Knowledge Makes Change - Supporting Bilingual Families

The Knowledge Makes Change seminar series aims to inspire and be informative on ‘what works’ for young children and their families to ensure the best possible outcomes. It forms part of NCB’s work in Jersey and is delivered in partnership with the Jersey Child Care Trust.

On 12 October 2017, Nabial Sohail gave an exciting and interactive session on Support Bilingual Families as part of our Jersey programme.

Nabiah Sohail is a Clinical Lead Speech and Language Therapist who has a love for multiculturalism and promoting multilingualism. She believes that everyone should have access to high quality services regardless of their cultural and linguistic background. Nabiah is multilingual being able to speak, read and write Urdu and has spoken language skills in Hindi and Punjabi.
Nabiah has worked across a range of clinical areas throughout inner London, been a Teaching Fellow at University College London and is Chair of the London Bilingualism Clinical Excellence Network. Nabiah is passionate about proving that Speech and Language Therapy works and that services can and must show that they are effective and worthwhile. In 2012 Nabiah received The Sternberg Award for Clinical Innovation for her work in Outcome Measures which Nabiah has presented across the country.

Transcript

1. Knowledge Makes Change seminar 4 Supporting Bilingual Families 12 October 2017 Welcome
2. Agenda Welcome and Introductions Dr Cathy Hamer, Chair of Early Years and Childhood Partnership & Seán O’Regan, States of Jersey – Education Department Year 2 and moving forward with the ECDP Annamarie Hassall – Director of Practice and Programmes, NCB Supporting Bilingual Families Nabiah Sohail – Clinical Lead Speech and Language Therapist Homerton University Hospital Foundation Trust Discussion & Final words Fiona Vacher – Executive Director, Jersey Child Care Trust
3. Welcome and introductions Dr Cathy Hamer Chair of Early Years and Childhood Partnership and Associate, National Children’s Bureau
4. Seán O’Regan Deputy Chief Education Officer Education Department
5. Jersey: our bilingual Island
6. Jersey: our multilingual Island Our bilingual/multilingual children and families • 22% of pupils have English as an Additional Language • up from 18.6% in 2014 • Primary schools: 24.9% of children • Secondary schools: 17.8% • One of our schools: 67% • ….and 86% in EYFS
7. Jersey: our multilingual Island Our challenges
8. Annamarie Hassall Director of Practice and Programmes, National Children’s Bureau Year 2 and moving forward with the ECDP
9. Thank you! Year 1 success Making it REAL – 34 settings conducted 139 home visits and 96 literacy events Making it REAL - 735 children and 611 parents have taken part in the programme overall. 113 participants of Outcomes Based Accountability training and workshops Knowledge Makes Change - 232 seminar attendees (not including you tonight!)
10. Continuing Outcomes Extending Making it REAL • Year 2 projects, including Maths • Training and support for Home Visits and settings who couldn’t join in Year 1 • Working with second year childcare students from Highlands College – a first for Making it REAL anywhere • Training parent volunteers directly in REAL
11. Continuing Outcomes Championing OBA • Taking OBA to the next level with early years OBA champions leading the way Extending Knowledge Makes Change • At least 3 more expert seminars between now and March 2019 • Continuation of the KMC Bulletin for another year
12. Programme Evaluation The Centre for Research in Early Childhood Development (CREC) has been commissioned to evaluate our work so far: • Making it REAL • Knowledge Makes Change • Outcomes Based Accountability How you can get involved: • Practitioner focus group(s) • Parent focus group(s) • Stakeholder interviews
13. Knowledge Makes Change seminar 4 Nabiah Sohail Clinical Lead Speech and Language Therapist Homerton University Hospital Foundation Trust Supporting Bilingual Families
14. Say Yes to Bilingualism Nabiah Sohail Speech and Language Lab Ltd www.speechandlanguagelab.com
15. SLLAB Assessment, Therapy & Intervention Campaigns: Say YES to Bilingualism Training & Consultation 0-25 years of SLCN Home, EY settings, Schools, Academies & Colleges Settings, Schools, SLT Teams, Health & Edn services SLCN Bilingualism Outcome Measures Leaflets, Stalls, Drop in’s, Workshops, Fun Days Aim to promote Bilingualism & Multiculturalism
16. AIMS 1. Knowing the key difference between EAL & SLCN 2. To understand the different types of bilingual children 3. To summarise the essential theory 4. To share some practical top tips 5. To ask you: How culturally competent is your service? 6. To give you some ideas and inspiration
17. Knowing the key difference Between EAL & SLCN AIM 1
18. Bilingual Child Assessment L1 Skills good L1 Skills poor L1 Skills poor English Skills poor English skills poor NURSERY/SCHOOL SPEECH & LANGUAGE THERAPIST Additional Language Teachers need to support this EAL child. SLT’s need to support these children develop language & communication skills
19. Q Is Bilingualism a problem? Bilingualism is not a problem BUT bilingual children CAN have speech, language and communication needs.
20. What language should parents speak with their children? The home language. Not speaking the home language will disrupt cultural learning & emergent identities. Q
21. Is code-switching ok? Yes, code-switching is a normal process used by bilingual children and adults. Q
23. Should parents stick to using one language? NO, Research shows that suppressing one language in bilingual children is more effortful in terms of an inhibiting process, than alternating between languages (Hernandez & Kohnert, 1999). Q
24. Does learning through both languages confuse bilingual children who have language difficulties? Research says ‘NO’. Offering more ways of accessing meaningful communication encourages language learning. Q
25. Understand the types of bilingual children AIM 2
26. Individuals or groups of people who acquire communicative skills in more than one language. They acquire these skills with varying degrees of proficiency in oral and written forms in order to interact with speakers of one or more languages at home and in society. Who is a bilingual child? A child should be regarded as bilingual regardless of his/her relative proficiency of the languages used or understood. RCSLT, CQ3 (pg:268)
27. Groups Professional Bilinguals Bilingual Families Linguistic Minorities Children of diplomats and business people Reference: Raval 2001 Myers-Scotton, 2006:46 Mother speaks X and father speaks Y The largest group in the UK Children become bilingual for different reasons and in different social contexts. In the UK it is possible to identify three major groups:
28. Typologies 1 Simultaneous (Baker, 2006) 2 Sequential (Baker, 2006) 3 Passive Bilingualism (Miller, 1994) 4 Additive Bilingualism (Lambert, 1974) 5 Subtractive Bilingualism (Lambert, 1974)
29. Simultaneous S Acquisition of two or more languages before the age of 3
30. Sequential • Acquisition of a second language after the age of 3. • Involves a different learning process. • Children will use their knowledge of communication and their first language to work out the new language. • This will take many years. S
31. Passive P • E.g. Some monolingual pre- school children have direct exposure to mother tongue but passive exposure to English from siblings, TV etc. • As English is not directly spoken to them they receive passive exposure.
32. Additive A The positive effects on L1 of learning L2, e.g. children of diplomats.
33. Subtractive S • Immigrant child is forced to give up L1 but L2 not yet fully mastered. • Refers to negative effects on L1 of learning L2. Can result in negative consequences for cognition and language. • Child experiences language loss in first language, because of not receiving continued support when they began to learn English = language profiles similar to bilingual children with language disorders.
34. Think about children you work with. What kind of bilingual are they? 34 Over to you 2 03
35. Summarise the essential theory AIM 3
36. What’s your experience of learning a second language? How did you learn it? Who else was involved? Was it enjoyable? Can you still speak that language? 36 Over to you 01 02 03 04 05
37. Language Acquisition (Volterra & Taeschner, 1978) A child has one vocabulary system composed of words from both of the languages. The child distributes words in two separate vocabulary systems but only has one grammar system Grammar systems separate (3 – 3:6yrs)
38. Exposure & Input Amount & type of exposure 3 4 2 6 5 1 Type of input Form of language Context for learning L2 Timing of exposure Language status https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFlxDuNC6OU
39. CALP Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills Everyday Communication Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency Competent Communication BICS Jim Cummins (Canada) Interdependence Approach, (1984b) 01 01
40. Competent Communication • Achieve a good level of fluency by two years. • The language necessary for day to day living, including conversations with friends, informal interactions. • May take up to 5-7 years to be in line with their monolingual peers • The language necessary to understand and discuss content in the classroom. Everyday Communication Jim Cummins (Canada) Interdependence Approach, (1984b) N.B. The sequential nature of Everyday Communication first and then Competent Communication is a typical route for immigrant children learning a second language (Baker, 2006)
41. Competent Communication Everyday Communication Context Embedded A B The conversation is often face-to-face, offers many cues to the listener such as facial expressions, gestures, concrete objects of reference. Language of the classroom in which there are fewer non-verbal cues and the language is more abstract. Context Reduced
42. Cognitively Undemanding A B Cognitively undemanding language is easy to understand, deals with everyday language and occurrences and uses simple language structure. Cognitively demanding language relates to abstract concepts, has specialized vocabulary and uses more complex language structure. Cognitively Demanding Competent Communication Everyday Communication
43. Cummins Quadrants Talking with friends Buying lunch Art, Music class Telephone conversation Note from friend Written instructions Demonstrations Audio visual lessons Science experiments Basic maths Standardized tests Reading/writing Math concepts Most content classes! Cognitively Undemanding Context Reduced Cognitively Demanding Context Embedded
44. One Language Model • Used to assess students who are learning English as a second language. • Everyday Communication develops in 2 years, but it takes 5 -7 years for a child to work on the same level as native speakers in Competent Communication. Everyday Communication Competent Communication
45. Dual Iceberg Model L1 L2 CUP Common Underlying Proficiency The second language grows from the foundation of the first language. There is a common area of language proficiency which provides the foundation for use of both languages. The stronger the first language, especially Competent Communication, the stronger the second language can be.
46. So what does this mean? ? We can sometimes over-estimate a child’s abilities by looking at their Everyday Communication and not realizing the complexity and difficulty they have in acquiring Competent Communication. Think about a child with whom you work. Can you see a big difference in their Basic Communication vs. their Competent Communication abilities? Think about yourself in Sign Language. How’s your Basic Communication vs. your Competent Communication?
47. Simultaneous Bilingual Children Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Child mixes language Child separates language Child uses mainly one language Both languages develop similarly Yr 1: Vocalisations, babble, first words Yr 2: 2 word combinations, mixing languages Yr 3: Increasingly complex and longer sentences etc
48. Sequential Bilingual Children • She has already worked out the basic rules of her first language and therefore has a head start when it comes to learning a second language • She knows how to have conversations and is cognitively more mature than the infant learning two languages simultaneously However: The process of adding a second language can take years: • approximately 3 months to begin to understand the second language; • about 2 years to be able to carry on a conversation; • and 5-7 years to be able to think in the second language.
49. These stages are not discrete - a child may add skills from the next level but still maintain those from the previous stage. 5 stages 1 2 4 Home Lang Use Non-verbal period Telegraphic Speech Productive Lang Use 5 Competent Lang Use 3 > > > >
50. Silent Period Children learning a second language after the first has been established can go through a silent period. Enables the bilingual child to absorb basic patterns of sound and meaning in the new language. During the silent period children focus on listening and comprehension. Children usually present as very quiet, speaking little as they focus on understanding the new language. The younger the child, the longer the silent period tends to last. Older children may remain in the silent period for a few weeks or a few months, whereas pre-schoolers may be relatively silent for a year or more. (6 months?) Be careful of: selective mutism!
51. Q We tell parents to use their L1 because.. Parents will give good language models in their L1 and will be more able to use language in creative ways. If children develop a good foundation in their L1 they are more likely to be able to learn English as an additional language more easily later. There is no evidence that acquisition of a minority language slows down acquisition of the majority language. Mother tongue skills are necessary for a sense of identity and community. A
52. 52 Over to you What type of bilingual child? Would you be concerned or not? What would you do next? 1 Ahmed aged 2 years has just arrived in the country and has started nursery. He is only using a few words in Arabic and spends a lot of time watching other children. Kristen has been at nursery for two terms and is not saying much apart from ‘hello’ and ‘bye’. He seems to point or reach to things he wants. Mia speaks Cantonese and English. In nursery she mainly uses English but will sometimes use Cantonese words. She makes a lot of grammatical errors in English e.g. Saying ‘I’, ‘drink I want’ Shiri’s home language is Twi and French. Mum says she speaks well in Twi at home. She has been in nursery for 1 term and is not talking. She is developing well in all other areas e.g. Play. Adrian is from a Spanish speaking family but is mainly using pointing and gesture to communicate. Mum continues to use English (which is very poor) despite nursery staff telling her to use her home language. 2 3 4 5
53. To give you some practical top tips AIM 4
54. 54 Think about a time you went abroad and could not speak the language? How did you communicate? What helped you? What didn’t? Over to you
55. Interact in a way that promotes language learning How can we help bilingual children? Provide opportunities for language learning Optimise and adapt the environment for positive language learning
56. How do support children’s communication? In groups, discuss different strategies you have used, or have seen used in a setting, to support children’s language development. Write each strategy on a post-it note. Stick the post-it note on the chart, according to whether you think it supports children by: The way you interact with children Providing opportunities for children to learn language Adapting the physical environment 56 Over to you
57. Get their attention first 57 The way we interact Supporting receptive language Supporting expressive language Use simple language Use gestures Copy their words Expand on what they say Use specific praise
58. Situation Child says You say Child playing with car “Car” You’ve just swung the child round. “Again” Child hands nursery worker doll & dress. “Uh” Child is just about to blow some bubbles. “Bubbles” Child is feeding teddy. “Din din” Child finishes eating chicken. “Chicken” Adding Words
59. Simplifying Language Think about sentence length – chunk information Give instructions in the order you want them done Avoid tricky vocabulary Avoid idioms - use literal language Slow down your pace- use repetition
60. “Before you line up for lunch and get your coat, make sure your chair is pushed in, the pencils are in the pots, and the books are put away on the shelf”. Over to you
61. Simple Questions
62. Complex Questions
63. 63 Providing Opportunities Get involved in the child’s play – model new ways of playing Comment on what the child is doing Talk about what you see Don’t pre-empt what the child wants – wait for them to ask/show you Offer choices Don’t have all toys out at once, children need to ask for what they want Create opportunities for children to take turns
64. Pictures Photos Symbols Objects Pointing Gesture/miming Mind maps Colour coding (Arthur-Kelly, Sigafoos, Green, Mathisen, & Arthur-Kelly, 2009; Cohen & Sloan, 2007) Adapting the environment
65. Easier to remember Easier to make sense of than a string of joined up sounds It shows the child what to focus on They are concrete and permanent Children are less reliant on visual cues Why use visuals?
66.  Children to remember words  Independence  Understanding of rules  Attention & listening  Understanding instructions  Processing abstract information  Understanding emotions  Preparing for change  Understanding routines (Hodgdon, 1995; Ganz, 2007) Visuals support…
67. How culturally competent is your service? AIM 5
68. Cultural Competence Cultural knowledge Cultural Awareness Cultural Sensitivity Cultural Competence
69. Is your service accessible and appropriate to your children and families? How do you expand your cultural knowledge and resources by adapting your service model and methods to accommodate needs? How do you value and promote cultural differences in the service you provide? Do you continue to access training and support? Ask yourself?
70. To give you some ideas and inspiration AIM 6
71. Have you tried? Language Groups in minority languages Language Talent Days Sharing home videos Culture of the term Bilingual Parent Show & Tell Service Review Running joint Community Events Making a Policy Parent Drop in’s
72. 72 Language of the Month
73. Multicultural Lunch
74. Multicultural Day
75. Interactive Bilingual Storytelling
76. • http://www.londonsigbilingualism.co.uk/ • http://www.newburypark.redbridge.sch.uk/langofmonth/index.html • http://www.morlandprimary.com/language-of-the-month-eal/ • http://www.multilingualfamily.org.uk/ • https://www.ted.com/talks/suzanne_talhouk_don_t_kill_your_language?language=en • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFlxDuNC6OU 76 Some useful links!
77. Key Messages 1. Work out is it EAL or SLCN? 2. Be sure to know what type of bilingual child you are dealing with 3. Be clear you know about expected language profile & language acquisition 4. Interact in a way that promotes language learning. Provide opportunities for language learning. Adapt the environment to support language learning. 5. Demonstrate cultural competence 6. Do something that inspires others to Say YES to Bilingualism Your Target Our Help Child’s Win
78. Thank You! Nabiah@speechandlanguagelab.com @SLLAB_UK www.speechandlanguagelab.com
79. Discussion on your table What is the most important thing you have learned today? What key messages will you share directly with parents? What messages will you take back to share with colleagues?
80. Fiona Vacher Executive Director Jersey Child Care Trust Final Words
81. Forthcoming opportunities • Making it REAL maths one-day training Friday 10th November • Highlands College supporting student projects • News about future Knowledge Makes Change seminars Knowledge Makes Change newsletters Contact Kate Elston on Kate@jcct.org.je for further details on workshops/ training and to join the newsletter. Please fill in your evaluation form for this evening – we really want to hear your feedback to inform the seminar series.
82. Thank you