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

Literature / 39

Many studies have shown a strong correlation between oral language skills
and written language achievement, and the correlation has proved useful
in predicting children at risk (Blank,1982); but instead of concentrating
the attention on those aspects of oral language which are considered
relevant to literacy in that they mirror those of written language, the
structure of and processes involved in oral interpersonal communication
could be explored, and discourse patterns Identified that would be useful
in the transition to literacy and to L2. This seems a good research
direction because it values the learners' competence developed before and
outside school (see 4.5): that competence is an asset for all, even for
those children living in non- or minimally-literate social groups, that
is, the environment for the majority of the children in the world.

2.2.4 Bilingualism and development of literacy in L2

Early studies on bilingualism and I.Q. generally concluded that
bilingualism was responsible for lower levels of verbal skills and
eventually for poor academic achievement, while more recent studies
suggest that bilingualism can positively influence academic and cognitive
functioning (Reviewed in Cummins,1979 and Skutnabb-Kangas,1983). The
conflicting results of studies on bilingualism are due to the better
control of socioeconomic variables in the subjects; results from French
Immersion Programmes in Canada show that learning in L2 at school does
not necessarily cause academic difficulties: it is clear that bilingual
situations differ widely, and so many types of bilingualism exist, which
lead to different results (see 2.1.3 and 4).

A first distinction is between an 'additive' form of bilingualism, where
another language is added to the repertoire without questioning the
status of the LI, and a 'subtractive' form of bilingualism, where the L2
is meant to gradually replace the LI, a language of lower status. The
thesis has been put forward (Cummins,1979) that 'a cognitively and

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