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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.
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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.
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