Date of Award

1996

Document Type

Thesis

Publisher

Edith Cowan University

Degree Name

Bachelor of Education Honours

School

School of Education

Faculty

Faculty of Education

First Supervisor

Bernard Hird

Abstract

Learning English as a second language is a challenge faced by many children. This research has focused on the language learning and acquisition of a middle primary school student, new to Australia, from France. The English language development of this French student in a mainstream classroom of a primary school within Western Australia has been examined. The student, Rene, is a nine year old male child who is a fluent speaker of the French language. His English language development was studied over a ten week period where he was taught in a mainstream classroom with the assistance of a bilingual English I French support teacher. He started the year as a beginner in English in the mainstream class and with an understanding that his L 1 would continue to be used. The study identified the early movement from Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BIGS) to the beginnings of Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) and showed a relationship between these language skills and Mohan's Six Major Knowledge Structures. Understanding of vocabulary which contained complex concepts was made possible through bilingual education. The presence of a person on staff who was available to work as a partner in the classroom, in a bilingual speaking capacity was invaluable, particularly in the early days when communication with the child was limited.

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