Not leaving learning to chance:Effective immersion biliteracy pedagogies in Maori and heritage language settings in Aotearoa/NZ.

Abstract

Abstract Colloquium abstract: This colloquium explores and presents some significant emerging ideas in immersion education which have been slow to be applied at the classroom level. The application of instructional scaffolding, the lexical approach and the two-way transfer of language knowledge/learning strategies (L1⇔L2⇔L1) are examples of recent developments from our “not leaving learning to chance” work in immersion bilingual education classroom settings in Aotearoa New Zealand The application of these pedagogical principles and strategies and their potential in raising student achievement in language learning, literacy and academic success in school are explored and models of the strategies in practice are discussed. Chris: Recent work on Instructional Scaffolding and the Lexical Approach has primarily been applied in majority language and in ELT education. Presenters explore the potential of modified scaffolding and lexical approaches in immersion settings and discuss ways in which key ideas and new strategies are being implemented in some Maori Medium and other heritage language classes. Evidence is becoming clearer that for Bilingual learners, two-way transfer of knowledge between languages about language and literacy strategies acquired in either language is possible, desirable and effective (Dworin, 2002; Cummins, 2007) This presentation investigates what such two-way transfers look like in practice, and how they can be explicitly encouraged and taught in immersion bilingual education settings.