Biography, Policy and Language Teaching Practices in a Multilingual Context: Early Childhood Classrooms in Mauritius

Autor/inn/en	Ankiah-Gangadeen, Aruna; Samuel, Michael Anthony
Titel	Biography, Policy and Language Teaching Practices in a Multilingual Context: Early Childhood Classrooms in Mauritius
Quelle	In: South African Journal of Childhood Education, 4 (2014) 2, S.57-72 (16 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	2223-7674
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; Student Diversity; Language Usage; Preschool Teachers; Teaching Methods; English (Second Language); Multilingualism; Early Childhood Education; Second Language Instruction; Language of Instruction; Females; Interviews; Observation; Family Environment; Social Capital; Global Approach; Teacher Attitudes; Teacher Education Programs; Mauritius + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; Sprachgebrauch; Pre-school education; Preschool education; Erzieher; Erzieherin; Kindergärtnerin; Vorschulerziehung; Vorschule; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Mehrsprachigkeit; Multilingualismus; Early childhood; Education; Frühkindliche Bildung; Frühpädagogik; Fremdsprachenunterricht; Teaching language; Unterrichtssprache; Weibliches Geschlecht; Interviewing; Interviewtechnik; Beobachtung; Familienmilieu; Sozialkapital; Globales Denken; Lehrerverhalten
Abstract	Language policies in education in multilingual postcolonial contexts are often driven by ideological considerations more veered towards socio-economic and political viability for the country than towards the practicality at implementation level. Centuries after the advent of colonisation, when culturally and linguistically homogenous countries helped to maintain the dominion of colonisers, the English language still has a stronghold in numerous countries due to the material rewards it offers. How then are the diversity of languages -- often with different statuses and functions in society -- reconciled in the teaching and learning process? How do teachers deal with the intricacies that are generated within a situation where children are taught in a language that is foreign to them? This paper is based on a study involving pre-primary teachers in Mauritius, a developing multilingual African country. The aim was to understand how their approach to the teaching of English was shaped by their biographical experiences of learning the language. The narrative inquiry methodology offered rich possibilities to foray into these experiences, including the manifestations of negotiating their classroom pedagogy in relation to their own personal historical biographies of language teaching and learning, the policy environment, and the pragmatic classroom specificities of diverse, multilingual learners. These insights become resources for early childhood education and teacher development in multilingual contexts caught within the tensions between language policy and pedagogy. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	AOSIS. 15 Oxford Street, Durbanville, Cape Town, 7550 South Africa. Tel: +27-21-975-2602; Fax: +27-21-975-4635; e-mail: publishing@aosis.co.za; Web site: https://sajce.co.za/index.php/sajce
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01