The move from page to screen: the multimodal reshaping of school English.
Authors:
Jewitt, Carey1
Source:
Visual Communication; Jun2002, Vol. 1 Issue 2, p171-195, 25p
The result of over twenty years of research, the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment (CEFR) is exactly what its title says it is: a framework of reference. It was designed to provide a transparent, coherent and comprehensive basis for the elaboration of language syllabuses and curriculum guidelines, the design of teaching and learning materials, and the assessment of foreign language proficiency.
There is a tendency to argue for or against bilingual education in terms of productivity (student attainment expressed as test scores), and that productivity is discussed in terms of division of time, curriculum and speakers. Although this orientation has produced some valuable macro- level accounts, it does not address the need for close-up interaction data showing how language(s) are used by teachers and students in classroom activities.
Bilingual education, in its many manifestations, can be used to
serve a number of educational and social goals which include:
• promotion of a majority language in a linguistically diverse society;
• promotion of a minority language in a linguistically diverse society;
• promotion of both majority and minority languages in a linguistically diverse society; • revitalization of a local minority language in a linguistically diverse society;
• promotion of foreign language in a foreign language learning context.
Leung focusses on two less commonly discussed areas: (a) the ways in which the notion of language as medium of instruction is abstracted in scholarly discussions and research; and (b) pedagogic integration of curriculum learning and language learning, foregrounding the need to attend explicitly to issues of language learning, particularly second language/additional language learning in bilingual education.
Language learning, especially second/additional language learning, is not an automatic and universal process for all learners p.11
Examination of how the chosen medium of instruction has been used and exploited in teaching materials and classroom processes would open up new angles of research. Combining these two aspects of language use is likely to enrich the classroom research agenda within bilingual education. p. 12
This paper discusses Halliday’s thoughts on three, natural components of language development; that of learning language, that of learning through language, and that of learning about language. Halliday discusses how language is a constant process, often complex, often instinctive, which begins before birth and continues throughout life. Demonstration of how language is constructed draws attention to the child not being a solitary individual, but one who is involved in interaction, and so becomes actively immersed with others. Establishment of how language is created from meaning, then transmitted between humans, emphasises this interactive process as a requirement for communicative success, and further draws upon the significance of context as a means of learning. Adapting language to various functions supports the building of reality and so allows transition from the use of language for doing, to the use of language for learning.