Chapter 4
Microstructural properties in the narrative retellings of young English learners in EMI schools in India
The role of L2 literacy, minority languages and English input in the classroom
The present study investigates narrative microstructure in the English oral retellings of primary school
children from disadvantaged backgrounds in India. For these children, the combination of rich linguistic diversity and
English as the medium of instruction is a challenge since exposure to English is almost exclusively in the school
context. Measures of microstructure include syntactic complexity and finiteness marking as well-known indices of
English language ability. Microstructural properties are examined in relation to literacy performance in order to
identify possible links between the two modalities. Participants’ language background was included to investigate a
possible (dis)advantage associated with minority language speakers exposed to English as the medium of instruction.
Our findings suggest that finiteness errors and number of function words are associated with performance on reading
comprehension. English input in the classroom selectively predicts performance on complex syntax but not other aspects
of microstructure measures. Children speaking minority languages at home are not disadvantaged in their English
performance compared to children speaking the majority language (Telugu). Finally, error analysis suggests
similarities between types of errors found in other studies of child L2 English. This study sheds light on English L2
narrative skills in a multilingual and underprivileged context with learners exposed to low levels of English language
input.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Microstructure skills in bilingual children’s narratives and the role of input
- 3.Finiteness in English and Telugu
- 4.Literacy and oral language skills in L2 development
- 5.Research questions and hypotheses
- 6.The study
- 5.1Participants
- 5.2Language experience
- 5.3Tasks and method
- 5.3.1ASER literacy test
- 5.3.2ASER scoring and analysis
- 5.3.3Narrative retelling task
- 5.3.3Data analysis
- 5.3.4Analyses
- 6.Results
- 6.1How do children perform on microstructure in L2 English narratives?
- 6.2How is microstructure in English narratives linked to oral language input in the classroom?
- 6.3How is microstructure in English narratives related to literacy in English and minority language use at home?
- 6.4How is microstructure in English narratives related to demographic variables such as Age and Gender?
- 7.Discussion
- 8.Conclusion
-
Acknowledgments
-
Notes
-
References
-
Appendix
References (119)
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