The Importance of Literacy in the Home Language

Abstract

While advantages of literacy in the home language have been widely documented, the Australian education system has not been proactive in providing institutional support for its development. This paper investigates the impact of (il)literacy in the home language on the academic, affective, and social development of bilingual/multilingual children and proposes principles that home-language-literacy programs should meet to be effective. It discusses programs that, although designed to develop literacy or second-language proficiency mainly in classroom contexts, could be easily adapted to address the needs of the linguistically and culturally diverse Australian context. We argue that the cost of not investing in successful homelanguage-literacy programs will be higher in the long run than their implementation costs and recommend that Australia should consider supporting grassroots home-language-literacy programs in a push to improve overall literacy outcomes for Australian home-language speakers.

Differences in use without deficiencies in competence: passives in the Turkish and German of Turkish heritage speakers in Germany

“…Our data relate nicely to what is now a large body of evidence, suggesting that mother-tongue literacy plays an important role in overall language development and maintenance as well as academic achievement more globally (Baker 2006;Biber and Hared 1991;Bigelow and Tarone 2004;Eisenchlas, Schalley and Guillemin 2013;Hoff 2006;Tsimpli 2014). Studies investigating bilingual communities in Canada, the United States and Australia show that individuals that are not supported by formal literacy training of some type in the HL in the early years of development face problems maintaining their HL over time (see Cummins 2005;Eisenchlas et al 2013 for review).…”

“…Studies investigating bilingual communities in Canada, the United States and Australia show that individuals that are not supported by formal literacy training of some type in the HL in the early years of development face problems maintaining their HL over time (see Cummins 2005;Eisenchlas et al 2013 for review). Maintenance of the HL does not only entail preserving the mental grammar against attrition, but also conserving the ways in which the language is used independent from influences of an increasingly dominant other language over time.…”

Multilingualism and literacy: attitudes and policies

“…Current scholarship, however, has moved away from the idea that a monolingual upbringing is preferable to a bilingual/multilingual one. Research has documented conclusively the many cognitive, affective, psychological and social advantages associated with bi/multilingualism in general and with biliteracy/multiliteracy in particular (see Bialystok, 2001;Eisenchlas, Schalley, & Guillemin, 2013, for an overview). Bi/multilingualism is also now recognized for the symbolic capital it offers to the individual, communities and nations (Clyne, 2005).…”

Strength through diversity’s Spotlight Report for Sweden

“…The municipality of Rotterdam has gone a step further by incorporating an enrichment preference where they give priority to students who would add to their ethnic and socioeconomic composition (OECD, 2012 [69]). In two other Dutch cities, Nijmegen and Deventer, the local government enforced integration as a criterion in the school choice process, with the aim of having 70% native students along with 30% immigrant students (Ladd, Fiske and Ruijs, 2009[70]).…”