FIRST LANGUAGE BASED BILINGUAL EDUCATION, SRI LANKA

5th International Conference on Language and Education: Sustainable Development through Multilingual Education

19-21 October 2016 Bangkok, Thailand

For W idening Hor izons of the W or ld of W ork through Bilingual Education

G.H. AsokaDirector, Dept. of Bilingual Education and

Comparative EducationNational Institute of Education, Maharagama,

Sri Lanka

(From 19th -21st Oct 2016)

The M ode Avai lable and the M ode Desi r able

In f luen t i al Facts beh ind Sr i Lank an Bi l i ngual Educat i on (SLBE)

Histor y of SLBE

Object i ves of SLBE

What has been done

M ajor l i ngui st i c Ach ievem en ts expected th r ough SLBE

School based BE Developm en t Pr ogr am

Sr i Lank a Fr iendly BE Cur r i cular M odel

National Curriculum of General Education, Sri Lanka (2012)

Engl i sh (Ph i l l i pson 2008) :● Lingua academ ica:● Lingua bel l i ca (m i l i t ar y

conquest )● Lingua cul tur a: cul tur al

f actor s i n explor at i on● Lingua econom ica: t he

global i zat i on im per at i ve● Lingua em ot i va: ( f i lm

indust r y, adver t i si ng and m usic)

Fal lacies beh ind Engl i sh m edium educat i on r ef lect i ng l i ngui st i c im per ial i sm in postcolon ial educat i on pol i ci es (Ph i l i pson , Linguist i c Im per ial i sm – 1992)▶The m onol i ngual f al lacy▶t he nat i ve speak er f al lacy▶t he ear ly star t f al lacy▶t he m axim um exposur e

f al lacy▶t he subt r act i ve f al lacy

(LINGUA TYRANNOSAURA: Linguist i c cann ibal i sm & Linguist i c genocide)

● Any m onol i ngual (even i n Engl i sh) educat i on w idens the gap between global ‘ Haves’ and ‘ Never - t o- Haves’

● M onol i ngual i sm alone : i nadequate today i n any pol i t i cal l y power ful l anguage i n any con text

● Necessi t y: i . abi l i t y to addr ess one’ s local

l i ngui st i c capi tal and global l i ngui st i c capi tal

i i . w i thout being blot t i ng sheets of the west

● Engl i sh today● Global i n ter m s of Global Engl i sh

Par adigm : w i th assim i lat i on i st per spect i ves th r ough m onol i ngual or i en tat i on f or subt r act i ve pur poses

● I n ter nat i on al i n ter m s Wor ld Engl i shes Par adigm : w i th addi t i ve aspects th r ough m ul t i l i ngual or bi l i ngual or i en tat i on w i th a h igh pr est i ge f or local languages

“One of the fundamental reasons forthe economic failure of post colonialAfrica South of the Arabic Zone isthe fact that, with a few importantexceptions, mother tongue (homelanguage) education is not practisedin any of the independent Africanstates.”(Nevi l l e Alexander , at the Un i ver si t y ofCape Town)

Nat ional ident it y:“However , in set t ings w here children’snat ive languages are not est eem ed orw idely used, t h is approach …is likely t ocont r ibut e t o t he loss of t hoselanguages.”(Elsevier Science Lt d, 1998, Educat ion:The Complete Encyclopaedia: Bil ingualEducat ion: Ant hropologicalPerspect ives P. 1)

‘As children abandon theirnative language, importantlinks to family and othermembers of the socialinfrastructure are graduallyweakened and lostaltogether. Parents arehampered in their ability topass on family values andcultural traditions to theirchildren As the nationstruggles to reverse anincrease in the incidence offamily dissolution, schoolsmust do more to establish orstrengthen the family as aunit. Encouraging thepreservation of the firstlanguage is a step in thatdirection.’(Wong Fillmore, 1991)

…The [St udent s’] abil i t y in t heir nat ivelanguage [Sinhala/ Tam il] m ust benur t ured. … Aside from it s l inguist ic value,t he child’s f irst language is cr it ical t ohis/her ident it y. …(Gustavo Gonzalez & Lento F. M aez, 1995,Advance in Research in Bi lingual Education p .1- 2)

National Objectives in Sri Lanka:• To develop social harmony & social cohesion in a

pluralistic society using English as a link languagein global & local contexts

• To provide opportunity for all students,irrespective of socioeconomic & regionaldisparities, to acquire proficiency of both the firstand English without devaluation of national andofficial languages, Sinhala & Tamil.

• To enable students to use English as a sourceand means to reach knowledge society throughinformation literacy

• To link academic aspects with socioeconomicpolitical and cultural aspects of the world of workthrough national languages & the link language atlocal & global level.

NEC Repor t on the Pr oposals, 2003: (P.116- 117)

“ Bi l i ngual i sm should be pr om oted byusing Engl i sh as the m edium ofinst r uct i on i n selected subjects suchas M athem at i cs, Science, Technologyincluding Com puter l i t er acy, SocialScience in secondar y gr ades, year byyear f r om Gr ade 6, depending on theavai l abi l i t y of teacher s. I t i s expectedthat studen ts w i l l r each an acceptablelevel of pr of i ci ency in Engl i sh at theend of jun ior secondar y educat i onw i thout jet t i son ing Sinhala and Tam i lwh ich w i l l con t i nue to be the m ediumof inst r uct i on in selected subjects”

• Overall language focused objective : Balanced Bilingualism cum Functional Bilingualism for Instrumental purposes with Balanced Biliteracy.

• Additive purpose (adding a second language and cultural affiliation to students’ repertoires & assimilative purpose) to empower students

• not subtractive by replacing students’ primary language and cultures in the process of assimilating them to the culture of the English.

National Objectives in Sri Lanka

• To develop social harmony & social cohesion in a pluralisticsociety using English as a link language in global & localcontexts

• To provide opportunity for all students, irrespective ofsocioeconomic & regional disparities, to acquire proficiency ofboth the first and English without devaluation of national andofficial languages, Sinhala & Tamil.

• To enable students to use English as a source and means toreach knowledge society through information literacy

• To link academic aspects with socioeconomic political andcultural aspects of the world of work through national languages& the link language at local & global level.

General Object ives of the Project in BE atthe NIE:

• To upgrade and update quality of BE.• To enhance quality of learning material

available on BE.• To develop quality of continuing teacher

education of the teachers of BE.• To motivate learners towards a bilingual

learning culture.• To adapt learners for a self-directed

learning culture witin BE.• To create interest in bilingual culture and

value of bilingualism/ multilingualism.• To promote vocational interests and

economic perspectives in global society through BE.

• To gain feedback for design and development of BE.

More or less suitable definitions onBE for Sri Lanka:

“BE refers to an educational programmein which both a native language & asecond language are taught assubject matter & used as media ofinstruction for academic subjects/s.”

(Encyclopaedia)‘ … any system of school education

in which, at a given moment intime and for a varying amountof time, simultaneously orconsecutively, instruction isplanned and given in at leasttwo languages [Sinhala/TamilEnglish] …yet L2 teaching maybe a part of a BE program.’

(Josiane F. Hamers & Michel H.A. Blanc, Bilingualism &

Bilinguality – P. 189)

Wor r ies of Bi l i n gual Educat ion Teacher s (2007)

● Thei r poor awar eness of t he tar get di scipl i ne, BE

● Shor tage of com peten t t eacher s f or shar ing exper ience

● Thei r r equest f or pr ofessional developm en t i n con t i nuous teacher developm en t pr ogr am m es

● The suppor t t hey expect f r om adm in i st r at i on , planner s and com m un i t y, especial l y f r om par en ts

● Poor m ot i vat i on of t hei r lear ner s

● Lar ge classes w i th shor t per iods and lengthy syl labi

● Need of having thei r pr ofessional developm en t m on i tor ed and obser ved

● Faci l i t i es i n ter m s of space, l i br ar i es, labs, classr oom condi t i ons.

● Ti r ed of t hei r job, r est less m en tal l y and less pr ofessional sat i sf act i on .

● Haphazar d teacher t r ansfer s

● Loaded t im etables; i ndi vidual i zat i on of lear n ing.

● Cer tain m yths due to lack of k now ledge.

Conceptual Fr am ewor k ofTeacher Em power m en t i n BE:

● To explain BE in i t s global and local perspect ives;

● To exam ine the character ist ics of prospect ive

● BE co- learners and the learn ing process w i th regard to BE;

● To exam ine the character ist ics and needs of t he teachers of BE;

● To develop a m ethodology for t eaching through BE

● To develop a research cul ture in relat ion to BE in the BE teacher com m uni t y in Sr i Lanka;

● To develop an appropr iate assessm ent and evaluat ion cul ture for BE in the count r y;

● To create a sense of pr ide in the Sr i Lankan ident i t y whi le valuing Engl ish as a global and local language;

Conceptual Fr am ewor k of Lear ner Em power m en t i n BE:

● To develop language for day-to- day com m unicat ion (BICS)

● To develop Cogni t ive Academ ic Language Prof iciency Ski l l s (CALPS)

● To dem onst rate sel f - di rected learn ing sk i l l s

● To prom ote and cater t o individual learn ing st yles

● To encourage the spi r i t of work ing together

● To inculcate in terdiscipl inary th ink ing

● To create a sense of pr ide in the Sr i Lankan ident i t y whi le valuing Engl ish as a global and local language

Policy Aspects

(NEC)

Implementation Aspects (MOE)

Curricular Aspects (NIE)

Vision

Object i ves

Sri Lankan CLIL Framework: 2012/13

Goals

Sri Lankan BE Curricular Architecture…(2012)

Link between the wor ld of Lear n ing w i th the Wor ld of

Wor k (2013)

New Approach to Curriculum Development on Competency based nature and Constructivism (Using both functional and conceptual perspectives)

Outcomes expected through the proposed Sri Lankan BE Curricular Architecture

•Linguistics•Language planning•Psycholinguistics•Neurolinguistics•Sociolinguistics •Evaluation

Subject specific

pedagogy

Applied Linguistics

General Methodology

Path for thinking (cognition)+Agent of communication

● Content(Subject/Syllabi)

● Edu: Philosophy● Edu: Psychology● Sociology● Measurement and

evaluation

View of CLIL:- As Methodology/ Pedagogical approach to instructional design in BE

Source and resource

Knowledge skills attitudes

Knowledge skills attitudes

❖To ident i f y a core- cad r e❖To add r es s r em ot e a r eas❖To develop in for m a t ion n et w or ks t h r ou gh in t r a an d in t er s ch ool coh es ion❖To es t ab lish a s t r on g t eam of m en t or s on BE❖To cr ea t e collect ive aw ar en es s ❖To decen t r a lize in s t r u ct ion in a collabor a t ive an d coop er a t ive m an n er❖To m in im ize d is cr ep an cies ❖To develop on - s it e an d off- s it e ca r eer develop m en t❖To develop lin ks w it h t h e NIE w it h con t in u ou s , con s t r u ct ive cr it ica l d ia logu e ❖To en su r e t each er develop m en t by m in im iz in g d r aw backs in t h e cascade❖To add r es s qu a lit y im p r ovem en t of BE t each er s ❖To s t r en gt h en p r ofes s ion a lism t h r ou gh r eflect ive p r act ice an d ❖ act ion r esea r ch❖To en h an ce p lu r ilin gu a l com p et en cies t h r ou gh BE❖To in s t it u t ion a lize s ch ool a s a m odel of on goin g p r ofes s ion a lism ❖To en su r e in d ividu a ls a s m odels of excellen ce an d p ot en t ia l leader s ❖To en cou r age BE t each er s t o w or k a s a t eam w it h ME t each er s

SCHOOL BASED BILINGUAL EDUCATION PROGRAM

Teacher development

2013 first round: 151 resource persons with its core team at national level (25)

Awareness raising: Teacher Centre Managers, Directors, Provincial, Zonal and

others in the school Community

Activities for extension of the learned

Both theoretical rationale and practical application implicitly combined with

language development

Expanding resource pool with new members, principal-awareness program

Linking programs

Application sessions

Planning CLIL Learning situations

Discussions in groups using the new model

Observation using observation sheets

Preparing reports and assignments

Producing Video for achieving multifaceted objectives

Whole class Discusions

Corrections and Feedback

Monitoring & Evaluation

Research culture on BE

Teacher development packages (3)

Surveys at the NCoEs for developing teacher

development curriculum on BE

Action Researches on CLIL: April, 2014 onwards

Research journal

Awareness of BE

Newsletters

Requi r ed f ur ther im pr ovem en ts • Network ing hum an and physical resources• A wel l - docum ented pol icy on BE• To invest igate the preservice teacher developm ent

cur r iculum• Cadre of of f icers• St rong awareness for adm in ist rat ive and m anager ial

sectors• Our own way (Sr i Lankan) for going ahead creat ively• To share exper ience and suppor t each other• Network for m utual suppor t through l ink ing

program s