Page 211 - Second language development of newly arrived migrant kindergarteners - Frederike Groothoff
P. 211

General discussion and conclusions 211 o Focal pupils at Mainstream schools were engaged significantly more often in language situations among only peers compared to pupils at DL2-schools. o Focal pupils at DL2-schools were significantly more engaged in balanced situations between teacher and focal pupils compared to pupils at Mainstream schools. o No differences in language use between pupils at DL2-schools and Mainstream schools were found in this study. Teachers, peers, and focal pupils most of the time used simple language, mostly one-word “sentences.” o Overall, most of the time the nature of the language use was qualified as simple language. Complex language use, including long sentences, precise referencing, and infrequent words with explanations, was hardly observed. 9.2.4 Linking characteristics of the learning environment to language development In Chapter 8, the outcomes on the pedagogical practices in the classroom from Chapter 6 and 7 were related to the language measures from Chapter 4 and 5. The main results were as follows: Focusing on teacher behavior  The higher scores for Positive Climate of Mainstream school teachers compared to DL2-school teachers had an effect on two language measures: o A positive interaction between Age and Positive Climate was found for the PPVT score: when teachers created a more positive atmosphere in the classroom, it affected receptive vocabulary size of older pupils more than that of younger pupils. o A negative interaction between Age and Positive Climate was found for the Measure of Lexical Richness score: when teachers created a more positive atmosphere in the classroom this had a larger effect on the Measure of Lexical Richness of younger pupils compared to older pupils. o Large standard errors refrain us from interpreting these two interaction effects. Focusing on focal pupils’ experiences  The higher percentage of time spent in Mathematical Activities at DL2-school compared to Mainstream schools seems to only have a negative effect on the Guiraud Index Score. Pupils in classes with higher percentages of Mathematical Activities used less diverse language when telling stories.  The higher percentages of Language Activities at DL2-schools compared to Mainstream schools only seem to have an effect on the Number of Different Words, but it is an interaction between Ae and percentages of Language Activities. The effect 


































































































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