LEARNING IN 2+ LANGUAGES

1. LEARNING IN 2+ LANGUAGES Ensuring Effective Inclusion for Bilingual Learners Training Materials

2. The Education of Bilingual Learners in the Current Scottish Context

3. Legislation The needs of Bilingual Learners are embedded in Scottish Educational Legislation • The Education (Additional Support for Learning ) (Scotland) Act 2004 • The Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc Act 2000 • The Children (Scotland) Act 1995 • The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 • National Priorities and Ambitious Excellent Schools

4. Introduction to Bilingualism Learners with English as an Additional Language (EAL) come from all types of social, educational, linguistic, emotional and cultural backgrounds.

5. Definition of Bilingualism Bilingual Learners are learners who function in more than one language in their daily lives

6. Myths • The brain has a limited capacity for language • First language is a barrier to second language • Second language acquisition can only be successful at the expense of the first

7. Current Research • The brain has unlimited capacity for learning • The more you learn, the more you can learn

8. Dual Iceberg Theory Language 1 Language 2

9. Greater knowledge of how language works Enhanced problem-solving abilities Heightened creative potential Greater appreciation of language use Aids development of decoding and other literacy skills Helps with additional language learning Useful for Maths and ICT Helps with writing and critical understanding Aids recognition of context and audience Benefits of Bilingualism

10. One wheel can get you places. So can a big wheel and a little wheel. However, when your wheels are nicely balanced and fully inflated you’ll go safer,further and faster. adapted from Cummins,J 1981

11. Meeting the Needs of Bilingual Learners • Good practice for bilingual learners is good practice for all learners • Bilingual learners bring diversity to monolingual learners • There are cognitive benefits for monolingual learners who work with bilingual learners

12. Social Purposes Academic Purposes Language Proficiency

13. The Multilingual School

14. New Arrivals and Beginners in English • Welcoming, Accessible and Structured Approach at Enrolment • Effective and Accurate Information Gathering • Referral to the EAL Service • Appropriate, Supportive and Challenging Educational Programme, within the Mainstream Curriculum

15. Strategies for Supporting Beginners in English • General • Speaking and Listening • Reading • Writing • Vocabulary

16. Strategies for Supporting Beginners in English Present exercises using English and Dual Language Dictionaries Develop glossaries of vocabulary related to subject Highlight key words to list in alphabetical order Emphasise five key points of lesson Provide sentences, based on topic, to order Compose sentence halves to be matched Create gaps in sentences to be filled Form True/False statements

17. Supporting the Development of English as an Additional Language in the Classroom

18. Planning and Managing Appropriate EAL Support • Class and Group Allocation • Planning for EAL Learners • Functions and Role of the EAL Service

19. Class and Group Allocation • Place in appropriate group for age • Take account of previous educational background • Involve in mainstream activities from the start • Mix with articulate speakers of English • Consult EAL Staff

20. Careful grouping Level and type of support Underperformance in Written Tasks and Formal Assessment Discrepancies in expected progress Take account of learner potential and advantages of collaborative learning Respond to findings from careful monitoring Take account of social fluency and ability with academic language Check tasks and assessments are appropriately scaffolded Be aware that passive language skills develop faster than expressive Language may not progress in line with curriculum. Additional support required. Implications for Teachers

21. Presentation of Class Task Cummins’ Model • Plan lesson with quadrant in mind • Avoid red sector, whenever possible • Support bilingual learners to cognitive demand, with little contextual clue, by working through sector which is green Cognitively Demanding Context Embedded Context Reduced Cognitively undemanding

22. Planning for EAL Learners Social processes Cognitive processes Linguistic processes What does the learner bring to the task? What are the task demands? What additional support needs to be planned?

23. Appropriate Support for EAL Learners • Holistic approach • Interaction • Independence in learning

24. Holistic Approach • Gather and share all relevant information • Value and utilise home languages for learning • Plan for individual cultural identities and for the diversity reflected in Scottish schools Reproduced from the UNESCO Courier

25. Interaction • Discuss aim and purpose of learning • Activate previous knowledge • Build in collaborative working • Ensure cognitive challenge

26. Independence in Learning • Teacher acts as mediator for learning • Methods used are based on learning styles and educational/cultural background • Challenges are met and risks taken with learning • Reflection on knowledge as integral aspect of lesson

27. Functions and Role of EAL Support Staff Strategic Support • Support school policies to meet the requirements of the current legislative framework and promote best practice • Contribute to staff development

28. Functions and Roles of EAL Staff Operational Support • Work collaboratively to support the planning, review and assessment process • Provide support which may involve direct teaching to individual learners or to groups which include native speakers of English

29. Partnership with Parents and Carers

30. Welcoming Parents and Carers

31. Assessing the Progress of Bilingual Learners

32. Holistic Assessment In particular: • Prior knowledge and skills brought to learning in English • First Language Proficiency - listening, speaking, reading and writing • Length of time spent within an education system

33. Language Support Needs • Ability to communicate • Success with accessing the curriculum • Mastery of technical aspects of language

34. Stages of English Language Acquisition • New to English • Early Acquisition • Developing Competence • Competent • Fluent

35. Tools for Assessment • Formative assessment Regular in-class observation Samples of language use in English and First Language Class work and writing in both languages • Summative assessment and use of published test materials

36. Bilingual Learners with Other Additional Support Needs There will be a Range of Other Additional Support Needs as encompassed by the Additional Support for Learners Act (2004) Good Practice Build up a profile over time through careful tracking of progress Early identification Reliant on accurate and complete enrolment information and continuity with regard to family links Need to determine whether lack of progress is due to English as an Additional Language Development or to Learning Difficulty

37. Evidence Gathering • Language background – EAL and home language • Educational background/experience • Possibility of similar difficulties in the home language • Teachers’ observations • Potential problems with standardised tests • School and outside factors which may affect learning It is important to assess:

38. Planning and Mechanism for Review of Support • Collate information from all staff who work with the learner and from parents/carers • Involve parents/carers throughout • Seek and take account of the views of the learner • Draw up an appropriate support plan and agree to review on a regular basis • Work within the school’s staged support system Refer to all principles within “Learning in 2+ Languages” throughout the process