Papers by Roma Chumak-Horbatsch
Linguistic Diversity in Early Childhood Education: Working with Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Children
Journal of Childhood Studies, 2004
Language Concerns of Immigrant Parents: Early Childhood Practitioners' Response
Journal of Childhood Studies, Apr 30, 2010
This case study investigated one Ukrainian-speaking boy’s (MK’s) repeated uses of the 2ps persona... more This case study investigated one Ukrainian-speaking boy’s (MK’s) repeated uses of the 2ps personal pronoun oe (you) for self-reference over a twelve month period from 2;00 to 3;00. A brief description of the Ukrainian personal pronoun system and its obligatory and non-obligatory uses are presented. MK’s consistent reversal behavior emerges as a prolonged, atypical error within an otherwise advanced language system, which includes a significant amount of correct pronoun use. Such repeated pronoun reversal activity, characterized by the failure to perform the necessary deictic shift, it is argued, has its beginnings in imitation and is followed by “semantic confusion” (Oshima-Takane, 1992) or the child’s inability to understand the grammatical and semantic rules which govern the uses of oe (you). Social factors, such as MK’s restricted social contacts and characteristics and limitations of the input, further explain MK’s reversals. The data provide evidence for the Person-Name Hypothe...
Using Linguistically Appropriate Practice: A Guide for Teaching in Multilingual Classrooms
Using Linguistically Appropriate Practice
Language Change in the Ukrainian Home: From Transmission to Maintenance to the Beginnings of Loss
Canadian Ethnic Studies Journal, Jun 22, 1999
Introduction In the last two decades language change of minority group speakers in language conta... more Introduction In the last two decades language change of minority group speakers in language contact situations has become an important area of language research. Linguistic, sociolinguistic, sociological and political factors of language movement are being investigated and attempts are made to describe how these factors interact in various language contact contexts (Fishman, 1990, 1991; Fase, Jaspaert and Kroon, 1992; Seliger and Vago, 1991). It is the purpose of this report to examine language change of one group of mothers and their children in a Ukrainian-English contact context. Language Transmission--Language Maintenance Fishman (1991) differentiates between language transmission and language maintenance, claiming that both are different yet related processes. Language transmission, or the passing on of a mother tongue to young children, happens mostly through the spoken medium in the home/family context. Following this, one can talk about language maintenance or the "post-transmission process" which happens in the wider societal environment and is characterized by attempts to protect, to further develop and to enhance that which has been transmitted. One way in which a minority language group can maintain and preserve their mother tongue in a language contact situation is to choose the "relative isolation option" where communication with those who do not speak the native language (hereafter L1) is limited, even avoided (Fase, Jaspaert and Kroon, 1992). The goal of transmission and maintenance, according to Fishman, is to create a state "in which the transmitted language can prosper and move toward a growing pool of speakers for subsequent intergenerational transmission" (p. 114). If this does not happen, Fishman believes, L1 will become "threatened," the number of speakers will decrease generation after generation and the uses of L1 will diminish and become isolated from the "higher social status" of the majority language. In such a situation, L1 will become more and more "deactivated" (Seliger and Vago, 1991). This will be followed by a clear change in linguistic performance where the majority language (hereafter L2) becomes the stronger and loss of L1 will occur. Language Shift--Language Loss Language shift and language loss have been described as different yet "linked" processes (Fase, et al., 1992). Both are multi-faceted and have psycholinguistic, sociolinguistic, linguistic and political elements. While language shift refers to changes in group language use or to a "collective notion of proficiency present within a community," language loss is the individual's decrease or erosion of linguistic ability (Fase, et al., 1992). Language loss is a "slow and cumulative process" (Fishman, 1991:40) characterized by gradual reduction of L1 in a language contact situation and the growing dominance of L2 and its replacement of L1. The end result of language shift and language loss is the disappearance of L1. Fishman outlines a framework for the preparation of an "informed evaluation" of language loss. Firstly, he emphasizes the importance of a time-interval where analysis of "before" (then) and "after" (now) data, preferably with the same subjects, will confirm whether language loss has occurred. Secondl y, an examination of four separate areas of language, understanding, speaking, reading and writing, will reveal where loss or erosion has occurred. And finally, a picture of language loss must include the identification of sociocultural contexts or domains in which loss has occurred. The Ukrainian Language in Toronto Along with Winnipeg and Edmonton, Toronto belongs to the "Big Three" Ukrainian Metropolitan Canadian Axis which "dominates the Ukrainian demographic scene in Canada" (Driedger, 1980:120). Ukrainian organized life was established in Toronto in the first decade of this century (Marunchak, 1970). By 1915 religious and cultural organizations were established: a Ukrainian Catholic church was erected in 1910 and by 1915 the Prosvita Society, an organization which "helped to raise both the national consciousness and the intellectual awareness" (Balan, 1984) of the new immigrants, was attracting a large membership and was meeting regularly. …
Language use in the Ukrainian home: a Toronto sample
ijsl, 1987
The Ukrainian minority-language home existing within the wider majority Toronto English Community... more The Ukrainian minority-language home existing within the wider majority Toronto English Community represents a new and important context for the investigation of language behavior. The research reported here is presented in light of the social interactive theory of first language acquisition and knowledge äs described by Wells (1979,1980, 1981, 1982). Wells bases his theory of children's language on the Hallidayian social interactive view of language acquisition which describes the language-learning child äs being actively involved in creating a meaning System from everyday experiences with people and events. Making meanings for Halliday is the business of first-language acquisition. He defines meaning in a global sense to include general world Information, a specific cultural component, and linguistic realization of each. In the process of making meanings or of constructing a social System the child discovers, interprets, and comes to know 'his specific culturally defined environment' (Halliday 1975: 15) and his place and function in it. Meanings are learned, Halliday believes, in a cumulative, continuous way throughout the entire period of the child's development, mostly through the medium of language. Halliday's social interactive focus of language acquisition influenced Wells's thinking and can be found at the basis of his theory of language acquisition. Wells accepts Halliday's interactive approach, yet he feels that it leaves specifics of mother and child's interactive behaviors 'unexplored'. It is in this area of mother and child's interactive behavior specification that Wells elaborates Halliday's theory. Where Halliday stressed the active role of both the adult and the child in the exchange of meanings, Wells provides specification for adult behavior (strategies, interactional styles, feedback categories) which he then relates to the linguistic progress of the child. The child's active role äs conversation partner is also specified by Wells. He considers personality factors and underlying cognitive structures which account for the child's strategy selection.
First Language, 1994
This study documents first steps of one child's acquisition of Ukrainian as a first language.... more This study documents first steps of one child's acquisition of Ukrainian as a first language. It is intended as a response to appeals for research of languages not yet investigated (Slama- Cazacu 1972, Slobin 1985). It includes an historical review of Ukrainian child language research, a brief outline of Ukrainian grammatical structure, a characterization of single-word speech, a description of three separate kinds of single-word activities, single-word verbal humour and a description of morphological behaviour. The study presents single-word behaviour as an important time in the acquisition of first language. Special focus is on early morphological activity or first steps in the mastery of the Ukrainian morphological system.
Psychology of Language and Communication, 2008
Early bilingualism: children of immigrants in an English-language childcare center In this study,... more Early bilingualism: children of immigrants in an English-language childcare center In this study, language views and home language practice of sixteen immigrant parents were documented and related to the dual language behaviors of their young children (ages 1:09 to 3;06) who were enrolled in a Toronto English-language childcare center. De Houwer's (1999) model of early bilingualism was applied to the minority language context and external factors were used to explain the short-lived active bilingualism of the younger children and the passive bilingualism of the preschoolers. Presenting mothers and fathers with separate questionnaires proved to be a valuable methodological tool, which revealed similar language thinking but different home language practice. Immigrant mothers were more committed to their children's L1 development than were fathers, a finding, which supports and extends the parental gender difference noted in earlier work (Gleason, 2005; Lyon, 1991; Lyon & Ellis...
51 FALL / AUTOMNE 2013 Vol. 38 No. 2 Maria Petrescu is a PhD candidate at Ontario Institute for S... more 51 FALL / AUTOMNE 2013 Vol. 38 No. 2 Maria Petrescu is a PhD candidate at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto in the Language and Literacies Education program. Her research interests include child language acquisition, bilingualism/multilingualism, minority language learning and maintenance, and heritage languages. Her PhD research focuses on documenting the bilingual development and bicultural experiences of Romanian-speaking Canadian children. Linguistically Appropriate Practice: A Guide for Working with Young Immigrant Children
Instructional Practice with Young Bilingual Learners: A Canadian Profile
Handbook on Positive Development of Minority Children and Youth, 2017
The focus of this chapter is instructional practice with the growing number of young bilingual le... more The focus of this chapter is instructional practice with the growing number of young bilingual learners who arrive in Canadian childcare centres and kindergartens with little or no proficiency in the language of program delivery. The chapter begins by setting the context, briefly describing the Canadian linguistic landscape and outlining the linguistic profile of Canadian early care and learning programs. This is followed by a review of practices currently adopted by EC professionals in their work with bilingual learners. A new multilingual, strength-based direction in classroom practice is briefly described and recent initiatives are summarized. The highlights of one of these initiatives, Linguistically Appropriate Practice, are presented and the main findings of its implementation in two early learning contexts are discussed. These findings include the varied interest in practice retooling and the identification of categories of factors that affect early childhood professionals’ practice decision-making. Instructional practice with young bilingual learners in the United States of America and in select regions of Europe is also briefly outlined. The chapter concludes with recommendations for designing a course of action to fuel EC professionals’ interest in and commitment to linguistically responsive practice.
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Papers by Roma Chumak-Horbatsch