Multilingualism and Translanguaging in Chinese Language Classrooms

138 Pages·2019·1.748 MB·

by  Danping Wang

PALGRAVE STUDIES IN
TEACHING AND LEARNING
CHINESE
Multilingualism and
Translanguaging in
Chinese Language
Classrooms
Danping Wang
Palgrave Studies in Teaching and Learning
Chinese
Series Editors
Michael Singh
Centre for Educational Research
Western Sydney University
Penrith, NSW, Australia
Jinghe Han
School of Education
Western Sydney University
Penrith, NSW, Australia
Palgrave Studies in Teaching and Learning Chinese is a Pivot series
designed for teachers, teacher education candidates and teacher educa-
tors working in the field of Chinese language education. Despite the
world-wide growth in school-based Chinese language education it has
not yet been accompanied by a strong program of educational research
for teacher professional learning. This series provides an internationally
significant forum by bringing together research from around the world
to inform school-based Chinese language education. Specifically, this
series draws on a wealth of evidence from studies of Chinese learning
and teaching, weaving together theoretical study of language education
and real-world experience of student-centred, learning-focused prac-
tices. The series uses theoretically-informed and empirically-grounded
evidence to inform the professional knowledge and practices of teach-
ing, learning and using Chinese.
More information about this series at
http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14589
Danping Wang
Multilingualism and
Translanguaging in
Chinese Language
Classrooms
Danping Wang
School of Cultures, Languages
and Linguistics
University of Auckland
Auckland, New Zealand
Palgrave Studies in Teaching and Learning Chinese
ISBN 978-3-030-02528-1 ISBN 978-3-030-02529-8 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02529-8
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018957682
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Preface
On December 12, 2016, I was invited to attend a meeting of the
Subcommittee on Rights of Ethnic Minorities Education for Children
of Ethnic Minorities (Chinese as a Second Language Education) at
the Hong Kong Legislative Council. Throughout the presentations by
school representatives, minority students, their families and non-gov-
ernmental organisations, one issue was frequently raised. What should
we do with the emerging multilingual learners in Chinese as a Second
Language (CSL) classrooms?
CSL practitioners have realised that the traditional monolingual tenet
was one of the major problems that has limited the possibilities for
pedagogical innovation and curriculum development. There is a press-
ing need to develop approaches that can make Chinese language teach-
ing more accessible to multilingual learners who are struggling at the
beginners’ level. Clearly, the one-size-fits-all monolingual curriculum
and pedagogy are not well suited to the emerging multilingual learners,
consequently resulting in communication problems, anxiety and demo-
tivation in students learning Chinese. Such challenges are calling for
a reconceptualisation of some of the key concepts in second language
acquisition research in general (Li 2011a, b, 2014; Cook and Li 2016).
v
vi Preface
The meeting sent a clear message to policy-makers at the Legislative
Council that thorough research is urgently needed to understand the
realities and complexities of language practices in CSL classrooms.
Questions to be answered include whether or not a students’ first lan-
guage (L1) should be utilised to support the teaching and learning of
Chinese? If so, how much L1 should be allowed? When and how should
L1 be used to achieve positive second language (L2) learning outcomes?
If students in a classroom speak a number of different L1s, which L1
should be used as the main medium of instruction? How do course
developers consider the medium of instruction in CSL teaching? How
should we prepare CSL instructors to teach in multilingual contexts?
What are learners’ expectations and needs in terms of classroom lan-
guage use? Such questions are not only troubling CSL teachers in Hong
Kong but also many second language teaching professionals and curric-
ulum designers in other parts of the world given the increasing diversity
of the student population in language programmes.
To answer these pressing questions, I applied for funding to launch a
research project with the support of my collaborator to investigate CSL
classroom language policies and practices in Hong Kong. It is impor-
tant to investigate the opinions from key stakeholders including CSL
course developers, teachers and learners before any conclusions are
made or regulations issued. Their attitudes and actions towards mono-
lingual and multilingual policies and pedagogies will enrich our current
understanding of L2 classroom language choices and its influence on
teaching methods. Classroom-oriented research will provide evidence
for policy-makers in reform the curriculum, allowing for better prac-
tices to develop in order to engage students in classroom learning. CSL
teachers, in particular, need practical guidance to improve their teach-
ing approaches. Otherwise, it is difficult for them to accommodate the
long-run challenges posed by the dynamic nature of learning in the
context of diversity. Preparing CSL teachers to effectively teach Chinese
globally is a new phenomenon to understand for policy-makers, teacher
educators and programme providers who aspire to offer quality CSL
language programmes.
Focusing on language practices in the CSL classroom, this book pro-
vides research evidence to inform teachers and policy-makers of the
Preface vii
complexities of language use in second language classrooms, and the
controversies surrounding monolingual and multilingual pedagogies.
Grounded in sociocultural theories and language learning theories, this
study attempts to fill in research gaps by exploring actual classroom lan-
guage teaching practices. The research results from this study will sug-
gest viable conceptual and analytical frameworks, as well as validate
research instruments for similar projects on classroom language policies,
practices and perspectives of L2 classroom discourse in general.
In terms of methodology, the study is based on an ethnographic
research design that recognises the importance of language policy at a
macro-level, and teacher and students’ classroom language practices, as
well as their perspectives towards the ideal and practical use of language
on a micro-level. Both qualitative and quantitative data have been col-
lected from classroom observations and interviews with teachers and
students. Drawing on research instruments from similar studies on
classroom language use, the study adapts and develops existing analyt-
ical frameworks and instruments for collecting and analysing multiple
types of data from CSL classrooms.
Practically, this study aims to offer analysis of classroom conversa-
tions in everyday CSL teaching and learning. Focusing on classroom
teaching with CSL students in Hong Kong, this study is expected to
help increase teacher awareness of the importance of language choices
and uses in teaching, and to provide pedagogical suggestions for CSL
teachers who teach multilingual learners. It is hoped that this will facil-
itate their development of strategies which can make instruction more
principled, efficient and assessable particularly to beginners.
The book is designed to be practical with first-hand information from
classrooms and stakeholders. It is organised into five chapters. Chapter 1
introduces the background of the study, focusing on the major chal-
lenges facing the implementation of CSL courses in the Hong Kong con-
text. Chapter 2 reviews the development and controversy surrounding
medium of instruction policies in CSL teaching. Chapter 3 introduces
the theoretical frameworks and research design of this study, followed by
a systematic literature review on existing classroom language research.
Chapter 4 presents the research results from students, teachers and course
developers regarding their attitudes towards language use and their
viii Preface
preferences of monolingual or multilingual pedagogy. It also provides
samples of real classroom conversations to demonstrate how teachers and
students actively and sensibly employ multiple codes for teaching and
learning Chinese. Chapter 5 invites a critical re-examination of key con-
cepts, including code-switching, medium of instruction, native speaker,
English as a lingua franca in second language teaching and learning.
Auckland, New Zealand Danping Wang
References
Cook, V., & Li, W. (Ed.). (2016). The Cambridge handbook of linguistic multi-
competence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Li, W. (2011a). Multilinguality, multimodality, and multi-competence: Code‐
and mode-switching by minority ethnic children in Complementary
Schools. The Modern Language Journal, 95(3), 370–384.
Li, W. (2011b). Moment analysis and translanguaging space: Discursive con-
struction of identities by multilingual Chinese youth in Britain. Journal of
Pragmatics, 43(5), 1222–1235.
Li, W. (2014). Translanguaging knowledge and identity in complementary
classrooms for multilingual minority ethnic children. Classroom Discourse,
5(2), 158–175.
Acknowledgements
This piece of work would have been impossible to complete without
the research funding of the Vocational Training Council Seed Grant
(Project number LANG/HSEP/1617/03). I am especially indebted to
Ms. Xiaoyan Qiu, head of the language centre at Shatin IVE for her
constant support throughout the project. Xiaoyan has always been
a fantastic collaborator and mentor to me. I am also grateful to Prof.
Li Wei from the University of London, Prof. Bob Adamson from the
Education University of Hong Kong and Prof Andy Kirkpatrick from
Griffith University for their insightful comments on the contents of this
book. Their lifelong research on multilingualism in second language
education has inspired me to make Chinese teaching and learning more
accessible for the ever-increasing number of multilingual learners. I am
also thankful for the editors of the book series, Prof Michael Singh and
Dr. Jinghe Han from the University of Western Sydney, for inviting to
contribute to their series on teaching and learning Chinese.
Many other people have also provided assistance in the preparation of
this book. First of all, I would like to thank the course facilitators who
helped arrange class visits, recruited participants and participated in
project meetings. They are Yani Chen, Doris Lo and Jackie Tsang from
ix