Supporting the eal students in the mfl classroom

Supporting EAL Students in the MFL Classroom

Isabelle Jones, The Radclyffe Schoolhttp://isabellejones.blogspot.com Twitter: @icpjones

icpjones@yahoo.co.uk

• Identify the most common EAL issues encountered by MFL teachers in UK schools

• Suggest practical strategies to support EAL learners in MFL classes

Aims

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Find the language…

• 1 in 8 secondary school pupil does not have English as their first language.

• 1 in 6 primary school pupil speaks a language at home other than English.

• The percentage of EAL students varies greatly from region to region and school to school. In some schools it can be 90% +

The Globalised Classroom: How many pupils? Where?

DfE school census, January 2011http://www.naldic.org.uk/research-and-information/eal-statistics

EAL as a continuum

EAL refers to any student with English as an Additional Language.

At one end of the continuum , you find the ‘International New Arrivals’ (INA.) This refers specifically to students who have entered the UK within the past two years.

Subgroups:

- ‘first generation’ : children who were born in another country and have since resettled in the UK with their family.

- ‘second or third generation’ : children who were born in the UK into a migrant or ‘dual-heritage’ family.

- ‘migrant worker’ : children whose parents have moved to work in Britain.

- ‘asylum seeker’ / ‘refugee’ : children who have moved with / without their parents to escape famine, persecution and other tragic events.

EAL as a continuum : Other criteria

• Language spoken at home• Existence and role of older relatives• Literacy in the first language• Other language spoken• Parents’ level of education and literacy in both English and first language• Schooling history and experience• Traumatic experiences

The Challenges : Through MFL we need to…

Nurture language development

Coach students in how to learn

Build stable and productive social groups

The good news?

EAL good practice is MFL good practice!

Stage 1: Pre-productionThis is often described as ‘the silent period’ and can last up to six months. English language learners may have up to 500 words in their receptive vocabulary but they are typically not yet fully able / confident in speaking. Some students will, however, repeat everything you say. They are not really producing language but are parroting. NC English – P Levels

Stage 2: Early productionThis stage may last up to six months and students will develop a receptive and active vocabulary of about 1000 words. NC English – Level 1

Stage 3: Speech emergenceStudents have developed a vocabulary of about 3,000 words and can communicate with simple phrases and sentences. This stage will tend to last up to three years.NC English – Level 1 → 2

Stage 4: Intermediate fluency English language learners at the intermediate fluency stage have a vocabulary of 6000 active words. NC English – Level 3 – 4

Stage 5: Advanced Fluency Starting as a new speaker of English, it takes students an average of 7 - 10 years to achieve academic language proficiency in a second language. At this stage, students have the range of listening skills necessary to participate fully within the curriculum and can be fairly assessed using only the National Curriculum for English. NC English – Level 4 and above

Language Acquisition

EAL support?

• Peer support not always available

• Many schools have no EAL department as such

• EAL expertise varies greatly from school to school

• Languages are not always seen as a priority for support

Type of EAL support?

Restricted timetable/Withdrawal lessonsIn English/ in homelanguageTeaching AssistantPeer supportClass teacher

1. Is it better for students to wait until they have a working knowledge of English before they can attend MFL lessons?

2. Can you have EAL students in top sets? What assessment issues can EAL students have?

3. What are the potential strengths of EAL students?

4. What kind of pastoral support do many EAL learners need?

Frequently asked Questions

1. EAL students will take approximately 5 – 7 years of English-speaking education to acquire academically-fluent English. This will occur naturally through nurturing immersion rather than segregated intervention. MFL lessons will be more accessible in Y7-8 for EAL learners as they often represent a fresh start linguistically (impact on progress and setting)

2. EAL students have a temporary additional need which is primarily language acquisition. EAL students are not automatically SEN or ‘special educational needs’, and should not automatically put in lower sets . Lack of data/ unreliable data can be an issue if EAL learner is assessed through the medium of English.

3. EAL students will have potential strengths as well as additional needs. There are many cognitive advantages to being bilingual. Research shows that bilingual learners have better classification skills, concept formation, analogical reasoning, visual –spatial skills , creativity and divergent thinking, story-telling skills, language awareness. However, not all EAL learners are truly bilingual.

4, There is a social-emotional and cultural dimension to catering for the needs of EAL students.

Fighting Common Misconceptions

Common experiences of EAL students:

I feel different.

Can I eat this? Is it OK do this? What will my family say?

Why do some people avoid talking to me? Why do they speak to me so loudly and slowly ?

If I keep quiet I will not get laughed at or told off.

Where and when is my next lesson? I am never sure of what to do and where to go…

I miss home. Why did I get sent here? I am not used to those busy streets and cold weather

I just can’t keep up… it’s really tiring, but I have to learn so that I can help my family with the language.

At my other school I had much more interesting work. All I do here is listen and write.

Generic strategies to support EAL learners:

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7. Coaching Schemes of work need to build in activities that demonstrate and practise language. Not just subject-specific words but general academic words like ‘compare’, ‘analyse’ etc.

5. Mentoring The student’s form tutor or key worker needs to regularly catch up with them to address queries / confusions, ensure homework is being managed, Classroom teachers to liaise with them as appropriate.

4. Buddying Pair with a responsible, caring, articulate student who will act as a guide, friend and role model. Reward students for acting as buddies. (This can be arranged by class teacher or EAL support)

6. Communicating The use of English and TL should be supported by visual cues and practical examples.

2. Knowing Identify their language levels. Try to find out a little about their native / home culture. With INAs, find out their ‘story’. Link with EAL support as appropriate.

3. Grouping Place EAL students with supportive students of similar ability, who can provide a good linguistic model.

1. Naming! Ensure that you address the student by their correct name and that you pronounce the student’s name correctly.

• Encouraging students to complement the topics you

are teaching when working independently e.g. fruit

and vegetable• Finding out about specific features of EAL learners’

home language e.g. forms of address, word order, pronunciation, cognates, funny-sounding words…

• Encouraging students to share information

in the Target Language about their home countries, language and culture.

Sharing culture

Newbury Park: Language of the monthhttp://www.newburypark.redbridge.sch.uk/langofmonth/

A few points to consider…1.Where are your EAL students and who are they sitting with? How is

that likely to help or hinder them?

2. How would you make it easier for your EAL learners to understand instructions-orally and on a worksheet for instance?

3.How do you think EAL learners can contribute to enhancing our subject?

4. An EAL student pronounces or writes a word incorrectly – What do you do?

5. From a standard MFL scheme of work- what specific vocabulary is needed in English to

understand the activities and their purpose ?

6. What will you have to consider when assessing EAL students’ progress in MFL in all four skills? What

should you avoid?

??

7 Steps to introduce New LanguageWhen learning new language, EAL students need to:

1. See1. See the word / phrasethe word / phrase

2. Hear the word / phrase2. Hear the word / phrase

3. Link the word / phrase to 3. Link the word / phrase to

meaningmeaning

4. Practise and self-repair the word / phrase 4. Practise and self-repair the word / phrase

5. Listen to the word/ phrase being recast 5. Listen to the word/ phrase being recast

6. Revise the word / phrase6. Revise the word / phrase

7. Use the word / phrase in another context7. Use the word / phrase in another context

• All teaching materials should include visuals like photographs, pictures, drawings or paintings to support learning. Beware of hidden cultural references in visuals.

• Use spot the difference pictures to reinforce simple structures in the affirmative and negative forms or

introduce comparatives.• Concept maps • Props, puppets and images• Mime, gestures, acting out• Display

Scaffolding Learning:Visual Support

A house or a house?

Cherchez l’erreur

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/spot-difference!-professional/id301049014?mt=8

Dans la case …Il y a …Il n’y a pas de …Plus hautPlus bas…À gauche …À droite …

A B C D E F G

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Pictures and Photographs• NEN Gallery http://gallery.nen.gov.uk

• Flickr http://www.flickr.com

• Tag Galaxy http://taggalaxy.de

• Pinterest http://pinterest.com/

• Visual searches: http://www.wordsift.com

• Google.fr Google.es

Word clouds and mind-mapping

• Wordle http://www.wordle.net

• Freemind http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

• Mindomo http://www.mindomo.com

Visual support & EngagementClasstool.net http://classtools.net/ Site with templates for resources to be printed

or put on a blog or a VLE.

http://www.triptico.co.uk/

• Repeating key words and phrases and using visual support at the same time.

• Rephrasing: get students to rephrase in English and move from complex to simpler language.

• Recasting: model by providing a gramatically correct or longer

version of what the student said.

• Text-to-speech http://text-to-speech.imtranslator.net/

Scaffolding Learning:Audio support

Supporting and Recording Talk

http://www.easi-speak.org.uk/ http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

http://www.voki.com Ppt recording function

• Provide a model and deconstruct texts. Sequencing activities will support the development of literacy skills as well.

• The model could be a story, a transcript from a short video clip, a recipe, 2 sides of an

argument, the evaluation of a product or a performance, a timeline …

• Writing/ Talking frames

Scaffolding Learning:Models and Modelling

Scaffolding Learning: Questioning

• No hands rule

• Yes or no question to check understanding

• Multiple choice questions

• Traffic lights

Keep an open mind…

• Identify the most common EAL issues encountered by MFL teachers in UK schools

• Suggest practical strategies to support EAL learners in MFL classes

Aims

Top 3 priorities to get prepared for your EAL students…

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• 2.

• 3.

Get to know your EAL students and how they are catered for at your school

Supporting EAL Students in the MFL Classroom

Isabelle Jones, The Radclyffe Schoolhttp://isabellejones.blogspot.com Twitter: @icpjones

icpjones@yahoo.co.uk