Connections Between Bilingualism, Cognition, and Academic Achievement
•
2 recomendaciones•1,343 vistas
Current Challenges in Assessment, Models of Bilingualism (Proficiency, Cognition), and Theory to Practice. The intent of this presentation is to highlight common challenges we face in all types of assessment with bilingual children, discuss the reason for the challenges, and discuss ways to overcome the challenges
Recomendados
Más contenido relacionado
Destacado
Destacado (20)
Similar a Connections Between Bilingualism, Cognition, and Academic Achievement
Similar a Connections Between Bilingualism, Cognition, and Academic Achievement (20)
Más de Bilinguistics
Más de Bilinguistics (20)
Último
Último (20)
Connections Between Bilingualism, Cognition, and Academic Achievement
- 2. BILINGUISTICS Current Challenges in Assessment • The intent of this section: – Highlight common challenges we face in all types of assessment with bilingual children – Discuss the reason for the challenges – Discuss ways to overcome the challenges
- 3. BILINGUISTICS Why EVERYONE Needs to Understand Bilingualism • The New “Mainstream” Students • RRISD current data not available Neighboring ISD SPED Statistics 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 2001- 2002 2002- 2003 2003- 2004 2004- 2005 2005- 2006 % of Hispanics in District % of Hispanics in SPED
- 4. BILINGUISTICS ¿Por qué? • A) More Hispanics have developmental problems than other groups. • B) Learning a second language causes developmental problems. • C) Sometimes second language learning issues mimic developmental problems. • CORRECT ANSWER: C
- 5. BILINGUISTICS Problems with Over- referral • Social stigma • Different expectations • High caseloads • Greater expense to schools
- 7. BILINGUISTICS Current Challenges: Referral Referral Checklists • Difficulty paying attention • Reliance on gestures rather than speech • Disorganization and confusion • Trouble following directions • Need for frequent repetition • Difficulty using precise vocabulary • Short mean length of utterance
- 8. BILINGUISTICS Current Challenges: Referral Common characteristics of children in recent second language environments • Difficulty paying attention • Reliance on gestures rather than speech • Disorganization and confusion • Trouble following directions • Need for frequent repetition • Difficulty using precise vocabulary • Short mean length of utterance
- 9. BILINGUISTICS Ways to overcome challenges • Go beyond the referral checklist before making referrals • Understand “normal mistakes” by bilinguals • Understand the process of learning two languages • •
- 11. BILINGUISTICS Copyright © 2007 Models of Bilingualism Proficiency
- 12. BILINGUISTICS Language Proficiency • BICS - Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills – fewer cognitive demands – high physical and social context • CALP - Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency – higher cognitive demands – low context--highly abstract
- 13. BILINGUISTICS Language Proficiency Level of Language Proficiency Ages: 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Grades: PK K 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th Testing: TAKS TAKS
- 14. BILINGUISTICS The Bilingual Continuum (Valdés & Figueroa, 1994) S Se Se SE Es Es E SD BS BE ED English IPT Spanish IPT NES-A LES-B LES-C FES-D FES-E FSS-E FSS-D LSS-C LSS-B NSS-A
- 15. BILINGUISTICS Another way to conceptualize bilinguals Spanish English ED BE BS SD
- 16. BILINGUISTICS Another way to conceptualize bilinguals Spanish English E-FES/NSS E-FES/LSS E-FES/FSS C-LES/LSS D-FES/LSS A-FSS/NES B-LES/LSS NSS/NES LSS/NES
- 17. BILINGUISTICS Current Challenges: Language Proficiency • Language proficiency tests do not measure academic language • “English proficient” does not necessarily mean a child is ready to transition or be tested in English only • Language proficiency influences achievement and intelligence measures
- 18. BILINGUISTICS Copyright © 2007 “Bilingualism is random chaos for psychometrics” Figueroa
- 19. BILINGUISTICS Bilingualism • Influencing Factors • Conceptualizing Bilingualism • Bilingualism & Cognition (Activity)
- 20. BILINGUISTICS Bilingualism - Influencing Factors – Onset • Simultaneous • Sequential – Time of Acquisition • Early • Late – Intention • Circumstantial • Elective – Manner • Additive • Subtractive
- 21. BILINGUISTICS Bilingualism - Influencing Factors Unique patterns of development • Tests are based on assumptions of “typical” learning patterns of mainstream students. • Learning and development patterns are influenced by linguistic and cultural background • Bilingual students may display different patterns of learning and development that are often misinterpreted as disordered
- 22. BILINGUISTICS Bilingualism - Influencing Factors Cross-linguistic Influence • Cues help children learn language • Children learn from frequent and consistent cues • Cues differ across languages
- 23. BILINGUISTICS Bilingualism - Influencing Factors The Bilingual is not two monolinguals in one • Thus, testing in each language separately may underestimate true ability • High performance on English language proficiency tests does not indicate that scores on other standardized tests (intelligence, achievement, language) normed on English speakers are valid and reliable • Why? Because different cultural and linguistic backgrounds are not necessarily reflected in the content and norms
- 24. BILINGUISTICS ACTIVITY • Fact or Myth? – Children code switch between languages because they don’t know either language well. – Poor academic performance indicates poor cognitive ability – Raising children with two languages will confuse them. – It can 7 years to acquire academic proficiency in a second language.
- 25. BILINGUISTICS Copyright © 2007 Models of Bilingualism Cognition
- 26. BILINGUISTICS Cognition: Common Questions • Is learning two languages detrimental to children’s educational or cognitive development? • Does learning two languages enrich children’s educational and cognitive development?
- 27. BILINGUISTICS Cognitive Differences in Bilinguals Cognitive Disadvantages • Possible delay in vocabulary growth for a time (Byalystok, 2001) • Slower retrieval processes for mental arithmetic • Confusion in early stages of literacy acquisition for languages with written language differences
- 28. BILINGUISTICS Cognitive Differences in Bilinguals Cognitive Advantages • Greater creativity and open-mindedness1 • Stronger problem solving skills 1 • Better at abstract thinking tasks than monolinguals 2 • Bilingual preschoolers solved simple contrived tasks earlier than monolingual preschoolers
- 29. BILINGUISTICS Lexical Storage & Access: Word Association Concept Mediation L1 Lexical L2 Lexical Conceptual L2 Lexical
- 30. BILINGUISTICS Copyright © 2007 Research on Dual Language Learning Vocabulary
- 31. BILINGUISTICS Dual language learning: vocabulary • High correlation between language exposure and vocabulary production1 • For toddlers there is a 30% of vocabulary are translation equivalents2 • Young school age bilinguals produce same # of category items in Spanish and English BUT 70% are unique to one language3 • 1 Pearson, Fernandez, Lewedeg, & Oller, 1997 • 2 Pearson, Fernandez & Oller, 1995 • 3 Pena, Bedore & Zlatic, 2002
- 32. BILINGUISTICS Dual language learning: vocabulary • Bilinguals performed better on some tasks in Spanish (functions) and other tasks in English (Linguistic Concepts)1 • Hispanic bilinguals in the U.S. (school-age to young adults) showed more growth in English over time than Spanish2 • 5-to-10-year-old children matched pictures with words similarly in their two languages, 11-to-13-year-olds performed better (accuracy & time) in English3 • 1 Kester, 2002 • 2 Kohnert, Bates, & Hernandez, 1999 • 3 Kohnert & Bates, 2002
- 33. BILINGUISTICS Dual language learning: vocabulary • Functionalist theory • What do children talk about with their families at home? • What do children talk about with their peers and teachers at school? • If they use different languages in these two settings, what should we expect?
- 34. BILINGUISTICS Bilingualism Accepting the variety of issues that a bilingual student presents with: How can we make confident decisions about assessment, qualifying, disqualifying, and treating a student?
- 35. BILINGUISTICS Copyright © 2007 Theory to Practice Case Studies New Direction in Assessment and Qualifying
- 36. BILINGUISTICS This section’s intent • Gain confidence in qualifying or dismissing students from non-English speaking backgrounds. • Account for secondary cultural or linguistic influences on academic abilities. • 2 CASE STUDIES TO PRACTICE
- 37. BILINGUISTICS Problem – Problem: • Initially referral/evaluation does not appear to require bilingual testing • Evaluator may get well into an evaluation before a red light goes off that indicates a need for bilingual testing – Solution: • Interview teacher, parent, siblings immediately.
- 38. BILINGUISTICS CASE STUDY #1 Arabic (see handout) • Could his English language scores be “flat” due to being bilingual? • Should I have an Arabic assessment done? • Since he isn’t LEP should we go ahead and qualify him as SI
- 39. BILINGUISTICS CASE STUDY #2 • Spanish (Ana and Isabel) (see handout) • Using the Evaluation Summary Chart, what would you have done differently and why?
- 40. BILINGUISTICS Review of Current Challenges1 What do we do when Referral Checklists mirror language influence? • Difficulty paying attention • Reliance on gestures rather than speech • Disorganization and confusion • Trouble following directions
- 41. BILINGUISTICS Distinguishing Differences and Disorders • Disorder must be present in both languages • Conduct testing in both languages • Assess language in a variety of contexts • Determine error patterns • Compare language performance to other bilinguals with similar cultural/linguistic experiences
- 42. BILINGUISTICS Difference vs. Disorder • Consideration of social language versus academic language experience • Typical traditional indicators of language disorders may be result of being in a new language environment • Consider language loss; may lose L1 as acquiring L2
- 43. BILINGUISTICS Indicators of Language Disability Not Common to L2 Learners • Difficulty learning language at normal rate, even with adult mediation/assistance • Family history of language/learning disabilities • Communication difficulties at home • Slower development than siblings • Difficulty interacting with peers from similar backgrounds • Inappropriate pragmatic/social language skills (i.e., turn-taking, topic maintenance, considering listener needs, non-verbal communication)
- 44. BILINGUISTICS Our Challenge • There are some patterns in bilingual development that may mimic disordered development. • Our job is to differentiate those experiencing language learning difficulties from those acquiring a second language normally.
- 45. BILINGUISTICS Review of Current Challenges 2 • What do we do for a child whose testing indicates skills within normal limits but who is not successful academically? Ages: 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Grades: PK K 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th Testing: TAKS TAKS Level of Language Proficiency
- 46. BILINGUISTICS Our Challenge • The IPT (LEP) score is designed for classroom placement and does not measure cross-language influence or language dominance. • Our job is to: – Do a thorough interview of Parent, Student, Siblings, Teacher – Determine language influence – Test in both languages if needed – Dynamically assess
- 47. BILINGUISTICS Copyright © 2007 Language Specific Information Differences in Spanish & English Semantics (Content) Syntax (Form)
- 48. BILINGUISTICS Semantics (see handout for specific examples) • Verb-framed (e.g.,Spanish “subir”) vs. Satellite-framed (English; “go up”) • Multi-purpose/general verbs • Code-switching – Substitutions of words, phrases, sentences • Prepositions • Multipurpose verbs
- 49. BILINGUISTICS Syntax Differences (see handout for specific examples) • Irregular plurals • Word order (flexible vs. rigid) • Question formulation • Pronouns • Negation • Plurality
- 50. BILINGUISTICS Different cues in each language Spanish English Verb-framed (subir) Satellite framed (go up) Flexible word order Fairly rigid word order Highly inflected verbs (person, tense, aspect) Minimally inflected verbs (tense + a little person info.) Penultimate stress (mariposa) Word initial stress (butterfly)
- 51. BILINGUISTICS CASE STUDY • Read the language sample transcript. • Identify errors • Make a judgment about whether they are – Errors resulting from cross-linguistic influence – Atypical errors
- 52. BILINGUISTICS Our Hopes • That we provided a broader understanding of Bilingualism and how it influences performance, assessment, and intervention. • That we can more confidently RULE OUT/RULE IN second language influence