The Effects of Bilingualism and Language Attitudes on Algerian Students´ Academic Proficiency in ...

150 Pages·2014·0.82 MB·English

PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ALGERIA
MINISTRY OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

TLEMCEN UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF LETTERS AND LANGUAGES
DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
ENGLISH SECTION

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Dissertation Submitted to the Department of Foreign Languages
as a Partial Fulfilment for the Magister Degree
in Language Contact and Sociolinguistic Variation

Presented by Supervised by
Mrs. Nisrine SAHNOUNE Pr. Zoubir DENDANE

Board of Examiners

President : Prof. Smail BENMOUSSAT Pr. Tlemcen University
Supervisor : Prof. Zoubir DENDANE Pr. Tlemcen University
Examiner : Dr. Ghouti HADJOUI MC (A) Tlemcen University
Examiner : Dr. Louafia BOUKRERIS MC (A) Oran University
Examiner : Dr. Noureddine MOUHADJER MC (A) Tlemcen University

Academic Year: 2013-2014
Dedications

To my family
I dedicate this work

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Acknowledgements

I must consider myself truly blessed to have had such a wonderful
role model as my first sociolinguistic teacher and supervisor Pr. Zoubir
Dendane for his constant support in making this research work come into
being.
My sincere thanks go to the honourable members of the jury, namely,
Prof. Benmoussat, Dr. Hadjoui, my thanks go also to Dr Mouhadjer and to
Dr. Boukreris for accepting to take part in evaluating this modest work.
My heartfelt appreciation goes to Pr. Serrir, to whom I feel
extremely grateful for facilitating the work undertaken in terms of
resources during the academic year. My Sincere appreciation also goes to
Dr. Neguadi for his professional advice, guidance and encouragement
during the period of my studies.
Huge thanks to all teachers of my school days, graduation and
post-graduation who had the most influence on my studies. There is quite
a lot to say, but my words fail to express all my gratitude.
I also wish to express my deepest gratitude to my husband Omar
who always appears miraculously in the hour of need. Special thanks to
Doctors Doha, Douja, Houria and Meriem for their invaluable help with
the data collection. My thanks also go to my family for their moral support
at various times.
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Abstract

This research work seeks to discuss a specific issue of language use and to
analyze the general academic achievement taking medical sciences students from
Tlemcen University as a case in point. The students were observed through both
questionnaire and interview, which allowed for the testing of language use along
with Cummins’ (1979, 1981, 2001) constructs of Basic Interpersonal
Communicative Skills and Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency in the oral
domain. This distinction has provided the basis for understanding why students
often remain behind in academic performance and have difficulty confronting the
academic language demands despite their apparent linguistic fluency .The results
indicate that the great majority of students’ communicative approach is restricted
largely to conversational fluency rather than cognitive Academic language
proficiency. These constructs are applicable to a context where the French language
is in diglossic relation where students in many cases switch code or use only a local
dialect in the context of formal lessons. The study also reveals students’ attitudes
towards French as a scientific medium of instruction in Algeria. Through
interviews conducted with a number of students and teachers, the findings show
that students and teachers have difficulty in adhering to the Arabicization policy of
education and the majority of the students prefer the use of French inside their
classrooms. Through their shared experiences, most teachers have asserted that
French is necessary in teaching their subjects and even concepts and topics taught
are comprehensible to students when taught in French but the Academic
proficiency has not been effective and productive in the long term.

Key-words: bilingualism, BICS, CALP, code switching, language attitudes.

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Acronyms

CA : Classical Arabic
MSA : Modern Standard Arabic
AA : Algerian Arabic
L1 : First Language
FSL : French as a Second Language
L2 : Second Language
CS : Code-switching
LP : Language Proficiency
LLS : Language Learner Strategy
CALP : Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency
BICS : Basic Interpersonal Conversational Skills

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List of Tables

Table 2.1 : Functions of H and L forms ................................................................... 49 
Table 2.2: Algerian Medical Journals published in French ..................................... 65 

Table 3.1 : Language mastering (Fr vs. MSA) ........................................................ 89
Table 3.2 : Parents’ French language use in everyday speech ................................ 90 
Table 3.3 : Effective learning Environments ........................................................... 92 
Table 3.4 : Frequency of students’ French use ........................................................ 94 
Table 3.5 : Degree of mixing languages .................................................................. 95 
Table 3.6: Language choice in reading books and using the net. ............................ 97 
Table 3.7.1: Students competence in French (Speaking) ........................................ 99 
Table 3.7.2: Students competence in French (Writing) ........................................... 99 
Table 3.7.3: Students competence in French (Listening) ...................................... 100 
Table 3.7.4: Students competence in French (Reading) ........................................ 100 
Table 3.8: Students’ language perception in terms of difficulty ........................... 102 
Table 3.9: Students’ views on fluent students in French ....................................... 104 
Table 3.10: For or against scientific studies in MSA ............................................ 105 

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List of Figures

Figure 1.1 : Academic Proficiency (Krashen, Brown, 2007: 1). ............................. 10 
Figure 1.2: Acquisition and Learning in Second Language Production
(Krashen1982 :16) ................................................................................ 17 
Figure 1.3: Operation of the "Affective Filter" (Krashen 1982:32). ....................... 20 
Figure 1.4: Surface and Deeper Levels of Language Proficiency
(Cummins 1979). .................................................................................. 23 
Figure 1.5: Range of Contextual Support and Degree of Cognitive Involvement in
Communicative Activities (Cummins 1992:19) .................................. 24 
Figure 1.6: The Dual Iceberg Representation of Bilingual Proficiency (Cummins
2001:182) ............................................................................................. 26 

Figure 2.1: Geographical distribution of the Algerian local varieties ..................... 55 

Figure 3.1: Language mastering among Medical Sciences students ....................... 89
Figure 3.2: Frequency of French use in parents’ daily conversations ..................... 91
Figure 3.3: Learning environments affecting French use ........................................ 92
Figure 3.4: Frequency of students’ French language use ........................................ 94
Figure 3.5: Degrees of mixing languages ................................................................ 96
Figure 3.6: Language choice in reading and internet use. ....................................... 98
Figure 3.7.1: Students’ competence in French (Speaking) ...................................... 99
Figure 3.7.2: Students competence in French (Writing) ........................................ 100
Figure 3.7.3: Students competence in French (Listening) ..................................... 100
Figure 3.7.4: Students competence in French (Reading) ....................................... 101
Figure 3.8: Students’ language perception in terms of difficulty .......................... 102
Figure 3.9: Students’ views on fluent students in French ...................................... 104
Figure 3.10: For or against scientific studies in MSA ........................................... 105

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Table of Contents

Dedications ................................................................................................................ i
Acknowledgements ................................................................................................... ii
Abstract .................................................................................................................... iii
Acronyms .................................................................................................................. iv
List of Tables ............................................................................................................ v
List of Figures ......................................................................................................... vi
Table of Contents ................................................................................................... vii
General Introduction ............................................................................................ 1
Chapter One: Bilingualism and Academic Achievement .............................. 7
1.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 7
1.2 Defining Academic Language Proficiency ...................................................... 7
1.3 Bilingualism and Second Language Learning ................................................ 11
1.3.1 Bilingualism ............................................................................................. 11
1.3.2 Classifications of Bilinguals .................................................................... 14
1.4 Second Language Acquisition ........................................................................ 16
1.4.1 Krashen’s Theories................................................................................... 16
1.4.1.1 The Monitor Hypothesis .................................................................... 17
1.4.1.2 The Natural Order Hypothesis ........................................................... 18
1.4.1.3 The Acquisition–Learning Hypothesis .............................................. 18
1.4.1.4 The Input Hypothesis ......................................................................... 19
1.4.1.5 The Affective Filter Hypothesis ........................................................ 19
1.4.2 Cummins’ Theories .................................................................................. 20
1.4.2.1 Additive / Subtractive Bilinguals ...................................................... 21
1.4.2.2 The Threshold Hypothesis ................................................................. 21
1.4.2.3 BICS and CALP ................................................................................ 23
1.4.2.4 Common Underlying Proficiency ...................................................... 25
1.4.3 Social perspectives on language development ......................................... 27
1.5 Factors Affecting Second Language Acquisition ........................................... 30
1.6 Language Learner Strategies .......................................................................... 35
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1.7 Language Attitudes ......................................................................................... 39
1.8 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 42
Chapter Two: Language Policy and Languages in Algeria ........................ 44
2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 44
2.2 Historical Background .................................................................................... 45
2. 3 Algeria and its three Languages .................................................................... 47
2.3.1 Arabic Varieties ....................................................................................... 47
2.3.1.1 Classical Arabic ................................................................................. 49
2.3.1.2 Algerian Arabic ................................................................................. 50
2.3.1.3 Language use ..................................................................................... 53
2.3.2 Berber ....................................................................................................... 53
2.3.3 French ....................................................................................................... 56
2.4 Francophonie in Algeria ................................................................................. 59
2.5 The Rise of French in Algeria ........................................................................ 60
2.5.1 Higher Education ..................................................................................... 61
2.5.2 Economy .................................................................................................. 62
2.5.3 The Media ................................................................................................ 64
2.6 Linguistic Conflict .......................................................................................... 66
2.7 Education Language Policies in Algeria ........................................................ 70
2.7.1 Colonial language policy ......................................................................... 70
2.7.2 Arabisation Policy .................................................................................... 72
2.7.3 Educational Reforms ................................................................................ 75
2.8 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 77
Chapter Three: Field Work Investigation ...................................................... 80
3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 80
3.2 Research Tools and methodology .................................................................. 80
3.2.1 Participant Observation ............................................................................ 81
3.2.2 The Interviews .......................................................................................... 82
3.2.2.1 Teachers’ interview ........................................................................... 83
3.2.2.2 Students’ interview ............................................................................ 84
3.3 The Questionnaire .......................................................................................... 85
3.3.1 Language Experience ............................................................................... 88
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3.3.2 Language Use and Preferences ................................................................ 93
3.3.3 French as a Study Language .................................................................. 102
3.4 Measuring Language Attitudes ..................................................................... 106
3.5 Attitudes towards Medical Sciences Studies: MSA vs. French ................... 110
3.6 Interpretation of the Results ......................................................................... 112
3.7 Advantages of Bilingualism ......................................................................... 114
3.8 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 118
General Conclusion ........................................................................................... 120
Bibliography ......................................................................................................... 125
Appendices ............................................................................................................ 130
Appendix A: The Students’ Questionnaire ......................................................... 131
Appendix B: The Teachers’ Interview ................................................................ 135
Appendix C: The Students’ Interview ................................................................. 137

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