Page 217 - Second language development of newly arrived migrant kindergarteners - Frederike Groothoff
P. 217

General discussion and conclusions 217 involvement of the teachers. Therefore, it seems that the influence of the teacher on language development is stronger since the interaction and language use variables in which the teacher is involved caused a main effect three times, and one time an interaction effect with a significant main effect – on both microstructural and macrostructural level. In sum, the results show that besides the child characteristics Age and Exposure to Dutch, characteristics of the school learning environment also have an influence on second language development of newly arrived migrant pupils. However, it was not possible to determine what the most ideal learning environment is, since we could not create a comprehensive model. Without including both internal child characteristics, such as, Age and Exposure, and external child characteristics, such as, teacher behavior, in one model, it is impossible to determine what the ideal environment is. 9.4 Implications for educational practice In the present study, the learning environment of educational facilities attended by newly arrived migrant pupils in the Netherlands has been investigated. We found a pattern of teacher behavior that was in line with Henrichs and Leseman (2016; higher scores on Emotional Support and lowest scores on Instructional Support); however, overall, we found the scores of the teachers on the different dimensions of classroom quality to be lower in our study than in theirs. Therefore, it is recommendable that schools of all types reconsider their way of evaluating teacher behavior and especially focus on improving teacher skills that can enhance the Instructional Support domain of CLASS. That is, to improve teacher practices regarding, for example, how to ask different questions (“why,” “how,” and open- ended questions), to use scaffolding, to give feedback, to stimulate sustained conversations, and, for example, how to provide rich language examples. Based on Hamre et al. (2012) and Henrichs and Leseman (2016) process quality in classrooms can be improved when schools invest in the professional development of the teachers. When teachers receive concrete feedback with tips on their performance, improvements can be made. We investigated the school learning environment for newly arrived migrant pupils in their first year after arrival in the Netherlands, but naturally the school learning environment continues to be important after that first year. Despite this, the Dutch government, at this time, only finances extra support in the first year after arrival for newcomers (or the first two years for asylum seeker children), even though it takes at least five years (Cummins, 1981) to approach grade norms. We can only speculate, but it might be that due to a lack of financial resources not all teachers at mainstream schools can continue to foster second language development and provide the resources necessary to keep migrant pupils engaged in their education. Researchers must disseminate their knowledge and work together with schools to guarantee that newly arrived migrant pupils receive education on a level that meets their cognitive possibilities, interests, and talents 


































































































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