Becoming a Plurilingual Child (eBook)

Roberto Gómez Fernández (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2018 | 1. Auflage
330 Seiten
Editorial Bubok Publishing (Verlag)
978-84-686-5556-7 (ISBN)

Infos

The present research aims at illustrating the newcomer's process of becoming an 'emergent plurilingual' member of a heterogeneous and multilingual primary school classroom in Luxembourg. It is a 8 month case study about a child belonging to one of the ethnic and linguistic communities most affected by school failure in Luxembourg, namely 'Romanophones' or romance-language speaking students. The country of Luxembourg has three official languages and a great diversity, both factors demanding a unique educational system. The Luxembourgish educational system is then confronted with the common practice of trilingualism and a high proportion of foreigners in its classrooms. A detailed analysis of the actors in contact with this child, including the different teachers, parents, and peers, allows for an observation of which practices are legitimated and which ones are marginalized. It also provides valuable insights on how such practices emerge and how the newcomer's identity evolves within the class group.

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INTRODUCTION

The experience of a newcomer from one of the most unsuccessful groups in multilingual schools in Luxembourg

The main topic of this research, the experience of being a newcomer in a multilingual school, originates from research that took place during the years 2008 and 2009 in a Luxembourgish primary school. In the initial stages of this research one of the main objectives was to document the process through which a random newcomer (of Portuguese or Brazilian origin1) became just one more pupil in the classroom community. Taking into account that this research focused on a conventional classroom (as opposed to a bridge or special needs classroom) and that one of the main issues in this process of becoming just another pupil involves the different languages taught and spoken (Luxembourgish, German, Continental Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese), the reader may begin to appreciate the difficulty of such a process for a seven-year-old child.

However, as soon as the research was narrowed down, it seemed logical to focus on the resources and the capital brought and used by this newcomer on his way to membership. Along this path to membership there were many conflicts regarding capital and resources. Some agents also treated the newcomer differently. This study focuses on a process, on key moments during the academic year, either during interviews or in classroom interaction, and it analyses this data according to the research questions and the selected theoretical framework. This study claims to address a lacuna regarding current understanding of newcomers, especially within the context of primary schooling in Luxembourg. At the same time, it puts forward ways of understanding these newcomers. Once the scientific community acknowledges the relevance of the matter, more measures can be taken into consideration and hence these newcomers will have “an extra hand” on their difficult path in their new school and country.

Study overview

The present study is divided into three main parts. The first part consists of three chapters and deals with:

i)	the contextual information and the motivation which drives the research (chapter one)

ii)	the theoretical framework selected to respond to the research questions (chapter two)

iii)	the methodological tools employed (chapter three)

In the first chapter I take a look at the challenging situation regarding the Luxembourgish educational system. I explore some of the main concerns regarding migration and languages in addition to raising possible solutions for educational failure. I then take a look at an increasingly common situation in this context: the newcomers. I try to understand their context and the way they are received in classrooms. Finally, taking all these points into consideration, I turn to the research questions, before introducing the justification, rationale and analytical framework for the current study.

In the second chapter I explain the integrated approach to the questions and the data. I then describe the broad frame of a social view on learning and supplement it with both an interactional approach and an ethnographic perspective. I then take a look at some child development theories, as the current research takes place in a primary school, thus focuses, either directly or indirectly, on identity formation and learning processes. Later, I introduce the ideas of “communities of practice”, together with legitimate peripherality and access, which are of particular relevance for the first moments of the newcomer at school. I then continue to explore the concepts pertinent to the correlation between membership, socialization and learning, which is significant for the middle phase of the newcomer at school. Finally, the concepts of continuity and change are introduced as both relate to the newcomer, community identity and evolution. This chapter concludes with a summary (or review) of other major related case studies and an appraisal of their relevance, strengths and potential weaknesses.

In the third chapter I deal with all the relevant methodological aspects. The main points in this chapter are:

i)	the research objectives

ii)	the selection of the case

iii)	the research design

iv)	the types and methods of data collection

v)	the main characters or agents surrounding the child case

vi)	data organization, treatment (e.g., transcription issues) and analytical processes (e.g., clip selection)

The second main part of the study comprises three chapters of analysis, each of which covers a different period of the academic year of the newcomer. Hence the first chapter on analysis (Chapter Four), which involves the initiation of the newcomer into his new school, focuses on the first weeks of the child case. Throughout this chapter I explore the main moments regarding the welcoming of the new “member”, but also the first so-called conflicts. Other points of focus are the newcomer’s different potential resources at that stage and the possible gatekeeping practices on the part of a number of agents in the classroom.

Chapter Five comprises the middle period in the newcomer’s academic year. The main issues addressed here are:

i)	the arrival of another newcomer and the relationship between the two newcomers

ii)	the arrival of another teacher with concomitant changes to classroom rules and routines

iii)	the inevitable reorganization of resources for the newcomer

iv)	the potential gatekeeping practices of some agents in the classroom

The final analytical chapter (Chapter Six) addresses the last period in the academic year. In this chapter the devices employed in order to “categorize” others play an important role in understanding other issues such as membership and learning processes. This work explores once again the different configuration of resources for the child case as well as their interconnection with the categorizations displayed in the classroom. To these categorizations may be included the positioning displayed by the child case as well as the way the teacher behaves regarding issues such as diversity. A further concern is also the potential end of the gatekeeping practices.

Finally, the last and third part of the study, Chapter Seven, summarizes the different previous sections and challenges their validity with the aim of proposing future studies in the field. This chapter also covers the possible implications of the current study with regard to theory, practice and research itself. The chapter ends with a summary, followed by bibliographic references and appendices.

Table 0.1. Explanation of the different contents of the present study.

Section

Chapter

Main contents

Data

Main theory

Introduction

Motivation behind the research and structure of the study

I

Ch. 1.

Educational and legislative context regarding romanophone children in primary schools with special attention to newcomers. Research questions and unit of analysis

Legislative and administrative documents Research studies

Davis (1994), García (2006), Horner & Weber (2005; 2008), Martín Rojo (2004; 2007; 2008), Noesen et al. (2008), Skilbeck (1982), Weber (2008)

I

Ch. 2.

Social, interactional and ethnographic approaches. Previous case studies

Research studies

Barnard (2009), Berger & Luckmann (1966), Corona et al. (2008), Corsaro (1993; 1997), Goffman (1959, 1974, 1981, 1982), Heller & Martin-Jones...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 12.2.2018
• Verlagsort: Madrid
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Schulbuch / Wörterbuch ► Lektüren / Interpretationen
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Literaturwissenschaft
• Schlagworte: linguistic communities • luxenbourg • Multilingual • Primary school • prurilingual
• ISBN-10: 84-686-5556-2 / 8468655562
• ISBN-13: 978-84-686-5556-7 / 9788468655567