Learning a second language? Develop your mother tongue | Shane Leaning | TEDxXiguanED

Summary

The speaker, an English language teacher, emphasizes the importance of nurturing home languages in children's education. They share experiences illustrating the challenges of learning in a non-native language and propose three steps—review, read, and relax—to support bilingual children's academic, social, and emotional well-being. The talk highlights the role of home languages as a foundation for learning and personal identity.

Takeaways

• 📚 The importance of vocabulary and the myth of repetition for language acquisition was debunked through Simon's story, highlighting that repeating a word doesn't guarantee long-term retention.
• 🌐 The speaker emphasizes the significance of home languages in a child's cognitive development and identity, suggesting they are foundational for learning across all subjects.
• 🏫 It's common globally for children to attend schools where the language of instruction differs from their home language, which can create a disconnect in learning.
• 📈 The rise of international schools and English academies indicates a strong parental push for English proficiency, often at the expense of a child's home language.
• 👦 The story of Joe, a young Korean boy, illustrates the negative impact of neglecting a child's home language in favor of English, leading to limited progress in language acquisition.
• 🔄 The 'dual iceberg model' by Jim Cummins explains the interconnectedness of languages in the brain, suggesting that learning in one language can facilitate learning in another.
• 🧠 The brain is hardwired for language, with all known languages following certain principles, indicating an innate capacity for linguistic understanding.
• 🌍 English has become the global lingua franca, influencing educational choices and the perceived necessity for English language education.
• 📉 Overemphasis on English can be detrimental to a child's social and emotional well-being, as well as their overall language learning journey.
• 📝 The story of the Thai girls who researched in their home language and presented in English demonstrates the benefits of allowing children to engage with content in their mother tongue.
• 📉 The Hong Kong example shows that policies emphasizing home language can lead to improved educational outcomes, supporting the argument for nurturing first languages.
• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 The speaker proposes three steps for parents and educators to support home languages: review academic content in the home language, read and write in the home language, and reduce pressure to foster a healthier learning environment.

Q & A

What was the teacher's advice on vocabulary learning in the German language class?

The teacher advised that if you use a word ten times, it will be yours for life.

What did Simon do in the German class, and what was the outcome?

Simon chanted the word 'Sara' repeatedly, but it did not lead to him mastering the word as the teacher suggested.

What is the speaker's profession and what is the focus of the speech?

The speaker is an English language teacher, and the focus of the speech is the importance of home languages in learning and identity.

Why did the speaker mention the example of trigonometry and the 'big Annamma tree'?

The speaker used the example to illustrate the difficulty of learning a complex subject like trigonometry when the language of instruction is not the student's home language.

What is the 'dual iceberg model' and how does it relate to language learning?

The 'dual iceberg model' is an analogy that shows the surface features of languages as the tips of icebergs and the common underlying proficiency as the connecting section underneath, indicating that learning a concept in one language helps in learning another language.

Why did the parents of the young boy Joe struggle to understand his lack of progress in English?

They struggled because they provided extensive English language support at home, including English books, TV channels, and an English academy, but they neglected Joe's home language, Korean.

What advice did the speaker give to Joe's parents to improve his English learning?

The speaker advised Joe's parents to reintroduce Korean into their home life, read with him in Korean, watch TV in Korean, and discuss school activities in Korean.

What was the outcome for Joe after his parents followed the speaker's advice?

After reintroducing Korean, Joe started speaking, reading, and writing more English, and his skills in other subjects improved as well.

What is the significance of the 'common underlying proficiency' in bilingual learners?

The 'common underlying proficiency' signifies that once a concept is learned in one language, it does not need to be relearned in another language; only the linguistic expression needs to be learned.

What did the geography teacher do to support the three Thai girls with limited English in their project?

The geography teacher allowed the girls to plan, research, and prepare their project in Thai, and only required them to translate their findings into English for the presentation.

What was the result of the Thai girls' project, and what does it imply about language learning?

The Thai girls received the highest grades in the class, implying that supporting home languages can lead to better engagement and understanding of the subject matter, even when learning through a second language.

What are the three steps the speaker proposes to support children with their home languages?

The three steps are: Review (ask children about their school activities in their home language), Read (read with children in their mother tongue), and Relax (reduce pressure and stress related to second language learning).

Outlines

00:00

📚 The Importance of Home Languages in Learning

The speaker reflects on a German class experience emphasizing vocabulary repetition, which contrasts with the ineffectiveness of the 'repeat and you shall keep' method for love and language learning. As an English language teacher, the speaker highlights the significance of home languages in shaping identity and supporting learning across subjects. They argue that the home language is often overlooked in education, especially in schools where the language of instruction differs from the home language, which can hinder learning and identity development.

05:01

🌐 The Impact of English Dominance in International Schools

The speaker discusses the prevalence of English in international schools and the resulting neglect of home languages. They express concern about the excessive focus on English, even to the detriment of children's social and emotional well-being. The story of Joe, a young Korean boy, illustrates the challenges faced when home language support is lacking, and how reintroducing Korean into his life led to improved English proficiency, demonstrating the interconnectedness of languages in the brain.

10:03

🧠 The Dual Iceberg Model and the Common Underlying Proficiency

Using Jim Cummins' dual iceberg model, the speaker explains the concept of a common underlying proficiency that connects different languages in the brain. This model suggests that learning a concept in one language can facilitate learning in another, as the brain uses shared resources for language processing. The speaker emphasizes the innate ability of the brain for language acquisition and the importance of not confining language learning to a single language.

15:06

🏆 Embracing Home Language for Academic Success

The speaker shares an anecdote about three Thai girls who, with limited English, excelled in a geography project by conducting their research in Thai and translating their findings into English. This approach allowed them to engage deeply with the content and achieve high grades, illustrating the benefits of supporting home language in education. The speaker argues that nurturing home languages can lead to positive educational, social, and emotional outcomes.

20:08

🌱 Three Steps to Support Home Language Learning

The speaker proposes three steps to nurture home languages: review the child's school content in the home language, read and write with children in their mother tongue, and relax the pressure associated with second language learning. They advocate for a supportive environment that recognizes the foundational role of home languages in a child's overall development and the importance of integrating them into educational practices.

🏡 The Significance of Home Languages as a Foundation

In conclusion, the speaker emphasizes the foundational importance of home languages, likening them to the concept of 'home' as a safe and grounding place. They argue that regardless of the number of languages one learns, the home language remains the bedrock for all other learning and personal development. The speaker shares a personal connection to their home language and its significance in their life journey.

Keywords

💡Home languages

Home languages, also known as mother tongues, refer to the languages that individuals learn and use in their family or community settings. In the video, the importance of home languages is emphasized as they are integral to one's identity and thinking. The speaker argues that these languages should be nurtured alongside second language learning, as they form the foundation for all learning, including academic subjects like math and science. An example from the script is the story of Joe, a young Korean boy, whose English language learning improved significantly when his parents started to engage with him in Korean at home.

💡Repetition

Repetition is the act of repeating something, often for the purpose of memorization or mastery. The video script humorously recounts an anecdote where a student, Simon, chants a word repeatedly in an attempt to memorize it, suggesting that mere repetition is not an effective method for language acquisition. This highlights the video's theme that language learning requires more than just rote memorization; it involves cognitive engagement and the use of home languages as a support.

💡Trigonometry

Trigonometry is a branch of mathematics that deals with the relationships between the angles and sides of triangles. In the script, the teacher's struggle to teach trigonometry in a non-native language to students exemplifies the challenges faced when academic subjects are taught in a language that is not the student's home language. This scenario underscores the video's message that learning in a familiar language can significantly enhance understanding and educational outcomes.

💡International schools

International schools are educational institutions designed to provide an education to an internationally mobile student body, often following an international curriculum and teaching in a global language, such as English. The video discusses the rise of international schools, particularly in China, where English is often the medium of instruction. The speaker points out that while the intent is to provide English language education, it can sometimes lead to neglect of the students' home languages, which are crucial for their overall cognitive development.

💡Lingua franca

A lingua franca is a common language used for communication between speakers of different native languages. In the context of the video, English is described as the lingua franca of the modern world, used extensively in government, business, and communities. This term is used to explain why parents are keen on enrolling their children in international schools to learn English, as it is perceived as a key to success in a globalized world.

💡Bilingualism

Bilingualism is the ability to speak and understand two languages. The video touches on bilingualism in the context of children who are learning English as a second language while also speaking their home language. The speaker uses the 'dual iceberg model' to illustrate how knowledge and concepts learned in one language can be transferred to another, emphasizing the interconnectedness of languages in the brain.

💡Common underlying proficiency

Common underlying proficiency refers to the shared cognitive and linguistic abilities that underpin language use across different languages. The video explains this concept using the 'dual iceberg model', suggesting that while the surface features of languages may differ, the underlying proficiency that allows us to use language is the same. This concept is crucial for understanding how learning in one language can support learning in another.

💡Academic language

Academic language refers to the specialized language used in educational contexts to convey complex ideas and engage with subject matter. The video emphasizes the importance of developing academic language skills in both home languages and second languages. It suggests that engaging with academic content in the home language can enhance understanding and subsequently improve learning in the second language.

💡Cognitive engagement

Cognitive engagement refers to the mental processes involved in learning, such as thinking critically, problem-solving, and understanding complex concepts. The video argues that effective language learning requires cognitive engagement, rather than just repetition. It suggests that using home languages can facilitate this engagement by providing a familiar context for learning new concepts and languages.

💡Social and emotional well-being

Social and emotional well-being encompasses an individual's ability to manage emotions, form relationships, and navigate social situations. The video suggests that the pressure to learn a second language, often at the expense of the home language, can negatively impact a child's social and emotional well-being. It advocates for a balanced approach to language learning that supports both the home language and the second language to ensure holistic development.

💡Review, read, relax

Review, read, relax is a strategy proposed in the video for parents and educators to support children's language learning. 'Review' encourages parents to discuss school content with their children in the home language, 'read' suggests reading with children in their mother tongue, and 'relax' advises reducing pressure and stress related to language learning. This strategy is presented as a way to nurture home languages and support overall language development.

Highlights

The importance of repetition in language learning is questioned through a humorous anecdote.

The speaker emphasizes the significance of home languages in a child's cognitive development.

The challenge of learning trigonometry in a non-native language is used to illustrate the difficulties of language learning.

The prevalence of schools where instruction is in a different language from home is highlighted.

The role of international schools in promoting English language learning is discussed.

The potential negative impact of excessive English instruction on children's language development is raised.

A personal story about a Korean boy named Joe illustrates the benefits of using home languages in education.

The 'dual iceberg model' is introduced to explain the interconnectedness of languages in the brain.

Noam Chomsky's view on the innate nature of language and its universal principles is shared.

A geography project involving Thai students showcases the benefits of using home languages in academic tasks.

The speaker proposes three steps for parents and educators to support children's home languages: review, read, and relax.

The importance of nurturing first languages for student success is linked to historical language policies in Hong Kong.

The concept of home languages as a foundation for learning and identity is explored.

The speaker concludes with a heartfelt message about the enduring importance of home languages.

Transcripts

[Music]

[Applause]

I remember in German language class when

I was 13 a teacher made a real point of

focusing on vocabulary maybe you've had

a similar experience

one day in explaining the importance of

repetition she taught us use a word ten

times and it shall be yours for life it

was then I heard my friend Simon behind

me and clasped elbows rooted into the

table chanting Sara Sara Sara Sara Sara

I'm sorry to tell you Sara didn't fall

lovingly into Simon's arms that day it

seems the repeat and you shall keep raw

didn't work for Simon it doesn't work

for love and it definitely doesn't work

for language T I'm an English language

teacher I've worked for many years with

children from around the world to

develop their English skills and today I

hope to show you a few experiences I've

had along the way and particularly would

like to convince you of the importance

of our home languages oh think back to

when you were 13 years old you're sat in

a classroom facing the front and the

teacher writes on the board

big Annamma tree your face drops you

know I've never fully understood

trigonometry even now actually more than

that I've never quite trusted those who

do I don't know perhaps my brains not

wired in that way either way

trigonometry is a subject the teacher

tries to work the class through every

detailed measurement of a triangle not

an easy test to teach

never mind learn now imagine this is

what you were given this is an expert

of trigonometry in Bosnian I'm not going

to read it or attempt I don't want to

look like a fool here today but the

point is how much more difficult is this

when we don't have the language see our

home languages our mother tongues are an

essential part of our thinking minds and

identities they represent who we are and

they're also the bedrock of all our

learning be that maths science or

English our home languages are so so

important

even when we're learning through second

language but do we as parents and

educators pay enough attention to the

home language of the children we support

I'd argue maybe not now it may surprise

you to know that most children around

the world attend schools which teach in

a different language without which they

use at home now this may sound

impossible but think about it how many

languages exist China for example and

we're not just talking accents here but

whole spoken languages we have Cantonese

in Guangdong for example and there are

many other examples from around the

world but what's important is it's not

uncommon for children to go and learn in

one language and go home and speak an

entirely different language with their

family state education is delivered in

Mandarin yet many children will speak a

different dialect at home now added to

these types of schools is another type

of school which has seen incredible

growth in the last ten years the

International School this has been

particularly true in China

how many international schools do you

know in Guangzhou there's a new one open

interest down the road from here and of

course were all gathered today in an

international school study Sid

but the number one reason for parents

choosing international schools is so

that their children can learn English

and this makes sense in our ever

globalized world English has become the

lingua franca the common language of

government business and communities now

naturally in pursuit of English parents

are willing to go to great lengths to

ensure success for their children in

line with the rise of international

schools we also see an explosion of

English academies in our city

now these at one point used to serve a

mainly adult population usually for

business English yet now they're open

every evening and every weekend and

serve more and more children it's not

uncommon for a child to go to an

international school where they speak in

English read in English write in English

all day then go straight after school

through an Academy to learn yet more

English this is unnecessary

not only that or potentially damaging to

our children's language learning

journeys and worse still damaging to

their social and emotional well-being

let me tell you a story a few years ago

I worked with a young boy Joe a lovely

little guy from Korea about 6 years old

now he'd moved China with his family for

their work as many do and so he signed

up to the English International School

where I was teaching now first Joe was

doing great he always had a big smile on

his face ear to ear quiet yes he was

making friends ok yet soon teachers

to worry dough was making very little

progress with his English he would only

speak in very simple phrases but to be

honest he he stays silent most of the

time oh we got his parents in to find

out a little bit more and when they came

in we were stumped he were his parents

the kind of parents every teacher wants

super supportive in anticipation of him

starting at the International School

they bought those of English books to

read with him they subscribed on the TV

to some English TV channels for him and

they even signed him up at a local

Academy those same before with all this

support surely you would have expected

his English to improve it wasn't then we

asked a question now chose Korean

answered well okay but we're trying to

focus on English now how about reading

do you read with Jo in Korean well no

but every day in English well that's

good it's good that they read English

books with him how about TV any Korean

TV no just English now yes just Jo study

any Korean they said well no he's in an

English school just studies English you

where this is going we ask the parents

to try something for the next few months

bring Korean back those life read with

him Korean watch TV in Korean and talk

about what Joe's been doing at school

not in English but in Korean and then

we'll meet again before we wanted to

move on to see if there was any

underlying learning needs we wanted to

try this first and

did and one month later Joe was speaking

more English reading more English

writing more English and his skills in

other subjects were on the up why did

this work because the different

languages we learn don't exist in

isolated parts of the brain scientists

are increasingly coming to understand

that actually there is no single

language component in the brain at all

and that we use many parts of the brain

to store and produce language Jim

Cummings a Canadian professor gave this

analogy which I find rather useful this

is the dual iceberg model here you can

see two ice boats two tips of the

icebergs and these represent the surface

features of our languages how they sound

how they look the things that make them

different so you can see here we've got

two tips that represents a bilingual

learner if there were three tips you'll

be trilingual if there were four tips

you'd be showing off but what's

important is that if we look underneath

the icebergs we would see that they're

connected and this connecting section is

what Jim Cummins labels the common

underlying proficiency and this is

important as it means if we learn a

concept in one language we don't have to

relearn that concept again when speaking

another language we just need to learn

the language bribe it if you learn how

to do trigonometry in Chinese you don't

have to relearn how to do trigonometry

again when learning English you just

need the language to describe it all I

may even have to do as a teacher is

display the concept in your mother

tongue or pictorially and if you already

know the concept you can connect the

dots

the father of modern linguistics Noam

Chomsky who celebrates his 88th birthday

this year once said within one mother

tongue are all mother tongues but

another way our brains are actually

hardwired for language there may not be

hardwired for trigonometry but they are

for language language is innate how we

think and the thousands of languages

that exist on this planet all follow

certain principles all know languages

have nouns for example words that

describe things and all known languages

have verbs words that describe actions

in fact all known languages probably

also have swear words which describe

people we don't like but what's

important is that our brains are

hard-wired for this language now a few

months ago I was sat in the staff room

having a coffee with a geography teacher

I know who would choose in their break

to sit with a geography teacher but I

did while having a coffee he told me of

a project he was doing with his year

nines that's about 13 14 years old in

the project he asked them his class to

make a presentation on the formation of

natural disasters but three girls in his

class were from Thailand and spoke

limited English between them now alarm

bells started ringing in my head at this

point I've seen it before where children

with limited English are thrown into

project work and struggle to get the

concepts the whole way through imagine

you had to make a presentation on the

formation of earthquakes and through

healy for example we probably couldn't

even engage with the reading we had to

do

never mind discuss on conclusions or

present

so we try to take a slightly different

approach for these girls the teacher

said to them you can do this whole

project in Thai you can plan in Thai use

the Internet talk with family do

everything in your research in Thai but

when it comes to the end of the project

I'd like you to translate your findings

into English then to the class was of

this the girls engaged deeply with the

content in front of them they

passionately researched their

presentation into the formation of

volcanoes using family and friends for

advice reading texts they could

understand and then at the end as agreed

they translated their findings into

English and presented to the class now

of course they needed a little extra

time for this and that was rightly given

but it also resulted in them receiving

the highest grades in the class now I'm

not one to say that grades are the sum

total of education but think about that

for a second the highest grades in the

class from these girls and that could

have ended so differently as I said if

they'd have had to plan in English could

they have confidently researched learned

and presented on the complexities of

volcanoes perhaps not and the teacher

would have assumed that they simply

didn't have the ability or worse still

the girls could have assumed the same

the damaging message - by supporting the

home language of the children we learn

and embracing it we can actively

encourage positive outcomes for them

food in educational social and emotional

and we as parents teachers are

responsible for making sure this happens

you know the conversation we're having

today is actually already been had in

the little detail and not too far from

here

when Hong Kong was returned to China in

97 the government had some decisions to

make about language the years British

English was the language of a lot of

government and education yet most

children went home he Cantonese with

their family often who couldn't

understand English themselves and this

was given as one of the reasons why

educational standards were not as high

as would have been liked as a result of

this policies were put in place to

ensure that children didn't fall behind

and one of these policies was a renewed

emphasis on Cantonese the home language

of the majority of Hong Kong is it was

reported as a result that this led and

led to better student results oh if we

can agree then that nurturing first

languages is good for the students or

how do we go about nurturing I propose

three steps that we both parents and

educators can use to support our

children with their home languages

review read relax review parents this

one is key what do you do at home to

support the content of your child's

learning the maths science inquiry

simple thing you can do is ask your

child what did you do at school today

you know this is a common conversation

in the homes of monolingual children but

can be absent from homes of bilingual

children perhaps the parents

subconsciously detach from the language

school because it's different to their

own but you don't need to speak schools

language to talk to your child about

what they've done at school do it in

your mother tongue that way their

academic language can develop I'll ingre

lee an equally

teachers what opportunities can you make

to bring the home language into your

classroom is there ways that you can

share with parents what the children

have been doing in school so that they

can take their learning home secondly

Reid and I should add right to that

again

parents read with your children in their

mother tongue we learn so much through

what we read and why restrict that just

English equally teachers other

opportunities you can use for reading in

home language in your classroom

and of course writing as I mentioned

before you know there's so many things

we can do for writing in their home

language at home for example why not

write letters to friends and family

stories be creative it can be great fun

and certainly might not be something

they're doing at school and finally

relax you know learning a second

language is hard and it can be stressful

what do you do and what pressure do you

put on the children to pour the number

one barrier to learning anything breath

if we can take off the pressure just a

little and yes that may include not

taking on that extra tutor that may

include setting slightly less homework

and that may include taking a lighter

approach to testing then we can give our

children the space they deserve hello

review read relax

I hope the

if this message is made clear in the

very labeling by home languages think

about it home language home place we're

safe the place we return to everyday the

place we think the place we feel base we

love and mother tongue mother the very

symbol of our safety our grounding and

our birth you know I live away from my

birth home I'm from England but I live

in China yeah I returned home every year

and where my mother and father are will

always be a home to me they're my

grounding and have laid the foundations

for everything I have and everything I

am today regardless of how many

languages were lucky enough to learn our

mother tongues our home languages are

the foundations on which everything else

we learn built thank you

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]