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).