Strict separation and flexible multiplicity

Discussing a bilingual teacher’s workat a teachers’ meeting

ESRC seminar, Glasgow, Joke Dewilde

Joke Dewilde

Overview

• Research question and focus• Theoretical approach• Site and participants• Meeting and extracts• Disussion and concluding remarks

Joke Dewilde

Research question and focus

• Which views of bilingualism and bilingual teaching are expressed at the teachers’ meeting, and by whom?

Theoretical approach

Monoglossic ideology

Subtractive

framework

Flexible convergent arrangemen

ts

Additive framewor

k

Strictly separated

arrangements

Heteroglossic ideology

Recursive

framework

Flexible multiple

arrangements

Dynamic framewo

rk

Flexible multiple

arrangements

Joke Dewilde

Joke Dewilde

Site and participants

• Bergåsen primary school (years 1 to 7) Small town in rural areas in East Norway Approx. 500 pupils

‒ of which 32 receive Norwegian as a Second Language/bilingual teaching 21 classes + 1 transition class for newly-arrived pupils

Colour Box

Joke Dewilde

Meeting

• Participants Lene – head teacher Kine – responsible for transition class,

NSL teacher Maryam – bilingual teacher Brit, Elin and Tora – teaching

newly-arrived pupils (Joke – researcher)

Colour Box

• Topics on the agenda Exemption of the subject of English (15’) Parental involvement (12’) Appropriate clothing during wintertime (16’) Work of bilingual teachers (35’)

Extract 1: Kine

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Kine Cause e:m (2.0) because we know that- (.) that it’s concepts that are important for the children. To acquire concepts. (1.0) And we know that (.) when you have concepts in your mother-tongue (.) then you’ll automatically e: acquire it in the second language and- or not automatically but then you’ll have a base to gradually understand.

Joke Dewilde

Extract 2: Kine

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Kine (.) e:m (1.5) but then I have- I think what has been a bit of a disagreement between Maryam and me maybe has been that Maryam often e:m teaches the kids- you- you go through things that the kids have in- in other subjects,

749 Maryam M.750751752753754

Kine and then you translate i:t to Arabic, and I think that’s very right, but then you also spend time teaching them a number of concepts in Norwegian in connection with the same ((theme)), I think.

Joke Dewilde

Extract 3: Maryam

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Maryam I want to ask Kine how can we (.) expand the system of concepts if we don’t teach the theme in both languages?

Joke Dewilde

Extract 4: Maryam

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Maryam I don’t feel like a mother-tongue teacher. I feel like a [bilingual-

844 Lene [bilingual subject teacher845 Kine Mm.846847

Maryam I got the qualifications. So I can- I can work as a bilingual teacher.

848 Kine ↑Yeah. 849850

Maryam Therefore I work (.) like this e: in Norwegian and in Arabic and in English if it’s necessary.

851 Kine Mm.852 Maryam To help my pupils to adapt things for my

pupils.853 Kine Mm.Joke Dewilde

Extract 4 (cont.)

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(Maryam)

A:nd we use an exercise book. We do the- for example I worked with Rania today (.)hh wi:th- (1.0) with two pages in ((the book)) Zeppelin. And it was page one hundred and page one hundred and one (.) a:nd e: it was about winter and cross-country skiing. We did those two pages. We read together. I read and she read to me. She- she tries to read. (.) hh Then we did the difficult words e: in Norwegian and in Arabic. We write the difficult words in an ex- e:: exercise book. So we do every e: every word in two languages. That’s how I e: extend her system of concepts.

Joke Dewilde

Joke Dewilde

Discussion: language views

• Kine (extracts 1 and 2) Monoglossic ideology Additive theoretical framework Strict language separation arrangement

• Maryam (extracts 3 and 4) Heteroglossic ideology challenging monoglossic Dynamic theoretical framework challenging

subtractive/additive Flexible multiplicity arrangement challenging strict

separate‒ Translanguaging as a bilingual pedagogy

Discussion: topical sensitivity

• Traditional metaphor of host and guest Monoglossic ideology

‒ Kine: host for subject of Norwegian ‒ Maryam: guest in subject of Norwegian

• Metaphor of housing cooperative Heteroglossic ideology

‒ Kine and Maryam administer the Norwegian language on an equal footing‒ Both teachers have their own specific competencies

Joke Dewilde

Concluding remarks

• Co-existing language views Norwegian policy – monoglossic (subtractive) NSL teacher’s argumentation – monoglossic (additive) Bilingual teacher’s argumentation – heteroglossic (dynamic)

• Topical sensitivity due to NSL teacher’s positioning

Joke Dewilde