Innovation in Language Learning
Teaching Foreign Languages in a Disadvantaged Music-Friendly Learning Context. Multimodal Insights from Bataan.
George Cremona, University of Malta (Malta)
Abstract
This paper deals with one main research question: Can music serve as an adequate pedagogical tool when teaching foreign languages in a socio-economically disadvantaged area? The answers to this question will be based on the outcomes of the Multimodal advantages: The Bataan Case study, an ongoing sub-project of the Multimodality in Practice research project [1]. To answer this question, the paper adopts a socio-semiotic theoretical framework [2] based on Multimodal principles [3]. This framework is used for the analysis of a set of qualitative empirical data [4] i.e. fieldnotes, observations and lesson plans designed and used to teach foreign languages to students attending the Jose De Piro Education Centre for Arts [5] in the poverty-stricken town of Pagalangang in the Bataan region of the Philippines [6]. The paper answers the research question by first presenting the socio-semiotic evaluation of a set of practical student-centered [7] music-related task-based [8] pedagogical activities which were used during lessons conducted in this disadvantaged learning context. Later, as its main conclusion, the paper shares seven insights serving as tools we can learn from teachers working in similar disadvantaged Foreign Language learning contexts. These insights should serve as suggestions indicating how music, when critically used, can possibly serve as an effective pedagogical tool, notwithstanding the limitations encountered in similar disadvantaged learning contexts.
|
References |
[1] Cremona, G., (2019). The use of multimodal pedagogical resources in educational contexts marked by social and economic disadvantage: a comparative analysis of Malta and Bataan. In: Bezzina, C & Caruana S, (Eds), Teacher Education Matters. Transforming lives ... transforming schools. University of Malta: Malta., pp. 395-411. [2] Cremona, G., (2017). The Mirror Framework: A critical Text Analysis Pedagogical Tool for the Foreign Language (FL) Learning Context. International Journal for 21st Century Education, 4(1), pp. 43-56. [3] Kress, Gunther R. 2010. Multimodality: a social semiotic approach to contemporary communication. London: Routledge. [4] Köhler, T., Smith, A., & Bhakoo, V. (2022). Templates in qualitative research methods: Origins, limitations, and new directions. Organizational Research Methods, 25(2), 183-210. [5] Jose de Piro (2017). The JDP Formation Centre history: From the beginning till today. Bataan: online. Retrieved from: http://www.mssp.org.ph/ [6] Asian Development Bank, 2009. Poverty in the Philippines: Causes, Constraints, and Opportunities. ADB press: Mundaluyong. [7] Bremner, N. (2021). The multiple meanings of ‘student-centred’or ‘learner-centred’ education, and the case for a more flexible approach to defining it. Comparative Education, 57(2), 159-186. [8] Vila, B. T. (2021). Music as a tool for foreign language learning in Early Childhood Education and Primary Education. Proposing innovative CLIL Music teaching approaches. CLIL Journal of Innovation and Research in Plurilingual and Pluricultural Education, 4(1), 35-47. |
