Maintenance of First Language

Ideally there needs to be continued development of the first language alongside the acquisition of English.  First and second (or further) languages are acquired through use, exposure, need and experimentation.

First language is developed orally, and written after a long time. By the time the children write their first language they have extensive knowledge of how language works.

Second language learning usually involves learning the oral and written forms together, and does not relate to first language developmental stages.

ESL students continue to learn in their first language from parents, siblings and peers.  Parents, whatever their level of literacy in their first or second language, can assist their child’s conceptual learning through talking, in their first language, about

• everyday matters
• current affairs
• pictures, TV programs, videos
• stories
• family outings
• school events, such as excursions.

Advantages for students when maintenance of their first language is encouraged

• Good communication within the family, especially between generations.
• Assistance with cognitive and intellectual development.
• Greater flexibility of thinking.
• Improved self-esteem.
• Greater understanding and pride in their ethnicity.
• Ongoing good communication between home and the wider ethnic community group.
• Better vocational and life options, especially when the first language includes literacy.

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How can teachers acknowledge the importance of the students' first language?

Encourage students to:

• teach the class some simple phrases in the students’ first language
• teach the class how to count and play counting games in the students’ first language
• take part in a bilingual story-telling session with the teacher or another student, using pictures, simple picture books or puppets
• bring work to school from their ethnic community school to share with the class.

For students literate in their first language:

• encourage the use of bilingual dictionaries
• encourage students to make their own bilingual dictionaries
• provide reading books in the students’ first language
• encourage students to write in their first language, especially in the early stages of learning English.

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