Differentiation in multilingual classrooms: Probing the relationship of teacher practices and the performance of students speaking non-dominant languages at home

• In Event: Highlighted session: Multilingual teaching in schools and in homes

Proposal

Excluding languages from multilingual classrooms neglects the linguistic practices of many students and may have detrimental consequences on their learning and well-being. However, excluding languages is a prevalent practice in education, as 40% of students in the world do not have access to education in a language they speak at home (UNESCO, 2016). There is renewed attention on the issue of language of instruction (Kosonen & Benson, 2013) with greater support for the utilization of mother tongues as the language of instruction, now seen as a fundamental equity driver in multilingual contexts. The biggest challenges, however, exist in the contexts with high linguistic diversity where any choice of language of instruction will likely lead to excluding some children due to their lack of language proficiency. In these contexts, the provision of education in all languages is unfeasible and therefore it is fundamental to explore other solutions on how to improve the opportunities of students who do not necessarily speak or perfectly understand the language of instruction.

An example of a country with high linguistic diversity is the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The DRC’s rich ethnolinguistic diversity is such that people from various parts of the country may speak languages that are mutually intelligible (Trapido, 2015). The country’s educational policy set four national languages – dominant linguae francae – as the language of instruction in the early grades and adopts French as the language of instruction from grade 3 onwards. With learners speaking myriad of non-dominant languages at home, teachers resort to various practices to teach in their linguistically diverse classrooms.

The DRC is also a country where donors have invested a considerable amount of resources in the improvement of primary school education via several interventions. Many of these interventions and programs focus on improving the quality of the education provided through training primary school teachers. Generally, the focus of these trainings is on how to use newly developed materials, how to plan for remediation lessons and how to apply the pedagogy that the project embraces. However, these trainings could also address instructional practices – including but certainly not limited to using multiple languages in the classroom – that reduce learning gaps between students who speak the language(s) of instruction and those who do not. To that end, this study aims to uncover the mechanisms by which different instructional practice affect the performance of linguistic minorities in primary schooling in eight provinces in the DRC. In particular, this study examines the degree to which Congolese teachers engage in different classroom practices based on the linguistic makeup of their classrooms and how these practices affect student reading achievement.

The study uses data collected as part of the monitoring efforts of a large-scale five year reading intervention in the DRC. This data includes data on teachers’ practices and on student performance. The data on teachers’ practices was collected via classroom observations and include whether teachers equitably select students to participate in the classroom activities, whether they demonstrate content, whether they complement the students, or whether they use multiple languages, to name a few. Students’ performance data was collected via literacy assessments collected at the end of each trimester during 2017-18 academic year. Overall, data was collected from over 400 schools and accelerated learning centers in eight provinces. At each school, a sample of Grade 1 and Grade 2 students completed a short literacy assessment that measured the capacity to read and write in the language of instruction, as well as few background questions, including questions about their linguistic practices at home. Additionally, at each school, a sample of Grade 1 and Grade 2 teachers from the same classrooms were observed. Preliminary analyses indicate that teaching practices other than using multiple languages in the classroom, may have a positive effect on the performance of linguistic minorities. Full analysis of the data will be conducted using multilevel-modelling.

The study’s aim to increase our understanding around which teaching practices have a positive impact on the learning outcomes of linguistic minorities is highly relevant for linguistically diverse regions. Findings in this domain may contribute to improving the conditions of the educational experiences of students representing linguistic minorities and may contribute to improving equitable access to education by diminishing the disadvantages created by not speaking the language of instruction. Thus, this study aims to use the findings to inform not only teaching practice, but also inform shaping of the educational policies that can support adoption of teaching practices shown to have positive impact on learning outcomes on linguistic minorities.

Authors

• Jasmina Josic, Educational Research Consultant

• Fernanda Gandara, School-to-School International