School Language Policies. By Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa. Rome. April 2016

School Language Policies:
How Informed Choices Can Enhance Not Only
Cultural Adaptation and Communication, but also
Cognitive Potential
Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa, Ph.D.
tracey.tokuhama@gmail.com
www.traceytokuhama.com
April 2016
ECIS, Rome

Background
¤ Interdisciplinary researcher in neuroscience, cognitive
psychology and education (cultural anthropology
and linguistics).
¤ Boston University: BA, BS, magna cum laude
¤ Harvard University: Master’s in International
Educational Development
¤ Capella University: Ph.D. In Professional Studies in
Education (Mind, Brain and Education Science)
¤ Professor, Harvard University Extension School: Psych
1609 “The Neurobiology of Learning: An Introduction
to Mind, Brain, Health and Education”
¤ OECD: Member of the expert panel on Teachers New
Pedagogical Knowledge based on contributions from
Technology and Neuroscience
¤ Former Director of the Teaching and Learning Institute
at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito Ecuador
¤ Former Dean of Education at the Universidad de las
Américas, Quito, Ecuador
¤ Author of six books and dozens of peer review articles
on Mind, Brain, and Education science,
multilingualism, sense and meaning in classroom
planning and design, standards and learning profiles.
¤ Teacher at all levels of education (K-University) with
more than 26 years of experience in 28 countries.
M a k i n g
C l a s s r o o m s
B e t t e r
L E S S O N S
from the
C O G N I T I V E
R E V O L U T I O N
that
T R A N S F O R M
our T E A C H I N G

Today:
1.  Demographics and Definition
¤  Current Challenges For Schools and Languages
¤  What Do Language Policies Do?
2.  The Role of Languages in Shaping Brain Potential
¤  The Bilingual and Multilingual Edge
¤  Levels of Language (written versus spoken)
3.  Language Policies in Your Context
¤  “Problems Related to Languages in My School”
¤  (Partial) Solutions to Language Problems Through Technology
¤  Successful Models
¤  Your School’s Language Policy

Current Challenges: True in your setting?
1.  More and more schools require at least one foreign
language for graduation, but not all schools have an
adequate official language policy.
2.  Students’ origins vary more widely than in the past.
3.  Changing demographics lead to shifting (language)
priorities.
4.  ?

Language Policies at Different Levels
¤  Country
¤  Community
¤  School
¤  Classroom

What School Languages Policies Do
1.  Clarify individual roles (what the family
does and what the school offers)
2.  Highlight priorities (how the school
languages are managed time- and
curriculum-wise within the setting)
3.  Display the school’s vision, use and
understanding of the role of language
in intellectual development.

In the Past
¤  In the past language policies in multilingual settings were
focused primary on
¤  Leveraging power (“high status” versus “low status” languages
¤  Equity issues (school achievement impacted by home versus
school language) and determining whose responsibility it is to
provide sufficient opportunities to learn the academic
language
¤  Methodological issues (“English-only” versus bilingual
transitional versus other models)
Bastardas-Boada, Albert (2002). "World language policy in the era of globalization: Diversity and intercommunication from the 'complexity'
perspective", Barcelona, Spain: Noves SL. Revista de sociolingüística (Barcelona); Spolsky, Bernard (2012). The Cambridge Handbook of
Language Policy. Cambridge University Press.

“Typical Programs”
1.  Immersion: These programs provide no specific language support: students
are “immersed” in the language of instruction within mainstream classrooms.
2.  Immersion with systematic language support: Students are taught in the
mainstream classroom, but they receive specified periods of instruction
aimed at increasing proficiency in the language of instruction over a period
of time.
3.  Immersion with a preparatory phase: Students participate in a preparatory
program before making the transition to mainstream classes.
4.  Transitional bilingual: Students initially learn in their native language before
teaching gradually shifts to the language of instruction.
5.  Maintenance bilingual: Students receive significant amounts of instruction in
their native language; programs aim to develop proficiency both in the
native and the second language.
Christensen, G., & Stanat, P. (2007). Language policies and practices for helping immigrants and second-generation students
succeed. The Transatlantic Taskforce on Immigration and Integration, Migration Policy Institute (MPI) and Bertelsmann Stiftung based on
data from PISA 2005

Most Common
1.  Immersion: These programs provide no specific language support: students
are “immersed” in the language of instruction within mainstream classrooms.
2.  Immersion with systematic language support: Students are taught in the
mainstream classroom, but they receive specified periods of instruction
aimed at increasing proficiency in the language of instruction over a period
of time.
3.  Immersion with a preparatory phase: Students participate in a preparatory
program before making the transition to mainstream classes.
4.  Transitional bilingual: Students initially learn in their native language before
teaching gradually shifts to the language of instruction.
5.  Maintenance bilingual: Students receive significant amounts of instruction in
their native language; programs aim to develop proficiency both in the
native and the second language.
data from PISA 2005

Most Successful Programs:
Seven Characteristics
1.  “First, they have systematic programs with explicit standards
and requirements in place” (p.7).
data from PISA 2005
http://
www.performanceinpeople.co.uk/blog/
setting-explicit-standards/?f=Company
%20News

2.  “Second, they have curricula that may be determined at the
local level but that are based on centrally developed key
curriculum documents, including language development
frameworks and progress benchmarks” (p.7).
data from PISA 2005
http://www.clt-net.com/icwe/
corporatelanguagetraining/
CEF.Info.htm

3.  “Third, there are high standards for the program so students
acquire language skills in the context of the mainstream
curriculum and can integrate into the appropriate level of
instruction” (p.7).
data from PISA 2005
http://slideplayer.com/
slide/696007/

4.  “Fourth, they have time‐intensive programs,” (p.7).
Christensen, G., & Stanat, P. (2007). Language policies and practices for helping immigrants and second-generation
students succeed. The Transatlantic Taskforce on Immigration and Integration, Migration Policy Institute (MPI) and
Bertelsmann Stiftung based on data from PISA 2005
O'Neill, J. (2000). SMART
goals, SMART
schools. Educational
Leadership,57(5), 46-50.

5.  “Fifth, their programs tend to offer continued support in both
primary and lower secondary school,” (p.7).
Bertelsmann Stiftung based on data from PISA 2005

6.  “Sixth, their teachers who instruct second‐language learners
have received specialized training either during their initial
studies or through in‐service training. Some teachers have
completed postgraduate degrees in teaching the language
of instruction as a second language,” (p.7).
data from PISA 2005

7.  “Finally, their teachers of second‐language learners tend to
cooperate with class teachers to ensure they meet the
needs of immigrant students,” (p.7).
Bertelsmann Stiftung based on data from PISA 2005.

Least Successful Programs
¤  “In countries with large differences in student performance, the
language support programs tend to be less systematic. If
programs exist, they may only be available at the primary
level,” (p.7).
¤  Little additional language support
¤  No explicit curriculum framework
¤  No time limit
¤  Little or no teacher training or certification for teaching second
language learners.
¤  No long-term support: Systems that don’t offer systematic support
(Kindergarten through secondary)

Exemplar Structures
¤  Constant re-assessment to confirm need and progress (e-
portfolios)
¤  Individual Teaching Plan for each student (personalized goals
and realistic trajectories)
¤  Additional services (special instruction in language
acquisition; writing; in-class and/or after school assistance)
¤  School support to teachers related to student language
needs
¤  Schools document services and progress

Exemplar Structures
¤  Schools maintain a language audit of their students and
know their needs.
¤  Choose and invest in efficient, systematic, and effective
models of language support at all education levels.
¤  Phases: reception, transition and integration (preparatory
course)
¤  Ensure that the programs have guiding principles, goals and
standards, and benchmarks for measuring progress.
¤  Train (all) teachers in second‐language acquisition (“All
teachers are language teachers”)

Educators as Policy Makers
Classroom Language Policies:
¤  Interpret school policies
¤  Negotiate multilingual spaces in classrooms
¤  Decide teaching strategies (translation or…?)
¤  Lead bottom-up planning
¤  Respect languages (honor mother tongue, honor school
policy, honor minority languages, honor “all”)
Menken, K. & Garcia, O. (Eds.) (2010). Negotiating language policies n schools: Educators as policymakers.
New York, NY: Routledge
http://news.vanderbilt.edu/2014/09/shanghai-tpeg-tennessee/

The Role of Languages in
Shaping Brain Potential

Intangible and
inevitable
(cultural)
Most visible
Intangible and
complex to
measure
24
Cultural benefits
Economic benefits
Social benefits
Communication benefits
Personal benefits
Academic benefits
Cognitive benefits
Executive Function
benefits

The Bilingual Edge: Why everyone
should be at least bilingual
¤  Increased Executive Functions
¤  Working Memory
¤  Inhibitory Control
¤  Purposeful Attention (attentional control)
¤  Cognitive Flexibility
¤  Metalinguistic awareness
¤  Abstract and symbolic representation skills
¤  Enhanced first language skills
¤  Extended age of expected cognitive decline (“use it or lose it”)
¤  Bilingualism enriches the poor enhanced cognitive control in low-
income minority children.
¤  Greater brain use.

Ever-growing evidence that
bilingualism enhances Executive
Functions…
(sample articles)

Definition (Center for the Developing Child, 2011)
Center for the Developing Child, 2011, p.4
28

Benefits of well-developed EFs
Better:
⬜  Creativity and cognitive flexibility
⬜  Self-control: Inhibitory control
(selective attention)
⬜  Discipline and perseverance
⬜  Working memory (which influences
academic achievement in all subject
areas)
30

The Bilingual Edge: Why everyone
should be at least bilingual
¤  Adesope, O. O., Lavin, T., Thompson, T., & Ungerleider, C. (2010). A systematic review and
meta-analysis of the cognitive correlates of bilingualism. Review of Educational
Research, 80(2), 207-245;
¤  de Abreu, P. M. E., Cruz-Santos, A., Tourinho, C. J., Martin, R., & Bialystok, E. (2012).
Bilingualism enriches the poor enhanced cognitive control in low-income minority
children. Psychological science, 23(11), 1364-1371;
¤  Abutalebi, J., Canini, M., Della Rosa, P. A., Sheung, L. P., Green, D. W., & Weekes, B. S.
(2014). Bilingualism protects anterior temporal lobe integrity in aging. Neurobiology of
aging, 35(9), 2126-2133;
¤  Burgaleta, M., Sanjuán, A., Ventura-Campos, N., Sebastian-Galles, N., & Ávila, C. (2016).
Bilingualism at the core of the brain. Structural differences between bilinguals and
monolinguals revealed by subcortical shape analysis.NeuroImage, 125, 437-445.;
¤  Schweizer, T. A., Ware, J., Fischer, C. E., Craik, F. I., & Bialystok, E. (2012). Bilingualism as a
contributor to cognitive reserve: Evidence from brain atrophy in Alzheimer’s
disease. Cortex, 48(8), 991-996.

Native bilinguals have higher scores
on executive functioning tasks than
late bilinguals or monolinguals

“…Possible explanations for this evidence of a bilingual
advantage are greater inhibitory control, greater
metalinguistic understanding, and a greater sensitivity
to sociolinguistic interactions with interlocutors.”

“…These results confine the bilingual
advantage found previously to complex tasks
requiring control over attention to competing
cues (interference suppression).”

“…bilingual advantage in processing complex
stimuli in tasks that require executive processing
components for conflict resolution, including
switching and updating…”

“… enhanced ability of bilingual children to
coordinate the executive control
components required in performing this
complex task.”

“… monolingual-bilingual comparisons
suggest that cognitive control mechanisms
can be shaped by linguistic experience…”

“…Cognitive and neurophysiological assessments
show that although EF emerges during the first few
years of life, it continues to strengthen significantly
throughout childhood and adolescence.”

Beyond Language: Childhood Bilingualism
Enhances High-Level Cognitive Functions

“… In both studies, level of proficiency in the
language of testing was related to performance on
metalinguistic tasks and length of time in the
immersion program was related to performance on
executive control tasks.”

“…7-month-old
infants, raised
with 2
languages from
birth, display
improved
cognitive
control abilities
compared with
matched
monolinguals.”

“…memory tasks based primarily on executive
control are performed better by bilinguals.”

“…adolescent
bilinguals, listening
to the speech
syllable [da],
encoded the
stimulus more
robustly than age-
matched
monolinguals… This
enhancement was
associated with
executive function
advantages.”

The Differences Between the Spoken
and Written Word
http://reimaginepr.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/brain-writing.jpg

and Written Word
1. Cummins (1981); 2. Gibbins (1999); 3. Corson (1993, 1995) cited in Tokuhama-Espinosa, 2008

and Written Word
Yabe, Tsuji-Akimoto, Shiga, Hamada, Hirata, Otsuki, Kuge, Tamaki & Sasaki (2012).

Language Policies in Your
Context

Language Policies: “I used to
think… now I think…”*
¤  On a piece of paper make a
list of things you used to
believe about
¤  “language”
¤  “language policies”
¤  “brain and language”
¤  “your current language
policy”
And what your news ideas are
about each
Visible thinking routine: Ritchhart, R., Church, M., & Morrison, K. (2011). Making thinking visible: How to promote engagement,
understanding, and independence for all learners. John Wiley & Sons.

Challenges to Executing Strong
Language Policies?
¤  Non-native teachers
¤  Dominant minority languages
¤  …?
http://www.uni-regensburg.de/international/austausch-programmstudierende/medien/fotos/image_auslaendische_studierende_mm__14_.jpeg
http://www.languagelink.ru/services/camps/programmes/camp-
samara2012.php

Successful International School
Models Related to Languages
¤  Examples of Language Policies:
¤  https://drive.google.com/folderview?
id=0B8RaPiQPEZ9ZTWVkeDZfcWFaelU&usp=sharing

IB Language Policy
Recognizes and responds to three different categories of languages in
schools:
¤  Working languages: The languages in which the organization
communicates with its stakeholders and in which it is committed to
providing all services needed for the implementation of the
programmes. Currently, the IB’s three working languages are English,
French and Spanish.
¤  Access languages: Languages that the IB has identified as being of
strategic importance to meet its access goals and objectives to
develop a more inclusive and diverse IB community. The organization
will provide selected services and documentation in those languages,
mainly to support teachers, as specified in this policy.
¤  Internal working language: English is the organization’s internal
working language, in which most operational and developmental
activities take place. It is also the language of its governance,
management and academic committees.
Available on: http://www.ibo.org/language-policy/

IB Language Policy
Levels of support for languages:
¤  Working Languages
¤  Level 1
¤  Level 2
¤  Access Languages
¤  Level 3
¤  Level4
¤  Level 5
¤  Decided by a Language
Committee

IB Language Policy
Decisions based on:
¤  Numbers of students
¤  Numbers of schools
¤  Perceived and understood
linguistic proficiency of
teachers
https://mamassetti.wordpress.com/2015/08/07/so-you-really-enjoy-
being-a-supply-chain-professional-part-2/

How Can Educational
Technology Help?

Technology and Lanaguge Support
Problem
¤  Not enough native
language speakers
(teachers or students)
¤  Not enough practice time
¤  Not personalized
Partial Solution
¤  Use of native language
speaker recordings
¤  Contract native speakers
and teach remotely
¤  Use of programs to
differentially rehearse
pronunciation, writing

Note!
¤  Nothing replaces a real human being, but video
conferencing can be enough…and virtual platforms can
even offer more related to written language
improvement

¤  Blake, R. J. (2013). Brave
new digital classroom:
Technology and foreign
language learning.
Georgetown University
Press.

¤  Holland, V. M., Sams, M.
R., & Kaplan, J. D.
(2013). Intelligent
language tutors: Theory
shaping technology.
Routledge.

¤  Golonka, E. M., Bowles,
A. R., Frank, V. M.,
Richardson, D. L., &
Freynik, S. (2014).
Technologies for
foreign language
learning: a review of
technology types and
their
effectiveness. Comput
er Assisted Language
Learning, 27(1), 70-105.

¤  Grgurović, M., Chapelle,
C. A., & Shelley, M. C.
(2013). A meta-analysis
of effectiveness studies
on computer
technology-supported
language learning.
ReCALL, 25(02), 165-198.
¤  Inconclusive results
(small studies)

¤  Putnam, C. E.
(2013). Foreign
language
instructional
technology: The
state of the
art. CALICO
Journal, 1(1), 35-41.

Your School’s Language Policy

Elements of Good Language Policies
¤  Who: Which students populations (age, level)
¤  What: Which (balance of) languages
¤  When: Length of program
¤  Where: Shared responsibilities with families
¤  How: Curriculum design, standards, methodology
¤  Why: Justification of elements

Contact:
Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa, Ph.D.
tracey.tokuhama@gmail.com
www.traceytokuhama.com

School Language Policies. By Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa. Rome. April 2016

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