Teacher beliefs regarding bilingualism in an English medium reading program

Abstract

Reading classes in schools where English is the medium of instruction are increasingly servicing a linguistically diverse population; however, teachertraining for English teachers lacks a focus on bilingualism. Using the context of Singapore, this paper analyses beliefs on bilingualism of English teachers in an early intervention reading program. It is based on the results of a survey sent to 270 teachers, in-depth interviews with 5 of the surveyed teachers, and observations of their classes. In keeping with the focus of their training program most teachers believe in an immersion approach though, ironically, they also believe that L1 can aid in learning English. The more experience the teacher has the more likely she is to believe that the L1 can aid in the teaching of English. There is an overlap of beliefs regarding immersion and bilingualism. On the basis of these findings I suggest implications for teacher education programs.

Teachers’ Declared Intentions to Shift Practice to Incorporate Second Language Acquisition (SLA) Theories

“…Such preparation may be warranted because recent studies suggest that teachers persist in beliefs about SLA that are not in keeping with current research on second language acquisition. For example, Vaish (2012) found that many teachers still believed that parents should not use their native tongue at home because it would delay their children's progress in learning English, even though researchers consistently found that such home language use was critical to becoming bilingual and being successful in school.…”

Socio-Environmental Factors Impacting on Teachers' Attitudes Towards Code-Switching in ESL Classrooms in a Rural District in Malaysia

“…Research has shown that teachers' attitudes towards classroom code-switching are dependent on their teaching experience, training background, their faithfulness to language policy and their beliefs in the functions of classroom code-switching (Vaish, 2012). The teachers could also be different in their teaching philosophies and pedagogical preferences (de la Campa and Nassaji, 2009).…”

“…First, the diversity of language policy across nations is salient. In Singapore and South Africa, the relatively strong monolingual policy in English teaching is advocated (Probyn, 2009;Vaish, 2012). Yet, the English program is differentiated by being an "immersion program" which focused on the enrichment of the children's language abilities and culture via the medium of a second language (e.g., Vaish, 2012) and a "submersion program" in which the "swim or sink" water metaphor (Baker, 1993) is adopted.…”

“…In Singapore and South Africa, the relatively strong monolingual policy in English teaching is advocated (Probyn, 2009;Vaish, 2012). Yet, the English program is differentiated by being an "immersion program" which focused on the enrichment of the children's language abilities and culture via the medium of a second language (e.g., Vaish, 2012) and a "submersion program" in which the "swim or sink" water metaphor (Baker, 1993) is adopted. In the submersion program, minimal appreciation is given to the first language, usually due to its reduced status as a minority language or a low-variety language (e.g., Breton-Carbonneau et al, 2012;Probyn, 2009).…”

Overseas Chinese Students’ Perceptions of the Influence of English on their Language and Culture

“…Bilingualism is a resource that people can use in different contexts for convenience and for language 'expressiveness' (García, 2009;Vaish, 2012). As such, an official regulation might work for TV, but it should be recognised that language in everyday life is much more fluid and flexible.…”