The South Tyrol border region in northern Italy represents a complex multilingual situation wherein a minoritized majority (Italian speakers) and a majoritized minority (German speakers) live side by side, with both Italian and German recognised as official languages. Moreover, Ladin, a Romance language which is spoken in the Dolomite region, enjoys an official minority status, English is taught in schools as a foreign language, and various heritage languages of migrant children are also present in classrooms. In this rich linguistic landscape, teachers require support in developing awareness about how to make language input comprehensible to young learners from diverse backgrounds. This is especially important in South Tyrol where a 'separate but equal' approach to language education in schooling has had a negative impact on students' L2 acquisition (Mastellotto & Zanin, 2022).
This paper examines the results of a small-scale study that develops a framework for multilingual language input to assist South Tyrolean teachers in supporting L2 skills of young learners, taking into account their wide variety of differences. It is based on participatory action research carried out with in-service preschool and primary school teachers of German and English L2, involving classroom observations and the use of a language input observation scheme (LIOS) to quantitively measure the quality of teachers' linguistic input in order to provide formative feedback to guide their continued professional development.
Drawing on previous research by Weitz (2010, 2015) and Kersten (2018) in the context of bilingual kindergartens in Germany, new elements were included in the design of the LIOS instrument, namely multilingualism rooted in the South Tyrolean context and a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) approach to ensure that all children can benefit from L2 input. Two research questions frame the study: (1) Does the use of the LIOS guide teachers to improve their language input strategies for inclusive learning? (2) Is peer observation using the LIOS a valid tool for encouraging teachers' language awareness, critical reflection, and continued professional development?
Results indicate that the instrument helps improve teachers' language input quality in L2 instruction in two interconnected ways: first, by guiding corrective feedback strategies through input-providing and output-promoting techniques to involve all children in classroom interactions and encourage their noticing (Nassaji & Kartchava, 2021); second, by raising language awareness and encouraging critical reflectivity among teachers on how to foster and manage language-rich episodes in L2 instructional contexts. The enhanced language awareness (Carter 2003; James & Garrett 1992) that emerges through peer observation and use of the LIOS indicates that these instruments can help teachers become reflective practitioners through analysis and discussion of situated learning experiences (Lave & Wenger 1991; Wenger 1998).
Keywords: multilingual education; teacher training and professional development; language teacher reflectivity; language awareness; corrective feedback; inclusive language learning.
References:
Kartchava, E. (2019). Noticing Oral Corrective Feedback in the Second Language Classroom. New York & London: Lexington Books.
Kersten, K. (2021). L2 input and characteristics of instructional techniques in early foreign language classrooms: Underlying theory and pedagogical practice. The European Journal of Applied Linguistics and TEFL 10(2), 27–59.
Kersten, K. (2018). TIOS - Teacher Input Observation Scheme. L2 Input Rating Schedule. Studies on Multilingualism in Education, 4. Hildesheim: Hildesheim University.
Nassaji, H. & Kartchava, E. (2021). The Cambridge Handbook of Corrective Feedback in Second Language Learning and Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Weitz, M., Pahl, S., Flyman Mattsson, A., Buyl, A. & Kalbe, E. (2010). The Input Quality Observation Scheme (IQOS): The Nature of L2 Input and its Influence on L2 Development in Bilingual Preschools. In K. Kersten, A. Rohde, C. A. K. Schelletter, & A. Steinlen (Eds.) Bilingual Preschools. Vol. I: Learning and Development, pp. 5-44. Trier: WVT.
Weitz, M. (2015). Die Rolle des L2-Inputs in bilingualen Kindergärten. Inquiries in Language Learning. Frankfurt: Peter Lang.
