ABSTRACT

Fiji is a multicultural and multilingual community and English is one language taught in Fiji schools. This study aimed to describe the English language proficiency of Fiji primary school students. Direct assessment measures of 75 students’ English language (listening and speaking) and literacy (reading and writing) skills were obtained (Year 1: n = 35; Year 4: n = 40). These were examined in relation to students’ academic performance and the main language spoken at home. English home language status was correlated with better English language proficiency and academic performance for students in Year 1, but not for students in Year 4. In year 4, higher proficiency on English language tasks was correlated with speaking Fiji Hindi at home. The importance of obtaining information about home languages in culturally and linguistically diverse contexts is emphasised. The findings of this study have implications for assessing the English proficiency of linguistically multi-competent children learning in immersion education settings.

摘要

斐济是一个多元文化和多种语言的社区，英语是斐济各学校教授的一种语言。这项研究旨在描述斐济小学生的英语水平。获得了对75名学生的英语（听力和口语）和读写能力（读写）技能的直接评估方法（1年：n  = 35； 4年级：n = 40）。对这些内容进行了检查，以了解学生的学习成绩和家庭使用的主要语言。1年级学生的英语家庭语言状态与更好的英语语言能力和学习成绩相关，而4年级学生的英语家庭语言状态与更好的英语语言学习能力相关。在4年级，与在家讲斐济印地语相关的英语语言能力更高。强调了在文化和语言上不同的上下文中获取有关母语的信息的重要性。这项研究的结果对评估在浸入式教育环境中学习多语言能力的儿童的英语水平具有影响。