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Getting to Know STARTALK Languages and Cultures
1. Shuhan Wang: Conceptual Framework with Chinese examples
2. Alwiya Omar: Swahili3. Iran Amin: Persian4. Vijay Gambhir: Hindi & Urdu5. Iamn Hashen: Arabic6. Rubab Qureshi: Urdu7. Discussions
2
An Ecological System Approach An Ecological System Approach to Expandingto Expanding
STARTLK Language Fields in STARTLK Language Fields in the USthe US
Shuhan C. Wang, Ph.D.Shuhan C. Wang, Ph.D.STARTALK TL/SV MeetingSTARTALK TL/SV Meeting
May 8, 2009May 8, 2009Washington, D. C. Washington, D. C.
Language Ecological Perspective
Language environment: Historical and contemporary Macro and micro
Language evolution: The variety of the language being selected The corpus of the language The development of the language in the host
environment
Effects of efforts: endangerment or spread
Why is an Historical Perspective on Environment
Central? Language education does not occur in a
socio-cultural vacuum
A newly introduced variety (of language) needs to grow in a nurturing environment
A historical perspective enables us to understand deeply the present phenomenon in a larger context
Language is not simply a linguistic issue; it is often an identity and emotional issue
Individual Biliteracy Resource Eco-System
Language Environment:Heritage and Dominant Discourses-in-Contact
Biliteracy in Use
Human CapitalCultural CapitalSocial Capital
Her
itag
e D
isco
urs
es
Dom
inan
t D
isco
urs
es
Language Evolution:Biliteracy in Development
Formal educational system
Heritage communities
Private providers
Home government
Government
The Architecture of the Language Field The Architecture of the Language Field (Brecht & Walton, 1994)(Brecht & Walton, 1994)
Government
Home Government
Private Providers
OnlineMultimedia
NGOs
Formal education system
LearnersHeritage Communities
A System View of the Language A System View of the Language FieldField
(Wang 2009)(Wang 2009)
Some Factors in the Macro Environment
Economic and political relations between the home and host countries
Public attitude towards that language and people who use it
Legislative efforts Economic context of the host environment National security concerns Funding support Translation into educational programs
Some Factors in the Micro Environment:
for an immigrant group Who are they? How educated are they? What do they look like, including skin color? What language do they speak? What are their religions and cultural practices? In what condition did they come? For what purpose? In what number did they come? When did they come? How long have they been here? Where do they live? Are they socially integrated or
isolated? To whom do they pledge allegiance?
Language Evolution: Which “Variety” to
Grow/Teach? Socio-political environmental factors Linguistic implications Identity and relational issues Teachers’ competence and comfort level;
identities Parental and community’s goals Heritage community’s identities Students’ goals, motivations, interests, and
identities Materials
Language Evolution: The Corpus of Chinese Language
Divergence of Mandarin since 1949:--Phonology: Standard vs. Taiwan varieties
--Semantics: e.g., contemporary words reflecting scientific &
technological innovations; cultural references; political experiences and movements
--Syntax: common expressions
--Writing system: simplified vs traditional Chinese characters;
e.g., 国 vs. 國 ; 华 vs. 華--Phonetic system: Hanyu pinyin vs phonetic symbols
--Style and Cultural Index
Other Dialects
Implications for Teaching and Learning a
LanguageLexicon, syntax, content, perspectives,
genres, voices, styles, and cultural references and usages
Curriculum design
Material and textbook development and selection
Assessment
Language Evolution: the Status of a Language
in the US Educational Policy Home language under bilingual
education and NCLB: from the US perspective
Heritage language: from the Chinese group’s perspective
Foreign language/World language
Market Economic Status of Chinese:
If Chinese Were Stores Home Language: No market value (in
schools)
Heritage Language: Neighborhood mom and pop shops
Foreign Language:--Prior to 2000: Neiman Marcus—only for the
elites--After 2004/05: Costco—an upscale wholesaler
(Adapted from H. Tonkin, personal communication, 2000)
Educational System: K-16 Articulation
Institutions of Higher EducationCommunity Colleges-
UndergraduateGraduate
Public K-12 schools, charter & vocational
schools
Private/parochial/religious schools
Non-school timeSTARTALK
HeritageCommunities
Sociological Codes of Languages in the US:
Educational Policies and Practices in the K-12 Context
English Speakers
NCLB
English OnlyForeign/WorldLanguage Education
English Plus
English Literacy Policy
Home LanguageHeritage Language
(Wang, 2007; Evans & Hornburger, 2005)
Language Evolution for Individuals:
Biliteracy in Development Heritage Discourses and Dominant
Discourses co-exist in the language environment
The heritage/new language develops in the language/Discourse-in-contact environment
Individuals must negotiate or internalize both discourses in order to turn them into personal biliteracy capital reservoir
Build Biliteracy Capital Reservoir via
Continua of Biliteracy (Wang, 2004; also see Hornberger, 1989; Hornberger &
Skilton-Sylvester, 2000) Continua of Context (micro to macro, oral
to literate, & monolingual to bilingual) Continua of Media (linguistic structures,
orthographic systems, & individual’s exposures to the languages)
Continua of Content (minority to majority perspectives and genres, vernacular to
literary use, & contextualized to decontextualized texts)
Continua of Development (receptive to productive skills, oral to writing, & L1 to L2)
Sociolinguistic Deconstruction of a Native Speaker
Expertise in the language; e.g. in the heritage or dominant language
Allegiance --Inheritance toward the heritage language group --Affiliation to the dominant language group
(Rampton, 1995; Wang, 2004)
Forming & Performing Identities:
Heritage and Dominant Discourses-in-Contact
Heritage
Discourses
Inheritance
Identity Dominant
Kit Discourses
HYBRID Variety Affiliation
Expertise
Biliteracy in Use: Effects and Benefits of Learning a
Language Rethink Language Capacity as Capital
Building At least three types of capital can be
deconstructed in language education: Human/Linguistic Capital
Cultural Capital (including family educational and cultural heritage)
Social Capital (how we use language & culture to engage others to achieve our social, economic and political goals)
Questions for a STARTALK Language
How does the environment of the language field look?
What are historical and present efforts in spreading the language in the US?
What is the status of the language as a heritage language in the community and schools?
What is the status of the language as a Foreign/World Language in the educational system?
How are the language and its speakers and culture(s) viewed in the public discourse?
Lessons Learned1. Take a system approach, connect all sectors
2. Enhance teacher development capacity
3. Take an incubator approach to build programs and infrastructures; simultaneously develop and field test curricula, materials, assessment, and research
4. Build high human capital: identify and develop teams of specialists who know the language, understand cultures, SLA, pedagogy, curriculum, material, assessment, research, and K-16 contexts and heritage communities in the US
Build an Infrascture of A Learner-Centered Language
Field Teachers: Teacher Preparation Capacity
Quantity/Numbers and Quality/Effectiveness K-12 public schools: Certification
Requirements Curriculum Instructional planning and strategies Materials Assessment & evaluation
Learner outcomes Program evaluation
Research The role of technology Program establishment and sustainability
Government
Home Government
Private Providers
OnlineMultimedia
NGOs
Formal education system
Learners
Heritage Communities
A System Approach:A System Approach:1.1. Think about supply, demand, & Think about supply, demand, &
infrastructure infrastructure 2.2. Create flywheels that convert Create flywheels that convert
energy into synergy energy into synergy (Wang, 2007)(Wang, 2007)
National Language Policy Implication:
Biliteracy for AllNative language
Second LanguageThird and More
Languages
Rethink “Cultured-ness”
Mono-cultural Bicultural Cross-cultural Inter-cultural Multi-cultural Trans-cultural
Some References Wang, S. C. (2008). The Ecology of the Chinese Language
in the United States (pp. 169-181). In Hornberger, N. H. (Ed., 2nd Ed.), Encyclopedia of Language and Education. Germany: Springer.
Asia Society & the College Board. (2008). Chinese in 2008: An Expanding Field..
Hornberger, N. H. and Wang, S. C. (2008). Who are our Heritage Language Learners? Identity and Biliteracy in Heritage Language Education in the United States (pp. 3-38). In D. M. Brinton & O. Kagan (Eds.), Heritage Language Acquisition: A New Field Emerging. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Wang, S. C. (2007). Building Societal Capital: Chinese in the United States. In J. Lo Bianco (Ed.), The Emergency of Chinese, Language Policy, Special Issue, Volume 6, Number 1. Germany: Springer. 27-52.
Wang, S. C. (2004). Biliteracy Resource Eco-System of Intergenerational Transmission of Heritage Language and Culture: An Ethnographic Study of a Chinese Community in the United States. Ph. D. Dissertation. University of Pennsylvania.