Thoughts on Gibbons, chapters 1 & 2

I really enjoyed reading the first two chapters of Gibbons for class this week. The idea of a contextualized concept of language proficiency - one that does not blur contexts or make far-reading conclusions on the basis of singularly assessed contexts - is not new to me. In the past, I have read an article by Jim Cummins (not one of the articles cited in the first two chapters of Gibbons) where he lays out a similar argument. In this other article (I don't have publishing information, i.e. its date, to provide), Cummins analyzes the difference between conversational and academic proficiency, drawing on data showing that the development of the latter taking years longer than that of the former, which is also discussed in Gibbons, chapter 1.

Gibbons goes beyond what I read of Cummins, however, in that he relates language learning to more overarching pedagogical theories. Frankly, I was surprised that the student-centered, "progressive" approach to teaching was not the one supported by Gibbons in his analysis. After all, it places a premium on "the individual child's active construction of knowledge" and on their "intelligent inquiry and thought" (Gibbons 2002, p. 6), which are steps in the right direction from the teacher-centered, "banking" approach. Yet, like the banking approach, the progressive approach does not explain (nor leave explanatory room for) the importance of language development between individuals in the classroom (p. 7).

Herein lies a key connection between more general pedagogy and second language learning, and a second way that Gibbons improves on the Cummins article I read. The following is a little complex (and perhaps needs some clarification?), so bear with me. If knowledge creation happens mostly inside the mind of the teacher (in the banking approach) or that of the student (in the progressive approach), then the main issue of language learning in the classroom is translational: already-made meaning needs to be understood by the student in their second language. At best, the relationship between conversational and academic language proficiency is left ignored.

The pedagogical theory Gibbons adopts, which he calls the "collaborative" theory of learning, states that learning happens in the interaction between teacher and student, or even student and student. In this theory, students learn when an expert, someone more knowledgeable in some content area, provides scaffolding for the student, connecting the student's current understanding with his/her potential understanding in coordination with the expert. As the student climbs the scaffold, so-to-speak, already-used scaffolding is removed, since by that point the student no longer needs the expert's support at that level. Most importantly for the current discussion, under the collaborative theory meaning-making is an inherently linguistic endeavor. Thus, language-learning lies at the heart of content-learning; furthermore, conversational language is used to make meaning, whereby it is transformed into academic language (and whereby a connection between the two in the classroom seems well-established).

This first chapter provides a great basis for what is written in chapter 2. Gibbons gives much practical advice for what group work should entail from the perspective of second language learning. Yet the importance of group work itself is only guaranteed by a broader pedagogical theory that gives value to active interpersonal communication within the classroom. Gibbons has me convinced: only the collaborative theory does this successfully, taking seriously the difficulties faced in the classroom by second language learners.