Cross-Linguistic Transfer of Writing Strategies. Karen Forbes
by exploring the relative position of L1 and FLs from a range of perspectives: from decisions made at a national level concerning the position of languages in the curriculum, to the individual perspectives of teachers and students. While the primary focus of this book as a whole is on the UK context (and more specifically, England), comparisons will also be drawn in this chapter to the situation in a selection of other predominantly Anglophone nations such as the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. While this seeks, on the one hand, to broaden the relevance of the topics discussed, a key objective is also to shine a light on some of the fundamental issues facing language learning in Anglophone countries given the international status and ubiquity of English (Duff, 2017). To this end, this chapter explores the relative positioning of languages (both English and FLs) within the curriculum across a range of countries before considering in more depth how teachers and students conceptualise and approach language (and more specifically, writing) in both the L1 and FL classroom contexts.
An important first step is more closely to examine the decline in provision for and uptake of FL learning in schools. On the surface, such downward trends in recent years may seem to be indicative of a decline in interest on the part of the students. However, this may also be reflective of broader priorities at a national level (e.g. complacency due to the status of English as a global lingua franca) which will inevitably influence the relative position of subjects within school curricula. Those subjects that form a compulsory part of the curriculum are typically viewed as ‘higher status’ subjects and may consequently receive more resources (i.e. teaching hours). Such status, in turn, may influence students’ later decisions about what subjects to continue to study when they have more choice. This section, therefore, explores the status of language(s) in the curriculum across a range of Anglophone countries, namely the UK, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The focus here is very deliberately on language(s) more broadly; given that much discussion and debate in this area tends to focus on either L1 or FL education, the driving force of this book is to encourage and facilitate connection making between these various language contexts. To this end, the following will focus particularly on the presence (or absence) of any cross-curricular links made between these subjects at the level of the curriculum.
It should also be noted that this book is primarily set within a context where the majority of learners (a) have English as their L1 and (b) attend a school where English is the medium of instruction and where FLs are offered as subjects within the curriculum. This is indeed the case for many students in Anglophone countries. In England, for example, over 80% of secondary school students are currently recorded as being L1 speakers of English (DfE, 2019). Similar patterns are reflected at a national level in the United States (Kids Count Data Center, 2018), Canada (Statistics Canada, 2016), Australia (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016) and New Zealand (Edwards, 2012; McGee et al., 2015). Yet, it is also important to acknowledge and value the increasing linguistic diversity in schools around the world and the significant number of students in the above countries who have languages other than English as their L1 (Evans et al., 2020). Such multilingual students are considered in particular in Chapters 8 and 9 of this book and the key findings are no less relevant to them. Indeed, perhaps this makes it even more crucial for all teachers to reflect more explicitly on the linguistic skills and strategies that students bring with them to class.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom is an interesting and diverse national context where responsibility for education is devolved to the various constituent countries of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. While largely considered to be a ‘monolingual’ English speaking country, the presence of other indigenous languages influences language curricula in schools in various parts of the country. Scotland and Wales have adopted policies that are more in line with European recommendations that school students should have the opportunity to learn at least two other languages in addition to their L1 (Council of the European Union, 2002). The Scottish government, for example, promotes the ‘1+2’ (L1 plus two additional languages) model of language teaching and learning in schools (Scottish Government Languages Working Group, 2012), and has committed to encouraging the learning of indigenous Scottish languages and dialects alongside other FLs beginning from the first year of primary school. The Welsh government has similarly set out a series of strategic objectives to improve and promote language learning by adopting a ‘bilingual plus one’ model, where students learn English, Welsh and an additional FL from primary school (Welsh Government, 2015). In Northern Ireland there are a small number of Irish-medium schools (predominantly primary schools), and some schools also offer an Irish-as-a-second-language option (Department of Education, 2008).
On the other hand, however, such multilingual European models have not been as widely adopted in England where provision varies greatly from school to school. This may be due, in part, to the lack of an additional widespread indigenous language, such as Scottish Gaelic or Welsh, and to the predominance of English as a global language. Yet, even the study of a single FL is facing challenges. In secondary schools in England there is increasing concern about the declining number of students who choose to study a language beyond the compulsory phase, currently fewer than 50% (Tinsley & Doležal, 2019). Even where the study of languages is a curricular entitlement (between the ages of seven and 14), there is a growing trend in the number of schools that exclude or excuse students from FL lessons in favour of receiving extra literacy support in English or because they are not considered to be ‘successful’ language learners. This practice of disapplication from FL learning in the first few years of secondary school restricts the learners’ access to language study at a higher level.
English, conversely, has consistently enjoyed a higher status in schools as a ‘core’ or ‘foundation’ subject. A report by the schools’ inspectorate in England (OFSTED, 2012: 4) begins with the statement that: ‘there can be no more important subject than English in the school curriculum. English is a pre-eminent world language, it is at the heart of our culture and it is the language medium in which most of our students think and communicate.’ However, as suggested by Burley and Pomphrey (2003), the high status of the English language in the school as a whole may paradoxically interfere with the way in which it is presented as a subject:
Traditionally in the school curriculum in the UK, the English language maintains an unquestioned status as the medium of everyday communication and of the majority of teaching and learning activity in the school curriculum. This has made it difficult to study English as a language in a sufficiently objective way, particularly for those for whom it is a first language and a teaching subject. (Burley & Pomphrey, 2003: 247–248)
While the previous National Curriculum Programme of Study for students aged 11–14 made some effort to encourage FL teachers to make links to students’ literacy learning in English (QCA, 2007), this is conspicuous by its absence from the current curriculum in England which came into effect in September 2014 (DfE, 2014). It is also interesting to note that there are no similar guidelines encouraging English teachers to explore connections to students’ FL learning. The potential for such links has also been highlighted by the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED, 2013: 4) in their report on improving standards in literacy; this report recommends that the curriculum should offer the opportunity for students to ‘develop writing skills through work that makes cross-curricular links with other subjects’ and calls for long-term planning and more collaboration between teachers in different subject areas. It would seem that FL teachers, who are able to focus more explicitly on the development of language learning strategies, are in a unique position to contribute to the overall improvement in writing standards.
United States of America
In the United States, language instruction typically begins in middle school or high school, although provision for and uptake of FL learning in schools varies considerably across states. The share of elementary and secondary school students enrolled in language classes for the nation as a whole is 19.66%; however, this ranges from only 8.5% in New Mexico which does not have an FL requirement for graduation, to 51.2% in New Jersey which does (American Councils