Description
PurposeTo become a k-9 teacher in Denmark students must successfully complete the Bachelor’s Degree Program in Education, an applied program which is “development-based and combine[s] theoretical studies with a practical approach” (Danish Agency for Higher Education, 2015). To pass, students must complete a number of competency area assessments, one of which is teaching bilingual students. The purpose of this paper is to look at how Legitimation Code Theory’s Semantics (Maton, 2014) can be applied in the course ‘teaching bilingual students’ in order to scaffold students’ final competency area assessment, a 10-page paper.
Object of study
At the Metropolitan University College, where I teach, the ‘teaching bilingual students’ course is a concentrated half-module taught over 6 weeks; each week consists of one day’s classes made up of 6 consecutive 45-minute-long lessons. The course is normally offered during students’ 4th semester, and the 10-page assessment paper is the first of the final exam grades recorded on students’ diplomas. As such, students have only very short time to acquire and demonstrate the 12 knowledge and competency goals of the course in a high-stakes assessment.
The course content draws on fields of educational linguistics and the Sydney School genre-pedagogy as well as more broadly on educational sociology and current second language educational research in Denmark and internationally. The assessment is the longest written assignment of the students’ degree program yet, and requires students to apply relevant theory and knowledge from the course curriculum to one of their main teaching subjects and, based on this, make suggestions for pedagogical practice.
Theoretical Framework
This paper draws on Legitimation Code Theory’s dimension of Semantics (Maton, 2014). More specifically, the concepts of semantic gravity and semantic density as well as the notions of semantic waves and semantic profiles (Blackie, 2014; Maton, 2013) are used to map medium and high-achieving assessment papers by examining the different linguistic resources employed in the various sections of the assessment paper.
Results and Discussion
Results in the presentation will rely on a combination of semantic profiles of selected and already graded assessment papers (handed in for assessment in the spring semester of 2016) and their implementation as teaching examples in course instruction during the spring of 2017.
Students of the ‘teaching bilingual students’ course (of the spring semester, 2017) will be introduced to some of these LCT concepts at the beginning of the course as they are applied in understanding second language education practices in the Danish public school (Meidell Sigsgaard, 2014, 2015), as well as by introducing already mapped course assessments papers handed in, in the spring of 2016. By applying the theoretical concepts to their own course assessment requirements, and by looking at these from a linguistic resources perspective, students of the ‘teaching bilingual students’ course will be scaffolded in understanding the course content while also preparing them for their own final assessment in the course. These implementations, related didactic reflections and students’ results (e.g. students’ course evaluations and potentially graded assessment papers) will also be reported on.
Implications
An explicit aim of the Metropolitan University College Bachelor in Education Program is “To the greatest possible extent, the teaching of the programme should include the results of national and international research and experimental and innovative work relevant to the teaching profession and suited to contributing to the development and application of new professional knowledge” (Metropolitan University College website). This can be understood as a form of cumulative learning where the ability to integrate earlier learning to enable problem solving in new contexts is paramount (Maton 2014).
Introducing students to the LCT concepts as analytical tools for understanding pedagogic practices and legitimation codes (Maton, 2014) in different contexts (both where the students are the students and in their future roles as teachers) is one way of meeting this aim while also giving students powerful analytical tools for understanding what makes any student successful in various subject areas. Explicitly teaching them LCT and related linguistic patterns allows them to focus on strategies for scaffolding these successes, both their own and those of their future second-language students.
References
Blackie, M. A. L. (2014). Creating semantic waves: using Legitimation Code Theory as a tool to aid the teaching of chemistry. Chemistry Educaction Research and Practice, 15(4), 462–469.
Danish Agency for Higher Education. (2015). The Danish Teacher Education Programme: B. Ed. programme for primary and lower secondary schools. Retrieved from http://ufm.dk/en/education-and-institutions/higher-education/university-colleges/university-college-educations/bachelor-of-education/b-ed-programme-for-primary-and-lower-secondary-schools.pdf
Maton, K. (2013). Making semantic waves: A key to cumulative knowledge-building. Linguistics and Education, 24(1), 8–22.
Maton, K. (2014). Knowledge and Knowers - Towards a realist sociology of education. Abingdon: Routledge.
Meidell Sigsgaard, A.-V. (2014). “Brug dine egne ord!” - hvordan gør man sig legitim som DSA-elev i historieundervisningen? Sprogforum, 58, 74–80.
Meidell Sigsgaard, A.-V. (2015). Demokrati og semantiske bølger i andetsprogsundervisningen. Viden Om Literacy, 18(På flere sprog), 12–25. Retrieved from http://www.videnomlaesning.dk/tidsskrifter/nr-18-flersprogede-borns-laesning-og-laering/
| Period | 3 Jul 2017 → 7 Jul 2017 |
|---|---|
| Event title | The Second International Legitimation Code Theory Congress |
| Event type | Conference |
| Conference number | 2 |
| Location | Sydney, AustraliaShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |