Language Acquisition & Bilingualism in International Schools Dr Language Acquisition & Bilingualism in International Schools Dr. Virginia P. Rojas ASCD Faculty 2010

THINK PAIR SHARE additive vs. subtractive bilingualism ambi-bilingual vs. semi-bilingual first vs. dominant language code switching vs. code mixing language learning vs. language acquisition social vs. academic language immersion vs. submersion pull out vs. push in program monolingual vs. bilingual

Implications MT & Bilingualism Competent Developmental Recursive Monitoring Reflective Domain Specific Genre-Based

Proficiency Text Types Narrative Description Expository Persuasion Procedural Reporting Recounting Text Types maximum Skills (O, R, W) Domains & Registers minimal

Myth or Not? Younger children are better at languages than older children. 2. Most of the mistakes made are due to interference from the first language. 3. It takes two years to become fully bilingual.

Myth or Not? 4. Parents should not maintain the mother tongue if they want success in English. 5. Children should only study one language at a time. 6. It is important for schools to limit the number of English learners in an English-language school.

Myth or Not? 7. There are many ways to speed up language acquisition in schools. 8. Children with learning issues should not be bilingual. 9. Parents and teachers should have different expectations for English learners than for native speakers.

Myth or Not? 10. Teachers of English or content should be native speakers of English.

What can parents do to help ? 1. Maintain your mother tongue. 2. Give “wait time” (5-7). 3. Do not create anxiety (-). 4. Be informed (+). 5. Plan bilingualism (www.multilingual-matters.com).

Questions