Part 1: The immigrant…
Imagine that you are moving to another country indefinitely – you are emigrating. The reasons for doing this may very well be due to a number of factors, but might include economic, social and political conditions in your home country. You might not agree with the political regime at home, there might be a war or natural disaster, you might be hungry from food shortages, or you might simply be searching for a better standard of living or a different lifestyle for you (and your family). Whatever the reasons that impel you to make this choice, you will be leaving behind many different social networks (family, friends), cultural reference points and possibly – in the sense that you will not speak it as often – your language.
Let’s assume that you are a non-native speaker moving to an English speaking country – that is, where your target language is spoken. Now take some time to draw a mind map with all of the communities that you might belong to when you arrive and as you settle. Or put another way, what different identities you might have. Then label each with L1 or L2 according to which language you think you would be speaking. To get you started, see the immigrant mind map:
-GRÀFIC
And the point is…
You would not just be a language learner within the confines of a language class. Learning is going on inside and outside the classroom. In many of the social situations in your life, if not most, you would be using the L2.
Part 2: The study abroad student…
After drawing a mind map for an immigrant, now consider how this mind map would differ for a 3 month study abroad. What might your social networks be? Go into as much detail as you like, and include new identities / communities that you would like to explore when you arrive in your temporary home. Again tag each with L1 / L2, according to which you think you will be speaking. The more you explore the possibility of language learning opportunities in whatever social situation you find yourself in, or create for yourself, the more you are going to develop your language skills. Examples of identities and communities are set out in the study abroad mind map:
-GRÀFIC
The map you come up with may well be very similar to the map you drew for someone arriving for a long stay in a country. However, the challenge that you have is that your sojourn is very short, and so it makes sense to prepare and think about what you would like to gain from the process.
There is so much that you could think about doing in groups of lingua franca speakers: forming a cinema group; going on day trips; cooking together; TV buddies discussing your favourite series; board game groups…
Part 3: The EMI student…
Now consider your international language classroom at home: a CLIL or EMI class you have attended or are interested in attending in the future. This is a bit more challenging and a lot depends on whether you can form groups within your class that then use the lingua franca outside the classroom. But why not have a go?!
Using the ideas that you came up with for permanent immigrants and study abroad sojourners, think about whether you could adapt some of these for staying at home. Remember: you will have a class full of people who can speak the lingua franca at a high level, and possibly from around the world. Be creative! What strategies are you going to put in place for making the most of your international classroom experience at home?