurilingual awareness.

The participant will:

- gain oral and written practice in designing and presenting classroom-oriented activities directed at raising crosslinguistic competence;

- gain oral and written practice in designing and presenting classroom-oriented activities directed at raising crosslinguistic competence.

No more than two absences for the semester are acceptable. The third absence results in additional homework in the form of a paper based on the source readings. The paper will be about 300 words long and should contain reflections on one or more aspects of the reading assigned for a class missed by the student.

The final grade will depend on three components divided into Content and Language factors:

1. Active participation in class 30%

- Content: quality of comments after reading home assignments, group discussion.

- Language: student’s oral fluency and accuracy, including the use of appropriate keyword vocabulary.

Reading the texts selected for each class is obligatory and fundamental to the following in-class participation (e.g. discussion). Short in-class tests to check the students’ understanding of the discussed topic are possible. Students can earn extra points (i.e. increase their grade by half) by preparing a 15-minute presentation of one of the topics included in the syllabus.

2. Portfolio assessment 30%

- Content: quality of reflection, quality of materials prepared, quality of class presentation and teaching skills.

- Language: student’s fluency and accuracy, including the use of appropriate keyword vocabulary.

Reflecting on the texts selected for each class is essential to the deeper understanding of the issues discussed.

Short in-class teaching activities will check the students’ practical abilities. Students will prepare a 15-minute micro-teaching presentation of their task, which will be discussed with the whole class. Presentation of class-oriented tasks is essential for developing teaching skills and for actively using the knowledge gained in the teaching practice.

3. Final-test results 40%

- Content: open-ended and closed-ended questions (True/False statements; multiple choice questions; cloze test). The test will be based on readings and class discussions.

- Language: student’s written fluency and accuracy, including the use of appropriate keyword vocabulary.

Test grades

5 - 93-100%

4+ - 85-92%

4 - 77-84%

3+ - 69-76%

3 - 60-68%

2 - less than 60%