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A School Language Profile is an invaluable tool!
In the previous article we looked at the thorny issue of EAL learners with specific learning differences (SpLD). We discussed how identification of SpLD in EAL learners could be a long and frustrating process. We looked at some possible, non-language based assessments. At the end of the article we discussed the possibility of using a ‘language profile’ to help identify possible concerns at an early stage.
What is a language profile? A language profile is basically ‘a picture’ of a new student’s language learning history. The profile can be used with all students (not just EAL students), and provides valuable information to inform good teaching practice.
The profile builds a picture of the student’s:
Crucially for EAL student’s, it contradicts that notion that a student is arriving with ‘no language’. This profile is an invaluable tool for teachers and TA’s to determine where a student fits in a learning continuum and which teaching strategies to use.
There is a second use for a language profile. Increasingly data is being used to guide our teaching as well as to guide ‘effective’ resource allocation and interventions. The onus is on schools to set up data collection that is useful and insightful. Creating a ‘School Language Profile’ is one such activity that provides teachers with information to directly guide their teaching, but also provides statistical data for the school to monitor it’s student body. The school where this approach was trialed was able to collect data on all of its students. This data was used to inform teaching and learning and it was also used to draw up statistical data to identify the need for additional EAL support in the school. Attached is an example of the data collected.
How does one set up a School Language Profile?
The following example was an effective ‘rolling’ programme to build up a language profile in a school.
(The attached ‘Language Profile’ template is an example that schools can use to build a more relevant profile for their individual situation.)
N.B. It was found to be more effective to collect this data after admission as sometimes it was creatively filled in prior to admission.
The language show this year in Olympia made me even more aware of the gift of having more than one language. One of the stand's motto was 'monolingualism can be cured', another 'Speak to the Future' (www.speaktothefuture.org) campaigns to promote the teaching of languages in schools in the UK. Since this September all children in primary schools will be taught a language as the government finally realised that, in a mobile world, a second language is essential for a country's economic development.
Brewster, Ellis and Girard (2012) discuss the idea of playing Bingo or Dominoes as games for connecting various curriculum areas. Brewster (2012) explains that playing games like these can be a support for learning target vocabulary, for example, playing a Dominoes game before or after reading where learners can either match the words or the pictures together as they listen is an excellent way to learn the target language. You may be studying the human skeleton vocabulary in the game and making connections to the class book e.g.
If you have EAL new arrivals in your school with limited English, you need a scheme of work in English that supports learners with language learning alongside the curriculum content you are delivering. This is to ensure young learners are understanding the basics of language needed for success.
Learning can be split into two parts: