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Session 6: Bilingualism in SchoolIn this part, we examine some aspects of bilingualism in school programmes and consider what the implications are for Deaf education. This is the first step in developing a model which can be used. You will find your discussion sessions and your visits to schools and to other sites very important here. The main ideas in this session are drawn from the issues in education session. You will need to read these notes and discuss them. The other main theme is the diagram of Skuttnabb-Kangas (1984) which is shown on page 127 of her book and below. This is a particularly informative diagram.
Track 1 In this situation, the majority language child is placed in a class in an ordinary school where the language used is the same as the one he/she uses at home. It is termed mainstream education. Its aim is to educate in the rules of the society but it does not have additional language aims. The result is that the person becomes fluent in the language of the majority. The person becomes monolingual. Track 2 This time it is the minority language child who is placed in a majority mainstream classroom. Now the child is surrounded by majority children. The result is that he/she is submerged. So that there is no choice but to learn and to use the majority language. This is direct and brutal. It is a way of assimilating the person, so that his/her culture is given up, in favour of the majority. Track 3 This time the minority child is placed in a class of children from the same background. They use their minority language together and are isolated from the he majority language. This is a form of apartheid. The main is to segregate the child and to ensure that he/she does not master the majority language. It leads to monolingualism in the minority language. Track 4 This is where the minority child is placed in a class of people from the same background as in track 3 but now the aim is quite different. Now the aim is to maintain the minority language. This is a form of shelter of the language. Its aim is to provide the child with a positive self image of his/her own culture. It leads to a bilingualism because the basic principle is that the languages are equal and the child will be able to learn the second, majority language in other ways or at a later time. Track 5 This is an immersion programme but it is for the majority child. The child is placed in a class with majority children but the language which is used is the minority language. So all the instruction is carried out in the minority language. This is enriching for the majority child as he/she still keeps the first language. There are major benefits. Track 6 In this situation, there is bilingual instruction. The minority child is in a class where there is a mixture of majority and minority children and two languages are available, but it is meant to be temporary. The idea is that the child will not need the minority language after a while. It is the idea that the minority language is like a crutch which will gradually be taken away. So eventually the minority language child gives up his/her own language and accepts the majority language. Track 7 is the ideal world where there are both languages in place. This sort of education is for the elite. It is like the international schools which diplomats send their children to. Both languages are valued and the child has access to both equally. The result is that both the majority and minority child learn both languages and bilingualism is achieved. We can see that this model has a great deal to say about the Deaf child’s situation. Track 2 is the situation which was very common in the past. The idea was that Deaf children could be put straight into a mainstream classroom. The idea was that this form of individual integration would force the child to learn to speak and to understand English. As can be seen this would lead to monolingualism for hearing children, but the research on children from minorities shows that they do not perform well in this type of situation. Hamers and Blanc(1989) summarise this(p 212-4). "The picture is different for the minority child. Whereas there are many indications that the minority child benefits from being introduced to literacy in his mother tongue, this is too often ignored, either because the covert goal is assimilation of the minority child into the mainstream culture; or because the means are unattainable or economically too costly (as for example, when the language is not written, or when there are no teaching materials or trained teachers available); or because those who plan education are still ignorant of research results, believe in the myth of bilingual handicap and are convinced that the earlier the child is introduced to a prestigious L2 the better he will develop academically. Bilingual education programs and mother tongue teaching in the early school years have been shown to benefit minority children and improve their academic achievement." Hamers and Blanc, 1989, p 213. From this, we can see that the best form of intervention will be in Track 4 or Track 7. This implies for Deaf children that the best situation is to be educated in a minority language circumstance. One of the great problems can be seen in Track 6 where the child is educated in a bilingual framework but the purpose is set very clearly as to make sure that the reliance on the minority language is temporary. This is similar to situations where people introduce sign to Deaf children with the idea that they would eventually not need to use it. In this case the bilingualism is temporary and the idea is that it will be replaced by monolingualism. This could be a situation in which hearing children in Deaf families find themselves. The result is simple - a bilingual programme which has as it its aim to make the child more like a hearing child would not be successful in this view. The interesting point is that both Track 4 and Track 7 lead to bilingualism by slightly different routes. Track 4 is important as it shows that monolingual education can have a place as long as the monolingual education is in sign. What has to be determined is how that leads to a situation like Track 7 where both languages are in evidence. One further point is the idea of immersion as a way of achieving bilingualism. |
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