learn to distinguish the language differences over time.
We observe that these children developed their literacy skills in English and Macedonian in a bilingual school setting where they received fewer hours of teacher – student interaction in English than they would have had in a monolingual school. As discussed in the background literature, it is interpreted that Macedonian literacy served as a solid groundwork for English literacy growth.
Developing skills in a first language, particularly in planning, organising and structuring, might be expected to improve performance in similar tasks in a second language( Cummins, 2000). The findings presented above are particularly interesting because they indicate that these skills could be transferred to a language that did not have the same orthography or the same type of writing system as the children’ s first language. This finding is consistent with Raimes’( 1987) claim that in spite of the different linguistic background of students’ two languages( in that study, Japanese and English), the planning and writing strategies acquired in first language are transferable to second language among bilingual students.
CONCLUSION
The six children displayed the following:
� The same tendency for particular writing behaviours in both languages, Macedonian and English
� Use of various strategies to improve literacy skills more effectively and quickly, with the skills and strategies chosen in one language used in writing in the other
� Familiarity with the different writing systems between Macedonian and English
� Ability to use a variety of vocabulary in Macedonian and English
� Vocabulary knowledge in L1 and L2 to enrich their writing in both languages
� Positive attitudes towards learning in both languages
� High motivation and interest in being bilingual
� Achievements in English, in comparison with other children in the state in their own year level, at or above the benchmark level for their age / grade.
These findings indicate that there are positive interactions between Macedonian and English literacy development. The solid foundation and continual development of writing skills in the first language serves as a firm basis for writing in English. This research found that the children were able to transfer their skills, strategies and knowledge from Macedonian to English and to develop their English literacy readily and quickly. Consequently, it can be said that Macedonian and English literacy can develop interdependently, i. e. English literacy development depends a great deal on the Macedonian that the children acquire as a first language, and written literacy strategies developed at school can be applied to both languages, observing the correct conventions for each, even when these are different.
REFERENCES
Aidman, M. A. 1995. Comparative analysis of written genre development of a simultaneous bilingual: longitudinal case study of emerging biliteracy. University of Melbourne, Master of Education Thesis.
Arefi, M. 1997. The relationship between first and second language writing skills for Iranian students in Sydney: An application of the interdependence hypothesis. Unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Western Sydney.
Arndt, V. 1990. Writing in first and second languages: Contrasts and comparisons. Hong Kong: Research Report.
Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2011 Census Australia. Retrieved September, 2012, from http:// www. censusdata. abs. gov. au / census _ services / getproduct / census / 2011 / quickstat / 0
Bialystok, E. 1997. Effects of bilingualism and biliteracy on children’ s emerging concepts of print. Developmental Psychology, 33, 3, 429 – 440.
Baker, C. 1996. A parents’ and teachers’ guide to bilingualism, Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Baker, C. 2006. Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism( 4th ed.). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Brown, D. H. 2000. Principles of language learning and teaching( 4th ed.). U. S. A: Longman.
Burgess, R. 1985. Field methods in the study of education. London: Falmer Press.
Clark, B. 2006. VELS and languages: An exchange of views. Languages Victoria, 10, 1, 9.
Clyne, M. & Kipp, S. 1997. Trends and changes in home language use and shift in Australia. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 18, 6, 451-473.
Clyne, M. & Kipp, S. 2002. Australia’ s changing language demography. People and Place, 10, 3, 29-35.
Clyne, M.( 2005). Australia’ s language potential. Sydney: University of New South Wales Press.
Cross, R. 2012. Reclaiming the territory: Understanding the specialist knowledge of ESL education for literacy, curriculum, and multilingual learners. TESOL in Context, 22, 1, 4-17.
Cummins, J. 2000. Language, power and pedagogy: Bilingual children in the crossfire. Clevedon, Buffalo, Toronto, Sydney: Multilingual Matters.
Cummins, J. 1984. Bilingualism and special education: Issues in assessment and pedagogy. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Cummins, J. & Swain, M. 1986. Bilingualism in education. London, New York: Longman.
Datta, M. 2004. Bilinguality and literacy: Principles and practice. London, New York: Continuum.
de Courcy, M. 2007. Multilingualism, literacy and the acquisition of English as an additional language among Iraqi refugees in regional Victoria. University of Sydney Papers in TESOL 2, 1 – 16.
de Courcy, M. 2006. The effect of literacy in Hebrew on the acquisition of English. Babel, 41, 2, 4 – 9, 38.
de Courcy, M. C. & Burston, M. 2000. Learning mathematics through French in Australia. Language and Education. 14, 2, 75 – 95.
de Courcy, M. C., Burston, M. & Warren, J. 1999. Language development in an Australian French early partial immersion program. Babel: Journal of the Australian Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations. 34, 2, 14 – 20, 38.
de Courcy, M. C. & Yue, H. 2009. Children’ s experiences of multiple script literacy. In A. Mahboob & C. Lipovsky( Eds.) Studies in applied linguistics and language learning, 244 – 270. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Derewianka, B. 1990. Exploring how texts work. Newtown, NSW, Australia: Primary English Teaching Association.
Derewianka, B. 2011. A new grammar companion for teachers. Marrickville, NSW: Primary English Teaching Association.
Elder, C. & Liem, I. 2000a. Abbotsford Primary School: Chinese-English bilingual program. External evaluator’ s report. Melbourne, Victoria: Language Testing Research Centre.
Elder, C. & Liem, I. 2000b. Richmond West Primary School: Chinese-English bilingual program. External evaluator’ s report. Melbourne, Victoria: Language Testing Research Centre.
Friedman, V. 2001. Macedonian © SEELRC 2001. Retrieved October, 2008, from http:// www. seelrc. org: 8080 / grammar / mainframe. jsp? nLanguageID = 3
Ganschow, L. & Sparks, R. 1995. Effects of direct instruction in Spanish phonology on the nativelanguage skills and foreign-language aptitude of at-risk foreign-language learners. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 28. Retrieved October, 2008, from http:// ldx. sagepub. com / cgi / content / abstract / 28 / 2 / 107
Hakuta, K. 1986. The mirror of language: The debate on bilingualism. New York: Basic Books.
Hakuta, K. & Díaz, R. M. 1984. The relationship between degree of bilingualism and cognitive ability: A critical discussion and some new longitudinal data. In K. E. Nelson( Ed.), Children’ s language, 319 – 344. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Hayes-Harb, R. 2006. Native speakers of Arabic and ESL texts: Evidence for the transfer or written word identification processes. TESOL Quarterly, 40, 321-339.
Koneski, B. 1967. The Macedonian’ s Literary Language Grammar. Kultura, Skopje, Macedonia.
Krashen, S. D. 1996. Under attack: The case study against bilingual education. Culver, California: Language Education Associates.
Lo Bianco, J. 2003. A site for debate, negotiation and contest of national identity: Language policy in Australia, guide for the development of language education policies in Europe: from linguistic diversity to plurilingual education. Reference Study. Retrieved September, 2008, from http:// www. coe. int / t / dg4 / linguistic / Source / LoBiancoEn. pdf
Merriam, S. B. 1998. Qualtitative research and case study applications in education( 2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Molyneux, P. 2009. Education for biliteracy: Maximising the linguistic potential of diverse learners in Australia’ s primary schools. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy. 32, 97 – 117.
Perez, B. 2004. Becoming biliterate: A study of two-way bilingual immersion education. California: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Raimes, A. 1987. Language proficiency, writing ability and composing strategies: A study of ESL college student writers. Language Learning, 37, 439 – 468.
Reyes, L. 2006. Exploring connections between emergent biliteracy and bilingualism. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 6, 3, 267 – 292.
Ricciardelli, L. 1992. Bilingualism and cognitive development in relation to threshold theory. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research 21, 301 – 316.
Swan, M. & Smith, B.( 2001) Learner English: A teacher’ s guide to interference and other problems( 2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Truckenbrodt, A. & de Courcy, M. 2002. Implementing a bilingual program, Melbourne: Association of Independent Schools of Victoria Inc.
Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority( VCAA) 2008. Retrieved October, 2008, from http:// vels. vcaa. vic. edu. au / essential / discipline / lote / index. html # H2N101B6
Vidoeski, B., Topolinska, Z. & Ristevska, L. 1999. Macedonica: tom poświȩcony božydarowi vidoeskiemu, Volume 2 of Slavia Meridionalis. Warsaw: Slawistyczny Ośrodek Wydawniczy
Yin, R. K. 2009. Case study research: Design and methods. California: Sage publications.
Jovanka Smilevska is a primary school bilingual teacher and a passionate advocate for bilingualism. She completed her Master of Modern Languages Education at the University of Melbourne in 2009. Jovanka is also a member of the MLTAV and one of the advocates for forming a Bilingual Schools Network.
Michele de Courcy is a Senior Lecturer in TESOL in the School of Education at the University of South Australia. Before undertaking her higher degree studies, she was a teacher of French, Music and English in secondary schools in Australia and Europe. Michèle has published widely on early and late partial language immersion classrooms in Australia, but her current interests are in bilingual education and language acquisition more broadly speaking( especially the acquisition of literacy in two languages), and in the education or formation of second language educators. Her book, Learners’ experiences of immersion education: Case studies of French and Chinese, was published by Multilingual Matters in 2002.
Volume 47 Number 2 23