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Scenario: You are moving to a new country (pick a country which has a different script such as China, Saudi Arabia or Bangladesh).  You can only take a suitcase with you.  Discuss your thoughts on the following groups of questions;

How would you feel about moving?

  • What would you take?
  • What would you leave behind?
  • Who would you miss?
  • What activities would you miss?

How would you feel about learning the language?

  • Do you think other people would speak English?
  • What if no one spoke English – how would you communicate?
  • Do you think you would be able to make friends?
  • How would you feel if people laughed at you when you tried to speak their language?

How would you feel about your work?

  • How would you understand the lessons?
  • How would you feel if you couldn’t write the alphabet/characters?
  • Which lessons do you think you would understand more easily?
  • What things could your class and teacher do to help you learn?
  • Each group could give a short oral presentation and together come up with a plan for the new arrival.

Plenary: Feedback the information from the groups. 

Progress the thinking: “Using your understanding of how someone may feel about arriving in a new place and not being able to speak the language – can you think of actual things we can do in our class or school to help our new classmate settle in?”

Put together an action plan as a class with up to 5 concrete ways they can help.

This article follows ''A Recipe for a Successful Start for New Arrivals in School.'

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Further learning - Blog

Should EAL learners be withdrawn from the mainstream classroom?

Created: Mon 9th Oct 2017

While it can be argued that EAL learners have an entitlement to experience a full and varied curriculum through complete class immersion and no withdrawal, some would argue that learners benefit from being withdrawn for time limited support to help them develop their English language in order to assist them in accessing the curriculum (NALDIC, FAQ Podcast, 2017).

If learners are unable to access the lesson content, they can feel frustrated and a sense of failure. Learners need to feel confident and successful.

Putting yourself in the new arrival’s shoes

Created: Sun 29th Dec 2013

Scenario: You are moving to a new country (pick a country which has a different script such as China, Saudi Arabia or Bangladesh).  You can only take a suitcase with you.  Discuss your thoughts on the following groups of questions;

How would you feel about moving?

  • What would you take?
  • What would you leave behind?
  • Who would you miss?
  • What activities would you miss?

How would you feel about learning the language?

Raising (self) awareness of neurodiversity

Created: Thu 7th Dec 2017

Truly inclusive practice extends beyond adapting materials or managing the classroom so that everybody can access the course content. It is about building a classroom culture where everybody genuinely respects and supports each other, and embraces the diversity inherent in our communities. This is more easily achieved if the members of the group understand themselves well, and what makes them different from each other.

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