1. B LTA

2. 1. Introduction – multilingualism in
mainstream education policy
frameworks
2. The research context.
3. Research methodologies and processes
4. Some findings.
5. Some conclusions and implications for
research, policy and practice.

3. Understanding how the intersections
and spaces between research, policy
and practice influence the learning
experiences and contribute to the
challenges faced by bilingual learners
and teachers in primary education in
England.

4. Mainstream education – unresolved
questions about multilingualism
 Is being multilingual an asset, or is it a problem?
 Should we promote ‘additive multilingualism’ (e.g.
providing pupils opportunities to use L1 in their
learning, recognising and valuing languages they
speak and write outside of school)
 Should we regard multilingualism as transitional,
and something that is not really relevant for
mainstream schooling

5. Historic contradictions in policy
1975 1985
THE BULLOCK REPORT THE SWANN REPORT
‘A language for life’ ‘Education for all’
• Bilingualism an asset • ‘Equal access’
• Cultural and social ideology
aspects recognised • Separation of school
• Moving towards and community
‘additive bilingualism’ • ‘Transitional
bilingualism’

6. The National Curriculum - a
‘monolingualising’ curriculum
Some key features underpinning language provision:
• English as an ‘entitlement’, and a legal requirement,
for all pupils
• Concern with standard English, accent and dialect,
rather than language diversity
• Bilingual teaching and support are seen as important
only until such time as pupils are confident in English
(i.e. transitional, rather than additive bilingualism.

7. A ‘universal model of assessment’?

8. ‘EAL’ as a barrier to learning – the
National Curriculum (2000) statement
on inclusion:
A minority of pupils will have particular
learning and assessment requirements
which … if not addressed, could create
barriers to learning. These requirements
are likely to arise as a consequence of a
pupil having a special educational need
or disability or may be linked to a pupil’s
progress in learning English as an
additional language.

9. I have never said, or implied, that lack of fluency in
English was in any way directly responsible for the
disturbances in Bradford, Burnley and Oldham in the
summer of 2001. However, speaking English enables
parents to converse with their children in English, as
well as in their historic mother tongue, at home and to
participate in wider modern culture. It helps overcome
the schizophrenia which bedevils generational
relationships. In as many as 30% of Asian British
households, according to the recent citizenship survey,
English is not spoken at home.
(Blunkett, 2002:77; also Aitsiselmi, 2004)

10. Effects of ‘monolingualising’ in
education – a personal view
It was only after embarking on my degree that I began
to challenge my personal attitude towards my mother
tongue and I started to make a conscious effort to
break down the language barrier which years of
schooling had created between me and my parents.
Only when I realised that my mother tongue deserves
the same respect as any other language did I begin to
have respect for my culture and feel a sense of
belonging within my language community.
Saiqa Riasat in Conteh, 2003: 139

19. • A sociocultural model of learning, in which activity theory
(Daniels, 2004; Daniels et al., 2009; Roth and Lee, 2007) and the
‘funds of knowledge’ notion (Moll et al., 2001; Gonzalez et al.,
2005) of community resources constructs learning as interwoven
strands from school, home and community experiences.
• Identity negotiation and performance as vital aspects of
educational success (Cummins, 2001; Garcia, 2009), and
identities as ‘produced and legitimised in discourse and social
interaction’ (Blackledge and Creese, 2010)
• Languages as ‘sets of resources called into play by social
actors’ (Heller, 2007) in order to ‘make possible the social
reproduction of existing conventions and relations as well as the
production of new ones’, and language repertoires as ‘indexical
biographies’ (Blommaert and Backus, 2011)

20. Linguistic ethnography:
… bringing an ethnographer’s sensibility to the
apparatus of linguistics and discourse analysis,
treating it as as a set of ‘sensitising’ concepts
suggesting directions along which to look rather
than definitive constructs providing prescriptions of
what to see ...
… once the apparatus is epistemologically
repositioned like this … then linguistics offers a very
rich and emprically robust collection of frameworks
for exploring the details of social life …
Blommaert and Rampton, 2011:12

21. B LTA
The BLTA Saturday classes
Founded in 2002 by two newly-qualified, bilingual
primary teachers.
Aim to:
– promote a ‘bilingual pedagogy’ to enhance children’s
achievements in mainstream school.
– address misconceptions about the role and value of ethnic
minority children's home languages both in school and home
amongst parents, children, teachers and the wider
community.
– Provide a ‘safe space’ to promote children's identities as
bilingual learners and their self-confidence in taking control of
their own learning.
– Contribute to dialogue with policy makers regarding
‘bilingual pedagogies’.

22. ... the historically accumulated
and culturally developed bodies
of knowledge and skills essential
for household or individual
functioning and well-being …
Moll et al. 2001:133

23. Funds of knowledge – working with parents

26. Cultural and community resources

28. When describing the language practices of bilinguals
from the perspective of the users themselves, and not
simply describing bilingual language use or bilingual
contact from the perspective of the language itself, the
language practices of bilinguals are examples of what
we are calling translanguaging…
For us, translanguagings are multiple discursive
practices in which bilinguals engage in order to make
sense of their bilingual worlds. Translanguaging
therefore goes beyond what has been termed code-
switching, although it includes it, as well as other kinds
of bilingual language use and bilingual contact’
Garcia, 2009: 45

33. B LTA
Evidence from research
• Ongoing, longitudinal, co-research from 2003
onwards.
• In 2011, a series of small-scale case studies,
funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation,
involving interviews with teachers and families,
and observations in classrooms.

34. Performing identities through
translanguaging – the children
We had to count in fives, so I did it in
my head in Punjabi then I said it out in
English …. Eek, do, teen, cha …
twenty-five … chey, saat, aat, nor ….
Thirty …. Eek, do, teen, cha ….. thirty-
five …
(Sameena, aged 8)

35. Saiqa: The smallest number I can get is 1 and 1 and 1 is doh (two) . . .
isn’t it? Saraya nal bara namber kai? (What is the biggest number you
can get?)
Ayisha: Baraa (twelve)
Saiqa: Baraa . . . thako Ayisha sunee peeay na (Twelve . . . look, Ayisha is
listening, isn’t she?) Baraa (Twelve) . . . because if I throw this dice, the two
dice together, I can get six and six, can’t I? If I add them together chay tay
chay melo thay baraa (six and six makes
twelve). You are going to think of four numbers . . . chaar namber . . .
koi vee meeki chaar deyo . . . jaray doh thay baraa nai darmeyan nah
(four numbers . . . can you give me four numbers which are between two and
twelve?)
Farhat: Jamah karsa? (Are we adding?)
Saiqa: Jamah karsa . . .meeki namber deyo (Are we adding. . . give me a
number) . . . give me a number . . . doh namber deyo jayrey doh thay
baraa nai darmeyan an (give me two numbers between two and twelve)
Farhat: Paanj (Five)
Saiqa: Paanj (Five) [writes on whiteboard] Tariq, thu meeki ik aur namber deyo
jayra doh thay baraa nai darmeyan (Tariq, you give me one more number
between two and twelve) That is between two and twelve . . . Koi vee namber
deyo doh thay . . . (Can you give me a number between two and . . . )
Tariq: Four
Saiqa: Chaar . . . shabash! (Four . . . Welll done!) [writes on whiteboard] Saeed?
Conteh, 2007a: 467

36. Evidence from case studies –
a child’s views
… when the teacher asks me to translate for
someone who can’t understand, I feel proud … it
feels like you’re helping somebody ….
… I’d like to have more languages in school …
… it’s hard to speak Punjabi because I can’t
remember much ... I speak most of it to my dad
(Shahid, aged 10)

37. A bilingual teacher’s views
My experiences as a bilingual learner allow me
to empathise with children who feel the need to leave
their home languages (thus part of their identity and
culture) at home because they want to conform to
school’s expectations of them.
However as a bilingual teacher I strongly promote a
bilingual approach to teaching and learning in my
classroom so that children can bring their home
experiences and their complete identities to school.
Furthermore, I like to share my experiences as a
bilingual learner and teacher with both my
monolingual and bilingual colleagues as a way of
addressing misconceptions about bilingualism
amongst teachers but also to show that a bilingual
approach to teaching is not exclusive to bilingual
teachers only.

38. A mainstream teachers’ views
• We’ve got different languages in this classroom,
so we only allow them to speak English, to avoid
any confusion and conflicts.
• I was really impressed by the creativity involved
… it’s a really good idea, what he’s been doing,
he was telling me about the city you’re building
… it’s doing him the world of good.

39. A parents’ views (1)
• It’s good for my child to hear his teacher speaking
Punjabi.
• … speaking Punjabi helps them to interact with their
grandparents … if we go back home now, they’ll pick
up a lot.
• We have been trying very hard to use Punjabi as our
first language
• He’s got a lot more confident in big school after
coming to the classes.

40. A parents’ views (2)
• She’s always said to me what a lovely time she’s had
at the classes – she gets her lunch box ready the night
before.
• He loved the cooking classes … he wants me to teach
him how to do atta at home.
• I have noticed I would overlook opportunities, but
now I try and motivate myself and my children.
• I’ve learnt that understanding my family is very
important.

41. Issues arising from the case studies
related to mainstream schools
• Dissonance in home and school cultures,
particularly for KS1 pupils.
• Differences in perceptions of the children by the
complementary and mainstream teachers.
• Mainstream teachers’ lack of knowledge of
complementary classes, children’s languages, etc.
• Policies in some schools actively discourage
language diversity and multilingualism.

42. • Parents were surprised at our interest in their families’
home languages and this raised the profile of their home
languages for them.
• The feedback that parents got from their children's
teachers about their home languages strongly influenced
the time they spent in promoting the home language
with their children.
• Parents were easily able to identify the disadvantages of
low proficiency in their home language in the home
setting, (e.g. limited conversation with family
members who couldn’t speak English), but were unaware
of the disadvantages it could have in mainstream
classrooms.

43. • There is a need to continue developing research methodologies
which recognise the different kinds of knowledge and power
brought to the questions by all participants.
• Bilingual teachers’ language and cultural knowledge are potential
professional strengths which need fuller exploration.
• There are potential benefits for all pupils in a system which
recognises a sociocultural model of learning and supports
additive, rather than transitional, bilingualism.