The Young Interpreters Scheme: Linguistic features of peer-to peer input and educational experience of participation
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Reading
Department Name: Sch of Psychology and Clinical Lang Sci
Abstract
Findings from the January 2019 School Census report (DfE, 2019) state that 1 in 5 primary school children in England is a learner of English as an Additional Language (EAL). Classrooms are becoming multilingual environments and having a peer to translate and explain content and classroom activities can help a beginner learner of English gain some access to the school curriculum (Walqui, 2010). One school-based scheme that has capitalised on the role of peers as language and cultural brokers is the Young Interpreter Scheme (YIS) developed by Hampshire Ethnic Minority and Traveller Achievement Service (EMTAS).
The scheme consists of training pupils to use their language skills to support informal and routine situations in school, and their cultural knowledge to facilitate the transition to school for peers who are new to English. Their role is to be an empathetic friend and act as mentors in everyday school activities. These include buddying up with new arrivals to demonstrate school routines; spending time with new arrivals during breaks and supporting new arrivals to become familiar with school activities.
The scheme has now been adopted throughout the UK in more than 800 primary and secondary schools, but it has not yet been the subject of any systematic research investigation. This project will address the impact of the YIS on inter-related educational and linguistic levels. In this project we focus on aspects of the YIs language use; specifically, lexical diversity and syntactic complexity. We will investigate whether having to accommodate to the limited language skills of EAL learners effects the way in which the YIs adapt their choice of vocabulary and syntactic constructions to talk to their buddy over time. In addition to tracking development over time for the Young Interpreters we will compare them to a control group of children not enrolled in the scheme. In a parallel and complementary line of inquiry, evidence on Young Interpreters' metalinguistic and intercultural awareness, on teachers' and children's motivations for taking part in the YIS, and their views on the participation in the scheme, will inform the further development of the programme.
Understanding the drivers for school participation in the scheme, the children's and teachers' experiences, and the effect of training and YIS membership on measures of the YIs linguistic and cultural competence is particularly important at a time when EAL learners account for a significant percentage of the school population.
The scheme consists of training pupils to use their language skills to support informal and routine situations in school, and their cultural knowledge to facilitate the transition to school for peers who are new to English. Their role is to be an empathetic friend and act as mentors in everyday school activities. These include buddying up with new arrivals to demonstrate school routines; spending time with new arrivals during breaks and supporting new arrivals to become familiar with school activities.
The scheme has now been adopted throughout the UK in more than 800 primary and secondary schools, but it has not yet been the subject of any systematic research investigation. This project will address the impact of the YIS on inter-related educational and linguistic levels. In this project we focus on aspects of the YIs language use; specifically, lexical diversity and syntactic complexity. We will investigate whether having to accommodate to the limited language skills of EAL learners effects the way in which the YIs adapt their choice of vocabulary and syntactic constructions to talk to their buddy over time. In addition to tracking development over time for the Young Interpreters we will compare them to a control group of children not enrolled in the scheme. In a parallel and complementary line of inquiry, evidence on Young Interpreters' metalinguistic and intercultural awareness, on teachers' and children's motivations for taking part in the YIS, and their views on the participation in the scheme, will inform the further development of the programme.
Understanding the drivers for school participation in the scheme, the children's and teachers' experiences, and the effect of training and YIS membership on measures of the YIs linguistic and cultural competence is particularly important at a time when EAL learners account for a significant percentage of the school population.
