The Role of Language Experts in Novices’ Language Acquisition and Socialization: Insights from an Arabic−Hebrew Speaking Preschool in Israel

Abstract

In the context of peer interaction and L2 learning in the classroom, Blum-Kulka and Snow (2004) distinguished between two types of peers: novice L2 learners and L2 experts. The latter are at a more advanced stage of competence and can play the role of L2 ‘teachers’. Through their interaction with L2 experts, the novices develop linguistic, cultural, and communicative competence in L2. The main aim of this study was to examine and analyze patterns of the young language experts’ sociolinguistic behavior and their agency in a bilingual Arabic−Hebrew-speaking preschool. Data were collected throughout one academic year and included setting-focused video recordings of the children’s conversations in the classroom as well as in-depth interviews with the teachers and the children. The target preschool is located in central Israel, and at the time of data collection, was attended by 29 children: 19 L1 Arabic-speaking children and 10 L1 Hebrew-speaking children. Language experts were seven bilingual Arabic−Hebrew-speaking children—three girls and four boys, with L1 Arabic, who had received early exposure to Hebrew through television and radio at home. Two of them had also attended a monolingual Hebrew-speaking preschool before entering the bilingual preschool. We focused mainly on talk among the experts and novices in the context of social interaction among children speaking Arabic and Hebrew as their L1 and L2. The following patterns of the young language experts’ sociolinguistic behavior were extracted from analysis of the data: a. Language mediation for the novice peers; b. Language mediation for the novice teacher; c. Social mediation as a bridge between ethnic groups; d. Bilingualism as social power; e. Language management. Our findings show that in addition to the experts’ role as language mediators, they might also play the role of social mediators in the bilingual classroom. Based on the available data, the practical value of the findings for novice L2 learners and teachers is discussed.