BILINGUALISM Themes, problems, strategies Paola Dieci Language Immersion Coordinator Italian International School • Preschool - 8th Grade

Becoming bilingual: Is the same as building two houses on the same land? Is the same as building two houses with the material for one? So at the end of the construction they will be incomplete!! THE ORGANIZATION OF LANGUAGES IN THE BRAIN Metaphors and simplifications Paola Dieci - La Scuola©2013

real object SIGNIFIER REFERENT SIGNIFIED Mental object, concept the "shape" of a word, graphemes and phonemes tree /triː/ - albero /ˈalbero/ MENTAL OBJECTS REPRESENTATION Semiotic triangle, De Saussure Paola Dieci - La Scuola©2013

REFERENT SIGNIFIED SIGNIFIER tree /triː/ albero /ˈalbero/ ICEBERG MODEL - Cummis

Teacher: “Sofia, when you write in Italian and in English, is it the same?” Sofia: “They’re…they are not… They are the same words but it’s not the same.. the same… I don’t remember the name…Language! ” How Sofia (4 y.o.) explains this: Sofia is writing a book in Italian and she tells the teacher that she’s going to write the same book in English too. Paola Dieci - La Scuola©2013

www.DisegniColorare.Com NOT AN INCOMPLETE HOUSE BUT TWO HOUSES AND… A GARDEN Paola Dieci - La Scuola©2013

Thanks to the expanded semantic field, bilinguals have an EXPANDED CONCEPTUAL FIELD with the outcome of major flexibility and a DIVERGENT THINKING The bilingual child has two words for the same object and for the same idea, or concept He has an enlarged semantic field Colin Baker - Centre for Research on Bilingualism, Bangor University BENEFITS Paola Dieci - La Scuola©2013

• English/Wales bilingual In Welsh, school is "ysgol", That means also means “stairs”/ “ladder”. EXPANDED CONCEPTUAL FIELD Paola Dieci - La Scuola©2013

CONVERGENT THINKING Make a wall Build a house Build a oven Paola Dieci - La Scuola©2013

DIVERGENT THINKING Block a hole where mice live Break a window Trivet Paola Dieci - La Scuola©2013

How to support the children in the acquisition of another language ? How to avoid the risk of erosion of the mother tongue? BILINGUALISM, HOW? Paola Dieci - La Scuola©2013

Fundamental aspects to becoming bilingual: MOTIVATION EXPOSURE Paola Dieci - La Scuola©2013

Close relationships Family MOTIVATION   •  Need to communicate Friends Common experiences in Italian e.g. Routine / Cartoons •  Linking positive experiences to a language Community (school) Friends Paola Dieci - La Scuola©2013

Identity Be proud of MOTIVATION   “Feeling Italian” MOTIVATION Paola Dieci - La Scuola©2013

“I speak Italian and English” (Sachin, 3 y.o.) “I speak Italian and a bit English. My sister is English so I have to speak English at home. But I know songs in Italian and English. My sister is just English” (George, 3 y.o.) “I am Italian and English” (Sofia, 3 y.o.) Kids dialogues Paola Dieci - La Scuola©2013

Paola Dieci - La Scuola©2013

Paola Dieci - La Scuola©2013

“Io voglio fare mio passaporto” “I want to do my passport!” (George, 4 y.o.) “Sto facendo mio passaporto rosso e blu perchè sono italiano e americano” “I’m making my passport red and blue because I’m Italian and American” Paola Dieci - La Scuola©2013

exosure Quantity (30-40% of the awake time) Quality Not just “frutta” but “pere, mele, banane, mandarini…” EXPOSURE   EXPOSURE Persistency 8-9 years of commitment. If possible keep going! Paola Dieci - La Scuola©2013

Not learning a language but learning IN a language •  school activities: inquiring, discovering, laughing, reading, listening, story telling, singing, eating…. A varied experience for a whole linguistic experience (balanced bilingualism) Paola Dieci - La Scuola©2013

• Language shift Migrations cause the loss of the native language in the second and third generation Cfr. Prof. Hakuta Kenji (Stanford University) e Lily Wong Fillmore (University of Berkley) • Language slippery stage 5-6 years old SUBTRACTIVE BILINGUALISM RISKS   RISKS Paola Dieci - La Scuola©2013

“children learn to talk by talking” Paola Dieci - La Scuola©2013

To have another language is to possess a second soul. Charlemagne One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way. Frank Smith, Psycholinguist If we spoke a different language, we would perceive a somewhat different world. Ludwig Wittgenstein, Austrian philosopher Paola Dieci - La Scuola©2013

Growing up bilingual is like having two eyes. If we didn’t have two eyes we wouldn’t see so clearly. Prof. Kenji Hakuta, Stanford Grazie per l’attenzione Thanks for your attention Paola Dieci - La Scuola©2013