Silver, Rita

This report presents findings from the PPELE study of English language instruction in classrooms in five countries and discusses how those findings relate to stated governmental policies on language and education. Data from classroom lessons and teacher rationale statements show that teachers are aware of policy initiatives related to language education and to the potential longer-term needs of students for English. However, teachers focus on immediate classroom priorities that influence daily lessons and give emphasis to student learning. These findings support a multidirectional interpretation of language policy – derived not only out of structural priorities and classroom priorities, but also influenced by the social and personal dimensions of classroom teaching and by teachers’ goals and beliefs.

The role of language in science learning and teaching has been a focus of science education research for over three decades. This rich body of research has led to the insight that learning the language of science is constitutive of learning science: simultaneously with participating in classroom activities and conversations, describing observations and constructing conceptual understanding, students must begin to appropriate the language of science.

This study examines mother tongue in a multilingual region which includes a national language, a recognised ethnic minority language, and multiple other minority languages (including so-called ‘dialects’) and English. We probe into practices and perceptions of one designated ethnic minority group in China across domains of family, community and education through a process of authentication. Drawing on a questionnaire of 576 students with local, multilingual education experience and interviews with 48 students of the Zhuang minority group, we examine the intersubjectivities of language, ethnicity and Chineseness. The findings highlight an unwavering affirmation of Putonghua (PTH) dominance as central to Chineseness along with wavering support of Zhuang and other minority languages or dialects as linked to ethnicity and regional identity. Crucially, our data show that the policies and ideologies around recognised minority languages can make it difficult for speakers to name or claim their ‘mother tongue’. The analyses suggest that ‘mother tongue’ is a misnomer in many ways as it is not primordial, matrilineal or geneological but is based in (primarily monolingual) ideologies which do not adequately represent multilingual individuals and communities. We propose a conceptual framework to expand our understanding of the authentication of mother tongue and the resilience of minority/minoritised language, problematised by monolingual ideologies.

A small-scale study of reading comprehension in Primary 4 was undertaken. One aspect of the study was to introduce “Questioning-the-Author” (QtA) technique (Beck & McKeown, 2002) as part of reading comprehension lessons. Subsequently students answered comprehension questions which included ‘traditional’ reading comprehension questions (literal, inferential and applicative, following Ruddell, 1999) and QtA-type question (e.g. “What do you think the author wants you to understand?”). In addition to checking student comprehension via the lesson worksheets, we also administered a survey to gather information on student perceptions of item difficulty and interest level. In other words, which types of questions were perceived to be more difficult? Which questions were considered to be more interesting? This paper focuses on student perceptions of the different question types. We will also consider whether students’ perceptions of difficulty/interest matched accuracy of student responses.

"This one-year project was an investigation into the ongoing implementation of recent policy initiatives that influence pedagogies, curriculum innovation, and instructional practices in primary education in Singapore. Investigation covered P1 and P2 in all core subjects: English, Mother Tongue (Chinese, Malay, Tamil) and mathematics. It included investigation of local contextual conditions which impact the work of policy developers and implementers at all levels within the system: class, school, zone, national. Our goal was to assist in developing a more complete understanding of the specific, local challenges of policy implementation." -- p. 2.