“OXE I HAVE FINISHED DE HOJE”: O PAPEL DA PRIMEIRA LÍNGUA NO DESENVOLVIMENTO DO BILETRAMENTO DE CRIANÇAS

Abstract

As the field of Bilingual Education continues to grow in Brazil, matters of theory and practice become front and center. One of the perennial issues when discussing additional language learning or learning in the additional language is that of the home or first language and its place in the classroom. While some approaches treat the first language as a hindrance, viewing its presence in the additional language as evidence of error, other views suggest the welcoming of L1 as a resource, key to understanding progress. This study, set in the context of virtual first grade classrooms within a bilingual program during the Covid-19 pandemic, examined first language use as it relates to learning to read and write in the second language. Using invented spelling activities and classroom recordings, the use of Portuguese by students and teachers around the emergence of reading and writing was investigated. Specific attention was paid to questions regarding if and how children and teachers leveraged the first language in building metalinguistic connections and reflections favoring the development of biliteracy. In analyzing written samples from invented spelling activities, certain traits of emergent bilinguals’ writing in the second language were observed. In dialogue transcribed from class recordings, important leveraging of first language was observed, through which students reflected on language, made cross linguistic connections and appeared to construct a positive relationship to errors in their language journey. Teachers, by welcoming and directing the use of L1 on the part of students, were found to foster a welcoming environment for children’s reflections and contributions. Taken as a whole, these aspects contributed to biliteracy development. In considering an L1-aware classroom pedagogy as was observed in the study, an element of a Brazilian approach to biliteracy and bilingual education was identified and is now proposed.