Proud to be tvmbo - Kortlopend Onderwijsonderzoek

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strategy that Genesee highly recommends is the use of cooperative learning and
what he calls “high quality exchanges between teachers and pupils”.
Another study also related to the “No Child Left Behind Act of 2001” by García & Tyler
(2010), focused on subject teachers dealing with language. García & Tyler’s findings
show that secondary subject teachers are often unfamiliar with strategies related
to language learning. Students have problems, for example with the reading level of
texts and with concepts that are unfamiliar: this doubles the cognitive demands on
them – they don’t understand either the topic or the language.
Garcia and Tyler discuss some important aspects of bilingual teaching for teachers.
For example, subject teachers need to be aware of the level of materials in order to be
able to adapt them. They also need to use teaching approaches so students understand
the topics being dealt with. For instance, subject teachers do not all know how to scaffold
(see glossary) reading.
This study also mentions the dangers of assessing students learning in bilingual environments.
Teachers need to keep the level of English in mind when designing tests:
subject tests need to test the topic and not the students’ English. This means using language
that students understand when assessing or designing tests. This means that tests
should be written in English that the students are sure to understand; another possibility
is to use other testing methods than just words, so that English does not interfere
with assessing subject matter.
Garcia and Tyler recommend collaboration between subject and English teachers in all
of these areas mentioned above, in order to provide more effective learning for students
(Garcia & Tyler 2010).
Garcia and Tyler and Vollmer recommend some teaching strategies, as follows:
• Use teaching methods other than reading, which means, for example, supplementing
texts and course books with dvds, internet based accounts of input, audio recordings,
movement. This links to the report by Vollmer above. Vollmer also talks
about eight modes of human activities involving language: listening, speaking,
reading, writing, viewing, shaping, watching, moving (Vollmer, 2006: 183).
Teachers can think about how to incorporate these eight modes into their classrooms.
• Don’t ask students to produce too much work independently and, if you do, structure
it carefully, using scaffolding (see glossary), checklists, study guides, etc.