PART 1: IDENTIFICATION
RATIONALE:
As the Middle Years Programme/Diploma Programme (MYP/DP) Language Coordinator at my International Baccalaureate (IB) school in Japan, I strive to promote all languages, particularly those that are not taught at our school, so the staff and students come to value all languages and cultures. Many students enter the Early Years or Primary Years Programmes (PYP) with novice English skills, and in emergency situations, it is imperative that we have a means to communicate with them at all times such as during an earthquake. Not all our staff members speak students’ first or best languages, so I’d like to provide students with the opportunity to be of assistance.
Additionally, our school will begin offering the DP next year and the language department must assist students in choosing their language paths. All students must study two languages, one of which may be a self-taught course in their first or best language. In order for the students to honour and continue using their first or best languages in academic contexts, I’d like to promote their use at our school outside of the classroom. By initiating this programme, I will be learning more about student agency and help the students focus on Learner Profile attributes and discover how the IB Global Contexts intertwine with multilingualism and multiculturalism. My aim is to enhance my learning and learn more about student agency through the lens of a multilingual and multicultural community.
QUESTIONS TO EXPLORE:
OBJECTIVE:
Students will build a better world through intercultural understanding and respect.
As the Middle Years Programme/Diploma Programme (MYP/DP) Language Coordinator at my International Baccalaureate (IB) school in Japan, I strive to promote all languages, particularly those that are not taught at our school, so the staff and students come to value all languages and cultures. Many students enter the Early Years or Primary Years Programmes (PYP) with novice English skills, and in emergency situations, it is imperative that we have a means to communicate with them at all times such as during an earthquake. Not all our staff members speak students’ first or best languages, so I’d like to provide students with the opportunity to be of assistance.
Additionally, our school will begin offering the DP next year and the language department must assist students in choosing their language paths. All students must study two languages, one of which may be a self-taught course in their first or best language. In order for the students to honour and continue using their first or best languages in academic contexts, I’d like to promote their use at our school outside of the classroom. By initiating this programme, I will be learning more about student agency and help the students focus on Learner Profile attributes and discover how the IB Global Contexts intertwine with multilingualism and multiculturalism. My aim is to enhance my learning and learn more about student agency through the lens of a multilingual and multicultural community.
QUESTIONS TO EXPLORE:
- How can MYP students develop a more thorough understanding and appreciation for the multilingual and multicultural diversity within their school community in extra-curricular contexts?
- How can MYP students acquire cultural knowledge of themselves and others?
- How can the school implement and utilize multicultural communications?
- How can MYP students welcome and include culturally diverse families, groups and communities to our school?
- How can the school community develop multicultural knowledge and skill?
- How can the school promote multicultural change agency?
OBJECTIVE:
Students will build a better world through intercultural understanding and respect.
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GOAL:
To create and implement a Student Language and Culture Ambassadors club where students with a variety of linguistic and cultural backgrounds can promote their languages and heritage within the school community. A multilingual and multicultural ambassador program will provide a safe space for minority students and provide them with opportunities to develop service learning relationships, encourage community participation, and to develop the skills, strengths and attributes of an IB learner. Students will be able to make explicit and implicit connections to the IB global contexts, specifically identities and relationships, personal and cultural expression, and globalization and identities. While students should be the driving force behind the types of services offered, some may include: mentoring younger students, translating for Parent Teacher Conferences (PTCs), planning and delivering multilingual literacy week activities; planning and delivering activities for international week; providing school tours for new families entering the school; acting as translators for younger students in emergency situations. |
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SUGGESTED READINGS:
From omni: Queen’s University Library
Language:
University Student Ambassadors Bring Languages Back to Their High School Peers
Bissoonauth-Bedford, Anu ; Stace, Ray
University of Wollongong
Journal of peer learning, 2017, Vol.10, p.18
This article discusses the types of interactions university students had with high school students while promoting second and third language learning at school. It provides feedback from both sets of participants and makes recommendations of types of interactions that were beneficial above and beyond the typical mentor-mentee or tutor-tutee model.
Foreign language teachers as ambassadors of multilingualism and international exchange: Evidence from TALIS 2018
OECD
OECD Publishing; 2020
This publication discusses the results of Teaching and Learning International Surveys on foreign language instruction in an international environment. It discusses the educational backgrounds in language instruction for foreign language teachers and teachers of other subjects. It also provides suggested ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic may impact foreign language teachers.
Imagining and Moving Beyond the ESL Bubble: Facilitating Communities of Practice Through the ELL Ambassadors Program
Przymus, Steve Daniel
Routledge
Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 2016-09-02, Vol.15 (5), p.265-279
This article discusses an ELL Ambassador program aimed at fostering a welcoming and safe environment for immigrant ELLs in the United States. It presented results from a study of students who had participated in the program and it impacted their pathways towards their tertiary education.
Translanguaging and embodied teaching and learning: lessons from a multilingual karate club in London
Zhu, Hua ; Li, Wei ; Jankowicz-Pytel, Daria
Routledge
International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism: Plurilingualism and translanguaging: Emergent approaches and shared concerns, 2020-01-02, Vol.23 (1), p.65-80
This article examines how multilingualism and translanguaging was used in a karate club to teach children from a culturally and linguistically diverse neighbourhood. It discussed the benefits of having an instructor with a rich linguistic background.
Culture:
Cultural Identity and Third Space: An Exploration of Their Connection in a Title I School
Roy, Brittani Kalyani
ProQuest Dissertations Publishing; 2017
This dissertation presented results of a study of a Culture Club with respect to Third Space Theory. The students were sixth grade American Indian students.
Additional Resources - Language Investigation:
The Bilingual Language Profile
https://sites.la.utexas.edu/bilingual/
Linguistic Profiles and Profiling
https://www.coe.int/en/web/lang-migrants/profile-language-/-profiling
Developing (and using) language profiles
https://www.crisfieldeducationalconsulting.com/single-post/2018/05/15/Developing-and-using-Language-Profiles
Multilingual Survey Templates
https://www.questionpro.com/blog/multilingual-survey-templates-choose-language/
The above four resources provide templates or ideas for creating a language profile questionnaire.
Language:
University Student Ambassadors Bring Languages Back to Their High School Peers
Bissoonauth-Bedford, Anu ; Stace, Ray
University of Wollongong
Journal of peer learning, 2017, Vol.10, p.18
This article discusses the types of interactions university students had with high school students while promoting second and third language learning at school. It provides feedback from both sets of participants and makes recommendations of types of interactions that were beneficial above and beyond the typical mentor-mentee or tutor-tutee model.
Foreign language teachers as ambassadors of multilingualism and international exchange: Evidence from TALIS 2018
OECD
OECD Publishing; 2020
This publication discusses the results of Teaching and Learning International Surveys on foreign language instruction in an international environment. It discusses the educational backgrounds in language instruction for foreign language teachers and teachers of other subjects. It also provides suggested ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic may impact foreign language teachers.
Imagining and Moving Beyond the ESL Bubble: Facilitating Communities of Practice Through the ELL Ambassadors Program
Przymus, Steve Daniel
Routledge
Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 2016-09-02, Vol.15 (5), p.265-279
This article discusses an ELL Ambassador program aimed at fostering a welcoming and safe environment for immigrant ELLs in the United States. It presented results from a study of students who had participated in the program and it impacted their pathways towards their tertiary education.
Translanguaging and embodied teaching and learning: lessons from a multilingual karate club in London
Zhu, Hua ; Li, Wei ; Jankowicz-Pytel, Daria
Routledge
International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism: Plurilingualism and translanguaging: Emergent approaches and shared concerns, 2020-01-02, Vol.23 (1), p.65-80
This article examines how multilingualism and translanguaging was used in a karate club to teach children from a culturally and linguistically diverse neighbourhood. It discussed the benefits of having an instructor with a rich linguistic background.
Culture:
Cultural Identity and Third Space: An Exploration of Their Connection in a Title I School
Roy, Brittani Kalyani
ProQuest Dissertations Publishing; 2017
This dissertation presented results of a study of a Culture Club with respect to Third Space Theory. The students were sixth grade American Indian students.
Additional Resources - Language Investigation:
The Bilingual Language Profile
https://sites.la.utexas.edu/bilingual/
Linguistic Profiles and Profiling
https://www.coe.int/en/web/lang-migrants/profile-language-/-profiling
Developing (and using) language profiles
https://www.crisfieldeducationalconsulting.com/single-post/2018/05/15/Developing-and-using-Language-Profiles
Multilingual Survey Templates
https://www.questionpro.com/blog/multilingual-survey-templates-choose-language/
The above four resources provide templates or ideas for creating a language profile questionnaire.
FINDINGS:
I have chosen to present my learnings on my website so that others may see the learning process from the beginning of the course. It is also a platform that will reach a larger audience. The format also allows for easier integration of images and examples of methods used and data collected.
In the future, I aim to present workshops based on the outcomes of the Student Language and Cultural Ambassadors program at two international conferences:
Finally, student participants may choose to present the outcomes of the program during our school's Service as Action and Community Project presentations in May/June 2021.
In the future, I aim to present workshops based on the outcomes of the Student Language and Cultural Ambassadors program at two international conferences:
- ECIS MILE Virtual Conference (Educational Collaborative for International Schools - Multilingual Learning International Education); February 25-27, 2020
- ELLSA (English Learning Specialists in Asia) Conference (contingent on the COVID-19 situation - the September 2020
- Conference was cancelled)
Finally, student participants may choose to present the outcomes of the program during our school's Service as Action and Community Project presentations in May/June 2021.
PART 2: DATA
The following is a revised plan for how I will implement my research project:
