Discourse Patterns in First Language Use at Hcme and Second Language Learning at School: an Ethnographic Approach



Abstract

In папу multilingual countries the medium of instruction from the
early grades of Primary School is a second language (L2> scarcely used in
the community, where a first language (Ll) is the medium of
communication. School teachers are bilingual but do not consider the
children's competence in Ll as relevant to the learning of the L2.
Language mismatch is often blamed for the high failure rate at school. In
underdeveloped countries this situation is worsened by scarce resources
available, teachers' limited competence, and pressures to acquire literacy
in the L2, often the language of former colonization.

It is argued that knowledge of the community's 'ways of talking' in Ll
is an inexpensive resource teachers can use to facilitate the learning of
the L2 at school. This study provides an example of how information on
children's discourse patterns in Ll may explain difficulties and suggest
improvements in classroom activities for the learning of oral
communication skills in the L2.

The analysis of discourse patterns in Ll was derived from a study of
conversations. Conversational sequences in the family setting between
adults and 20 children (mean age: 6.9) using their Ll (Tsonga), were
selected from transcripts of audio-recorded naturally occurring verbal
Interactions of children with adults and peers in a rural village in
Southern Mozambique. Discourse patterns in the structure of conversation,
in the use of clarification exchanges and in the exchange of information
were identified, analyzed and contrasted with those of texts used in
Grade 1 classrooms for oral practice in L2 (Portuguese).

Discrepancies were found in the strategies used for the c∞perative
construction of meaning that could easily be redressed if a culture-
sensitive pedagogy of language teaching permeated Teacher Education.

The main theoretical framework of the study is Vygotsky's theory of
the social origin of language and cognition, but it also draws on
studies in conversation analysis, interactive models of language
development, ethnography of communication, literacy and bilingual
education.



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