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Dr. Brian Bielenberg

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Onerousness of Multilingualism (Dorian, 1998) Loss of domains (Fishman, 1991) ... early age to private English schools in order to know English as if it was their ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Dr. Brian Bielenberg


1
English Teachers Promoting Arabic? You
Bet!Social and Pedagogical Benefits
  • Dr. Brian Bielenberg
  • European University Cyprus
  • b.bielenberg_at_euc.ac.cy

2
Outline of Talk
  • Why English medium higher education?
  • Methods Getting the students perspective
  • Findings Benefits and concerns
  • Can languages be lost?
  • Solutions The role of English Teachers

3
English in European Education
4
Purposes of English Medium around the World
(www.eurydice.org)
  • Socio-economic aims
  • Language-related aims
  • Educational aims (learning ability)
  • Socio-cultural aims

5
Why English Medium Higher Ed?
  • Proficient ability in English will ensure that
    our students have access to rich opportunities in
    employment, in education, and in expanding
    relationships.
  • (Shk. Nahayan al Mubarak, TESOL 2006)

6
The context

7
Methods
  • Group interviews with students (n 104)
  • Transcribed, common themes identified
  • Ethnography (schools, malls, souks, etc.)
  • 2 different, yet similar speech communities
  • UAE
  • Cyprus

8
The UAE
  • Language of School Modern Standard Arabic
    Language of home - Khaleeji
  • 48 Universities
  • Proliferation of private English institutes
  • New admissions policy effective Sep 2006
  • 70 on GSC exam
  • 150 on CEPA English

9
Cyprus
  • School Language Modern Standard Greek Language
    of Home - Kypriaka
  • 4 Universities
  • 1 Greek Medium, 3 English Medium
  • Proliferation of private English institutes
  • At present, no English entry requirements

10
Perceived Benefits of English Medium Higher
Education (Cyprus and UAE)
  • Increased employment opportunities
  • Communicate with others
  • Motivating, help students to focus
  • Improves English proficiency
  • English is the language of the globe. It will
    help me know how to communicate with people and
    get a good job. Salwa, 3rd year student at
    UAEU

11
The Other Side Concerns
  • Difficult for students to participate fully in
    their education
  • During the first year of my studies I was not
    fully able to express myself in English. Most of
    the time when I had to answer a question in a
    discussion, my answer included one or two words
    only. Eleftheria
  • A lot of times students feel frustrated and
    terrified.
  • Elida

12
The Other Side Participation
  • I remember when I first came to this university
    and I had to speak English and only English in
    the classroom, I would not participate like I do
    now, one year after, because I would feel
    uncomfortable to use the English language. I
    knew that I would not be able to fully express
    myself in that language so I would rather not
    participate. Myriam, 2nd year UAEU student

13
The Other Side Concerns
  • Limited educational opportunities
  • If someone doesnt know how to speak English,
    its very difficult for him or her to study.
    Dora, 3rd year student
  • Doesnt prepare students for L1 work environment

14
The Other Side Concerns
  • L1 (Arabic/Greek) Attrition
  • Its like it is not our university anymore. We
    will soon know English better than our own
    language. Mouza, 2nd year student
  • I speak Kypriaka and English fluently, but
    since I have been at university I prefer to speak
    English. I feel more comfortable in it.
  • Froso, 3rd year

15
The Other Side Attrition
  • Many of my school friends were foreigners so I
    had no need really to speak the native language
    of the country that I live in. I do regret not
    having learnt Greek properly because I find it
    hard to express myself to people who speak the
    language fluently and I tend to feel a little
    stupid when talking to someone who speaks a high
    level of Greek. Chrissie

16
Why do languages fade?
  • Growth of English as global lingua franca
  • Changing demographics (Krauss, 1992)
  • Economic changes
  • Onerousness of Multilingualism (Dorian, 1998)
  • Loss of domains (Fishman, 1991)
  • Cultural assimilation (Western consumer culture)
    (Grenoble and Whaley, 1998)
  • Languages become moribund

17
Steps to Assimilation(Crystal, 2000 Grenoble
and Whaley, 1998)
  • Immense pressure (top-down) to speak a dominant
    (dominating) language
  • Emerging bilingualism
  • Younger generation more proficient, more
    comfortable in new language
  • L1 less valuable to be effective in the world
  • L1 less relevant to needs

18
Impact elsewhere in the world
  • Europe
  • Malta and Luxembourg Strong bi/trilingualism
  • Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Lithuania, Belgium
    (Flemish community) Fears for national language
  • Nigeria Yaruba, with 20 million speakers, has
    been called deprived because of the way it has
    come to be dominated by English in higher
    education (Brenzninger, 1998).
  • India (L1 not as important as L2, visibility,
    choice) (Kazmi, 1997 Ladefoged Dorian,
    Language, 1993)
  • American Indians loss of language, loss of
    culture

19
In the UAE?
  • I cant read Arabic numbers. Emirati female,
    year 12 student
  • Placement into Arabic for non-Speakers, Emirati
    students entering UGRU
  • Ill change my daughters religion. Emirati
    father when told his daughter must do Arabic
  • Our children are fluent in English, but cant
    read Arabic. Emirati parent to literacy presenter

20
In Cyprus
  • I have noticed that my Greek vocabulary is
    becoming less and less rich because for the last
    two years I didnt open none of my Greek books.
    Alexandra, 2nd year student
  • People send their children at an early age to
    private English schools in order to know English
    as if it was their first language. Chrissie, 4th
    year student

21
Why we should care?
  • View own language and culture as inferior
  • Increase in societal problems
  • Reduced intergenerational transmission of
    language and traditions
  • Diversity of languages is as important as
    biodiversity
  • Mainstreams can dilute

22
What can parents do?
  • Continually stress the value of Arabic
  • Make time to be with your children, speaking
    Arabic
  • Stay in Arabic even if children prefer English
  • Keep Arabic the language of the home and social
    gatherings
  • Work with schools to promote bilingual programs

23
What can English teachers do?
  • Promote additive bilingualism
  • Be aware of student identity issues
  • Support colleagues teaching in English
  • Focus on English language instruction as more
    than what happens in the classroom
  • Be a school wide/university wide/community wide
    advocate for bilingual initiatives
  • Make space for L1 use in your classroom

24
L1 in the English Classroom
  • Priming in the L1 (de Majia1988)
  • During Cooperative Group discussions (Thinking
    Skills work length of utterance)
  • L1 for warm-up brainstorming (Weschler 1997)
  • occasional use of the L1 gives them the
    opportunity to show that they are intelligent,
    sophisticated people (Atkinson 1993)

25
Octavio Paz
  • What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of
    differences, their attractions and repulsions.
    Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By
    suppressing differences and peculiarities, by
    eliminating different civilizations and cultures,
    progress weakens life and favors death. Every
    view of the world that becomes extinct, every
    culture that disappears, diminishes a possibility
    of life.
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