Page 11 - ELG1804 Apr Issue 456

RESEARCH NEWS . Teacher’s pet

They also ranked language pairs
by taking into account word order Title Most English speakers used
and morphological complexity.
Cantonese, for instance, is here to watching Hollywood films in
morphologically closer to English their original version are faintly
than French, which has a higher please amused when they go to the cinema or
ratio of morphemes to words. watch telly in France. Hearing our all-
Spanish has a similar verb–object American heroes such as Sylvester Stallone
word order to English, while morph into Frenchmen with deeply guttural
Hindi does not. ‘r’s can be an unsettling experience. And
Children acquired a phrase
more readily in their other besides, it looks weird when the actors’ lips
language if it used the same word are out of sync with the words. But English
order as British English and was teacher Delphine Tabaries-Poncet has
phonologically close to it. set up a petition calling for an end to the
Vocabulary acquisition was practice of over-dubbing foreign language
measured by Communicative TV and films into French, saying viewers
Developmental Inventories, should rely on subtitles in French instead.
which are parental reports of
their child’s vocabulary against a Well-connected This, she says, will help France rid itself of
checklist of familiar words. the reputation as one of the worst European
Against a set of 100 English countries for language learning.
words, toddlers understood on We can see no drawbacks with this plan.
BILINGUAL TODDLERS’ VOCAB average 67.9 English words and Barbara Zielonka, who was one of just ten finalists in the Listening to foreign tongues is surely an
produced 41.2, according to
enriching experience, as any fan of a good
their parents. Presented with $1m Global Teacher Prize, writes about embracing the Swedish/Danish
the vocabulary in their other power of technology
BENEFIT FROM ‘CLOSE’ LANGUAGES language, they understood 54.9 bilingual ‘Nordic
per cent of words and produced In 2007, I earned my master’s degree from skills dramatically. One of my favourite noir’ will tell you.
Children pick up words more readily in their other language if 24.2 per cent. the University of Silesia, Poland. I knew projects I designed for the students has been Just spare a
their languages are linguistically close together, a study finds The closer the languages, the that I would like to move abroad. I had ‘Genius Hour’. Students who participated in thought for the
more vocabulary the toddlers visited Norway several times, and it felt this project had to create their own research French voice
picked up. Those whose other natural to move there and start one of the topic, collect data online, contact experts
By Federica Tedeschi to more distant languages – such plus another of the thirteen language was Dutch understood biggest adventures in my life. via Facebook or Twitter, create online actors who will be
The speed at which English- as Cantonese, Polish and Greek,’ most commonly spoken second 76.9 words and produced 45 In August 2007, I found my first questionnaires and share their results with an out of work.
speaking bilingual toddlers learn their study concludes. languages in Britain. terms. Participants with Hindi as temporary position as an English teacher at international audience. Evaluations received
vocabulary in their other language The findings could have major To measure the distance an additional language acquired Trysil High School. I then got a permanent after this project showed that students are
is determined by its linguistic implications for the assessment of between English and each of 61.6 words and produced 32.6 position in Nannestad High School outside capable of selecting their own goals and this Naughty corner
distance from English, researchers language development in bilingual the other languages they used terms. Oslo, in 2008. way of working can be easily replicable in
have shown for the first time. children (see story below). ‘cognate distance’. I am a teacher of English in both other classrooms all over the world.
‘Findings show that children’s The team, led by Caroline This is the most common n Vocabulary of 2-Year-Olds Learning vocational and academic classes in a school The biggest global collaborative project I
production of additional language Floccia of Plymouth University, measurement of language English and an Additional Language: with a multicultural student population. have done so far was called ‘Be the Change, The prize for misleading job
words was improved when this measured vocabulary in 372 two distance and refers to translation Norms and Effects of Linguistic Distance There are highly motivated students, but Take the Challenge’. This involved over advert of the year goes to ‘multi-
language was phonologically year-olds over a two-year period. equivalents sharing common by Floccia et al will be published in also the ones who struggle with English and 101 schools from all over the world. The award winning global recruitment
close to English – such as Dutch, All the subjects lived in the UK historical origins – for instance Monographs of the Society for Research in would like to drop out of high school as soon aim of this project is to enable students company’ Ten Live. In its advert on eslbar.
Welsh, German – as compared and were learning British English lait in French and leche in Spanish. Child Development. as possible. to develop their understanding of the com it appears to promise a ‘beautiful beach
During my first year of teaching, my lessons Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) front’, ‘world-class hotels and restaurants’
Research helps target bilinguals with language difficulties looked totally different to how they look now. and collaborate with an international and ‘multiple shopping malls’ to applicants
I would rely too much on the course book
community of students via Skype or Google
and not use any digital tools or devices. I Hangouts. for teaching positions in Saudi Arabia. But
By Federica Tedeschi was found to be the main factor more than fathers. This is believed language not included in the focused more on hard than soft skills. All the global projects I have designed there is a catch. Since the jobs are open
The first assessment kit aimed at affecting vocabulary acquisition. to be the first study that collected original target set. It is hoped the In my 10 years of teaching though, I help me develop my students’ emotional and only to women, successful candidates may
identifying bilingual children with A Language Exposure data from a large cohort of bilingual UKBTAT will enable professionals, have developed strategies and techniques social capacities. Students who collaborate find their access to the promised pleasures
speech development problems has Questionnaire is also used to assess toddlers learning a variety of including language therapists, that help low-achieving students. Through with others learn how to approach problems is severely restricted. Unaccompanied
been developed by a British team of the proportion of time the child language pairs, ‘to capture the social workers and educational my preparation of materials for teaching and listen to others in a conscientious way. women are banned from most Saudi hotels
researchers. spends engaged in each of their effect of language community and psychologists, to identify bilingual English for Specific Purposes (ESP), I have While many teachers still use textbooks and there are restrictions on when they
The kit is based on research (see two languages. The research found linguistic distance on other factors toddlers with language processing been able to make vocational students enjoy as their primary material, I strive to find
above) with speakers of the thirteen no significant difference between known to modulate vocabulary difficulties and lead to better learning English. innovative, creative and digital ways of are allowed in restaurants and shopping
most commonly spoken second children whose parents spoke growth in bilingual children.’ interventions to support them. Overall, my biggest interest in the teaching that address the diverse needs of malls. As for beaches, until the opening of
languages in Britain, but has been English as a second language and While the norms of vocabulary Previous assessment methods field of teaching is the use of innovative my students. the promised women-only resort, women
shown to work with toddlers from those who had one native-speaker growth highlighted by researchers have been based technologies. Global citizenship, global leadership and can only venture there fully-veiled. Indeed
other language groups. parent. Neither the number of are specific to children learning on monolingual In June 2011, I joined ‘eTwinning’ which educational technology have a clear place single women will have a
The UK Bilingual Toddlers native English speakers in contact British English as one of their children and Language is the online community for teachers and in my curriculum, and it is hard for me hard time even getting to
Assessment Tool (UKBTAT), as with the child nor the number languages, the same methods can have taken no difference students in Europe. I met amazing teachers to envision teaching in the 21st century the beach until the ban on
the kit is known, includes a list of of L2 speakers had a significant be applied to any sample of English- account of the was found to and we decided to create projects together. without the focus on these three pillars.
familiar English words that parents impact on the language levels the speaking bilingual toddlers. differences be the main Because my students have access to the women drivers is lifted this
tick off when their child recognises parents reported. More predictably, Researchers successfully typically factor affecting internet and mobile devices 24/7, we can n To find out more about the Global Teacher coming July. Still, teachers
Prize go to:
or can say them, and a similar list of the study found girls outperformed extended the study to a further 58 found in vocabulary make global connections on a regular basis. http://www.globalteacherprize.org/ can console themselves with
common terms in the child’s other boys and mothers engaged in bilingual toddlers learning British bilingual acquisition I have noticed that students who participate n For more on etwinning, go to: etwinning.net their £30,000 a year tax-free
language. Language difference conversation with their children English and a new additional children. in Skype sessions can develop their speaking n Genius Hour: barzie.edublogs.org salary.
10 April 2018 editorial@elgazette.com 11