Learning in Another Language
Story appeared in the 2015 issue of QMS Connections Magazine.
BY DEBORAH COOK, SUSAN CRUIKSHANK AND CELINA MASON
As an international boarding school, QMS welcomes students from over a dozen different countries annually.
“The vocabulary of school is hard enough for most people —hypotenuse, paradox, synthesis, discourse are just a few course-specific words our students encounter on a daily basis. Now imagine learning these concepts in another country, in another language. This is a challenge that many Queen Margaret’s School students face every school year. ”
These students for whom English is a second or third language are known as English Language Learners (ELL). Most of these students enrol in our Senior School, but as Duncan becomes a destination for more international families, some of our Junior School classes have recently been enriched by the addition of international students as well. No matter what their age, these students bring with them unique life experiences and traditions, adding further depth and diversity to the classrooms and residence hallways of Queen Margaret’s School.
For the staff and faculty of QMS, our aim is to create a learning environment where differences and diversity are celebrated with a sense of curiosity and com-passion, and where students feel safe to explore, make mistakes and thrive as learners. Students who join us from around the world are offered English language learning through an individualized ELL program. In many cases, these students have met the stringent academic requirements of QMS and have strong records of achievement in their home countries. However, the personalized model at QMS recognizes that the academic needs of these students are not the same; the diverse nature of students from many countries and backgrounds results in a mosaic of varied life experiences, all connected by common learning needs.
One instructional strategy that QMS teachers use with great success is leveraging students’ prior knowledge and experiences. By bridging prior knowledge with new concepts, content becomes more meaningful for the ELL learner, and also benefits the entire class by presenting a new way of examining a problem or widening perspectives on a global issue. For example, Grade 7 ELL students recently brought a unique perspective to a Grade 7 Science unit on the environment. After looking at various factors affecting the environment and global warming, these students shared their knowledge of pollution in large centres in China. In the Grade 1 class-room this year, students have learned to greet each other in several languages, including Spanish, Mandarin, and Hul’qumi’num (a local Coast Salish language). This is one of many ways in which ELL students experience an inclusive learning environment, continuous support and the opportunity to learn hand-in-hand with their native English-speaking peers.
Beyond the classroom, ELL students bridge academic learning with social learning in formal and informal ways. The school’s comprehensive residential program intentionally aims to celebrate diversity and facilitate lifelong friendships. Room assignments are carefully made so that girls from different language groups share. This not only promotes the use of English as the primary language of communication, but also helps students bond over the shared experiences of learning to live in a different culture. ELL students are encouraged to apply to leadership positions through the Voices of Intercultural Perspectives (VIP) Team and share their culture and help promote compassion, empathy, and understanding amongst their fellow students.
No matter what the situation—formal or informal, classroom or residence hallway, Junior School or Senior School, in the riding ring or studying with a tutor—one core belief drives the personalized, intentional ELL programming at Queen Margaret’s School: a commitment to creating “safe-space” opportunities not just to read and write English, but to practice the spoken language of both academic and social conversations so that our students can emerge as confident, empowered learners and leaders.
Breaking Cultural Barriers
Ximena Maya Chavez is from Huixquilucan, Mexico. Xinhuan (Lily) Li is from Hangzhou, China. Lily likes to read and work on her computer; Ximena likes to hang out with her friends, ride horses and watch horror movies. On the surface, these two Grade 9 students don’t have much in common. But put them in an international boarding school like Queen Margaret’s, where 90 girls from 11 different countries come together to live and study, and the result is an enduring, lifelong friendship. “We may not have the same dialect,” Lily says, “but we speak the language of teenager!” It can be difficult sharing a room with anyone for a school year, let alone with someone from an entirely different culture. However, like true global citizens, they settle the big issues and the small issues with empathy, tolerance, and communication. Both girls had a very successful year at Queen Margaret’s School.