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Learners with speech and language difficulties may find it difficult to order and sequence their ideas with a clear beginning, middle and end.
Tip or Idea: Ask your learner to tell you about something funny or exciting that they have done. Real life experiences may make it easier for them to describe.
Learning Village resource: Use the Adventure story dilemma flashcards and have fun making up a story together! You can add additional flashcards for settings and characters too!
In my experience, teachers often have quite strong feelings about the use of a pupil’s L1 (first language) in the classroom - it is either encouraged or forbidden. Garcia and Sylvan (2011) describe monolingual education as outdated in our current ‘globalized’ world and discourage the practise of imposing only one language. In fact, they suggest that teachers should support students in developing their awareness of their first language as well as the language of instruction.
If Katerina spoke in Russian again in the classroom, the teacher warned her, her name would be put on the board and she would miss out on certain privileges. 'Katerina' - a seven-year-old Russian speaker newly arrived in the UK - was finding it difficult to let go of her mother tongue (also referred to as 'home language', 'first language' or 'L1') in class, to the frustration of her teacher. Her story is the central point of a recent research paper by Olena Gundarina and James Simpson (see References below).