Roberto Arias Hermoso: “If there are great parallels among languages, why not work specifically on multilingual competence?”
Roberto Arias Hermoso: “If there are great parallels among languages, why not work specifically on multilingual competence?”
Roberto Arias Hermoso: “If there are great parallels among languages, why not work specifically on multilingual competence?”
The dissertation entitled “Basque students’ multilingual writing of cognitive discourse functions: analysing developmental patterns of disciplinary literacies,” defended by Roberto Arias Hermoso on the Bilbao AS Fabrik campus in July, earned a rating of Outstanding “cum laude” with the International designation. We spoke with the author about his research.
On July 2, Faculty of Humanities and Education Sciences researcher Roberto Arias Hermoso (Bilbo, 1997) defended his doctoral dissertation, Basque students’ multilingual writing of cognitive discourse functions: analysing developmental patterns of disciplinary literacies.” The event took place on the Bilbao AS Fabrik campus. We spoke with the author about his research, which earned a rating of Outstanding “cum laude”.
What is the main topic of your doctoral dissertation?
The main aim of the dissertation was to analyze the patterns of development of disciplinary literacy. Specifically, we investigated how they occur in the multilingual contexts of secondary school in the students’ three languages of instruction (Basque, Spanish and English). Disciplinary literacy includes the linguistic resources needed in content subjects such as science; for example, cognitive discourse functions: these are patterns that express cognitive operations through language (explaining, relating, arguing, etc.). Students must produce them orally or in writing to express what they’ve learned and they must develop the ability to do so in all their languages.
In your dissertation, you analyze patterns of development of content area literacy in a multilingual context in secondary education. Why did you decide to investigate this subject? What was your starting point?
The development of disciplinary literacy is an international concern, and recent investigation has highlighted the importance of research on this topic. For one thing, we know that age is one of the most important factors in the development of academic language, but what other factors have an influence? For example, do the first language, the sociolinguistic environment and linguistic exposure have an influence? In addition, many studies that analyze developmental patterns have investigated a single language (usually English), and it is essential that we reach a better understanding of how students use their entire linguistic repertoire. Are students able to do in other languages what they know how to do in one language? The dissertation sought to find answers to these questions.
In your main research, you analyzed a sample of more than 500 students from five different schools. In what ways were they involved?
A total of 547 students from all levels of Compulsory Secondary Education (CSE) participated in the study, and they belonged to five different places in the different sociolinguistic areas of the Basque Autonomous Community. For 57.8% of these students, Spanish was their first language, for 28.2%, Basque, and for 14.1%, both. The students had to take a writing test in each language on a scientific topic. They were asked to compare two foods, chicken and chocolate, and to argue which was healthier. They were given a text as a supporting source and after reading it and writing down their observations, they were asked to write their opinion. They worked on the text three times: in Basque, in Spanish and in English. In addition to the texts, they answered a questionnaire on their language habits.
Once you collected that sample, what did you notice?
Once the data were collected, more than 1,600 texts were analyzed in order to measure the quality of the writing. To do this, we created and validated a tool using feedback from 13 expert researchers. It’s a rubric that measures the quality of the students’ texts based on three dimensions: argumentation, comparison and the use of sources. Each dimension measured 3-4 items. For example, argumentation was a dimension with four indicators: 1) expressing an opinion clearly, 2) justifying that opinion with data, 3) refuting opposing opinions, and 4) using linguistic resources correctly to make the argument. Once all the texts were coded, we carried out statistical analyses to test them. First, we wanted to see if there was development from one year of CSE to the next, and if there were differences depending on the students’ first languages. Additionally, we wanted to see to what extent these developmental patterns were parallel in the students’ three languages and depending on their first language. In other words, for example, do the students show parallel development in English and Basque? And is the students’ development parallel with Basque as the first language and with Spanish as the first language?
What are the main conclusions of your work? What contribution does your research make?
We reached several conclusions, but three are the most important. First, all of the analyzed measures showed improvement from the beginning of CSE to the end in all three languages. The patterns of development, however, were sometimes irregular: development was usually seen when comparing two years (the 1st and 3rd years of CSE, for example). This means that development is usually gradual, but sometimes we also found nonlinear patterns. Second, it can be said that these patterns are largely multilingual: in all three languages the slopes were similar. And third, there were some differences depending on the students’ home language. For example in the case of students whose home language was Spanish, there were no improvements from 3rd year of CSE to the 4th.
Based on your conclusions, what should now be examined in greater detail?
The results of the project underline a number of important pedagogical implications. For one thing, the school must further analyze the production of academic language: academic language and disciplinary literacy are nobody’s home language. It’s therefore necessary to analyze the linguistic needs of students in specific areas and to design interventions and contexts to respond to them. In addition, the study stresses the need for contexts that take advantage of the students’ linguistic resources: if there are great parallels among languages, why not work specifically on multilingual competence? Although there are important contributions, there are still several questions for the future: would the patterns that we saw be the same in other subjects (in history, for example)? How would these patterns emerge in monolingual contexts? And how do newcomers develop content area literacy? These and many other questions remain to be answered.
How did you find the process of writing your dissertation?
I would say that writing the dissertation was very enriching. I learned a lot with and from the directors. In the dissertation process, you learn a lot as a researcher; you’re presented with a series of opportunities (and challenges) and you have to learn a lot to find answers. I had the opportunity to learn a lot about research methods, articulation, projects... In addition, the dissertation was closely aligned with the lines of work of the ALPHA research group of the Faculty of Humanities and Education Sciences, and working with other researchers who are studying the same subject gives you the keys to turning challenges into learning. Also, it was very important for me to find moments to share with other doctoral students who were going through a similar process.
