Ofurhetjurnar : byrjendalæsi og nemendur með íslensku sem annað tungumál

Abstract

Rannsókn þessi er starfendarannsókn (e. Action research) en sú rannsóknaraðferð hefur notið vaxandi athygli á undanförnum árum. Þátttakendur í þessari rannsókn voru auk rannsakanda nemendur í 3ja bekk tveggja skóla í tveimur landshlutum á Íslandi, samtals 41 nemandi. Rannsóknin fór fram á tímabilinu janúar til desember 2017.Meginviðfangsefni rannsóknarinnar var að kanna hvað ég gæti gert til að bæta kennsluhætti mína með tilliti til nemenda með íslensku sem annað tungumál, ásamt því að skoða kennsluaðferðina Byrjendalæsi og hvernig aðferðir innan hennar hentuðu nemendum með íslensku sem annað tungumál. Þar sem hlutverk starfendarannsókna er að rannsaka eigið starf skoðaði ég hvernig ég gæti notað Byrjendalæsi til að auka þátttöku nemenda með íslensku sem annað tungumál í verkefnum bekkjarins. Helstu niðurstöður voru þær að með því að ræða um ólík móðurmál nemenda innan bekkjarsins tókst mér að svipta hulunni af bakgrunni þeirra. Nemendur völdu sér í auknum mæli bækur á eigin móðurmáli, til að lesa í yndislestrarstundum eða jafnvel upphátt fyrir samnemendur. Ég fór að hlusta á nemendur í stað þess að heyra aðeins í þeim og áttaði mig á mikilvægi þess að rödd nemenda heyrist og hafi raunverulegt vægi. Ég varð sátt við þær leiðir sem ég fann til að virkja umræddan nemendahóp frekar í námi og áttaði mig á því að nemendur geta mun meira en talið er, þeir vilja krefjandi verkefni en einnig þyrstir þá í að læra ný orð. Undir lok rannsóknartímabilsins var ég komin með ákveðið jafnvægi þar sem ég náði að tryggja nám allra nemenda innan veggja kennslustofunnar óháð móðurmáli þeirra .

This study is an Action Research which is a research method that has gained increased attention in recent years. In Action Research, the investigator's role is to examine and investigate a specific subject or to be the subject of the research itself. Participants in my study were students in the 3rd grade of two schools in two different parts of Iceland, in a total of 41 students. The study took place from January to December of 2017.The main subject of the study was looking into what I could do toimprove my teaching approach regarding students whose Icelandic is a second language, as well as to study the teaching method Byrjendalæsi, (e. Beginning literacy) and how its methods suited students whose Icelandic is their second language. Since the role of Action research is researching my own actions as a teacher, I examined how I could use the Beginning literacy teaching method to increase participation in class assignments of those students whose Icelandic is a second language. Data was collected by writing in a research journal, formal interview, informal conversations recorded in a research journal, forum examinations, conversations with students, student projects and photographs. The main results were that by discussing different mother tongue of students within the class, I managed to unveil their background. Students more often chosed to read books in silent reading time in their native language and even read aloud for fellow students. I started listening to students instead of only hearing them and realized the importance of the student’s voice. I became comfortable with the ways I found to get students whose Icelandic is a second language more engaged in the classroom work and realized that students can achieve more than expected, they want challenging assignments but are alsoeager to learn new words. By the end of the research period, I had a definite balance, as I managed to ensure that all students in the classroom are learning, regardless of their mother tongue.The action research helped me reflect upon my work and shaped my jobas a future elementary school teacher. I will always cherish what I learned through the research process and the knowledge I gained will hopefully benefit other teachers who adopt the Beginning Literacy teaching method and have students whose Icelandic is a second language in their teaching contexts.