The Challenge And Uniqueness Of Writing In Two Languages

Introduction

Writing by hand is a sophisticated human action that combines cognitive, kinesthetic, and perceptual-motor elements (Hanover Research, 2012, p.5). Because of this, learning how to write clearly and effectively involves education and practice. However, if a student learns to write in a different writing system initially, this might have an impact on how his handwriting develops in a different system. Tom, a multilingual speaker of Chinese and English, will be examined in this essay. He is from the UK, has relocated multiple times, and is presently a fourth-grader in an international school in Denmark.

The approaches employed and the case will be given after examining several theoretical stances on bilingualism and handwriting. The study will then be broken down into parts for the student’s bilingualism, a discussion of the conducted interview, and an interlanguage analysis of Tom’s writings.

framing of the issue and the inquiry

Bialystok (2001) examined the impact of various forms of bilingualism on the growth of literacy. “The phonological awareness abilities obtained in one language translated to reading competence in another language,” was one of the discoveries (p.172). However, they found in the same research that early on, the two alphabets/characters may be confusing for students who have two distinct writing systems, such as bilingual Chinese-English students. This is so because the Roman system, which is employed in English, is alphabetical, but the Chinese system employs characters. Because of this, there is not a direct relationship between sounds and letters or characters, as there would be for a bilingual speaker of English and Spanish (Bialystok, 2001). However, this problem has not been seen in later age groups, and it has been shown that learning any first language facilitates the development of literacy in many languages.

Tom’s international school follows the Cambridge curriculum, and one of the continual learning goals is the improvement of handwriting. This implies that the instructor should continually remind students of the various handwriting styles and purposes during the whole school year. These are broken down into three categories: personal (for notes and letters), rapid and fluent (the most popular; it should be swift and readable), and presentation writing (used for specific situations, it should be slow and neat). Students should also be able to write in joined-up cursive. Teaching students how to spell “kinaesthetically as well as vocally and visually” is one of the goals of this learning aim (Cambridge University International Examination, n.d., p.6). According to the curriculum, pupils who have trouble forming letters should get extra guidance. These continuous goals should also be taught, updated, and developed throughout the school year.

This study thus tries to respond to the following research question by taking into account the handwriting challenges brought about by Tom learning to write in Mandarin before English and the Cambridge curriculum requirements: How can instructors hone this linguistic talent and how may acquiring a second writing system influence compositions in handwriting?

Definition and terms of bilingualism

Being bilingual may take many various forms, making the idea of bilingualism difficult to define. For example, “bilinguals know more than one language to varying degrees and utilize these languages for a range of reasons” may be a generic definition (Brisk & Harrington, 2010, p.4). A bilingual person’s level of fluency in various languages might change over the course of their lifetime and depending on the circumstances. A bilingual person is also biliterate, meaning they have the skills necessary to decode and encode many language systems in addition to reading and writing. Depending on the language and genre chosen, this aptitude might range in intensity. On the other side, linguistic proficiency promotes others’ literacy, particularly their understanding of genre conventions. For instance, a letter’s structure is often the same across languages, therefore understanding how a text is organized in one language might aid with writing in another. Being bicultural, which refers to having awareness of additional cultural contexts, norms, and features connected to the cultural origins of the languages spoken, is a key component of bilingualism as defined by Brisk and Harrington (2010).

As previously stated, bilingualism has many facets. The contrast between situational and voluntary bilingualism (Valdés & Figueroa, 1994, as referenced in Baker, 2001) is one that is important to take into account. Contrary to elective bilinguals, who “select to acquire a language,” circumstantial bilinguals “learn another language to exist” (p.3). In order to communicate and assimilate into a new community, the first group must thus acquire a new language. Elective bilinguals, on the other hand, have the chance to pick up a second language without running the danger of forgetting the first; this circumstance often occurs in school.

The difference between simultaneous and sequential bilingualism is another important point to note (Baker, 2001, p.91). These phrases allude to how it develops, which may occur either sequentially, where a second language is learnt later, or via early exposure to two or more languages. Students that are simultaneously bilingual are often those whose parents communicate to them in many languages and have diverse nationalities. Instead, sequential bilingualism refers to the acquisition of a second language outside of the family, such as in school or in a different setting (Baker, 2001).

Functional bilingualism, which refers to “when, where, and with whom individuals utilize their two languages,” is a last crucial concept to be mentioned (Fishman, 1965, as cited in Baker, 2001, p.12). Bilinguals often speak both languages in various contexts and with diverse audiences (e.g., family, neighbors, friends, coworkers, etc). (work, hobbies, visual and printed media, etc.). Due to the fact that each bilingual student is unique and may have varying levels of language competence depending on his environment, it is crucial to take all these factors into account when defining bilingualism.

Use of language and fluency

As was previously said, bilinguals utilize their languages for a variety of activities in many spheres of life. Their proficiency in a language is based on their need for it (Grosjean, 2012, p.7). Additionally, fluency may fluctuate across the four skills; for example, some bilinguals may be more proficient in speaking and listening than in writing or reading. This relies on a number of factors, such as how frequently and in what fields a multilingual person utilizes their languages. Therefore, if a student employs a language in a wide range of contexts, this might result in greater fluency. However, if a language is not used regularly, a phenomena known as language loss or language attrition may occur (Grosjean, 2012). The usage and fluency of languages fluctuate throughout the course of a bilingual person’s life. This may involve losing or gaining proficiency in a language, as well as the possibility of two or more languages influencing one another. It is crucial for the teacher to be aware of the students’ language histories since all of these processes are dependent on how significant a specific language was throughout a student’s bilingual existence.

Handwriting

Improved handwriting has been linked to advantages for cognitive and motor development, according to research (Hanover Research, 2012, p.2). Additionally, it may help with reading and writing abilities. But in a society that is becoming more and more computerized, there are many people who are against teaching handwriting for numerous reasons. First, pen and paper are very sometimes employed in modern communications; most are digital. Another justification is that teaching handwriting can take up lecture time that might be used on other subjects. On the other hand, several writers have backed up the wide range of advantages of teaching handwriting (Hanover Research, 2012). Some of these advantages include self-monitoring, planning, spelling, and grammar. However, having good handwriting also helps pupils in all areas since they can concentrate more on the subject matter when they don’t have to worry about letter formation or writing style. As a result, students’ writings may be of lower quality and quantity as a result of handwriting issues.

Other authors have asserted that “handwriting is an important factor in composition” and that “a proportion of children suffer from low levels of handwriting automaticity, which may be interfering with their composition” in order to further support their position (Medwell, Wray, Moore, & Griffiths, 2017). (p.69). Because of this, teaching handwriting is crucial for improving both the presentation of the student’s writing and his composition abilities. Having trouble with your handwriting might lead to additional issues, such difficulty identifying phonemes and delayed typing (Medwell et al., 2017). Since computers are utilized more and more in lectures and for general study purposes, it is normal to place less value on handwriting nowadays. Evidence suggests that students who struggle with handwriting also often struggle with typing.

Methodology

The study issue will be addressed via an interview with Tom (Appendix 1), his mother’s responses to a questionnaire, and qualitative observations made throughout the teaching practice session. Various questions on the interviewee’s linguistic proficiency and the settings in which he employs it have been put to him. A short description of the topic, the goal, and the authorization to use a sound recorder have been provided before to the interview. Due to the student’s age and to accommodate his vocabulary and previous knowledge, the questions were designed to be concise and straightforward. This is also the rationale for the majority of the questions being direct or detailed in nature, since these questions assist in creating accurate descriptions (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009).

By documenting Tom’s participation in writing activities and gathering images of his compositions, the qualitative observations were made throughout five weeks of teaching practice in the year 4 classroom. Since these techniques are adaptable and straightforward to reanalyse in combination with the gathered data, the observations were intended to provide descriptive and narrative records (Simpson & Tuson, 2003).

Tom, a boy from the UK who is presently enrolled in the fourth grade at an international school in Denmark, was the student examined for this essay. Even though he is just eight years old, he has already attended five schools in three different nations. He began by enrolling in a kindergarten in Singapore where Mandarin was the dominant language. Following his first year of elementary education in China, he then relocated with his family to the UK before ending up in Denmark when he was seven years old. His primary language at home and now at school, where he is also studying Danish, has been English. However, he was taught to write in Mandarin in China before English, which may have had an impact on how he picked up the Roman writing style for his second language. Tom has some issues with letter formation and composing essays. The majority of his writings are challenging to read, which might make it difficult for the instructor to evaluate them.

Analysis

The grids below will be used to describe Tom’s bilingualism in terms of language usage and fluency throughout two separate time periods (Grosjean, 2012). These figures are estimates that were produced using information from Tom’s interview and a questionnaire that Tom’s mother completed.

The first grid demonstrates that by age 5, the student was speaking both Chinese and English on a regular basis, and both languages were fluent. Tom, however, is no longer needed to speak Chinese as of age 8, therefore his level of fluency is also declining. Furthermore, he began learning Danish at the age of 7, and while he uses it sometimes, his fluency in it is still fairly poor. Tom’s bilingualism may be categorized as contextual and sequential as a result. Circumstantial since he picked up Chinese as a second language to help him fit in with the community. Sequential because he only learned Mandarin in the context of school and his whole family is British.

Analyses of interviews

Two conclusions about Tom’s language usage can be inferred from the conducted interview: the prevalence of the domains in which he uses English and the lack of scenarios in which he may use the Chinese language. As he previously said, he does not have many chances to speak Mandarin in Denmark, thus he mostly uses English since he is not obligated to do so in familial, academic, or social settings. He also claimed to be fluent in French and Spanish, although none of these languages were included on the questionnaire, nor was their usage noted during the teaching practice. It’s possible that he picked up a few words through interacting with other overseas students at school.

The fact that he is aware of the variations between the languages is another pertinent point. “I am proficient in both Chinese and Spanish. These are simple to learn languages. No tongue twister is required, as in Danish (Appendix 1). He can identify the many pronunciations that are needed, and he has seen certain challenges in learning Danish as a result of the sounds of the language. Bilingualism “permits more linguistic awareness, more flexibility in cognition, and more internal scrutiny of language,” according to Baker (2017). (p.234). In addition to the fact that he did not understand what bilingualism meant, these metalinguistic skills are evident in his responses.

Finally, it’s crucial to note that he makes no mention of having handwriting issues. This may be as a result of how the question was written, where the emphasis was more on writing in general. He is a creative kid who likes writing about fantastical people, and he is generally quite involved in writing assignments. Since the English courses spend five weeks on the fantasy theme, these traits have been noted. In any case, the interviewee demonstrates that he does not consider his handwriting to be a restriction.

Analysis of interlanguage

Tom’s two brief handwritten messages are taken into account for this research. The learners were asked to write about an item, a person, and a situation they were thankful for in the first text, which was created as an assignment after the Christmas vacations. The second piece, which the instructor read aloud in class, is a reference to the Philip Pullman novel The firework-daughter. maker’s

Since he produced a fantasy narrative about Christmas in the first text, the students were unable to respond to the task, in contrast to the second piece, which was properly comprehended and in which he provided solid justification for his claims. The texts’ overall coherence is pretty strong; in the first, for instance, we can see how well the paragraphs are divided. He can also employ co-ordinating conjunctions like and and but and cohesive devices like the pronouns him or myself appropriately. Overall, the student has a solid understanding of the past tense for both regular (such as called and worked) and irregular (such as been and tought) verbs. He is aware that names and the beginning of paragraphs should be in capital letters (Razvani). He often capitalizes words in the midst of sentences, sometimes to accentuate a point (YES BOMBS! ; STOP ME, for example), but more often for no apparent reason. Due to the perceived difficulty of writing lowercase letters, this is a typical error among young children (Medwel et al., 2010). He writes the letters A, e, and f usually in capital letters, although he also uses lowercase versions of these letters often. He is thus proficient in both styles of cursive writing.