Bilingual education in Tonga

The Tongan Ministry of Education recently adopted a maintenance model of bilingual education program for use in Tongan schools. This new bilingual education program replaces the Transitional bilingual education program that was used in the past. Under this new bilingual program, Tongan language is given more time than ever before for use in schools. The purpose is to revitalize the value of Tongan language and also to increase students‟ academic attainment.

Taufe‟ulungaki (2009) reports, “this choice over other models of bilingual education is based on sound research from around the world which clearly demonstrates that the most effective language for teaching a child is his/her mother tongue” (Email Interview, 19/08/2009).

Under the new Tongan maintenance bilingual program, students are expected to develop their native language right from the beginning of their formal education.

Therefore, students are taught in Tongan language from early childhood education to Class Three at primary school. Baker (2006) argues, “the school is usually an essential agent in developing the home language. When a child enters kindergarten or elementary school, first language development needs to be formally addressed, irrespective of whether or not that child has age-appropriate competence in the home language” (p. 293).

English is introduced in Class Three, beginning with its oral aspect only. It is not until Class Four that English as a subject and as a language of instruction begins to

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pick up momentum. At this level, 20% of the language of instruction is to be in English language and 80% in the Tongan language (Table 3.2). In terms of time devoted in the classroom to the subject of English language, 350 minutes is be devoted to the English language as opposed to 450 minutes for the Tongan language (Table 3.1). The percentage of use of language of instruction and time devoted to each language subject (Table 3.2) progresses and rises gradually from here as it goes on to Class Six, where they are used in equal proportion and time devoted to each language as a subject is also in equal proportion. This is in contrast to using both Tongan and English language from early childhood education onwards under the previous bilingual program. Taufe‟ulungaki (2009) states that, “one of the reasons for this shift is based on the understanding that language (in this case Tongan language) is the instrument through which the Tongan traditional values, beliefs, ways of thinking, world views, traditions and behaviours of Tongan people are transmitted from one generation to another, while English is acquired for education, business and communications purposes” (Email Interview, 18/09/2009).

Therefore, beginning the bilingual program using students‟ native language (Tongan language) aims not only at maintaining the first language of the students but to strengthen their sense of cultural and linguistic identity, and affirm their individual and collective ethnolinguistic rights (May et al., 2004). Despite the fact that in the early stages, the language of instruction of the program is predominantly in L1 (Tongan language), as Baker (2001) argues, this is full bilingualism because this is a preparation for the later introduction of the L2 (English).

English is introduced after 5 years of a child‟s education in Tongan language, ECE to Class Three (Table 3. 2). This is called a late-exit program, which is the most common program among maintenance programs, that is, the usage of L1 (Tongan Language) continues for at least four years (May et al., 2004). The purpose for Tongan language‟s late-exit program is to maintain the students‟ L1 for a sufficient amount of time so that academic language proficiency in the L1 is achieved. This in “turn facilitates the acquisition of literacy in an L2, on the basis of the developmental interdependence” (Cummins, 1979, p. 117). With up to six

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years of bilingual instruction, the students are “far more likely to have developed academic-level language skills” (May et al., 2004, p. 86). Also, “the purpose of this program is to ensure that language minority children continue to maintain and develop their mother tongue up to a native or at least near native level, learn the majority language at a native level and become biliterate” (Skutnabb-Kangas &

Garcia, 1995, p. 96). Therefore, when English is introduced, Tongan students are expected to have mastered their L1 (Tongan language) fully before learning their L2 (English).

At secondary schools, Tongan and English are both used as languages of instruction at an equal proportion of the time, 50% each (Table 3. 1). The amount of time dedicated to teaching of each subject is specifically stated (Table 3. 2). As this model suggests, students‟ L1, in this case, Tongan, is expected to be fully developed so that their acquired skills will be used in learning their L2, English.

This is parallel to the interdependence theory advocated by Cummins (1979).

The level of L2 competence which a bilingual child attains is partially a function of the type of competence the child has developed in L1 at the time when intensive exposure to L2 begins....[an] initially high level of L1 development makes possible the development of similar levels of competence in L2.

However, for children whose L1 skills are less well developed in certain respects, intensive exposure to L2 in the initial grades is likely to impede the continued development of L. (p. 233)

The time allocation reflected in Table 3.1 and Table 3.2 should enable the acquisition of Tongan CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency) and BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills) to take place. It takes normally longer time to acquire CALP (4 to 5 years) but a shorter period of time to acquire BICS (May et al., 2004). The reason for this time difference can be drawn from their distinction as outlined by Cummins (2000) and as discussed in section 2.3.3.

When Tongan students master skills in Tongan language CALP and BICS, they then use these skills to scaffold learning of English CALP and BICS.

Furthermore, the time allocation given in both Table 3.1 and Table 3.2, for teaching and instruction, is aimed at gearing the Tongan bilingual program towards an additive approach, which “presupposes bilingualism as a benefit and

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resource, both for individuals and the wider society, which should be maintained and fostered” (May et al., 2004, p. 1).

The teaching approach which is prescribed by the Tonga Revised Language Syllabus (2008) for use is Code-Switching. Tongan and English are both used customarily in secondary schools (Table 3:1). Cummins (2001) argues that this is heading towards the situation of additive bilingualism, where the new language is added to the first speaker‟s language. According to TESOL (1992/1993), a maintenance bilingual education uses “content-subject instruction in both the home language and the second language (English) to achieve the goal of strong literacy in both languages” (p. 44). Skutnabb-Kangas (2000) states that a maintenance model under an additive approach naturally leads to high levels of linguistic competence in the minority language.

Table 3.1. Time allocated to medium of instruction

CLASSES TONGAN LANGUAGE ENGLISH

(Adopted from English Syllabus and Teacher Guide: 2009)

Table 3.2. Time allocated to Tongan and English per week

CLASS TONGAN LANAGUGE

(Adopted from English Syllabus and Teacher Guide: 2009)

The community that the above bilingual education program serves is traditionally monolingual, speaking the Tongan language. However, due to educational,

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political, economic and social contacts with Western countries, English language, as a major medium of communication, was inevitably introduced. English is now becoming an official language in Tonga. In urban areas, English language dominance is progressing at a fast rate. In the rural areas and the outer islands, Tongan language is still seen dominant but the influence of English language is growing rapidly and is capturing the young generation‟s interest and attention. In general, English language is rapidly gaining popularity at the expense of the native vernacular for various reasons (refer to section 3.1 for more detail on English language‟s place in Tonga).

As mentioned earlier on, the Ministry of Education chose to use a maintenance bilingual model in order to revitalise the value of the Tongan language and also to improve students‟ academic attainment. Taufe‟ulungaki (2004) reports that one of the reasons for the attention paid to the vernacular and its role in classroom interaction is the search for solutions to the continuing high failure rate of Pacific Island children, not only in mainstream classrooms in developed countries such as in New Zealand and Australia, but also in their own Pacific-controlled schools.

Consequently, the Tongan Ministry of Education reviewed its language syllabus to coincide with the new bilingual program, giving more time to the usage of Tongan language in the classroom.

However, the success of a bilingual program depends on effective teaching strategies. Although theory advocates numerous advantages of a maintenance bilingual model, it is the implementation process that matters. Based on anecdotal evidence and my own personal observation, English teachers and metropolitan parents in Tonga do not fully support the new bilingual program recently launched.