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The Community Village programme is designed for adults learning English in an English speaking context (often schools), such as parents of EAL learners and adults working in English-medium education. It teaches the basic functional language needed to communicate in English using image as the language of instruction in a school context. It includes sentence patterns to support adults with not only learning English in schools, but engaging in their community.
This incredible tool removes the barrier of language between adults with limited English proficiency, and their English speaking environment, building a culture of engagement and collaboration.
Community Village supports pre-beginner to intermediate-level adult ESOL learners of ANY language background, thanks to its image-based approach. It’s ideal for adult learners who speak less widely translated languages, those that speak an unwritten language and those that are pre-literate. It teaches vocabulary that can be used for day-to-day tasks, helping learners to integrate into the community and increase their confidence.
Community Village helps adult learners with confidence and English they might need to engage in their new English speaking environment, make friends and to start or continue their English language learning journey. It provides a support for adult learners to successfully help themselves learn English through images. The platform also assists learners who may speak unwritten languages or not be confident in their own languages alongside other adult learners of ANY language background.
Independent learning:
ESOL learners can use the platform independently for home study once the Head of Village has provided some initial guidance on navigation. Learners can also learn independently in school during drop-in sessions where they can use school computers/equipment.
Teacher-led sessions:
ESOL classes for adult learners or family learning sessions for ESOL parents and their children organised by the Head of Village. This level of support may include 1:1 sessions timetabled for ESOL learners depending on staff capacity.
Engagement, time spent learning and achievement are crucial for learners motivation. Community Village has built in assessment tools so that the learner can see the progress they are making. Within the platform there are opportunities to win awards and for learners who are being taught as part of a group there are the options to get certificates to encourage development. Celebrating success is all part of the journey.
As a school, we have a high level of pupil mobility throughout the year, due to families being re-housed to different boroughs. Very often, we have new families/children that join our school/community from abroad as new arrivals to the country. Frequently, these families/children will start our school with either no spoken English or with very limited English. These families bring a wealth of diversity, but do struggle with life in a new country (socially) and find it challenging to communicate. |
The biggest impact we notice was the parent’s confidence levels increasing and a willingness to engage with the school staff. Each month the parents were invited to attend the school’s soft start Learning Village workshop for their child/children. We wanted parents to be able to observe the EAL support teacher teaching the programme to their children and to share ideas and strategies so the parents could continue to support their children at home using these techniques. The post-questionnaire was completed by all parents and 100% of parents now feel confident speaking in basic English when needed to communicate with school staff, and have a better understanding of how to support their children at home. |
There has been an extremely positive response and Community Village learners who are excited and engaging well. We are noticing that learners are referring to the Community Village lessons they are engaging with. Feedback from Community Village learners so far is that they are very excited and want to practice all the time. The Community Village teachers see the lessons as a long term opportunity. |