Image credit: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/burma-myanmar-asia-girl-children-5176041/ This post is the first of a series of posts on how to analyze classroom talk with regard to four aspects of that talk: Turn-taking, Contextualization, Narration, and Framing. They are summaries of the four chapters on how to analyze classroom talk in Ivy League professor Betsy Rymes’ textbook, Classroom Discourse AnalysisContinue reading “How to analyze classroom talk: Part 1 of 4”
Category Archives: Definitions
What is Critical Language Awareness (CLA)?
Teachers often wonder how appreciation for linguistic and cultural diversity can be fostered in schools. This is not just a “cultural show” issue, but comes down to teaching every student how to be respectful and inclusive, in and out of class, making school a place where racially, linguistically, and culturally minoritized students, some of whomContinue reading “What is Critical Language Awareness (CLA)?”
Is there such a thing as “balanced bilingualism”?
When we hear the word “bilingual,” what often comes to mind is the “balanced bilingual,” someone who has complete and/or native-like control over two languages. But when we take a class in applied linguistics, we realize that there are so many bilinguals in the world beyond this narrow definition. However, after taking a class inContinue reading “Is there such a thing as “balanced bilingualism”?”
“Majoritized” and “Minoritized” Translanguaging: What they are and why they matter
This 2021 study by Ingrid Beiler examined three secondary classes in Norway taught by the same teacher: (1) a regular gr. 11 English class, (2) an accelerated class for gr. 10 students undertaking the gr. 11 English curriculum, and (3) a sheltered class for gr. 11 English repeaters (aged gr. 12/13), many of whom spokeContinue reading ““Majoritized” and “Minoritized” Translanguaging: What they are and why they matter”
What is “postmethod” language teaching and why has it been so influential?
Even if you haven’t heard of B. Kumaravadivelu’s work on “postmethod” pedagogy, you probably have experienced its effects: the last trendy methods of language pedagogy—Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), and Content Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)—are at least 20 years old. At some point, around the year 2000, the carousel of “trendy” languageContinue reading “What is “postmethod” language teaching and why has it been so influential?”
The difference between language development and literacy development: What every teacher should know
In 1978, Jim Cummins, a rising education scholar, pointed out that first language (L1) development helps rather than hinders second language development (L2), because there is a common knowledge base as well as metacognitive skills that underlie both languages, which he called the Common Underlying Proficiency. This was a blow to the idea that studentsContinue reading “The difference between language development and literacy development: What every teacher should know”
Plurilingualism vs Translanguaging: Epistemology, Stance, and Practice
In this chapter of the blog, I summarize two articles that discuss the similarities and differences between plurilingualism and translanguaging. As I read them, I was thinking the same thing that any other student of bi/multilingual education studying these terms is thinking: are the terms really different, and if so, how? In epistemology (what isContinue reading “Plurilingualism vs Translanguaging: Epistemology, Stance, and Practice”
English Medium Instruction vs Content Language Integrated Learning: Why is the distinction important?
Image from https://theanalyst007.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-great-indian-english-medium-drama.html In “EMI” and “CLIL” classrooms around the world, students are learning an academic subject through the medium of English. But are there important differences between these terms, and do they matter, especially for students who are disadvantaged by the language of instruction due to limited proficiency in it? In other words, theContinue reading “English Medium Instruction vs Content Language Integrated Learning: Why is the distinction important?”
Why don’t people in Linguistics use the term “translanguaging”?
I was walking around the HKU campus this past week when I ran into a booth peopled by undergraduates in the Linguistics Society. It was all about—translanguaging! But none of the displays or materials used the term “translanguaging,” and in this week’s post I attempt to explore why. I took photos of the display andContinue reading “Why don’t people in Linguistics use the term “translanguaging”?”
Definitions and examples of translanguaging: Do they remain justice-oriented? – Two lit reviews from the Global “North” and “South”
In 2017, Luis Poza, an assistant professor of Education in the U.S., examined 53 studies on translanguaging (1996-2014), investigating how the term was defined in each study, what examples were given, and what percentage of studies linked translanguaging to educational reform for linguistically and culturally marginalized students, as opposed to merely promising that translanguaging wouldContinue reading “Definitions and examples of translanguaging: Do they remain justice-oriented? – Two lit reviews from the Global “North” and “South””
annamend 