When considering the linguistic requirements of second language students, we need to think about the types of literacy they are expected to acquire. This discussion looks at global and local literacy.
Global Literacy
Global Literacy is the language usage required in everyday life. It is the language needed to call a taxi, order a pizza, apply to a school, read a map or ask for directions at a shopping mall. This kind of literacy is called global because it can be applied in countless situations when it comes to work, travel, study and everyday life. Any person who has studied a second language and is working or living in an environment where that language happens to be the lingua franca (commonly accepted language of communication) will have to negotiate these types of situations on a daily basis; this will not be unique to any one person. The globality of this type of fluency indicates it commonality.
Local Literacy
Local literacy is the language usage required for very specific communication areas. The vocabulary and text structure of an academic subject will most likely be very specific only to the subject you are teaching; think of literary devices, the periodic table, TOK essays, algebraic equations, historical/cultural references or graphs in economics. The list is probably endless. There are language and literacy items specific to each subject area that a student may never encounter outside the classroom of that subject. It is the same reality in an area of specialized vocabulary. A perfectly fluent (even native) English speaker would not be expected to know the vocabulary of heart surgery, auto mechanics or applied linguistics! How much more difficult is for second language students who need to study subject-specific vocabulary?
Implications for Teachers
It is important that students become proficient within both areas of fluency; however, the kind of osmosis-driven acquisition that can often take place supporting global fluency through every day discovery and interaction rarely happens within areas of local literacy. Therefore, teachers have a special concern with vocabulary specific to their subject. This should be made easily accessible to students with clear ways to understand them. We must realize that translation is not helpful here, as students may be learning this new vocabulary as if it were their first language, as they may not have the vocabulary or concepts of any one subject area in their mother tongue. It would be unreasonable to ask a student to rely on a translation dictionary to learn vocabulary that has never been learned in the native language. When trying to revert to the mother tongue to use the new vocabulary, students often have to use translation dictionaries to use it in their first language. You will see how this affects students in terms of additive and subtractive bilingualism (in the section on bilingualism). In addition, the idea of BICS and CALP may come into play here. Local literacy may expect a level of register in the new language environment that the student is not familiar with. This also should be made explicit to students. Even command terms may be subject specific and should made explicit to English B students, something that can benefit non-English B students as well.