Further learning - Blog

Being able to understand and use a range of adjectives can help learners to communicate successfully. Adjectives are essential for adding information or interest to their spoken or written language. They also enable learners to differentiate between items.

Non-verbal communication such as body language, facial expressions and tone of voice convey information beyond words alone. It is an integral part of communication, building relationships and developing shared understanding. For some learners interpreting non-verbal communication is not always simple.

Tip or Idea: Understanding non-verbal communication can depend on many factors including cultural norms, situational context and the unique combination of words, actions and expressions used. Try to put communication in context and focus on more than simply the words used.

SEND learners, particularly those with speech and language difficulties, can find comprehension more challenging for a range of reasons. Understanding of subject-specific vocabulary and inference can be difficult areas for some learners.

Tip or Idea: Start simple! Use single images or short sentences and talk about what is happening. Can your learner relate this to an experience they have had themselves?

Did you know Learning Village supports a wide range of curriculum topics? This allows you to support your SEND learners within the main class environment by offering scaffolded resources. 

Tip or Idea: Pre-teaching curriculum-specific vocabulary before a whole class session can help your SEND learners feel more confident and enable them to access class learning more easily. 

What does ‘cross-curricular teaching’ mean?

Beckmann (2009) defines the term ‘cross-curricular teaching’ as ‘instruction within a field in which subject boundaries are crossed and other subjects are integrated into the teaching (how and for whatever purpose or objective)’.

Similarly, see here for guidance on CLIL (content and language integrated learning) teaching.

I will never forget the ‘feelings’ I experienced during my EAL teacher training, when I sat in a class with a tutor who entered the room with a basket of goodies and greeted us in Swedish. My immediate reaction was one of confusion, which then led to frustration and finally a sense of hopelessness, before I even realised that I was actually expected to experience learning some Swedish without a single word of English allowed in the classroom.

Learners with speech and language difficulties may find it difficult to use the correct tense or find it hard to understand the concepts of time.  

Tip or Idea: Take 5 minutes to chat together at the end of a busy day or lesson. Talk about what you did, what you enjoyed or what made you laugh. This gives learners the opportunity to practise using the past tense and maybe time and order words too like first, next and then. 

Parental involvement in education contributes to a stronger and more inclusive school community. Engaging parents in their children’s education is also a fundamental aspect of creating a supportive learning environment for our learners and has been associated with a positive impact on learner performance (Khan, 1996).

Moving to and joining a new school is daunting for any child. It is essential that schools have procedures in place to support new arrivals with this transition (discussed in detail in our article here). However, it is important to consider that their parents may also be experiencing a similar transition, without necessarily having a network of support. If support is not provided, there is the potential for parents to struggle to access education, find employment and be part of the school or wider community.