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Curricular and Extra-Curricular Factors in Multilingual Education

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2008

Alex Housen  and
Hugo Baetens Beardsmore
Alex Housen
Affiliation:
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Hugo Baetens Beardsmore
Affiliation:
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
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Abstract

Analysis of multilingual acquisition processes in the European School of Brussels reveals how both curricular and extra-curricular factors combine to account for high levels of proficiency in three or four languages. The school operates in seven languages, and all pupils must learn at least three, though the combination is open to choice. Curricular design ties in with the prerequisites for success as posited in Cummins' (1981, 1984) Interaction Hypothesis, Krashen's (1982) Input Hypothesis, and Swain's (1983) Output Hypothesis. These alone do not account for the high levels of achievement attested, because they do not include the extra-curricular factors which provide the essential supplementary conditions for active, productive use of a given language in meaningful two-way negotiation among peers. Schumann's (1979) Acculturation Model allows one to tap this primordial extra-curricular factor, even though it was not designed for an educational context. Four soft techniques were used to test the hypotheses: participant observation, written questionnaires, informal interviews, and open-ended formal interviews based on a 26-item questionnaire (N = 8). Results indicate that only Schumann's model can bring to the fore whether self-initiated meaningful two-way negotiation is used as a supplement to formal instruction in a multilingual environment; they also show how social and psychological distance tie in with curricular structure to enhance the acquisition process.

Type
Research Article
Information
Studies in Second Language Acquisition , Volume 9 , Issue 1 , February 1987 , pp. 83 - 102
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1987

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