Unit 8: Linguistic and cultural
minorities
Supporting Polish-speaking pupils in
schools in the UK
Aims of the session
• To understand the following concepts:
1. Minorities
2. Subtractive, additive and dynamic bilingualism
• To familiarize ourselves with the challenges that
schools can face in the UK when supporting and
integrating linguistic minorities, and the strategies they
use
• To explore a case study: Polish-speaking pupils in
British schools
• To discuss the implications of different types of
bilingual education systems for the UK
What is a minority?
• “Whatever the mathematical definition of
‘minority’, when the term is applied to groups of
people other criteria come into play: history (…),
politics (…), economics (…) religion (…), language
(groups that speak a language different from the
language spoken by the dominant group), and
many more. As some of these criteria suggest,
there is an important power dimension that
needs to be considered”. (The Open University,
2014, p. 63)
Integration strategies:
These are some of the strategies used in schools in the UK to
support and integrate Polish children:
•Withdrawal of small groups for English support, during the
literacy hour
•Teachers use non-verbal language and visual cues
•Polish-speaking buddy
•Two buddies, one who speaks Polish and one who doesn’t,
and uses English
•Staff trained in ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages)
•Polish teaching assistants
(The Open University, 2014, pp. 73-75)
Polish teaching assistants (A)
How could schools make better use of their Polish teaching assistants,
whilst also providing the appropriate pay and working conditions?
•Do you think the following suggestions could be effective?
•Are they feasible?
•What would be your suggestions?
Click on Yes or No depending on whether you think that it is a good,
practical suggestion, or not:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Writing letters for parents in Polish
Making phone calls to parents in Polish, in an emergency
Translating during teacher consultations and open evenings
Helping Polish children to identify and understand the linguistic
differences between English and Polish
Training colleagues: e.g. linguistic differences between English and
Polish where Polish children are likely to encounter more difficulty
Polish teaching assistants (B)
How could schools make better use of their Polish teaching assistants,
whilst also providing the appropriate pay and working conditions?
•Do you think the following suggestions could be effective?
•Are they feasible?
•What would be your suggestions?
Click on Yes or No depending on whether you think that it is a good,
practical suggestion, or not:
1) Enhancing intercultural awareness: e.g. helping pupils to organize an
assembly on this topic
2) Involving Polish-speaking volunteer parents in an effective manner
3) Liaising with the Polish community in the area
4) Liaising with any educational services that may be provided by the
Polish Embassy and the Polish Department of Education to help Polishspeaking children in the UK to maintain their Polish competence and
develop their literacy skills in Polish
5) Acquiring training in ESOL
Bilingual education:
Match each definition with the correct term:
1. A concept based on the assumption that a child’s first language ‘interferes’ with the
learning of a second language such as English and should therefore be actively
discouraged in education.
2. A concept based on the assumption that a child’s home language is valuable in
supporting integration into mainstream education and that both languages should be
maintained.
3. A concept based on the assumption that multilingual people sometimes mix the two
languages and this should be encouraged in education.
A. Dynamic bilingualism
B. Subtractive bilingualism
C. Additive bilingualism
(The Open University, 2014, pp. 71-72)
A. Offering Polish children two weekly Polish lessons, so they can
continue developing their Polish literacy and academic skills.
Is this strategy indicative of?
- Subtractive bilingualism
- Additive bilingualism
B. All children attend several weekly sessions focusing on languages
and culture. The languages covered, in turns, are: French,
Spanish/German, and the main immigrant minority language in the
school. Other minority languages in the school are present in
academic work, workshops and assemblies. In the library there are
fiction and non-fiction books in all of these languages.
Is this strategy indicative of?
- Additive bilingualism
- Dynamic bilingualism
Review:
Click on Yes or No:
1. I have a clear understanding of the following
concepts:
• Minorities
• Subtractive, additive and dynamic bilingualism
2. I have a good awareness of the challenges that
schools face when supporting and integrating
linguistic minorities, and of the strategies they can
use.
3. I am aware of the implications of different types of
bilingual education systems for the UK.
List of references:
The Open University (2014) L161 Unit 8 Linguistic and cultural minorities, Milton Keynes,
The Open University