Cover not available
Article published In:
Australian Review of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 25:1 (2002) ► pp.1–18

Early bilingual writing

Some influences of the mother tongue on written genre learning in the majority language

| University of Canberra

The paper reports some influences of the mother tongue uses on the majority language writing in a simultaneously bilingual child. The child was observed over a five-year period (from the pre-school through mid-primary years) when receiving mainstream schooling in English, whereas her communication with the parents largely occurred in a minority language (Russian). The written texts produced by the child in both her languages over this five-year period, both in the school and at home, were analysed using the systemic functional methodology (Halliday 1994). The written texts of the child’s classroom peers were sampled for comparative analysis. The findings provide evidence that language development in one of the bilingual’s languages tends to enhance the development in the other. Thus there have been differentiated text types in the child’s English writing that were not explicitly taught in English, and also some genres not typically found in the same age monolinguals’ writing. These genres have been scaffolded using the minority language, thus indicating that aspects of the schematic structure and grammar mastered in one of a bilingual’s languages can be carried across to their second language and stimulate the emergence of new written genres in it. Overall the findings support the hypothesis of the interdependence of bilinguals’ languages development (Cummins, 1981; 1984), in the area of written genre learning.

Published online: 1 January 2002
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/aral.25.1.01aid
References
Aidman, M.
(1994) Comparative analysis of written genre development by a simultaneous bilingual: a longitudinal case study of emerging biliteracy. Unpublished M.Ed, thesis. University of Melbourne.Google Scholar
Andersson, T.
(1972) The American experience. In M. Swain (Ed.) Bilingual schooling: some experiences in Canada and the United States. Toronto, Ontario: Institute for Studies in Education.Google Scholar
Arefi, M.
(1997) The relationship between first and second language writing skills for Iranian students in Sydney: an application of the interdependence hypothesis. Unpublished PhD thesis. University of Western Sydney.Google Scholar
Barratt-Pugh, C. & Rohl, M.
(2001) Learning in two languages: a bilingual program in Western Australia. The Reading Teacher, April, 664–676.Google Scholar
Benson, J.D. & Greaves, W. S.
(1973) The language people really use. Agincourt, Canada: The Book Society of Canada.Google Scholar
Christie, F., Gray, B., Martin, J., Macken M., Gray, P. & Rothery, J.
(1990a) Exploring reports. Sydney: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich.Google Scholar
(1990b) Exploring reports: teacher’ manual. Sydney: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich.Google Scholar
Cloran, C.
(1996) Contexts for learning. Paper presented at the International Systemics Functional Congress-96, July 15-19, 1996.
Cumming, A.
(1994) Writing expertise and L2 proficiency. In A.H. Cumming (Ed.) Bilingual performance in reading and writing (pp. 173–221). Ann Arbor, MI: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Cumming, A., Rebutoff, J. & Ledwell, M.
(1989) Reading and summarising challenging texts in first and second languages. Reading and writing, 21 201–219. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cummins, J.
(1981) The role of primary language development in promoting educational success for language minority students. Schooling and language minority students. A theoretical framework. Los Angeles: California State Department of Education.Google Scholar
(1984) Wanted: a theoretical framework for relating language proficiency to academic achievement among bilingual students. In C. Riviera (Ed.) Language proficiency and academic achievement (pp. 2–19). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
(1991a) The development of bilingual proficiency from home to school: a longitudinal study of Portuguese-speaking children. Journal of Education, 173, (2), 85–97. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1991b) Interdependence of first- and second-language proficiency in bilingual children. In E. Bialystok (Ed.) Language processing in bilingual children (pp. 70–89). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Eggins, S.
(1996) An introduction to systemic functional linguistics. London: Pinter.Google Scholar
Graves, D.H.
(1983) Writing: teachers and children at work. New Hampshire: Heinemann.Google Scholar
Gray, B. & Cowey, W.
(2000) Scaffolding literacy intervention program. Canberra: Schools and Community Centre, University of Canberra.Google Scholar
Gregory, M.
(1967) Aspects of varieties differentiation. Journal of linguistics, 31, 177–198. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Halliday, M.A.K.
(1994) An introduction to functional grammar. London: Arnold.Google Scholar
Halliday M.A.K. & Hasan, R.
(1985) Language , context & text: aspects of language in a social-semiotic perspective. Geelong: Deakin University Press.Google Scholar
Hart, B. & Risley, T.R.
(1995) Meaningful differences in everyday experience of young American children. Baltimore: Paul Brookes.Google Scholar
Hasan, R.
(1991) Questions as a mode of learning in everyday talk. In T. Le & M. McCausland (Eds.) Language education: interaction and development. Proceedings of the International Conference held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. 30 March-1 April, 1991, 70–119.Google Scholar
Kamler, B.
(1990) Gender and genre: a case study of a girl and a boy learning to write. Unpublished PhD thesis. Geelong: Deakin University.Google Scholar
Kobayashi, H. & Rinnert, C.
(1994) Effects of first language on second language writing: translation versus direct composition. In A.H. Cumming (Ed.) Bilingual performance in reading and writing (pp. 223–255). Ann Arbor, MI: John BenjaminsGoogle Scholar
Lambert, W.
(1975) Culture and language in leaning and education. A. Wolfgang (Ed.), Education of immigrant students (pp. 55–83). Toronto: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.Google Scholar
Leki, I.
(1991) Twenty-five years of contrastive rhetoric: text analysis and writing pedagogies. TESOL Quarterly, 251, 123–143. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Martin, J. R.
(1989) Factual writing: exploring and challenging social reality. Deakin University, Victoria: Deakin University Press.Google Scholar
Martin, J.R.
(1992) English text: system and structure. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Martin, J. R. & Rothery, J.
(1981, 1982) Writing Project Report, 1 and 2. Department of Linguistics, University of Sydney.Google Scholar
(1984.) Choice of genre in a suburban primary school. A paper given at the Annual Conference of the Applied Linguistics Association of Australia. Alice Springs, August 1984.
Painter, C.
(1997) Preparing for school: developing a semantic style for educational knowledge. Paper presented at the Annual ASFLA Conference; Wollongong, October 3-5, 1997.
Raimes, A.
(1991) Out of the woods: emerging traditions in the teaching of writing. TESOL Quarterly, 251, 407–430. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Reese, L., Garnier, H., Gallimore, R., & Goldenberg, C.
(2000) Longitudinal analysis of the antecedents of emergent Spanish literacy and middle-school English reading achievement of Spanish-speaking students. American Educational Research Journal, 37 (3), 633–663. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Romaine, S.
(1989) Bilingualism. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
Rothery, J.
(1989) Exploring the written mode and the range of factual genres. Writing in schools. Study guide (pp. 49–90). Geelong: Deakin University Press.Google Scholar
Rothery, J. and Christie, F.
(1995) The craft of writing narrative. Interpretations. 281 (31). Special edition: Linguistics and English. English Teachers’ Association of Western Australia.Google Scholar
Skutnabb-Kangas, T. & Toukomaa, P.
(1976) Teaching migrant children’s mother tongue and learning the language of the host country in the context of the socio-cultural situation of the migrant family. Report 15, Department of Sociology and Social Psychology, University of Tampere, Finland.Google Scholar
Sandiford, C.
(1997) Teaching explanations to primary school children: the ‘how’ and the ‘why’. Unpublished M.Ed, thesis, University of Melbourne.Google Scholar
Stead, A.
(1995 Report genre writing in the primary curriculum. Unpublished M.Ed, thesis, University of Melbourne.Google Scholar
Swaine, M. & Lapkin, S.
(1991) Additive bilingualism and French immersion education: the roles of language proficiency and literacy. In A.G. Reynolds (Ed.) Bilingualism, multiculturalism and second language learning (pp. 203–216). Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Torr, J.
(1993) Classroom discourse: children from English-speaking and non-English speaking backgrounds. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 16 (1), 37–56. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wells, G.
(1985) Language development in the pre-school years. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 2 other publications

Silva, Tony & Colleen Brice
2004. 4. RESEARCH IN TEACHING WRITING. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 24 DOI logo
고보애
2012. Parents’ Scaffolding Literacy Using L1 in an ESL Child’s Factual Writing Development. English Language Teaching 23:4 ► pp. 79 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 23 april 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.