Gatekeeping strategies in FL
courses: Rethinking home
backgrounds
Adolfo Carrillo Cabello
Valdosta State University
Agenda
1
Background
2
Methodology
3
Findings
4
Discussion, implications
5
Future research
6
Questions
3rd International Conference on the development and
assessment of Intercultural Competence (January
2012)
• Intercultural competence of heritage language learners:
Motivation, identity, language attitudes, and the
curriculum.
• Olga Kagan
• National HL Resource Center
Heritage speaker
• The term "heritage language speaker"
refers to an individual exposed to a
language spoken at home but who is
educated primarily in English (Brinton, D.
Kagan, O. & Bauckus, S., 2007).
Premises
• Research in the area of HS has focused on the loss of
grammatical features (Montrul 2008, 2009, 2010;
Montrul & Bowels, 2010; Montrul, Bhatt, & Benmamoun,
2010; Polinsky 2006, 2008a, 2008b, 2008c, 2011) and
the gaps in heritage speakers’ vocabulary (Isurin &
Ivanova-Sullivan, 2008; Kondo-Brown, 2003; Kagan,
2005).
National survey
• 1,800 speakers of 22 languages
• Enrolled in college-level courses to study their heritage
language
• 45 % spoke their language at home
• 39% combination, English HL
Characteristics of HL
• Acquire HL before English
• Have limited exposure to the HL outside the home
• Relatively strong aural and oral skills, but limited literacy
• Have positive HL attitudes and experiences
• Study the HL to connect with family’s communities and their roots
NSFLT, ACTFL, 2011
• NSFLT recognizes that there are students in the foreign language
(FL) classroom who have varying abilities and proficiencies in
languages other than English, among which Spanish and
Chinese are listed as the most predominant.
• The NSFLT argues for the consideration of students’ home
backgrounds, especially for the making of connections and
comparisons.
Sample policies on restrictions for enrollment
•
a) Students who elect to continue the study of their high school foreign language
in order to meet requirements for the major may not take MCL 1001 in that
language for credit. They should begin their college foreign language requirement
with MCL 1002. To complete a 6-hour requirement, they should then take MCL
2001. MCL 2002 will complete the 9-hour requirement.
•
b) Students may elect to take a foreign language other than the one studied
previously in high school. They should take MCL 1001, MCL 1002 (to complete
the 6-hour requirement), and MCL 2001 (to complete the 9-hour requirement).
•
C) MCL 1001, when taken to satisfy a deficiency in the University admissions
requirement, will not be counted toward satisfying the foreign language
requirement for the major. MCL 1002, 2001, and 2002 should be taken if the
same language is selected, to meet the foreign language requirement for the
major. If students elect to begin the study of another language, MCL 1001, 1002,
and 2001 should be taken.
Sample policies on restrictions for enrollment
•
I took a few classes in high school, but I may have to go back to the 101
level (FRE 101/GER 101/SPA 101).
You still have to take the placement exam. If you need to go back to the 101 level,
your exam will reflect this fact.
However, if you took three years or more of French, German, or Spanish in high
school, you cannot register for FRE 101, GER 101, SPA 101, no matter what your
placement score is.
Please know that your transcript will be checked against the class list during the first
week of class. If you have more than three years of high school course work, you will
be removed from the class rolls.
Study
Mixed Methods (survey, quan + qual)
RQ 4
RQ5
viewing of materials
delivery
Process of interactions
video
Watch video and complete
comprehension quiz.
Post entry to forum.
discussion
discussion
Read postings, reply to questions, write
comments.
Data gathering instruments
• Discussion forums
• Exit survey
– Liket scale items (Quan)
– Open-ended questions (Qual)
Participants
• 6 sections of Spanish 202, intermediate
Spanish 2
• 116 participants, 27 males and 89 females
• 42 participants in sub-set, qualitative
Data collected
• 941 entries to 8 discussion forums made
by 42 participants
• Numeric and textual responses from 115
participants to exit survey (Quan and
Qual)
Findings
Participants’ preferences for viewing
of materials
Distribution of comments for viewing of materials
by preferences for viewing
Preferences for assignment of
videos
Preferences for assignment of
videos
I would prefer to choose, there are certain countries I am more interested
in. [Reference 1, Sections 1 & 2]
I think it would be better if you got to choose which ones to watch. For
example, I am going to Spain this summer, so I really wanted to watch
the Spain ones, but I was assigned Argentina. I think it would better if you
could choose. [Reference 2, Sections 1 & 2]
I would have preferred to choose my own rather than being told which was
to watch because I would have picked Spain since my aunt is from there.
[Reference 15, Sections 5 & 6]
Discussion and implications
C3
C1 C2
Your own footer
1. WHAT: identification of
content, elicitation of
noticing.
2. HOW: elicitation of
reflection, relationships
to C1, inquiry.
Your Logo
What/how questions
• When selecting places to buy food, I consider the price
and not so much the quality. I am a poor college student
and cannot afford buying good food. I like shopping at
Hy-Vee or Wal-Mart. They offer good inexpensive food.
Buying bread daily in Spain is very important. In Spain,
it is said that without bread, there is no meal. I think that
this idea is important because it has been passed on
from generation to generation. Today it is normal that
people buy bread for every meal, so there is an
abundance of bread.
inquiry
comparisons
identification
issue
inquiry
report
Comparison,
comprehension,
rejection, relate
to information
Sample posting illustrating recurrence to
resources for access to TL
•
It is very important to buy the ‘daily bread’ because bread needs to be fresh and in Spain people
eat lots of bread. My sister studied in Spain last semester and she said that they have bread at
breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Bread is a very important food item. I think that ‘the daily bread’ is
important also because it helps/contributes to the gains of vendors [Anna, Forum chapter 7]
•
Anna, your answer is very good! Do you think that is possible that ‘the daily bread’ is a social
custom too? For example, people in Hispanic countries can talk with their neighbors when they go
shopping. Thanks! Nina [Nina, Forum chapter 7]
•
Anna, this is a very informative response with lots of good content! The fact that your sister was
in Spain got my attention since I will be in Spain this summer too! Which city did she visit? You
talked about the stores at the market in your answer. Are these places where people normally buy
food? Thanks! Kayla [Kayla, Forum chapter 7]
•
Kayla, last semester my sister studied in Caceres. I think that the stores in the market are normal
places to buy food. She told me that there are many shops with lots of things that you can buy at
good prices. I think that people would want to get their food there all the time. Which city are you
going to this summer? Do you like Spain? What would shopping be like? Thanks! Anna [Anna,
Forum chapter 7]
Sample posting illustrating recurrence to HL
•
My parents are not doctors as Nina’s. My parents would help me control my pain if I was hurt
before taking me to the hospital. In my Asian family there are a lot of Asian home remedies
that my parents and grandparents like using. My grandmother buys medicine from countries and
my family uses it when we are sick. If the remedies of my grandmother do not cure me, then
my parents take me to the clinic or to the hospital. The majority of medications that my family
uses are what we can get at the supermarket or what my grandmother buys in her home country,
Laos. She buys the medicine when she returns to Laos to visit family. My father suffers from high
blood pressure and high cholesterol and he needs to get his medications with prescription at the
pharmacy. In Spain, people cannot buy medications without a prescription and it takes long to see
a doctor because there are long waiting lists. Differently from Nina and Jeslyn, I use alternative
medicine. In Spain and Chile people use alternative medicine such as massages and yoga. When
I am sick, my parents make me drink hot tea with all sorts of herbs. When my sister suffered
from backaches, my grandmother would prepare a bath with herbs. When I have a cold, my
grandmother rubs some balm on my chest and my back. Sometimes if someone in my family
is very sick my family has a ceremony in which we eat grilled pork and a shaman
communicates with the spirits. My family uses a great number of alternative medicines. As Nina
and Jeslyn said, there are some similarities in the alternative medicine used in the US and
Hispanic countries. [Jenna, Forum chapter 12]
Future research
• Identifying and understanding reasons for enrollment in
lower-level courses.
• Examining ICC development in lower-level courses
(101, 102).
• Study interactions with family and community (Kagan,
2012).
• Explore ICC assessment as a secondary indicator of
language proficiency for enrollment purposes.
Questions
THANK YOU!