Decoding an unfamiliar text

I chose Swahili because one of my current 5th graders is originally from Kenya, and every time she speaks with her Dad on the phone, I can't help but eavesdrop to this unfamiliar language that sounds like Austronesian (because of word repetition) but has a tinge of Arabic in it.

To make the text comprehensible, I have to read it ten times. After reading it ten times, I was able to observe that there were words that have been repeated several times. An example would be the word "Elimu." If you read the text, Elimu has been repeated 7 times. I told myself that this text might be about Elimu which is something important. When I read the text sentence per sentence, I also tried to find out what is the subject. Amazingly, in most of the sentences, it seems that the subject is the word Elimu. There is another word that has been repeated several times and that word is "ya." Based on my knowledge of English and the other languages that I speak, it seems that the Swahili word ya functions as a verb. The strategy that I used to make sense of the Swahili text is to use whatever knowledge that I have of the other languages that I speak and find for connections, patterns (if there are), and similarities (if there are). In other words, whatever experiences that I have in the language/s that I speak, I used them to make the text comprehensible.

Gibbons (2004) states that "we can also see that it is not simply the linguistic features of language itself that affect students' comprehension (for example the simplicity or otherwise of the grammatical structures), but also the previous knowledge they bring to the new language they are hearing" (p. 49). Furthermore, she also emphasizes that "one implication of this for teaching is that language that would normally be beyond students' comprehension is much more likely to be understood when students can bring their experiences and understandings as a basis for interpretation" (Gibbons, 2004).

My linguistic level of Swahili is zero. Except for random aural experiences of it, I have not placed it in my bucket list of languages to learn. What is the implication of this to someone who will teach me Swahili? Vygotsky (1978) recommends that "knowing the level of language acquisition also allows you to work within the student's "zone of proximal development"- that area between what the student is capable of at the moment and the point you want the student to reach next" (as qtd. in Hill & Flynn, 2006). Hill and Flynn (2006) discuss this point further by stating that "you can work in a student's proximal development by "scaffolding" language development, or providing the support a student needs as she progresses" (p. 16)..

REFERENCES:
(2011). Swahili reading. Retrieved from http://mylanguages.org/swahili_reading.php
Gibbons, P. (2004). Scaffolding language, scaffolding learning: Teaching second language learners in the mainstream classroom. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Hill, J. D., & Flynn, K. M. (2006). Classroom instruction that works with english language learners. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.


Here is the text and its interpretation:
 Kifungu cha 26.
1) Kila mtu ana haki ya kuelimishwa. Elimu yapasa itolewe bure hasa ile ya madarasa ya chini. Elimu ya masarasa ya chini ihudhuriwe kwa lazima. Elimu ya ufundi na ustadi iwe wazi kwa wote. Na elimu ya juu iwe wazi kwa wote kwa kutegemea sifa ya mtu.
2) Elimu itolewe kwa madhumuni ya kuendeleza barabara hali ya binadamu, na kwa shabaha ya kukuza haki za binadamu na uhuru wake wa asili. Elimu ni wajibu ikuze hali ya kueleana, kuvumiliana na ya urafiki kati ya mataifa na kati ya watu wa rangi na dini mbali-mbali.Kadhalika ni wajibu iendeleze shughuli za Umoja wa Mataifa za kudumisha amani.
3) Ni haki ya wazazi kuchagua aina ya elimu ya kufunzwa watoto wao.

Article 26
1. Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
2. Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
3. Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.